There was a time when I didn’t know that I could have a relationship with God.  Then one day in 1989 I was invited to a Hotel Dinner Event to listen to an American Historian talking about how he, as an historian set out to disprove the theory of Christ.  This topic held little interest for me, however the thought and prospect of a free meal was too much to turn down!

 

The hotel venue was great; I was made to feel very welcome. The meal was wonderful and I settled back in my chair to listen to the American speaker, hoping he wouldn’t be too long!

 

To be honest as he talked I wasn’t paying too much attention, and then my ears pricked up as he said, “Don’t you think the Romans could have put down that revolution?”  What revolution I thought?  He went on to say that following his resurrection from the dead, Jesus was seen, here, here, here and here...... “Don’t you think they could have covered up the fact that Jesus had risen from the dead?  But you see they couldn’t - Jesus was alive.”  My attention was suddenly focussed.  I thought to myself, ‘my goodness, is that true?’   In an instant I just knew it was so.  That meant that Jesus was around 2000 years ago and He died on a cross for me.....  It suddenly dawned on me who Jesus was and who I was and that he is alive!  I felt very small, insignificant and, well, quite frankly, dirty.  I realised that what this man was saying was true.  Which left me with some sort of a problem.  I just knew I had to get right with God!  ‘How could I do that?’  This man said that if I came to Jesus and asked him to forgive me for all the things I had done wrong in my life (my sins), and I was sincere in my heart, then he would.  Not only that, he said that the very spirit of God would come and live within me and I would get to go to heaven when I died - eternal life!  ‘Is it possible’, I thought?  I’d done some things in my life that I wasn’t proud of; is it possible that God would forgive someone like me?  This American was saying that the blood of Jesus was spilt, not just for the world, but for me, and all because God loves me.  This seemed too good to be true - I didn’t say anything to anyone.

 

My neighbours who had invited me to this dinner event drove me home.  My speech in the car was slow, deliberate and calm, but my mind was racing, ‘What must I do; I have to do something with this information!’  I went into the house and got on my knees and said a ‘not very spiritual’ prayer.  Although I was sincere in my heart, I just didn’t really know what to do; “God, if you are up there, wherever up there is, I just want to say sorry for all the things I have done wrong in my life, and please forgive me.  I’d like that eternal gift thing as well please, and um, thank you, um, amen”.  Well I waited, on my knees looking at my watch, for 1 minute, 2 minutes - “Oh man, this is useless, it doesn’t work!”  I was so disappointed - I went to bed.

0800h I woke up - oh my goodness!  You know what you feel like when you have had a shower; fresh and clean, well I felt clean on the inside!  I didn’t want anything dirty to come out of my mouth.  I felt free - I was free; free from sin and guilt that cripples.

 

I have never forgotten that moment.  What the American was saying to me is true - all of it.  You know I wasn’t looking for God.  I thought there must be, ‘something out there - a higher power’.  It didn’t make sense to me that we just came into this world as a baby, lived some sort of life then died.  That just didn’t make sense - ‘What is life all about’ I used to think.  Now I understand - God has a plan and a purpose for me.  You know we are unique; God knew me before I was born and he has a plan and a purpose for my life - a destiny!  That is amazing.

 

What about you?  Do you know that you are important to God?  Do you know that he loves you so much that he sent his son Jesus Christ to die on a cross for you - to pay the price for your sin?

What is sin?  Did you know that you are born with a sinful nature?  God created man and women to have fellowship with Him, but due to the disobedience of the first created man and woman (Adam and Eve - check it out in the first book of the bible; Genesis 3), a separation occurred and sin and death entered the world.  Ever since that time man (man and woman) has been in separation from God.  Do you doubt that we are born with this sinful nature?  Look at children - from the time they can move around as toddlers they do the opposite of what the parents tell them!  Where do they learn this from?  It’s in them - the sinful nature.  No one has to teach us how to get it wrong; we can do it all on our own!  We just get better at covering it up the older we get.  What a dilemma - to be separated from God is catastrophic.  But it doesn’t have to be that way - that’s why Jesus came; as the way to be reconciled to God.

 

Do you know that you can have a relationship with God, the same God that created the heavens and the earth; that set the sun, the moon and the stars in place; the Jesus that came to die on a cross, defeating sin and death, taking your sin in his body so that you may be set free from sin and guilt and to not only receive the assurance of eternal life with him in heaven when you die but to give you fullness of life now.  What an amazing gift.

 

You know, men and women spend a fortune trying to work out how to get free of ‘guilt’ - you know what I mean by that; the stuff that never goes away; that cripples us; drives us to distraction; some to even consider giving up and committing suicide to end the circle of despair.  That was never God’s plan for your life - Jesus Christ came to set you free; to be the person he designed you to be; to uniquely walk in the destiny that he has set before you.

 

Sound intriguing - why not check it out?  Where are you today - does any of this make sense to you?  Maybe you just don’t get all this stuff - ask Jesus to reveal himself to you.  Maybe you have questions and want some answers.

Or maybe you are reading this now and know what I’m talking about; you want to make your  peace with God; you know as I did that you have a choice to make; you are thinking, ‘What do I do with this?’  If that’s you, you can do what I did, come to Jesus the way I did.  I didn’t understand everything but I knew that I had to get it sorted; to get on my knees before the living God and ask his forgiveness.  Do you want to do that today?  The bible says, that if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  ‘Saved’ means forgiven, set free, spiritually regenerated through Jesus, given the assurance of an eternal life with him for ever.  Once having come to that point you are saved - Jesus said, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, no-one can snatch them out of my hand....”.

 

If you want to trust your life with Jesus, I can help you.  You can take a step of faith by saying a prayer.  Prayer is talking to God.  The following is a suggested prayer:

 

“Lord Jesus, I’m so sorry for all the things I have done wrong in my life - please forgive me.  I want to turn away from these things and trust my life with you.  I want you to be in charge of my life - I need you.  Please come into my life, as my Lord and Saviour.  And I thank you for the gift of eternal life”.  

Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?  If so, I invite you to pray this prayer right now and Christ will come into your life as He has promised.

 

 

If you didn’t say the prayer above but would like to explore these things a little further, email me and I’ll help you.  Remember God loves you and He wants the best for your life.

 

I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Alan