ABSOLUTELY JUSTIN I WILL BE PRAYING FOR YOU.
AND I AM GOING TO BE HONEST WITH YOU, OKAY?
THERE IS NO PREACHER, PASTOR, COUNSELOR, EVANGELIST WHO CAN SAVE ANYONE...NO NOT ONE.
THEY CAN SHARE JESUS WORD WITH YOU. THEY CAN LISTEN TO YOU. THEY CAN ENCOURAGE YOU. THEY CAN TELL YOU WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT SIN AND SINNERS, BUT NONE OF THEM CAN SAVE YOU...ONLY JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF CAN.
JESUS CHRIST IS A PRECIOUS, CARING, TENDER, PATIENT SAVIOR JUSTIN, HE WENT TO THE CROSS FOR YOU.
HE SAW YOU JUST AS YOU ARE, EVEN AT YOUR VERY WORST AND THOUGHT OF YOU WHEN HE CLIMBED ON THAT CROSS.
HE WILLINGLY GAVE HIS LIFE FOR YOU.
IF YOU UNDERSTAND THAT AND BELIEVE THAT, THEN ANSWER ONE QUESTION FOR ME.
ON THAT DAY JESUS CHRIST DIED FOR YOU OVER 2000 YEARS AGO, HOW MANY OF YOUR SINS, SLIPS, FAILS, BACK-SLIDDING AND FAILINGS WERE FUTURE?
THE ANSWER IS: EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM.
YOUR ACTION SINS; YOUR THOUGHT SINS; YOUR SLIDING SINS; YOUR IGNORING HIM SINS...ALL OF YOUR VERY WORST SINS WERE NAILED TO THAT CROSS, WERE PAID FOR IN FULL, AND IN ADVANCE BY JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF.
HE WILLINGLY DID SO....FOR YOU.
JESUS IS A PERSONAL ONE ON ONE SAVIOR JUSTIN.
HE WANTS YOU TO GET REAL WITH HIM. TALK TO HIM AS YOU HAVE TRIED TO DO WITH PASTORS, COUNSELORS, PREACHERS, WHOMEVER.
HE WAITS FOR YOU TO ASK HIM TO FORGIVE YOU OF YOUR SINS.
HE WAITS FOR YOU TO INVITE HIM INTO YOUR HEART TO BE YOUR LORD, SAVIOR, MASTER, AND FRIEND.
HE WAITS FOR YOU TO TELL HIM THAT YOU BELIEVE HE IS THE ONLY SON OF ALMIGHTY GOD.
HE WAITS FOR YOU TO TELL HIM THAT ONLY HE CAN SAVE YOU...CLEANSE YOU...FREE YOU FROM YOUR PAST.
AND JUST AS YOU ARE, HE WILL ACCEPT YOU, SAVE YOU, CALL YOU HIS OWN. CALL YOU FRIEND.
LOOK JUSTIN...THERE ARE MANY PREACHERS, TEACHERS, PASTORS, & EVANGELISTS WHO WRONGLY PREACH AND TEACH THAT ONCE SAVED YOU BECOME PERFECT.
THEY WRONGLY SAY YOU BECOME SINLESS. YOU SUDDENLY FEEL JESUS MOVING, LIVING, BREATHING WITHIN YOU 24/7/365.
AND IF YOU SUDDENLY DO NOT FEEL SAVED...THEN THEY LIE AND TELL YOU, AND JUST AS YOU SAID, SATAN ALSO TELLS YOU THAT YOU HAVE BEEN REJECTED, YOU ARE NOT CHOSEN, YOU CAN NOT BE SAVED.
THEY ARE ALL LYING.
WHAT DOES JESUS TELL US JUSTIN...BY FAITH.
THAT MEANS TAKING JESUS AT HIS WORD. BELIEVING WHAT JESUS PROMISED US WHO LOVE HIM, WE WHO ARE ALL FLAWED SINNERS, AS EVEN PAUL CALLED HIMSELF, CHIEF AMONG SINNERS. STILLLLLLL, WE BELIEVE JESUS IS FAITHFUL. WE BELIEVE JESUS KEEPS HIS WORD.
YOU ARE NOT LIKE JUDAS...HE NEVER ASKED JESUS FOR FORGIVENESS. HE NEVER REPENTED. HE WAS SORRY ABOUT WHAT HIS GREED DID, BUT HE WAS NOT REPENTANT. HE WAS JUST SORRY THAT HE GOT CAUGHT. THEREIN LIES THE BIG DIFFERENCE.
YOU WILL HAVE PREACHERS, PASTORS, EVANGELISTS TELL YOU THAT IF YOU ARE REALLY SAVED, REALLY ACCEPTED BY JESUS, YOU WILL SUDDENLY NEVER EVER SIN AGAIN.
YOU WILL SUDDENLY AND QUICKLY BECOME HEALTHY, WEALTHY, AND WISE....THAT IS A LIE TOO.
JESUS DOES NOT SAY THAT NOR PROMISE US THAT IN THIS LIFE ALL THINGS WILL BE PERFECT, BUT WE WILL RECEIVE IT IN HEAVEN.
WE WILL ONE SWEET DAY BE SINLESS, WE WILL ONE DAY BE WEALTHY CO-HEIRS WITH JESUS IN HEAVEN, WE WILL ONE DAY UNDERSTAND ALL THINGS, WE WILL ONE DAY HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST.
BUT NOT IN THIS LIFE...IT IS IMPOSSIBLE IN THIS LIFE.
WE CAN AND SHOULD OVER TIME, BECOME AND SEEK TO BECOME MORE LIKE JESUS AND LESS LIKE THE WORLD...BUT IT TAKES TIME JUSTIN.
THINK ABOUT IT. WOULD YOU TAKE A BABY, WHOM YOU LOVE, AND HAND HIM THE KEYS TO YOUR CAR, AND WALK AWAY, AND EXPECT THAT BABY TO BE ABLE TO DRIVE SAFELY?
OF COURSE NOT.
SO JUST LIKE ANY RELATIONSHIP YOU HAVE IT TAKES TIME. IT TAKES CARE. IT TAKES LOVE, IT TAKES INVOLVEMENT, RIGHT?
JESUS IS NO DIFFERENT.
YOU WANT TO KNOW HIM...READ HIS WORD...START WITH THE GOSPEL OF JOHN.
YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT HE WANTS YOU TO GROW UP TO BE READ HIS WORD.
SPEND TIME EVERY DAY JUST TALKING TO JESUS, AS IF HE WERE SITTING IN THE DEN WITH YOU, OR WHILE YOU ARE DRIVING, OR WHILE YOU ARE TAKING A WALK.
AND TAKE TIME EVERY DAY TO PRAY FOR YOURSELF, FOR OTHERS, FOR FAMILY, FRIENDS, OUR COUNTRY, OUR WORLD.
JESUS DOES NOT HAVE A SCRIPT...SUCH AS MANY SAY, YOU MUST PONTIFICATE FOR HOURS. HE WANTS YOU TO BE REAL.
SOMETIMES THE BEST PRAYERS ARE: JESUS STAY CLOSE TODAY. JESUS HELP ME. JESUS LEAD ME. JESUS FORGIVE ME FOR BEING IMPATIENT TODAY.
JESUS WANTS TO BE NOT ONLY YOUR SAVIOR JUSTIN. HE WANTS TO BE YOUR VERY BEST FRIEND. WHOM YOU CAN SHARE ALL YOUR SECRET FEARS, HOPES, AND DREAMS WITH AND KNOW THAT HE WILL NEVER LAUGH IT YOU, BRUSH YOU OFF, TELL YOU TO MOVE ON..HE WILL LISTEN.
AND IN HIS PERFECT TIMING, HE WILL ANSWER.
SOME WILL TELL YOU WELL YOU HAVE TO HAVE LOTS OF GOOD WORKS TO GET TO HEAVEN.
OR YOU HAVE TO LIVE A TOTALLY SELFLESS LIFE TO GET TO HEAVEN.
OR YOU HAVE TO BE A MEMBER OF A CHURCH TO GET TO HEAVEN,
OR YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW CHURCH RULES AND RITUALS TO GET TO HEAVEN.
OR YOU HAVE TO BE BAPTISED TO GET TO HEAVEN.
ON AND ON IT GOES WITH THE LEGALISTIC SALVATION LIES THAT SATAN REALLY ENJOYS THEM TELLING.
BUT ASK YOURSELF THIS ONE QUESTION....WHERE DOES THE THIEF ON THE CROSS FIT IN TO THIS LEGALISTIC, RITUALISTIC SALVATION?
HE WAS HOURS AWAY FROM DEATH.
HE WAS A CRIMINAL, A THIEF, WHO HAD NOT DONE ONE GOOD THING IN HIS LIFE.
HE COULD NOT CHANGE HIS LIFE.
HE COULD NOT WITNESS TO ANYONE.
HE COULD NOT BE BAPTIZED.
HE COULD NOT TAKE COMMUNION.
HE WAS DOOMED BY THE WORLD'S AND THE RELIGIONS OF THIS WORLDS STANDARDS.
BUT WHAT DID THE THIEF ON THE CROSS DO?
THE THIEF ON THE CROSS CONFESSED TO THOSE WATCHING HIM DIE, AND TO THE OTHER THIEF ON THE CROSS WHO WAS CURSING JESUS. THIS THIEF SAID, JESUS IS INNOCENT. WE DESERVE DEATH. HE DOES NOT.
THEN THE THIEF CALLED OUT TO JESUS...REMEMBER ME WHEN YOU ENTER YOUR FATHER'S KINGDOM,
WHAT DID JESUS SAY TO HIM JUSTIN?
THIS DAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.
BY FAITH JUSTIN.
BY FAITH AND TELLING THOSE WATCHING WHO JESUS WAS AND THAT HE BELIEVED JESUS WAS WHO HE SAID HE WAS HE WAS SAVED.
BY FAITH JUSTIN.
YOU WILL NOT ALWAYS FEEL SAVED. YOU WILL NOT ALWAYS FEEL WORTHY. YOU WILL NOT FEEL WHAT LEGAL RELIGIONS SAY YOU MUST.
BUT BY FAITH YOU KNOW JUSTIN.
BY FAITH.
SO YOU GO HAVE A NICE HEART TO HEART, MAN TO MAN TALK WITH JESUS.
HE ADORES YOU JUSTIN.
HE IS WAITING.
SALVATION BEGINS FROM THE INSIDE OUT.
JESUS SAVES AND SEALS YOUR HEART FIRST.
THEN OVER TIME, HE PATIENTLY RENEWS YOU FROM THE INSIDE OUT.
JESUS IS PATIENT JUSTIN,
TRUST JESUS...BY FAITH,
I AM PRAYING FOR YOU. REMEMBER WHOM THE SON SETS FREE IS FREE INDEED. SATAN AND ALL OF HIS DEMONS CAN NEVER EVER TAKE YOU AWAY FROM JESUS.
AND JESUS WILL NOT ALLOW IT.
BE BLESSED AND STAY BLESSED IN OUR JESUS!
hi Justin -I will for sure pray for you. When your preacher is telling you that you are saved--I believe him to be right based on what you have said. K
Feeling and trusting in the HS is not a flip of the switch thing for most of us. It takes time and work to recognize the voice of the HS and trust it in. I have no doubt in our Saviour Jesus Christ but trusting in the voice of the Holy Spirit (HS) is still a learning process for me. Having the strength of Jesus within to overcome temptation is something we all struggle to see. It is a matter of letting go of our own control and letting the battle be the Lords--a trust that is a big big leap for most of us. I am struggling currently with controlling feelings of anger. Every moment where the temptation comes I need to remind myself to let Jesus be in control. To give the job to God. It can certainly be hard work in some circumstances but we need to work at focussing on God to utilize the power of the Holy Spirit.
Keep working at it. Pray, study God's word---and you did the right thing--asking us to join you in prayer. This site is a great place to grow in faith and trust in Jesus--I hope you utilize what all we offer and gain this growth. I know we both wish we had all we needed RIGHT NOW! We both need to trust in God's timing. He is at work and He is not finished yet!!!
praying for you Justin!