Do you believe in God?
If you do, then there is plenty of evidence that God is there and He loves you. He loves us more than we can imagine; He forgives more than we deserve and gives more grace than we understand.
None of this is based on what we do. It is based on the nature of God. God is love.
He doesn’t love us because we loved Him first. Even if you are still denying God, he still loves you.
In our fallen state, we can’t understand how this is possible. We are scared to tell another person we love them out of fear they won’t say it back to us. God loves us so much He created a path for our salvation. That’s a church word for eternal life.
The Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The Bible verse we most often see is John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
As I write this, we are in the beginning of the Easter season.
It is a time to remember what God does for us. If you believe in Christ’s crucifixion, death, and resurrection, it is a belief in God’s plan to save you. Christ died a horrible death by taking our sin to the cross and paying the price for us.
All of us.
You can’t do anything to make sure you get to Heaven other than believing in Christ as your Lord and savior and acknowledging Christ in your life.
We all have sinned and will sin again. God knows and can forgive again.
Maybe you think your sin is too awful to forgive. My Bible doesn’t say there are major and minor sins, just sin. God can forgive murder and little lies.
That doesn’t mean you should continually live with the sin in your life. When you have truly accepted Christ in your heart you will want to follow Him and depend on God’s grace being sufficient when you fall short.
Some will tell you cheating on taxes or this or that aren’t a big deal. However, if you trivialize sin, you minimize what was done on the cross.
Are you hurting or in pain?
Either physical, mental, or spiritual pain? Remember, Christ suffered for you. The suffering was worse than we can imagine because he lost contact with God who had been with him every day of his life.
Christ prayed to the Father without ceasing. Christ let God guide Him and provide peace and comfort. You can find that peace and comfort as well. It will come as you grow closer and pray to God. You don’t need special words; you just need a desire to grow closer to God.
It starts with a daily conversation. Even if for today it’s only, “Thank you, God, for today.”
At Lakeside Christian Church in Shell Knob, we have a Wednesday night group that is studying prayer for a few more weeks that meets at 6 p.m. It is designed for people who seek a deeper understanding of prayer and how it changes lives and circumstances.
I am sure if you are in need, any good church or pastor would be glad to spend time with you talking about the same subject. I urge you to find someone you are comfortable with and stop in to see them.
Al Slavic is the associate/youth pastor at Lakeside Christian Church in Shell Knob and may be reached at lccskyouthmin@gmail. com.
