HOW YOU CAN KNOW JESUS
Knowing Jesus is as easy as A-B-C.
ADMIT that you are a sinner.
Sin is more than just “doing bad things;” it is acting in complete defiance to God by living your own life apart from Him and His laws. When Adam and Eve both sinned, believing the lie from Satan that they could be like God, they placed a curse on all their offspring, from which we are descendants of. Every one of us is born into a dark world of sin, and it is our nature to sin. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” – Romans 3:23. What’s worse, “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles on one point, has become guilty of all.” – James 2:10. That means even one sin is enough to have the stain of sin and death on our lives. You can’t get to God by “being a good person.” “There is none righteous, not even one.” – Romans 3:10. Since God is a God of justice, He cannot allow sin and evil to go unpunished. “The wages of sin is death.” – Romans 6:23. Death entered the universe with the sin of the human race. We couldn’t enter Heaven anyway, because His utter Perfection would completely destroy us in our imperfection. As such, we are totally separated from God in our sin, and there is no way no get to Him on our own. However…
BELIEVE that Jesus died for your sins.
God didn’t create us just because he felt like it. He loves us and desires to be in a wonderful and caring relationship with every human being He has created. He would not sit idly by and watch the entire human race get sent to the fires of hell. So God Himself took our punishment. The Creator became His own Creation, the God/Man Jesus, and dwelt among the human race, living as any other man would – except He was sinless. Jesus demonstrated His power in His miracles, but the greatest miracle of all was that He willingly died a horrible death on a cross. This was no ordinary death; every sin that has ever been committed and ever will be committed was put onto Jesus. His death was the price for all sin, yours and mine. “God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8. But after He died, He rose from the dead! This means that sin and death has been defeated; it’s finished. All that you have to do is acknowledge that Jesus paid your punishment, ask for God’s forgiveness through Jesus, and sin is finished in your life. Jesus is now your Savior. And then…
CONFESS your faith; COMMIT your life to Jesus.
The verbal confession of your faith that Jesus died for you is so important. It lets Satan know that he no longer has any hold on you, and it lets other Christians come along side you to help answer many questions, as well as help you grow. More importantly, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” – Romans 10:9,10. You must also commit your life to Jesus. He died for your life, now it’s time to give your life back to Him. That means making Him the King of your life, your Lord. Whatever the King says, you do it! God has chosen to do most of His work on earth through the human race, and He has a plan for you. By obeying and following the path He set before you, you are not guaranteed an easy time, but one of great rewards. He’ll make it worth your while. Jesus is now your Lord.
So how does it work? Do you just ask? That seems too easy, right? Well, it is! “For whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” – Romans 10:13. Praying is nothing more than talking to God. It is especially important to pray “in Jesus’ name.” That means you are asking God in Jesus’ place, as if He was asking God. “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” – John 14:14. If you followed along with the A-B-C’s above, you might pray something similar to this:
Jesus,
I know that I am a sinner and that I need your forgiveness.
I believe that you died for my sins, and I want to turn away from my sins.
I invite you to come into my heart and life.
I want to trust and follow you as my Lord and Savior.
In Jesus’ name I ask this.
Amen.
This would be only the beginning. A wonderful relationship with Jesus now starts, and you become a new creation. The Holy Spirit comes upon you, rebirths your spirit, and you are literally born again. The Holy Spirit now dwells within you – you are God’s Temple! The ultimate reward is that there is now no more separation from God, and when your body dies, it too will rise, and you may enter Heaven where you will live forever in the presence of God Himself. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” – John 3:16.
Do not make this decision lightly – God will hold you to it! But if you decide to allow Jesus into your life and accept Him as your Lord and Savior from sin, it will be the greatest and most important decision of your life.
MY FAVORITE SCRIPTURES
Psalm 91:1-16
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!”
For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
And from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his pinions,
And under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that flies by day;
Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But it shall not approach you.
You will only look on with your eyes
And see the recompense of the wicked.
For you have made the Lord, my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your tent.For He will give His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.
They will bear you up in their hands,
That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread upon the lion and cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.“Because he has loved Me, therefore will I deliver him;
I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
With a long life I will satisfy him
And let him see My salvation.”
Psalm 139:1-18, 23-24
O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O Lord, You know it all.
You have enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
If I make my bed in [the grave], behold, You are there
If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with you……Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.
