Friday, March 20, 2009

The MOST excellent way!


Hi, sweet reader! Thank you for coming to visit today; whether it was by your design, or by "chance", I'm glad you're here. I want you to take a walk with me, down a Roman road.
We're just going to stroll down this road together; there are some "sights" I want to point out to you. Don't stop reading! Just get to the end of the path with me. :)
It's a beautiful spring day! Can you hear the birds, and feel the breeze - and see the buds on the trees? Look at that beautiful fruit tree that's full of blossoms ahead!
Here's the first thing I want to show you! It's Romans 3:23: "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." That's ALL, my friend. NO ONE can save themselves. We were born into sin.
But that's not the end of the road!
This stop is a two-part stop! Look on this side:
Romans 6:23a "The wages of sin is death..." We all will die a physical death. But we don't have to die in our sin - that is not only a physical ending, but a spiritual ending you need to understand we all DESERVE. There is nothing we can do ourselves that can make us righteous.
But look at THIS side of the stop!
Romans 6:23b "...but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." It's a GIFT!! It's free!! God offers it to you and me, to save us from that sin and from the spiritual death that goes with it. But you do need to receive it.
Let me tell you a story that will illustrate this really well. I used to be the only non-family member of a company. One of the three families involved was REALLY, REALLY disfunctional. I mean, WOW!! So the dad is NOT a nice person at all, but his sons tried SO HARD to get his approval. One year they were feuding badly, but the younger son still wanted to please his dad; he gave him Christmas gifts, came and put them on the dad's desk. THEY SAT IN A CORNER, UNOPENED, all year. The son gave the gifts, but they weren't RECEIVED - the dad ignored them, left them unopened, unused, and neglected.
Let's keep walking! This is a beautiful road!!
Here we are!
Romans 5:8: "God demonstrates His love for us in this: while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us!"
Oh, dear one, do you HEAR that??? God is outside of time; He sees all time at a glance. And while He was looking at our sin - YOUR sin, MY sin - He knew He wanted to give us that precious Gift. Jesus paid the ultimate price for our gift! He died for us, so we could be saved! Eternal life in God's presence. His presence is so sweet here on Earth - I can't WAIT to be able to see Him face-to-face!!!!!! And it's available to YOU - all you have to do is ASK!
Oh, look! It's Romans 10:13!
"Whoever will call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."
Anyone can receive this gift! There's no "I'm not good enough" or "I need to straighten up my act first". God will meet you WHERE YOU ARE!!!! Just ask Him!
Oh, here's the last stop on this road. Isn't it beautiful?
Romans 10:9-10: "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. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."
Oh, how LOVELY this stop is. Do you see how EASY it is? God hasn't made a lot of hoops to jump through. There's not a physical torture test, or a decathalon to compete in for this prize.
If you've been down this road before, isn't it a sweet place to visit? To be able to thank God for His incredible, awesome GIFT? I hope our walk today reminded you to praise Him for it!!!
If you've never been down this road, and you've heard Him offering you His precious gift today, you might be wondering what the next step is.
Just talk to Him! We call it "praying", but it's really just having a communication session with The Most High. :) He wants us to talk to Him!!! You can simply tell Him something along this line:
Dear God, I know I am a sinner. I know that has kept me separated from You. I ask You to forgive me of my sins; I want to repent (that just means "to turn 180 degrees" from the way you were going), and ask You to help me walk the way You want me to. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins, and that He rose from the dead and is alive today. I ask that You become my Savior, and Lord of my life. Thank You! Amen.
Did you know that when you said that prayer, Heaven threw a party for you?!?!??!?! The angels REJOICE over EACH soul that receives the Gift!!!!
I'd like to rejoice with you, too! Please email me, or leave me a comment, and let me know so I can - and so I can pray for you, too! The next step is to find a good church where you can learn more about the decision you made, and start to grow and learn about this new life!
Praise God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth. Dear one, He rejoices over YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

EXCELLENT JOB LORI!!!! it was very well written. I too will be praying for those who read and respond!

KARNA said...

Hi Lori, i bounced over here when I saw your Facebook post...I had read this the day it was posted...but wanted to say I am so grateful for the gift of eternal life through Jesus. He changed my life completely in 1974. I hope many come visit via FB and hear the good news.