Trust Jesus and Live

If you have been thinking about making a commitment to God but unsure of how to do it, you can start right here, right now.  We'll try our best to make it easier for you by guiding you through a sample prayer.  The prayer should be formed by you by heartfelt sorrow, grief, shame and a broken spirit that you have offended a holy God, and that you recognize, acknowledge and are prepared to confess and repent of your sins and are now willing to accept and understand the magnitude of becoming a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ.  God chose you out of the world to come to him. (John 15:16,15:19)

In Romans 10:9-10 we know "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Can you (aloud) confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe with all your heart that God raised Him from the dead?  To believe means to accept, to follow, and to obey the commandments of God with love and respect.  Are you willing to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior of your life?

Saying a prayer and becoming a Christian is not a simple act.  First, you must be convicted of sin, violating God's Moral Law (The Ten Commandments).  Having a great need to repent of your sin, turning from a sinful life to a righteous life is a process, without a time frame. It could take a day or many years because we are all born of a sin nature and some habitual sins may take longer than others to remove from your life. But by God's lovingkindness it is by His grace you are saved when you accept Him.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.  For, we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:8-10)

When you are ready to surrender yourself and trust in Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior, you can begin with a short prayer. Examine yourself. Leave all pride, self-centeredness and selfishness behind.  Making a commitment to God is not to be taken lightly and it is not about saying a rote prayer that makes you a child of the kingdom of God. Examine yourself with these questions:

(1) Do you recognize the sin(s) you have committed and the current sin in your life?

(2) Do you have a genuine, heartache of sorrow for the sin(s)?

(3) Are you ready to confess your sin(s)? 

(4) Do you feel shame and embarrassment of your sin(s)?

(5) Do you now have a hatred for sin? 

(6) Are you now willing to repent and turn from all sin?

(7) Are you ready to follow (obey) Jesus Christ, who was sinless, to call Him your Lord and Savior?

Go into your closet or bedroom and shut the door and pray. (Matthew 6:6).  If you are able, kneel or get on your knees, for you are speaking to a holy God.

"Holy Father in Heaven, I come to you in prayer by the authority of your Son, Jesus.  I have sinned against you and I ask now for your forgiveness.  Forgive me Father for I have offended you and now I ask for mercy.  I have broken your Moral Laws by the letter or by the spirit.  Forgive me for .... (List the sins you have committed that you remember).  And forgive me God for the sins I have forgotten or do not know that I have committed.  In you I trust and surrender myself fully, with opened arms.  I will repent (turn) from my sinful ways and live a new life with you in me.  I thank you Father for sending your Son, Jesus to die on the cross as punishment for my sins. He rose on the third day and escaped death. Father, fill me with the Holy Spirit. Thank you Father for sending me the Holy Spirit, my Comforter, my Helper.  Fill me with wisdom and knowledge in your Word. Thank you Father, Lord God Almighty for loving me first and accepting me into your family.  I will strive for the rest of my life to please you, to live holy, and to obey your commands and to mature as a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen."

 

 “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14). 

 

Well done.  Congratulation!  If you said this prayer with a contrite heart and humble spirit then Jesus is with you now.  If you haven't already, join a Bible based church and get baptized in the name of The Father, The Son [Jesus Christ] and the Holy Spirit (Baptism is a public profession of your faith). 

Pray daily. Pray when you wake, pray before bedtime, and pray throughout the day.  Read your Bible everyday. Stay in the word and keep God close and He will reveal remarkable things to you. Talk to the Father, the Son (Jesus is the only mediator between us and God the Father) and the Holy Spirit. Lay all of your troubles (anxieties) and joys on Him.  The Spirit of God is in you.You must be "Born again--born of water and Spirit" (John 3:3-5).

When you accept, believe in and follow Jesus you now are called a child of God.  He has adopted you into the most glorious family.  You now take on the family traits. These are God's attributes. You no longer walk in sin. Live holy and remember always you are a child of God. Jesus has given you (as a believer) power and authority, in the name of Jesus, with Jesus living in you, to rid yourself of iniquity and unclean activity.

At conversion, after your acknowledgement and battle with sin, the Holy Spirit will transform you into a person of holiness. You will walk in the spirit. Your sins have been put to death by the redeeming power of Jesus' death on the cross. He took your sin and put it to death on Him. He sacrificed Himself to pay for your debt sin. You are now dead to sin and alive in Christ.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23) For these are attributes of God. Gradually, you will make these your attributes as well.

What is the Greatest Commandment:

Jesus answered...“‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31) also (Matthew 22:34-40)  All the law depends on these two Commandments. The first to the fourth commandment of the Ten Commandments deals with loving God. The Fifth to the Tenth Commandments deals with loving people.

As you grow as a Christian you will want to please God by loving what God loves (obeying what He commands) and hating what God hates. God hates sin. As children of God, we obey God because we are grateful for what God has done for us and we obey Him because we love Him.

If you have prayed for forgiveness and have declared Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior let us know we'd like to welcome you into the family of Christ.

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Pay close attention to what is said in Galatians 5:16:25, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Romans 1:18-32, Colossians 3:1-8, and in Revelation 21:7-8.  We have a sin nature, and we are born in sin, inherited from Adam. We are born as children of wrath, yet we do not have to sin as we once did. We can be obedient children of God. God becomes our Father and we His children (John 1:12-13) (Romans 8:14-17). The degree of sin is a choice. A baby may seem innocent, but a baby is not sinless (Psalm 51:5). We have free-will not to sin. We also have free-will to obey God and be holy as our Father in heaven commands.

If you sin you are the child of your father the Devil. You must persevere, endure to the end. Strive for perfection. Jesus said "Therefore, be perfect even as your Father in Heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48) We are perfect in Christ, we are holy in Christ, not of ourselves; but if we love God we will strive to be perfect on in this life and we will strive to be as holy as we can be. Do not be deceived.  God commands us to be holy and we can be as holy as we want to be in Jesus Christ.

Galatians 5:16-25

Walk in The Spirit

“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.  For the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery*, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,  envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. “ 

(All underlining to emphasis seriousness.)

*The word sorcery is derived from the Greek word pharmakeia meaning medicines (drugs) that are mood and mind altering (marijuana, cocaine, heroin, etc.), and the occult, witchcraft, spiritualist, mediums and magic. Pagan religions use(d) drugs to alter minds to contact the dead and deities. God wants you sober, with a clear mind. The Devil and his demons want you out of your mind so they can control you.  Satan does not want you to know the truth of Jesus Christ.

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1 Corinthians 6:9-11

^“ Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”

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Romans 1:18-32

God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;  being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

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Colossians 3:1-8

Not Carnality but Christ

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.  For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness*, passion, evil desire [inordinate affection], and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons [children] of disobedience,  in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.

But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger*, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.

*The word uncleanness includes words, thoughts, innuendos, looks, gestures, and jokes. The words evil desire [inordinate affection] means uncontrolled passion or lust. Anger means unrighteous anger or unjustified anger. Jesus had justified anger when he turned over the tables in the temple because they were using his Father’s house (a holy temple) as a market place (Matthew 21:12, Mark 11:15, John 2:14-15).

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Revelation 21:7-8

He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

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Ephesians 4:17-5:14

The New Man

¹⁷ This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, ¹⁸ having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; ¹⁹ who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

²⁰ But you have not so learned Christ, ²¹ if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: ²² that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, ²³ and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴ and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

Do Not Grieve the Spirit

²⁵ Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. ²⁶ “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, ²⁷ nor give place to the devil. ²⁸ Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. ²⁹ Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. ³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹ Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. ³² And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Walk in Love

5 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. ² And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

³ But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; ⁴ neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. ⁵ For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. ⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. ⁷ Therefore do not be partakers with them.

Walk in Light

⁸ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light ⁹ (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), ¹⁰ finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. ¹¹ And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. ¹² For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. ¹³ But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. ¹⁴ Therefore He says:

“Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light.” *

*Scripture taken from the New King James Version.  Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.  All rights reserved.