… for God knows what
Ok, so you’re here. Curious. Searching for something. Maybe you’ve got that gnawing, never-goes-away feeling that there’s something about life, something in life you’re missing. Maybe you’re bored of the routine. Or maybe you’ve got a list of unanswered questions or frustrations that have plagued you. Or maybe you have absolutely no questions, no problems, no issues and you really love yourself, love life and think you don’t really need anything but you wondered what the heck this slider was all about.
Here’s the scoop: curious, searching, frustrated, plagued or just plain happy with yourself, every one of us, all of humanity, is in the same predicament: It’s called being “lost”. Or you could describe it as “drowning” – some are drowning in sin, in pain, in heartache, in regrets; others are drowning in their own goodness.
What it comes down to: We all need saving and we all need a Savior.
The Good News: God’s already taken care of things. What’s required of you? Trust Him, believe that He has rescued you and let Him rescue you.
Below is a condensed version of the GREATEST NEWS you will ever hear regarding God, you, and God’s heart for all humanity. Some call it the “Good News”. It’s actually pretty GREAT NEWS. Regardless of where you are in your spiritual journey, we hope some of the things below will answer questions, stir up your spiritual hunger and point you in the direction of God’s heart because He truly is longing for you and longing for you to know Him.
Your life is part of a grand story – one that involves God, you & the rest of humanity.
Your God-story is about discovering how to live as your “true self”, a child of God, as John described in the verse below:
John 1:12-13 TM – But whoever did want Him, who believed He was who He claimed and would do what He said, He made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves. These are the God-begotten, not blood-begotten, not flesh-begotten, not sex-begotten.
God’s first and foremost thoughts about you are GOOD thoughts.
He loves you beyond all reason. Regardless of what you have done or how you are living, or whether or not you will ever love Him in return – He loves you. Period. That will never change.
Jeremiah 31:3 NLT – …“I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.
God’s love is never the issue, but our acceptance of His love is the issue. The greatest question you will ever answer: What will you do with His love?
What does God want most concerning us? That we BE WITH HIM. He wants to be with us in this life and wants us to be with Him forever.
John 3:16-17 – God loved the people of this world so much that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who has faith in Him will have eternal life and never really die. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent Him to save them!
You & I were made for God’s family.
You were created for it. Chosen for it. It carries your identity. God even planted a “homing beacon” in your heart that would draw you “home” to His heart:
Ecclesiastes 3:11 Amp – He has made everything beautiful in its time. He also has planted eternity in men’s hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy], yet so that men cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
So if God loves us and chose us to be His family – what’s the issue?
The issue is our sin.
Sin has messed up the “homing beacon” in our hearts causing us to “lose our way home”. Some of us don’t see the sin; we see ourselves as pretty good. The problem is our “pretty good” isn’t really good at all. Instead of seeking God, we pride-fully seek our own way no matter how noble or honorable it may seem. We seek what will satisfy “self”. We are utterly incapable on our own of finding and living the amazing life God originally intended for us as His children. Sin is what separates us from God and inevitably from our purpose
Romans 3:10-12, 23 – As the Scriptures say, ‘No one is righteous – not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one….23For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
But God saved us out of the mess we were in and made a way for us to live out the original intended purpose of our lives.
Romans 3:23-25 TM – Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ. God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public—to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured.
God came down not just because of the “sin mess”; He came down for something much greater: He came down for relationship – for connection – for His family.
Instead of the punishment we deserved for our selfish rebellion against God, instead of allowing us to fend for ourselves and pay for our stubbornness….In His grace, God came to humanity. Jesus is God in the flesh Who came to rescue and restore broken humanity back to wholeness and back to relationship with God the Father:
John 3:16-17 – “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
Salvation and the gift of eternal life comes as we believe that Jesus is THE ONLY WAY to that life.
We are saved when we believe in Jesus to free us from sin and not try to free ourselves from sin by trying to keep rules or adopt a certain lifestyle or habits. Salvation comes only through one WAY: Jesus Christ. By believing in Jesus and placing my confidence and trust in Him to make me right with God.
If you’d like to encounter God “for real” yourself, if you’d like to begin this salvation life, God is ready to meet you right where you are. The prayer below is a way to help you express your desire for God and to know Him. Or you might just want to tell God in your own words your need and desire for Him.
Prayer:
“I confess that as good as I’ve tried to be, I’m still not good enough to earn eternal life. I’m a sinner. I need more than a second chance – I need a Savior. I believe Jesus, Your Son, came to this world to be my Savior. So right now I place all my trust in His death on the cross as the full payment for my sin. I’m no longer trusting in my goodness, my effort, my commitment or my consistency. I’m trusting completely in Jesus. Thank you for forgiving me. Thank You for giving me the promise of eternal life….”
