Tag: Jesus

Why Do You Need Jesus?

John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

I am not the kind of person that you can just say, “Go do this” and I will do it. I need to understand the WHY behind what I am doing so that it makes sense to me. Lately I’ve been struggling with the “why” behind “Why do I need Jesus?” I believe in God; I know I am filled with the Holy Spirit. But what part did Jesus play in all this? I’ve been reading the Bible, listening to sermons online and watching documentaries about the Holy Gospel and yesterday I finally heard something that made it all fit together for me. So, I want to share it with you.

When man first sinned, we were separated from God because of our sin. So, we were given laws to follow in order to bridge that divide. But because we are sinful, we could never follow those laws perfectly. Everyone has lied, everyone has put something before God, everyone has dishonored their parents, and everyone has had lust in their heart for another person or thing. No matter how hard we try to be good, we sin. This creates despair.

But God. God does not want us to be separated from him. So, he gave the people of Israel the ability to atone for their sins through sacrifices. The blood of a lamb could be shed to wipe away their sins. But then they sinned again. So, they would make another sacrifice. But then they sinned again. So, another sacrifice was made. It would never end. So, God sent Jesus. The Lamb of God. The ultimate sacrifice. The final sacrifice. Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live and then he died on the cross to shed his blood for our sins.

You see, every sin ever committed by every person who has ever lived will be punished. That is required. It will either be punished everlastingly by the sinner (you) or that punishment will be borne by the blood of Jesus Christ.  His death was sufficient to pay for all your sins. Trust in Jesus. Abandon all the hope you put into your good works and what a great person you are and trust in the person and works of Jesus Christ alone. This creates peace.

Give your heart to Jesus. Today! Then tell your friends and family about Jesus. Today! Without Jesus there is no eternal life with God. There is only eternal punishment. I choose life!

Dear Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross to save me from eternal punishment. I give my heart to you today. Please fill me with the Holy Spirit and give me the courage to tell others about you. Amen.

I am the WAY

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

When I asked God what he wanted me to tell his people today, He laid this verse on my heart. Many of my devotions talk about my relationship with God but only a few talk about my relationship with Jesus. For some reason it makes me uncomfortable to talk about Jesus. I think it is because most people believe in God. I mean look around you. How can you not believe in God? There is no way this earth could come to exist any other way than by the hands of my amazing God. But Jesus. Jesus is another story. Jesus was a man. Just like you and me. But he was God at the same time. That is hard to believe.  So until now I’ve shared what is easy to share and I’ve left the hard theology for the scholars. Well that stops today. I am going to do my best to share what I believe.

Matthew 7:13-14 says “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Jesus is that narrow road. It is not hard to find the road but only a few decided to walk that road. It is narrow because there is only one way to the Father and that is Jesus.    The wide gate and the broad road is the road of popular opinion. The wide gate has many different worldly lifestyles and it leads to eternal ruin.

Jesus is the only way to God the Father. Some people may argue that this is way too narrow. But in reality, it is wide enough for the whole world, if the world chooses to accept it. I chose to accept Jesus when I was a child but I didn’t really have a relationship with Jesus until about 6 years ago. Now I walk the narrow road.  I am happy on the narrow road. I know that Jesus is with me every step of the way. Jesus makes his presence known to me every day in little ways and it lights up my day when I realize that He has had a hand in making my plans come together.  If you have not given your life to the Lord, you can do so today.  

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. Amen

What If?

Matthew 6:33 “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”

To seek the Kingdom of God above all else means to turn to God first for help. What if this entire season was meant to get us to slow down? What if this season was intended to steer us into spending more time with our Lord? God is our Father, our heavenly Father. What is more appealing to a father than to have his children crawl onto his lap, with complete and total trust and faith, and spend time with him?

If you are a parent of a teenager or a young adult, you know how it feels when you want to connect with your kids, but they just don’t have time. They are busy with friends, work, entertainment, fashion, sports, movies, etc. It is not that they are being bad, they are just busy. Is that what we were doing with God? What if God said, “Enough! I want to be with my children. I want to spend time with them and their families.” What if this season is more about HIM than us?

What is really important to you? People, objects, goals? There are so many things that compete for our attention. Any of these things can quickly bump God out of first place if you don’t actively choose to give him first place in every area of your life. In Matthew 22:37, Jesus says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” According the Jesus, this is the FIRST and GREATEST commandment. What if that is what this is all about?

Dear heavenly father, thank you for sending your son Jesus to die for us. Please always help us to prioritize our lives so that we put you first. Amen.

Technology and The Bible

Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ. (NLT)

Technology.  I don’t understand how an image that is 100, 500, or even 1,000 miles away can reappear on my computer screen in my bedroom.  I don’t understand how it works, but it brings me so much joy.  I am comforted by it.  I can see and hear my Mom and Day and know that they are safe.  I can sing Happy Birthday to my sister and see her excitement. 

I can share technology with other people and they can experience the same range of emotions too.  In that way, technology is like the Word of God.  When I read the Bible, I am comforted by the words I read.  I can share God’s word and I see it bring joy to other people too.  Simple words that individually are just words put together brings happiness and comfort to me every day.  I honestly don’t understand how it happens.  But I still want to share it.  I want other people to feel the same way, have the same experience. 

My soul is filled up.  Don’t you want to feel that way too?  Don’t you want that empty feeling to go away?  The only way to do that is through the Word of God.  Everything else is temporary. The Word of God will fill the empty space permanently.  It will bring you peace, and forgiveness, and a joy that you will want to share with other people too.  Jesus did all the hard work while he was here on earth.  When he left, he left the Holy Spirit here to help us.  Open your heart to hear God’s Word and the Holy Spirit will do the rest.

Don’t have a Bible?  No problem. I’m sure you have a smart phone.  All you have to do is download the YouVersion Bible App (which is FREE) and click on Plans.  Then search for “Gateway”.  In the search results you will see “Fresh Start Bible One-Year Reading Plan”.  Click on that and then click “Start Plan”.  You can read the Bible by yourself or you can read it with friends.  The best thing about the YouVersion Bible App is that you can click a button (it’s at the top of the screen on my phone) that looks like a little speaker with sound coming out of it.  If you click on it, it will read the Bible verses to you.  SA-WEET!

Dear Lord, thank you for the people that created the technology we use everyday to stay connected to our loved ones.  Encourage me daily to use the same technology to dive into your word.  Amen.