You and God – the Reconciliation (while there’s still time)

Dear Friend,

God created the world, with all its beauty, for people like you to enjoy. He also created men and women so they could share in a loving relationship with Him.

Ever since God formed you in your mother’s womb, He has known you and everything about you. God has even counted the number of hairs on your head. He also knows when you rise and when you sit down.

Sadly, men and women turn away from Him and most deliberately choose not to know God – their loving Creator. The Bible says that the evidence of God’s eternal power and divine nature may be plainly seen in the wonders of creation. God has also given each person a conscience that speaks to them of right and wrong. Throughout your life you have suffered the results of wrong actions, both from the hands of others and by your own choices.

Although many bad things have happened to you, you are nevertheless responsible for your own actions and the choices you make as you go through life. When you have lied, stolen, cheated, or deceived others, the person you offended the most by these actions was GOD Himself. The Bible calls such actions “SIN” and all your unforgiven sin will one day be judged by God. The Bible says:”For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”. No-one is blameless.

God hates sin because he is Holy (perfect). Sadly, your sin separates you from God and the loving relationship He seeks with you. All sin will, one day, be punished so this puts you in great danger. But the GOOD NEWS is that God is – even now – ready, willing and able to forgive your sins and remove that separation. This forgiveness by God restores the opportunity for you to have a loving relationship with God your creator. Are you prepared to turn from your present way of life, change direction and turn to God your creator for a fresh start? In doing this, God calls you to stop trusting in and relying upon everything you have, and surrender your life to Him. So your old life has to go when you take this step. However, God promises to give you His power to enable you to live a new life.

Have you heard of Jesus Christ of Nazareth? Hundreds of years before He was born into this world, many prophets wrote about His coming. These prophecies telling of Jesus’ coming are all in the Bible, a book about Him. Jesus’ coming to Earth from Heaven was according to God’s saving plan for all mankind.

Jesus Christ of Nazareth was sent by God the Father, out of love, into the world on a mission to rescue men and women. In obedience to God’s plan Jesus lived a sinless life, yet He willingly gave up His life and died on a cross to rescue you and me. By his death and resurrection three days later, Jesus broke the power of sin and death. After He rose from the dead, Jesus was seen alive again by hundreds of people.

By His death on a cross, Jesus paid the price for your sin and mine. The Bible says: “But God shows his love for us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Jesus gave himself up as a sacrifice on our behalf by taking upon himself God’s punishment that our sins deserve. Jesus is now alive for evermore and sits at the right hand of God the Father in Heaven, in a place of glory and honour.

DO YOU WANT TO BE RESCUED?

Do you want Jesus to rescue you from your sins and your present way of life? The Bible says: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

If you cry out to Jesus to save you, He will set you free, give you eternal life and a place in God’s family. Because Jesus was sinless, yet paid the price due for your sin – in your place – you can trust in Him as your substitute and go free. So you do not have to suffer the consequences of your own sins. God is then able to help you live a new life, by His power. The Bible says: “For it is by grace you are saved, through faith, and this not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, so that none can boast”. God offers you His forgiveness as a free gift.

Jesus gives new life by His Spirit, which sets people free and brings them into God’s kingdom.

At the end of your life, Jesus will hold you alone responsible for all your unforgiven sins and you will be judged accordingly. If you choose to hold on to your sin, refusing Jesus’ free offer of forgiveness, you will bear the consequences on your own head – the wrath (anger) of God for eternity.

On the other hand, if you cry out to Jesus to forgive your sins NOW, He will do so and set you free from sin’s controlling power, He will wipe the slate clean and give you a fresh start. You can know total forgiveness of all the sins you have ever committed.

There is NO sin you have committed that Jesus cannot forgive, as He is “all-powerful” and “all-forgiving”. Jesus said: “I and the Father are one.” The sins He forgives in this life are forgiven, and forgotten, for eternity. at a crossroads in your life. Do you wish, whether you realise it or not, to remain a slave of sin? Or will you surrender your life to Jesus? Realise who this Jesus is. He is God, the one who died for you and offers you total forgiveness, peace and joy – now! The Bible says: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”

One day all men and women will stand before Jesus, the Judge of all mankind. The Bible says: “…man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgement…”. Jesus alone has been given all power and authority in judgement by God the Father. Jesus therefore will decide where you will spend eternity. Although our human bodies eventually give out and die, our spirits live on beyond death.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DIE?

We all live on after death and the Bible makes clear that we end up in one of two places, either:

(a) a place of weeping, suffering, eternal torment and eternal separation from God for those who reject Him (Hell aka the Lake of Fire), or

(b) a place of eternal peace, love and joy (Heaven)in the presence of God, your creator.

Jesus himself said that most people walk through this life on the BROAD ROAD that leads to DESTRUCTION, rather than on the NARROW ROAD that leads to LIFE.

After this life is over your destiny is sealed based on your response to Jesus Christ in this life. So you need to respond to Jesus’ call on your life while you still have breath in your body! The Bible says: “Today is the day of salvation.”

No-one else can forgive your sin and make you right with God. Jesus truly is God’s unique gift to mankind!

The Two Sides of Life

For over 30 years I worked in Government service with Armed Forces personnel in a cosseted environment. It was an “Ivory Tower”, remote from real life suffering and tragedy.  

During the last 10 years however, moving in an environment where suffering and tragedy abound, I meet up with it all the time, albeit at arm’s length.

Today I met a guy who seemed drunk, as he found it difficult to walk in a straight line. He had a severe injury that made walking upright difficult. As we chatted he cursed the day he ever took heroin, “the worst mistake I ever made”. He is an ex-offender, struggling to cope with everyday life. He was sweating profusely, an indicator of drug withdrawal; he admitted he’s still a user.

   Some time back he threw himself in the local canal; fortunately he was spotted and rescued by the Police.

I prayed briefly for the pain he was suffering. It improved very slightly, but he was still suffering. He wasn’t inclined to carry on with further prayer.

I told him to not give up; there is always hope if you believe in God. He said he did believe. I asked if could read and he said he could, so I showed him a small booklet called “Finding Hope”. It is an excellent little booklet produced by SGM Lifewords. They produce this booklet in several languages http://www.sgmlifewords.com/uk/resources?search=finding+hope

 

Not Thy Will, But My Will Be Done!

   I had a long chat with a guy who came in for food. He had been to church in Wales as a youngster, but had drifted away as he grew up. He had lost some family members in the last few years and had felt their nearness on their passing away. We discussed God and belief, and he thought there was “something there”, but he was not really interested in pursuing the question in his life. I gave him the gospel basics, and tried to encourage him to reach out to God, but didn’t get very far. Later that day I was thinking over of the phrase: “Not THY will, but MY will be done”. It’s really on that basis that we end up either in Heaven or in Hell – our eternal destination is what we ourselves choose in this life.

I also thought how many are happy to say “I believe in God”, but go no further than a mental assent. It reminds me of the evangelist’s use of the parachute as an illustration of what faith involves. I can say I believe in parachutes, but that belief means nothing until the day I’m in an out of control aircraft, reach for a parachute and put it on. It’s only when I put it on, jump and full the ripcord that I really do believe in parachutes!!  It’s the application of faith that determines whether your faith in “x”means anything at all.

A younger woman came in and I recognised her as “J”, a street drinker I used to see regularly when I did mission work on the streets. At that time she was a vulnerable girl, very self-willed, who wouldn’t listen to our requests to go back home to her Mum, whom she lived with. When she walked in I could see she was intoxicated, so nothing had really changed. As we at down to chat, she told me that she’d had “a 5 month old dead baby” and started to cry. I really felt for her, poor woman. Clearly someone had taken advantage of her, and even that had had a tragic outcome. Eventually the supervisor called a local unit where she was staying for transport, as she needed to get across to the other side of town and clearly couldn’t get there under her own steam.

A young guy turned up later. He told me he had mental health issues and suffered from a type of psychosis. I asked if he’d done drugs in the past. He admitted a long use of cannabis, then latterly a serious heroin habit. He was now on a prescription for Subbutex, a heroin substitute designed to wean you off the drug. He’d been given accommodation by a local charity and was hoping to get back on his feet.

 

 

The One Big Question For The Atheist To Consider Honestly

All text for this post is in the embedded image.

Website For New Christians

   If you know of anyone who has become a Christian recently, please point them to the website http://www.newchristian.org.uk  This site has over 280 pages and caters for church leaders too, with several hundred links to church resources for pastors and leaders.

Is There A God?

Spent some time today printing out and laminating some little cards with “Is There A God?” and the website URL   http://www.is-there-a-god.info/   on them. I am doing some evangelism work in the Christian tent at the Counties Show tomorrow, and have added this little resource as an extra for giving to those I chat to. Have got a load of different resources together including tracts, gospels, Million Pound Notes, my own website cards, etc etc.

I will post again after the show with any feedback from events of the day.