PEACE OF MIND IN AN UNSTABLE WORLD

No matter what the future holds, you can have peace of mind and confidence when you know this.

No matter what happens in the world or in our own individual lives, is there a place to turn for stability? Can we look toward the future with hope, regardless of life's and the world's circumstances? These days many people are seeing the value of God as their constant. The world around us is ever-changing, but God does not change. He is steady, reliable. He says, "Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one. For I, the Lord, do not change."¹ God is always there. He can be counted on. He is "the same yesterday and today, and forever."² And God can make himself known, giving us a peace of mind through him, setting our hearts securely at rest.

Is Peace of Mind Possible?

Heather, a Stanford grad, put it this way: "To be in a real-life relationship with God is a staggering and beautiful daily reality. There is 'cosmic companionship' that I won't trade the world for. I am deeply known and loved in a way I can only hope to adequately communicate."

Steve Sawyer, a hemophiliac, looked for stability when he found out that he'd received HIV from a bad blood transfusion. At first Steve was in great despair. He blamed God. Then Steve reached out to God. The result: the last few years of his life, Steve travelled to countless college campuses (enduring great pain) just to tell fellow students how they could know God and experience the peace he had experienced in knowing him. God has said, "My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."³

Like Steve, others have learned that no matter what happens in this life, it's not "the end of the world" -- because this world isn't the end.

The God of the Foxholes

Admittedly, many people wait until times get really rough before they turn to God. A military chaplain from World War II explained that "there are no atheists in the foxholes." When life is rosy, people don't feel like they need God. But that often changes when things get messy, when we realize we're in the trenches.

Caryn explains her path to God like this: "I thought I was a Christian because I went to church on Sunday, but I had no idea who God was. My senior year in high school looked much like my other three years. I spent most of my time getting drunk, high, or trying to find some way for someone to love me. I was dying inside and had no control over my life. It was when I realized how much I wanted my life to end that I knew when I went away to college I had to find some hope. It was then that I asked God to come into my life. He has shown me love, security, forgiveness, support, comfort, acceptance, and a purpose for living. He is my strength, and I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for him."

Who knows what the future holds? Many may feel like they're in a foxhole. Life can be a battle. Our peace of mind can be greatly shaken. At those moments when the heat is on, we often reach out to God. That's okay, because God,the constant, is there and actually wants to be involved in our lives. He says, "I, even I, am the Lord; and there is no savior besides me. Turn to me and be saved...for I am God, and there is no other."⁴

Yes, God can be thought of as a "crutch," but it's likely that he is the only truly legitimate one.

The Invisible Foxholes

Some people, however, turn to God even when things seem to be going well. John explained that: "By my senior year, I had achieved everything that people were telling me would make me fulfilled -- having leadership roles in campus organizations, partying, making good grades, dating girls I was really attracted to. Everything that I wanted to do and achieve while in college came to pass -- and yet I was still unfulfilled. Something was still missing and I had nowhere else to go. Of course, no one knew I was feeling this way about life -- on the outside I didn't show it."

Even when things seem to go right, life can still present a foxhole -- an internal one that's invisible to the naked eye but felt in the heart. Becky described that phenomenon this way: "How many times have you thought that if you just had that piece of clothing, or that boyfriend, or got to visit some place, that then your life would be happy and complete? And how many times have you purchased that shirt, or dated that guy or visited that place and walked away feeling more empty than when you began?"

We don't need failure or tragedy to feel the foxholes. Most often lack of peace results simply from the absence of God in our lives. Becky says of coming to know God, "Since then I've had many struggles and changes in my life, but everything I do takes on a new perspective knowing that I have a loving, eternal God on my side. I believe that there is nothing that God and I can't handle together -- and as for the completeness that I had searched so hard for, I had finally found it."

With God involved in our lives, we can rest easy. As we get to know God and listen to what he says in the Bible, he brings about that peace of mind in our lives, because we know him. We see life from his vantage point, aware of his faithfulness and ability to take care of us. So no matter what the future holds, we can place our hope in God as our constant. He's waiting to prove himself in our lives if we will turn to him and seek him.

True Peace of Mind - Building Upon the Rock

Are you building upon something in your life? Believe it or not, every person is building upon something. Each of us has a foundation, something we're putting our hope and faith in. Maybe it's ourselves -- "I know I can make my life a success if I try hard enough." Or a lifestyle -- "If I can make enough money, life will be wonderful." Or even a time period -- "The future is going to change things."

God has a different viewpoint. He says it is shaky ground to put our hope and faith in ourselves, in other people, or in anything this world offers. Instead, he wants us to trust in him. He says, "Everyone who hears these words of mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall."⁵

It's wise to have God involved in our lives for those times when the catastrophes come. But God's intent is for us to have a more abundant life no matter what the circumstances are. He wants to have a positive influence on every area of our lives. When we rely upon him and his words, we are building upon the Rock.

The Ultimate Peace of Mind

Some people feel secure being the child of a multi-millionaire, or knowing they can easily pull good grades. There is an even greater security in having a relationship with God.

God is powerful. Unlike us, God knows what will happen tomorrow, next week, next year, the next decade. He says, "I am God, and there is no one like me, declaring the end from the beginning."⁶ He knows what will happen in the future. More importantly, he knows what will occur in your life and will be there for you when it happens, if you've chosen to include him in your life. He tells us that he can be "our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble."⁷ But we must make a sincere effort to seek him. He says, "you will seek me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart."⁸

That doesn't mean that those who know God will not go through difficult times. They will. If our nation encounters terrorist attacks, environmental or economic disasters, those who know God will be included in the suffering. But there is a peace and a strength that God's presence gives. One follower of Jesus Christ put it this way: "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed."⁹ Reality tells us that we will confront problems. However, if we go through them in relationship with God, we can react to them with a different perspective and with a strength that is not our own. No problem has the capacity to be insurmountable to God. He is bigger than all the problems that can hit us, and we are not left alone to deal with them.

God cares. God's great power, which can be shown in our lives, is accompanied by his deep love. The future might be a time of world peace as never seen before, or maybe there will be more ethnic hatred and violence, more divorce, etc. In either case, no one will love us as much as God can love us. No one will care for us as highly as God can care for us. His Word tells us, "The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him."¹⁰ "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."¹¹ And, "The Lord is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them."¹²

Jesus Christ told his followers these comforting words: "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Therefore do not fear; you are of more value than many sparrows."¹³ If you turn to God, he will care for you as no one else does, and in a way that no one else can.

Peace of Mind through God

We have no idea what the future holds. If it brings hard times, God can be there for us. If it brings easy times, we will still need God to fill that inner void we have and to give our lives meaning.

When all is said and done, what matters most? What really matters is that we are not separated from God. Do we know God? Does he know us? Have we shut him out of our lives? Or have we let him in? Through knowing him, he produces in us a changing perspective and gives us hope. Through being in a relationship with him, we can have peace in the midst of all circumstances.

Why must God be central to our lives? Because there is no real peace or hope apart from knowing him. He is God and we are not. He does not depend on us, but we must depend upon him. He created us to need his presence in our lives. We can try to make life work without him, but it will be futile.

God wants us to seek him. He wants us to know him and to have him involved in our lives. But there is a problem: we've all shut him out. The Bible describes it this way: "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way."¹⁴ We've all tried to make our lives work without God. That's what the Bible calls "sin."

Heather, quoted earlier, says concerning sin: "When I entered Stanford, I was not a Christian. The world lay at my feet then, waiting to be revolutionized. I attended political meetings, took classes on racism and social justice, and immersed myself at the community service center. I believed in the power within me to make a significant difference in the world. I tutored underprivileged elementary school kids; I ran the day camp at a homeless shelter; I collected leftover food to feed the hungry. Yet, the more I tried to change the world, the more frustrated I became. I confronted bureaucracy, apathy, and...sin. I began to think that maybe human nature needed a basic overhaul."

Peace of Mind = Peace with God

Changing times and improved technology don't really matter all that much in the grand scheme of things. Why? Because our basic problem as human beings is that we've distanced ourselves from God. Our greatest problems are not physical, but spiritual. God knows this, so he provided a solution for our separation from him. He made a way for us to find our way back to him...through Jesus Christ.

The Bible says that, "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."¹⁵Jesus Christ was crucified (an ancient form of execution) for our sins, in our place. He died, was buried, then rose from the dead. Because of his sacrificial death, we can come into a relationship with God -- "To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."¹⁶

It's really rather simple: God wants to be in perfect relationship with us -- so he made that relationship possible through Jesus. It's then up to us to seek God and ask him into our lives. Most people do this through prayer. Prayer means talking honestly with God. Right now you can reach out to God by telling him something like this in sincerity: "God, I want to know you. I haven't allowed you into my life thus far, but I want to change that. I want to take advantage of your solution for my separation from you. I am relying on Jesus' death on my behalf so that I can be forgiven and be made right with you. I want you to be involved in my life from this day forward."

Have you sincerely asked God into your life? Only you and he know for sure. If you have, you have a lot to look forward to. God promises to make your present life one of greater satisfaction because of your relationship with him.¹⁷ He promises to make his home in you.¹⁸ And he gives you eternal life.¹⁹

Melissa had this to say about God: "My mother divorced my father when I was very young, and I wasn't really sure what was going on. I only knew that my father no longer came home. One day I went to visit my grandmother and I told her that I didn't understand why my father would hurt me and then disappear. She hugged me and told me that there was someone who would never leave me, and that someone was Jesus. She quoted Hebrews 13:5 and Psalms 68:5 which say 'I will never leave, nor forsake you' and 'He will be a father to the fatherless.' I was really excited to hear that God wanted to be my Father."

No matter what happens in the world around you, there is peace of mind knowing that God can be there for you. Regardless of what the future holds, you can have God as your constant.

►	I just asked Jesus into my life (some helpful information follows)...
►	I may want to ask Jesus into my life, please explain this more fully...
►	I have a question or comment...

(1) Isaiah 44:8 and Malachi 3:6 in the Bible
(2) Hebrews 13:8
(3) John 14:27 and 16:33
(4) Isaiah 43:11 and Isaiah 45:22
(5) Matthew 7:24-27
(6) Isaiah 46:9-10
(7) Psalm 46:1
(8) Jeremiah 29:13
(9) 2 Corinthians 4:8-9
(10) Nahum 1:7
(11) 1 Peter 5:7
(12) Psalms 145:17-19
(13) Matthew 10:29-31
(14) Isaiah 53:6a
(15) John 3:16
(16) John 1:12
(17) John 10:10
(18) John 14:23
(19) 1 John 5:11-13

Credit to  http://bit.ly/1Rxt6U0

"Give Me Scotland or I Die!"

"Give me Scotland or I die!"

That's what John Knox said of Scotland. I would say: To fall in love with your community, you have to die--to yourself, to the mission and to your own preferences.

If you are going to reach a community, you need to be deeply in love with it. Jesus, looking down on Jerusalem, cried, "They are like sheep without a shepherd." We have to say the same, about Plainview, Philadelphia and Pasadena. I am convinced you will not reach a community for Christ unless you are deeply in love with the community and its people.

I have often called for Christians in our world to think like missionaries in the Two-Thirds World. If you have ever been around a missionary, you know that the good ones all love the people they are sent to--they can't stop talking about the culture and context.

When missionaries take up residence cross-culturally, they truly love the culture where they live, sometimes even more than the culture back home. In the same way, a person looking to minister in a specific community cannot be disinterested in it. If it is a fishing community, you had better love fishing or learn to love it. If the community has a high school football team, you had better keep up with it. If you are a church leader, the community and its people must have an important part in your heart.

I think you and I need the same passion in our contexts--our own personal "Scotlands"--for the Gospel.

Jesus demonstrated this very concept in His earthly ministry as He: walked with the people in His culture, lived with them, listened to them, told stories to them, welcomed their children, and recognized and met people's needs.

The Church in Your Head

Too many church leaders read a book or go to a conference and get a great vision of a church in their heads. The problem is, they don't have a great vision for their community. The catch here is that part of you often has to die. Your own preferences have to be laid down to receive Christ's call and mission to the community. I don't care what you like; I care that you love the Gospel and the people God has called you to reach. You may have to die to your desires--to pastoring a cool church in Manhattan or a laid back church in Southern California.

Leading the Church to Love

As a church leader, you must be willing to die to your preferences so your community can be reached with the Gospel, and so must your church. In established churches, this can be even more challenging than personally dying to self. This is because the pastor often already has the vision and burden to reach the community, but the church is comfortable residing in the Christian ghetto insulated from the community. (While maybe not as common, church myopia can also be a problem for planters if the new church is growing primarily by people coming from other churches, most, if not all, of whom already have their own ideas about how church ought to be.)

Reaching a community for Christ is not about you and your preferences. It is more about Jesus and his mission to send you to people. Your goal is what Count Zinzendorf said: "Preach the Gospel, die and be forgotten."

Until the church dies to its comfort, preferences, wants and desires, it will not be able to reach the community. But like a grain of wheat, it must die so that it may bring new life.

Perhaps we should combine the phrases of Knox and Zinzendorf and say, "Give me Scotland or I die ... then let me die and be forgotten." When that matters most, you'll die to self, live for His mission and reach your community in ways that are unimaginable.

This column first appeared in the Nov/Dec 2012 issue of Outreach Magazine. The magazine has several excellent articles, including a cover story on evangelism that highlights some of our LifeWay Research.

Extracted from http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2012/november/give-me-scotland-or-i-die.html

REVIVAL OR DEATH

REVIVAL OR DEATH
“For decades sincere believers have asked, "Why don't we have revival?" And for decades the answer has
always been the same: We don't have revival because we're willing to live without it! It really is that
simple. Do we really want to hear the truth? God responds to hunger and thirst. He fills those who
recognize their need, who are empty and broken, who are at the point of desperation, who are panting
for Him the way a deer pants for water in the desert. He answers dependent prayers. Sure, we want
revival. But we don't need revival. That's the difference. God will meet us at our point of need, not our
point of preference. Revival is God's radical measure to get the church in a given area or at a given time
back to normal before it falls into spiritual oblivion and cultural irrelevance. Revival comes when we
realize that it's either revival or death, revival or continued backsliding, revival or the world around us
goes to hell.” In this above quote from Michael Brown, he really speaks to the high requirement for
revival namely in one word: Everything! Oh Brethren we must realize that this has always been so, there
are no shortcuts with God, we will never see a revival until this is realized and acted upon. In light of
eternity let us have tears for our lack of desire and desperation for God. John Knox was a Great Man of
God and this was his prayer, " God give me Scotland or I die!" Again, John Hyde who was a missionary,
prayed, " God give me souls or I die" Again, Whitefield prayed, " God give me souls or take my soul!"
May we take it further dear reader, can you pray: “God, Give me revival or I die?”


for more information click here

DOES GOD ANSWER OUR PRAYERS?

How to pray? What does it take for God to answer prayers?

Click above to watch video

Have you ever known someone who really trusts God? When I was an atheist, I had a good friend who prayed often. She would tell me every week about something she was trusting God to take care of. And every week I would see God do something unusual to answer her prayer. Do you know how difficult it is for an atheist to observe this week after week? After a while, "coincidence" begins to sound like a very weak argument.

So why would God answer my friend's prayers? The biggest reason is that she had a relationship with God. She wanted to follow God. And she actually listened to what he said. In her mind, God had the right to direct her in life, and she welcomed him doing just that! When she prayed for things, it was a natural part of her relationship with God. She felt very comfortable coming to God with her needs, her concerns, and whatever issues were current in her life. Furthermore, she was convinced, from what she read in the Bible, that God wanted her to rely on him like that.

She pretty much exhibited what this statement from the Bible says, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us."¹ "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer..."²

So, Why Doesn't God Answer Everyone's Prayers?

It may be because they don't have a relationship with God. They may know that God exists, and they might even worship God from time to time. But those who never seem to have their prayers answered probably don't have a relationship with him. Further, they have never received from God complete forgiveness for their sin. What does that have to do with it you ask? Here is an explanation. "Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God. Your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear."³

It's pretty natural to feel that separation from God. When people begin to ask God for something, what usually takes place? They begin with, "God, I really need your help with this problem..." And then there's a pause, followed by a restart... "I realize that I'm not a perfect person, that I actually have no right to ask you for this..." There's an awareness of personal sin and failure. And the person knows that it's not just them; that God is aware of it too. There's a feeling of, "Who am I kidding?" What they may not know is how they can receive God's forgiveness for all their sin. They might not know that they can come into a relationship with God so that God will hear them. This is the foundation for God answering your prayer.

How to Pray: The Foundation

You must first begin a relationship with God. Here's why. Imagine that a guy named Mike asks the president of Princeton University to co-sign a car loan for him. If Mike doesn't personally know the president of Princeton, that car loan is not going to happen. Yet, if the daughter of this president asked her dad to co-sign a car loan for her, it would be no problem. Relationship matters.

With God, when the person is actually a child of God, when the person belongs to God, he knows them and hears their prayers. Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me...my sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand."⁴

When it comes to God then, do you really know him and does he know you? Do you have a relationship with him that warrants God answering your prayers? Or is God pretty distant, pretty much just a concept in your life? If God is distant, or you're not sure that you know God, here is how you can begin a relationship with him right now: Getting Connected.

Will God Definitely Answer Your Prayer?

For those who do know him and rely on him, Jesus seems to be wildly generous in his offer: "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you."⁵ To "remain" in him and have his words remain in them means they conduct their lives aware of him, relying on him, listening to what he says. Then they're able to ask him whatever they want. Here is another qualifier: "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us -- whatever we ask -- we know that we have what we asked of him."⁶ God answers our prayers according to his will (and according to his wisdom, his love for us, his holiness, etc.).

Where we trip up is assuming we know God's will, because a certain thing makes sense to us! We assume that there is only one right "answer" to a specific prayer, assuming certainly THAT would be God's will. And this is where it gets tough. We live within the limits of time and limits of knowledge. We have only limited information about a situation and the implications of future action on that situation. God's understanding is unlimited. How an event plays out in the course of life or history is only something he knows. And he may have purposes far beyond what we could even imagine. So, God is not going to do something simply because we determine that it must be his will.

What Does It Take? What is God Inclined to Do?

Pages and pages could be filled about God's intentions toward us. The entire Bible is a description of the kind of relationship God wants us to experience with him and the kind of life he wants to give us. Here are just a few examples:

"...the Lord longs to be gracious to you. He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for [trust] him!"⁷ Did you catch that? Like someone rising out of his chair to come to your help, "He rises to show you compassion." "As for God, his way is perfect...He is a shield for all who take refuge in him."⁸ "The Lord delights in those who fear [reverence] him, who put their hope in his unfailing love."⁹

However, God's greatest display of his love and commitment to you is this: Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends,"¹⁰ which is what Jesus did for us. And so, "If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since God did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won't God, who gave us Christ, also give us everything else?"¹¹

What about "Unanswered" Prayer?

Certainly people get sick, even die; financial problems are real, and all sorts of very difficult situations can come up. What then?

God tells us to give our concerns to him. Even as the situation remains dismal, "Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you."¹² The circumstances may look out of control, but they aren't. When the whole world seems to be falling apart, God can keep us together. This is when a person can be very grateful that they know God. "The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."¹³God may provide solutions, resolutions to the problem WAY beyond what you imagined possible. Probably any Christian could list examples like this in their own lives. But if the circumstances do not improve, God can still give us his peace in the midst of it. Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful."¹⁴

It is at this point (when circumstances are still tough) that God asks us to continue to trust him -- to "walk by faith, not by sight" the Bible says. But it's not blind faith. It is based on the very character of God. A car traveling on the Golden Gate Bridge is fully supported by the integrity of the bridge. It doesn't matter what the driver may be feeling, or thinking about, or discussing with someone in the passenger seat. What gets the car safely to the other side is the integrity of the bridge, which the driver was willing to trust.

In the same way, God asks us to trust his integrity, his character...his compassion, love, wisdom, righteousness on our behalf. He says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you."¹⁵ "Trust in him at all times, O people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us."¹⁶

In Summary...How to Pray

God has offered to answer the prayers of his children (those who have received him into their lives and seek to follow him). He asks us to take any concerns to him in prayer and he will act upon it according to his will. As we deal with difficulties we are to cast our cares on him and receive from him a peace that defies the circumstances. The basis for our hope and faith is the character of God himself. The better we know him, the more apt we are to trust him.

For more on the character of God, please see "Who is God?" or other articles on this site. The reason we pray is God's character. The first prayer God answers is your prayer to begin a relationship with God.

(Article by Marilyn Adamson)

►	I have a question or comment...
►	How to know God...

(1) 1 John 5:14
(2) 1 Peter 3:12
(3) Isaiah 59:1,2
(4) John 10:14,27-28
(5) John 15:7
(6) 1 John 5:14,15
(7) Isaiah 30:18
(8) Psalms 18:30
(9) Psalms 147:11
(10) John 15:13
(11) Romans 8:32
(12) 1 Peter 5:7
(13) Philippians 4:5-7
(14) John 14:27
(15) Jeremiah 31:3 (rsv)
(16) Psalms 62:8

4 Facts you need to know personally

Here are Four FACTS you need to know personally

In reality, a fact is something that has really occurred or is truly the case. The usual test for a statement of fact is authenticity, that is, whether it can be demonstrated to correspond to experience.

I need you to know four facts that I have discovered and have made sense to a lot of people.

FACT 1

God Loves YOU!

The Bible says, “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life”

But the problem is that…

FACT 2

All of us have done, said or thought things that are WRONG. This is called SIN, and our sins have SEPARATED us from God.

The Bible says “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” God is perfect and holy, and our sins separate us from Him forever. The Bible says “The wages of sin is death.” Death here means spiritual separation from God!

The good news is that, about 2,000 years ago…

FACT 3

God sent His ONLY SON, Jesus Christ, to die for OUR SINS.

Jesus is the Son of God. He lived a sinless life, (the perfect Man) and then died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. “God demonstrates His own love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”

Jesus rose from the dead and now He lives in heaven with God His Father. He offers us the gift of eternal life — of living forever with Him in heaven if we accept Him as our Lord and Saviour. Jesus said “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except by Me.”

God reaches out in love to you and wants you to be His child. “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe on His name.” You can choose to ask Jesus Christ to forgive your sins and come in to your life as your Lord and Saviour.

It is not enough to know these three facts…

FACT 4

We MUST each receive Jesus as SAVIOUR and LORD in order to experience His LOVE and FORGIVENESS for our sins.

You would want to ACCEPT CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOR and turn from your sins; you can ask Him to be your Lord and Saviour  by praying a prayer like this:

“Lord Jesus, I admit that I have been running my own life and have sinned against you. Come into my life and forgive my sins, take control of my life and make me a new person. Thank you for answering my prayer. Amen!

Does this prayer express the desire of your heart? If so, pray right now, the Lord will come into your heart just as He has promised in Revelations 3:20. Remember it is not the amount of words that will save you but the sincerity of your heart in believing in Jesus Christ.

Did you pray this prayer?

YES

No

Click HERE to discover how you can be sure that Christ is in your life.

What is heaven like? Is there really a heaven?

Q: "Is there really a heaven? What is heaven like and where is it?"

our A: Yes, there really is a heaven.

What most people call "heaven" is actually an eternal city which the Bible calls the "new Jerusalem."¹ It will be spectacular. As a sampling, here is what heaven will look like.

A river, clear as crystal, will flow from the throne of God and of the Lamb [Jesus] down the middle of the city. On each side of the river there will be a tree of life, yielding twelve kinds of fruit every month. The streets will be pure gold, like transparent glass. The walls of the city will be adorned with every kind of jewel, emerald, onyx, amethyst, topaz, etc. There will be no need for a sun or moon, and no need for a temple or church. The presence of the Lord will be its light.²

However, the real beauty of heaven is this:

"Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away...I am making everything new."³

Heaven belongs to Jesus. He created it. "For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible...all things were created through him and for him."⁴

Though Jesus initially came to the earth as a Savior, he will one day sit as Judge. All people will experience a bodily resurrection from the dead, and all will appear before the judgment seat of Christ.⁵

So it might be helpful to see what Jesus said about how a person gets to heaven.

Many people think it's by living a commendable life, or at least trying to avoid extreme sins like murder.

Yet here's what Jesus said about getting to heaven. "...unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." The scribes and Pharisees were the admired religious models. They were the good people, the "holy" people!

Jesus reaffirmed what the prophet Isaish said. No one is deserving of heaven. No one is good enough. That's not how we get to heaven. It is why Jesus came...so that we could have eternal life.

And here is how. Heaven is given to all who will believe in Jesus. "everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."⁶

When we begin a relationship with Jesus, it is a relationship that lasts eternally. Our names are written in his book of life. Jesus said, "whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life."⁷

Regarding heaven, it's our decision now whether to respond to Jesus and accept his gift of eternal life.

Jesus said, "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."⁸

We're told in Scripture that in heaven there will be a multitude of people from every tribe, language, people and nation who will have eternal life because of their faith in Jesus.

What does it mean to believe in him?

It does not mean merely believing things about Jesus. There is a difference between your believing that Barack Obama was president of the United States in 2013, versus knowing him personally. In the same way, you might believe Jesus is God, without ever having him in your life.

Here is how you can believe in him and be sure that you have eternal life. Please see Beyond Blind Faith.

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(1) Revelation 21:2
(2) Revelation 21 and 22
(3) Revelation 21:3-5
(4) Colossians 1:16
(5) Revelation 20:11-13
(6) John 3:16,17
(7) John 5:24
(8) John 6:40

WHY IS LIFE SO HARD?

"Why?" When life is hard, is there a way to have peace?

How do we explain what we see in this world? Terrorist attacks, sex slavery, racism, world hunger?

Subconsciously, we probably ask ourselves questions like these quite often. But consciously we rarely do. We're so busy living our lives we rarely stop and wonder WHY?

But then something happens to wake us up. Our parents get divorced. The girl down the street gets abducted. A relative gets cancer. That wakes us up for awhile. But then we can often sink back into the denial. That is, until another tragedy hits, another incongruence. Then we're likely to think, Something isn't right here. Something is really, really wrong. This isn't how life's supposed to be!

So, WHY do bad things happen? WHY isn't this world a better place?

There is an answer to the WHY question, found in the Bible. But it's not an answer that most people like to hear: the world is the way it is because it's the world that we, in a sense, have asked for.

Sound strange?

What or who could make this world different than the way it is? What or who could guarantee that life is pain-free, for everyone, all the time?

God could. God could accomplish that. But he doesn't. At least not right now. And we're angry with him as a result. We say, "God can't be all-powerful and all-loving. If he were, this world wouldn't be the way it is!"

We say this hoping that God will then change his position on the matter. Our hope is that putting a guilt trip on him will make him change the way he's doing things.

But he doesn't seem to budge. WHY doesn't he?

God doesn't budge -- he doesn't change things right now -- because he's giving us what we asked for: a world where we get to treat him as though he is absent and unnecessary.

Remember the story of Adam and Eve? They ate the "forbidden fruit." That fruit was the idea that they could ignore what God said or gave them, and strike out on life apart from God. For Adam and Eve sort of hoped that they could become like God, without God. They consumed the notion that there was something more valuable in existence than God himself, something more valuable than having a personal relationship with God. And this world system -- with all of its faults -- came as a result of the choice they made.

Their story is the story of all of us, isn't it? Who hasn't said -- if not audibly at least in their hearts -- God, I think I can do this without you. I'll just go this one alone. But thanks for the offer.

We've all tried to make life work without God. Why do we do that? Probably because we've all bought the notion that there's something more valuable, more important, than God. For different people it's different things, but the mindset is the same: God isn't what's most important in life. In fact, I'd just as soon do it without him altogether.

What is God's response to that?

He allows it. Many people experience the painful results of others' or their own choices that run contrary to God's ways...murder, sexual abuse, greed, lying/fraud, slander, adultery, kidnapping, etc. All of these can be explained by people who have refused to give God access and influence over their lives. They are going about their lives as they see fit, and they and others suffer.

What's God view on all of this? He's not smug. In fact, God could rightly be viewed as leaning forward, compassionate, hoping we will turn to him so that he can bring real life to us. Jesus said, "Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."¹ But not all are willing to go to him. Jesus commented on this when he said: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing."² Again, Jesus brings the issue back to our relationship with him. "I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."³

But what about when life is unfair? What about those horrible circumstances that hit us in life, caused by someone other than ourselves? When we are feeling victimized, it's useful to realize that God himself endured horrendous treatment from others. God more than understands what you are going through.

There is nothing in life that could be more painful than what Jesus endured on our behalf, when he was deserted by his friends, ridiculed by those who would not believe in him, beaten and tortured before his crucifixion, then nailed to a cross, in shameful public display, dying of slow suffocation. He created us, yet allowed humanity the freedom to do this, to fulfill Scripture and to set us free from our sin. This was no surprise to Jesus. He was aware of what was coming, foreknowing all the details, all the pain, all the humiliation."And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 'Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and deliver him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day."⁴

Imagine knowing something that awful was going to happen to you. Jesus understands emotional and psychological anguish. The night that Jesus knew they would arrest him, he went to pray, but took some friends with him. "And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, 'My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here and watch [keep awake] with me. And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, 'My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will but as thou wills."⁵ Though Jesus confided in his three friends, they didn't understand the depth of his torment, and when Jesus returned from prayer he found them asleep. Jesus understands what it's like going through pain and extreme sadness alone.

Here it is summarized, as John describes in his gospel: "He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God."⁶ "For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."⁷

There is no question that there is pain and intense suffering in this world. Some of it is explained by selfish, hateful actions on the part of others. Some of it defies an explanation in this life. But God offers us himself. God gives us the knowledge that he has endured also, and is aware of our pain and needs. Jesus said to his disciples, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."⁸ There is ample reason to be afraid, troubled, but God can give us his peace, which is greater than the problem before us. He is after all, God, the Creator. The one who has always existed. The one who created a universe on the backstroke.

Yet even in his power, he's also the one who knows us intimately, even the smallest, insignificant details. And if we will trust him with our lives, relying on him, though we encounter difficulties, he will hold us securely. Jesus said,"These things I have spoken to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."⁹ He went through our ultimate threat -- death -- and overcame it. He can take us through the difficult circumstances of this life, and then bring us into eternal life, if we will trust him.

We can either go through this life with God or without him. Jesus prayed, "O righteous Father, although the world has not known you, yet I have known you; and these have known that you sent me; and I have made your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them."¹⁰

You might find yourself asking, "Why is life so hard?" Without God, humanity is easily drawn into hatred, racism, sexual abuse, murdering each other. Jesus said, “I came that you might have life, and have it more abundantly.”¹¹To find out how to begin a relationship with God, please see Knowing God Personally.

(2) Matthew 23:37 

(3) John 8:12
(4) Matthew 20:17-19
(5) Matthew 26:37-39
(6) John 1:10-12
(7) John 3:17,16
(8) John 14:27
(9) John 16:33
(10) John 17:25,26
(11) John 10:10
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