Knowing God


Regardless of our individual stories, we all share in the common experience of sin. When we sin, we miss a mark or fall short of a goal or standard. Sin separates us from God, His love, and His intended destiny for us. But God wants you to know Him and experience His love.
God loves us and wants the very best for us. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “I know the plans I have for you... plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” The only thing that keeps us from experiencing God's love is our sin. (Sin is “going your own way” and falling short of God's will for your life). Isaiah 59:2 says, “Your iniquities have separated you from your God. Your sins have hidden His face from you.”
The key to knowing God is to receive Jesus and the forgiveness He offers. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.” Jesus paid the penalty for our sin when He shed His blood on the Cross. He died and rose again so that He could bring us into a relationship with God. Receiving Jesus involves turning from your sin and receiving the forgiveness Jesus provides. When you do that, God sends His Spirit to dwell in your heart and make you a new person. John 1:12 says, “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God.”
You receive Jesus through faith. Faith can be expressed in a simple prayer like this: “Lord Jesus, I need You. I now turn from my sins and receive Your forgiveness. Please send Your Spirit to live within me so I can know You and be all that You want me to be. I thank You now, by faith, that You have forgiven all my sins and brought me into a relationship with You!”
The moment you pray this prayer or decide to believe in and commit your life to Christ, God accomplished several things for you.  First is redemption in that you are forgiven of sin. "So overflowing is his kindness toward us that he took away all our sins through the blood of his son, by whom we are saved" (Ephesians 1:7). Second is cleansing in that you are washed from your sin. "He saved us – not because we were good enough to be saved, but because of his kindness and pity – by washing away our sins and giving us the new joy of the indwelling Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5). Third is regeneration in that you are born anew. "Jesus replied, 'What I am telling you so earnestly is this: Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God' " (John 3:5).
Fourth is justification in that you have peace with God. "So now, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith in his promises, we can have real peace with him because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us" (Romans 5:1). Fifth is adoption in that you become one of God's children. "And so we should not be like cringing, fearful slaves, but we should behave like God's very own children, adopted into the bosom of his family and calling to him, 'Father, Father' " (Romans 8:15). Sixth is acceptance in that you are received by the Father. "His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us. And He did this because He wanted to! Now all praise to God for His wonderful kindness to us and His favor that he has poured out upon us, because we belong to His dearly loved son" (Ephesians 1:5,6). The seventh is Eternal Life in that you have an endless hope. "I say emphatically that anyone who listens to my message and believes in God who sent me has eternal life, and will never be damned for his sins, but has already passed out of death into life" (John 5:24).
May God richly bless you as to come to know Him.

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