Issue 100!!!!! If you’ve already read 99 click here
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Dear Danielle and Kelly,
I have a friend who isn't Christian
and gets upset when people talk about Jesus or anything related to
Christianity. How can I talk to him about it without offending him? I want him
to have The Lord in his life, but he won't even think about it and I don't want
to pressure or smother him.. I just want him to listen. What can I do? - Amber
We need to let everyone we know and even
people we don't know; about what Jesus has done for us! If we just kept that
secret, how would anyone get to go to Heaven? There are many ways to let people
know that Jesus loves them and died for them, and that they have a hope in
Christ Jesus!
p.s. keep reading your answer is sort of
mixed in.
There are many ways to share your faith
with people. You need to tell them the basics.
-- He loves you!
John 3:16-17
For God so loved THE WORLD that He gave
his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have
everlasting life.
For God did not send his son into the
world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.
There are many verses about God's love for you, and this is the most famous.
I am sure you can see why! Do you guys remember last month how we did those
7-day Easter devotionals? Well, one of those days we talked about Jesus’ death
in great detail. If He was willing to go through all of that torture, pain, and
agony, for people who hadn’t even been born yet, well, then that’s some pretty
powerful love.
Lots of people have problems accepting
God's love because so many bad things have happened to them in their lives.
We’re all so quick to blame God for the bad things. Then when something really
great happens, we don’t give any of the credit to God. So my question is this:
How can you blame God for the bad things, but not thank Him for the good
things?
But then there are other times they
think that God can't love them because they have been absolutely horrible! They
sin all the time and think that they aren't worthy of God's love. We just need
to let them know that it's not true.
-- He will forgive you!
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Ephesians 1:7
In Him we have redemption through His
blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
All you have to do is say "God I know I was wrong, I'm sorry!"
And BAMB he will forgive you. He will erase it out of his memory forever! I
will be the first one to tell you that I’ve made a thousand mistakes in my
short life. But it’s nice to know that no matter what I do, no matter how bad
it is, God will never forget about me or stop loving me. All I have to do to
get His forgiveness is to truly be sorry, and to ask for it! It’s as simple as
that!
-- He wants to be your friend!
John 15:13-14a
Greater love has no one than this: that
one lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends...
Jesus laid his life down for his own friends. WE ARE HIS FRIENDS!!!! And
he just said, that there "IS NO GREATER LOVE THAN THAT"!! WOW!!!!
-- You can know that you will go to a better place
when you die!
John 14:2-3
In my Father's house there are many
dwelling places, if it were not so I would have told you, I go to prepare a
place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and
receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
Although we don't know what exactly heaven will be like, we know it is a
lot better than hell! There is really nothing more to say! In the Bible it
clearly tells us that there is ONLY pain and suffering in hell. No partying,
nobody to talk to, just plain misery. Otherwise, why would God need hell?
About your friend: I wouldn't pressure him into anything. It
sounds like you have planted a seed, and that's really all you need to do! God
says to go out into the world and preach the gospel. He doesn't say you need to
force them to get saved. All you need to do is talk! Let God work on his heart.
All you need to be doing now is praying for him.
---------- # 100 ------------
-- He is the ONLY way to heaven: good works can't get you there.
John 14:6
I am the way the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but
through Me.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, not of yourselves
it is a gift from God not of works lest any man should boast.
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in
your heart that God raised him from the dead you shall be saved.
Can you think of any more verses that tell you that he is the ONLY
way to heaven? I’m sure you can! There’s only one way to ever get to meet God.
And that way is through Jesus. People have been looking for other ways for
quite a while. They’ve been worshiping idols, and oh don’t forget about those
people who built the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9).
To get to Heaven and meet God, you don’t have to build any tower!
Jesus told us quite clearly in John 14:6 that He is the way, the truth, and the
life. Nobody can ever come to the Father except through Him.
---- He’s coming soon
Revelation 22:7
"Behold I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words
of the prophesy of this book"
1 John 2:28
And now little children, abide in Him, that when he appears, we may
have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.
Luke 12:35-36 & 39-40
Be dressed in readiness and keep your lamps alight. And be like men
who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so
that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks.
39-40
And be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known what
hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken
into. You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do
not expect.
We talked about this recently. Be alert! Be ready for his
coming!!!! Don't do something you know you wouldn't want God to come back and
find you doing. Be prepared to see him face to face everyday. Keep your guard
up and the porch light on. (figure of speech!!!)
The reason people are always saying that we need to tell everyone
we know about Jesus right away, is because it’s true! Jesus is going to come
back. He’s going to come back and get the people that accepted Him and believed
in Him. If you’re not one of those people, then you’re going to be out of luck.
God has given all of us so many chances to believe in Him, if we’re going to be
too stubborn to accept it, then it’s our own fault. That’s how I see it!
Revelation 22:7 and 1 John 2:28 are just 2 of the many warnings
the Bible gives us. It tells us over and over that Jesus is coming back soon.
So don’t wait until tomorrow to tell your best friend about God.
---- Salvation Prayer
Romans 10:9
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in
your heart that God raised him from the dead you shall be saved.
He made it so simple for us to be saved. He did all of the work!
He preformed miracles, he was mocked, he died, he raised up from the dead, and
all you have to do is believe! There are a lot of people who think that you
have to earn God's grace and mercy. BUT THATS NOT TRUE! It's as simple as it
can be, doing works comes naturally after you become a Christian, it's not
necessary.
Another thing that we would like to point out, is that once you
become saved, you can't lose your salvation by lying, or cheating, or just
sinning!!! In the Bible Jesus said that "no man shall be able to pluck you
from my fathers hand." And clearly John 1:9 says "if we confess our
sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness."
--------- TESTIMONY ------------
Playing music in a Christian band has given me the opportunity
to witness in so many ways, even to people I've never met. I've heard lots of stories from people
writing emails saying how they just listened to our CD and were convicted of
things that they were struggling with or heard about God in a different way
than they were used to. That's the
amazing thing about music, people will stop and listen to what you have to say
when they might not otherwise.
The greatest witness
is just talking to people that come out to see us play. We get to go out after the show and just
talk to people. It's amazing how people
will open up to you when you're just being friendly and showing them God's
love. I don't just go up to people and
start "sharing the gospel", but I go up to them and just let the
Jesus that lives inside of me shine out to them. I think that is the greatest witness that you can be, being true
and honest with people and letting them see the love that lives inside of
you. Sometimes that's exactly what they
need because nobody else shows love to them.
For some kids, they might not have ever been to church or been involved
with Christians before, so you have to let Jesus shine through you and let them
know that this kind of love really exists!
I've been really
blessed to get to travel all over the world and meet so many different people
every time I do what God has put inside of me to do, play music! I will never tire of meeting new people and
showing them God's love!
Dave Rumsey of Earthsuit
Dave said it sooooo well! Just show 'em what you got: JESUS
CHRIST'S LOVE! You don't need to go up and start preaching in their face and
shoving the bible down their throat. (theoretically not literally) You are a
witness by showing the love, hope, and shining the light that God has given
you. No: sharing verses doesn't hurt, but not all the time will people accept
"for the wages of sin is death" or "repent for the kingdom of
God is at hand" but 9 out of 10 people will accept LOVE and FORGIVENESS.
Understanding, and compassion. There are more people who have come closer to
God in those ways than any other.
This newsletter and the last one were sent out to help you guys
witness to people. You should save the verses, because maybe one day someone
will ask you, "How can I get saved?" and you’re going to want to make
sure you know the answer to that question.
Mark 16:15
And He said to them "Go into all the world and preach the
gospel to all creation."
1 Chronicles 16:24
Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.
Jesus originally gave the Great Commission to the disciples. But
that certainly doesn’t mean it wasn’t meant for us as well. It’s so important
that we tell people about God! My theory is: If we don’t, who will? So go out
there and "declare his glory", shine your light, and the love of
Jesus!!!