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You can! Because
of God's deep love for you, he has already made all the necessary
arrangements. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ, you can enjoy a personal relationship. Jesus made
it possible to bridge the chasm which separates us from God.
The following four principles will help you discover how to
know Jesus personally and experience the abundant life he
promised.
Principle One
: God LOVES you and created you to know Him personally.
John 3:16
"For 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."
John 17:3 "Now this is eternal life: that they may
know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you
have sent."
*What
prevents us from knowing God personally? Principle two will
answer you.
Principle
Two : Man is SINFUL and SEPARATED
from God, so we cannot know Him personally or experience His
love.
Romans 3:23
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God."
Romans 6:23 "The wages of sin is death" [spiritual
separation from God].
Romans 8:6-8 "The mind of sinful man is death, but
the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the
sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's
law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature
cannot please God." A great gulf separates man from
God. Man is continually trying to reach God and establish
a personal relationship with Him through human efforts,
such as living a good life, philosophy, or religion. But
he inevitably fails.
*The
third principle explains the only way to bridge this gulf...
Principle Three
: Jesus Christ is God's ONLY provision for man's sin.
Principle Three : Through
him alone we can know God personally and experience God's
love.
Romans 5:8
"God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
1 Corinthians 15:3-6 "Christ died for our sins... he
was buried... he was raised on the third day according to
the scriptures... he appeared to Peter, then to the twelve.
After that he appeared to more than five hundred."
John 14:6 "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth
and the life. No one comes to the Father except through
me." God has bridged the gulf that separates us from
Him by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross
in our place to pay the penalty for our sins.
*But
it is not enough just to know these truths...
Principle Four
: We must individually RECEIVE Jesus Christ as Lord and
Savior;
Principle Four : Then
we can know God personally and experience His love.
John 1:12
"As many as received him, to them he gave the right
to become children of God, even to those who believe in
his name."
Ephesians 2:8-9 "For it is by grace that you have been
saved, through faith. This does not depend on anything you
have achieved, it is the free gift of God; and because it
is not earned no one can boast about it."
Receiving Christ
involves turning to God from self (a spirit of repentance)
and trusting Christ to come into our lives to forgive us of
our sins and make us what he wants us to be. Just to agree
intellectually that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that
he died on the cross for our sins is not enough. Nor is it
enough to have an emotional experience. We receive Jesus Christ
by faith, as an act of our will. Jesus is waiting for an invitation
to come in to your life. In fact, he says, "Behold,
I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and
opens the door, I will come in" (Revelation 3:20).
Perhaps you
can sense Jesus knocking at the door of your heart, "I
am here, i am real and i have loved you always."
It's for real and He is waiting for you. You can invite him
in by faith right here, right now. God knows your heart so
it doesn't matter exactly what words you speak. But here ia
a suggested prayer:
Lord Jesus,
I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the
cross for my sins.
I open the door of my life to you and ask you to come in
as my Savior and Lord.
Take control of my life. Thank you for forgiving my sins
and giving me eternal life.
Make me the kind of person you want me to be...
If this prayer
expresses the desire of your heart, pray it right now and
Jesus will come into your life just as he has promised. You don't have to perform and do anything to have Him in your life. He accepts you as you are. Once
you invite Christ into your life, he promises to never leave
you. On Hebrews 13:5 God has said, "Never will I leave
you; never will I forsake you." God loves you.
To
know God personally is the greatest decision you will ever
make. Did you ask Jesus to be in your life?
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