| How can you receive the Holy Spirit into your heart? Here�s how I did it�
While I was in college, I saw an advertisement on TV one day. It explained what being saved was and how important it was for people to choose their destination before they leave this world. The message I got from it was very straight forward�and quite eye-opening. Basically, I had a choice to make and time was running out. I needed to choose to either accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and spend eternity in heaven with God, or, well to put it bluntly, spend eternity in that other place. I was not a �church-goer� at that point, but I had heard that hell was much more than a red devil suspending you over a bottomless pit of fire at the end of a pitchfork. So to me the choice was as clear as lightning in the night sky. I called the number on the screen and within a few days I received a brochure in the mail explaining what salvation was, who Christ was, why He died for us and, most importantly, how to accept God�s gift of eternal life in heaven With brochure in hand I went back into my room and closed the door. I needed some quiet time with this. After all, eternity was at stake. I read the most inspiring prayer I had ever read. I don�t remember the exact words of the prayer, but to paraphrase it, it explained to me what it meant to be saved and how I could choose to accept God�s gift of salvation, in other words, it introduced me to The Good News.. It is preached throughout most of New Testament by the apostle Paul, and it really is as easy as it says to be saved and go to heaven when you die. Just confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe with all of your heart that God raised Him from the dead. This is referred to as �God�s gift� to us because God is literally offering to us the gift of eternal life and all we need to do is simply receive it and say thank you! It really is that simple to be saved! For more on how God has forgiven our sins, past, present, and future, I strongly encourage you to read the book of Romans in the New Testament. Here, Paul explains what it means to be a Christian and what is now expected of us as children of God�it is by far my most favorite book in the Bible. (Page 4) |