Are we worth dying for?

No matter if you are a Christian or not, i feel like i need to reveal something that was revealed to me today. Do we truly understand what Jesus did on the cross? Everyone will say yes, to save us from our sins. However, that is just part of it; Jesus died for our sins, and took those sins on himself. What does that mean? i'll tell you like God revealed to me.

Imagine for a moment the worst thing you have ever done...maybe you got away with it, maybe you didn't. Now imagine that the one person you love most and dont want to find out about it, found out. Do you feel that guilt and shame? Now realize that God saw that, watched you the whole time, maybe even tried to stop you, but you did it anyway, you rationalized it. What if you dont know Christ and died right now, whether you believe it or not, you will stand at the judgement seat with that same guilt and shame, for every single sin you committed. God cannot look on sin, he hates it! How would you make it?

Ok, now imagine, that you are a Christian, you have been saved, and you stand before God in judgement. You accepted Jesus as your savior, you stand before God as a free person, no guilt or shame, as a matter of fact no sin. Do you really realize what Jesus did for you?

Earlier i said that God could not look on sin, and if you had to go before him with sin, all that terrible guilt and shame you felt for that one thing would be felt for every sin you ever committed. This is what Christ did, the one person he loved most, his father in heaven, our God, could not look upon him. Christ felt that same terrible guilt and shame for every single sin ever committed by mankind, past and future. It was all on him, he took the sins, shame, and guilt on his shoulders, had the one person he loved most turn away from him because of it, all to free us from that guilt and shame on judgement day. When he died on the cross, all that sin died with him. He took the keys to hell during the three days he was in the tomb. The important part was when he arose from the dead, he proved to the world that he was the only one who could do it. When he ascended into heaven, his precious blood went with him before God, and wiped all of the sin of the world away. All of it! Jesus does not need to die on the cross again for every sinner that accepts him in the future. Victory has been given, every debt has been paid. That guilt and shame was taken on by Jesus and destroyed.

At this point you have to wonder if we are worth dying for? Why did Jesus do this for me? we were all made in God's image, we were given a free will, we were created to choose him. When sin entered this world, God felt the need to find a way to redeem us. As much as we try, we cannot be good enough, we cannot do anything on our own to receive salvation. What Jesus did for us, only he could do, and he loved us enough to do it, we just have to accept this free gift if we choose to. It really is that easy!

If you are not a Christian, the only thing you need to do to become one is believe in him, accept this free gift, understand the importance of what he did, and repent of what you are doing. Everything you have done or will do has been taken care of, have faith that you are free of sin, shame and guilt.

Stepping out in Faith

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” Lao Tzu

      In order to walk with God, or start any other journey in life we have to start, we have to take that first step, after that first step there is no turning back. As the hymn says:

"I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back."

      For those who have accepted Jesus as their savior, they often assume that they have made their only step necessary on the journey to heaven. While this is an important step, this is not the only step you should take. In order to understand who God is to us we have to take a journey of understanding into his word. Our first step is the step of faith. What is faith?

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1, KJV)."

     What is it that you hope for? that feeling of knowing what God has promised you is hope, and even though you have not seen it happen yet, you have the evidence that it will. If nothing else, it has changed you, put meaning to your life because you know what God has promised you; a future, hope - Plans that God knows about, and sometimes lets you in on.

      How many people have faith like that? That ability to believe that God will do what he has promised us, such as taking care of us. A child that grows up in church has that kind of faith, some adults do too, i had that kind of faith as a child. However, life happens, and we get carried away with what we want, and when we dont get it, we start to lose faith in what we believe about God. Sure we believe in God, and we believe in Jesus, but when we look at our bills and our money that comes in, all we see are problems that we dont think God can fix.

     It is times like this that God allows us to be put under pressure, so we can understand that he is who he says he is, He is I AM. I know we hate pressure, it makes us mad, we want an easy life; i mean, we are Christians now, everything should be perfect, isnt that what the Bible says? No i am sure that is doesnt. Jesus says for us to take up our cross daily, and that the world would hate us. So why does God give us trials and tribulations?

1 Peter 1:6-7 (New Living Translation)

⁶ So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. ⁷ These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

      This is why. God wants our faith to be pure, like that little child. How does this work? When we see ourselves in a trial, we have to ask God for strength and believe that he is going to see us through it no matter what. It requires us at times to do something that would seem foolish in our eyes, Like tithe when we cant even pay our own bills. I was dealing with that at one time, my finances were in terrible shape, and God was asking me to tithe, well commanding me to actually. to make a long story short, i tithed and God blessed me in so many ways for being obedient. There was another time where people kept telling me to be a teacher, and i didnt want to be a teacher. I had a hard time finding a job, so i finally told God, if you want me to teach, i'll teach. Guess what? i got a job teaching very soon afterward.
     So many times we dont want to go through the struggle, we dont want to do what God wants us to do. So we let the trials get the best of us, and allow our faith to sink even lower. If we could just learn to trust God, and realize that he only wants the best for us, then we could pass these trials with ease and see our faith in God grow. God will work on us if we let him, he wont force it on us, but how do we change? How can we convince people that God exists if they dont see us change?

     Part of our walk with God is faith, that is most of the journey. Dont allow trials to bring you down, because God promises that everything that happens to us works together for good. I know trials are hard, and i know that you just cant see how God will pull you through this big issue that is coming up, but he will, and it will change you for the better. Put your faith in God when things get rough, because if you can see the way out of something, then it is not faith.

Plans, Hopes, and a Future

Jeremiah 29:11-13 (New International Version, ©2011)

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

I see what is going on in the world, the uncertainty, the fear, people asking where is God? Notice that this verse doesn't say "for you and i both know..." God knows the plans he has for us, we don't, even though we would like too. sure we doubt God from time to time, and wonder why we have to deal with things. i could be mad about my financial situation, but then i would not see that the girlfriend God gave me doesn't love me for my money or the car i drive, she is still there with me for me. every struggle we go through is not God hating us, it is God forming us, changing us, so he can give us hope and a future. When your backs are against the wall and you about to give up, that is when God knows you will appreciate him more. that is when we are stronger for God, we have taken all the hell that Satan is allowed to give us, and we survive. When we finally realize what God has done for us, then we will seek him without question, because he brought us through those terrible things.