Faith Awakened

As a child, I attended a beautiful church that had many ceremonies and rituals. I enjoyed this, but I confused feeling good about church with being close to God! I developed faith in my denomination - but not in God. There was no personal relationship between us. As an adult on my own, I began to doubt my faith and pushed God away from my daily life. Soon I found myself in a sinful lifestyle. But God kept tugging at my heart… somehow I knew that I needed to make things right with Him. But I wanted to run my own life!

By this time our three sons were growing up, and I tried to teach them something about faith. I wanted them to enjoy church as I had. So I started searching for some answers. In time, the one question that I got stuck on was: "Why did a loving God allow His own son to be killed?" I asked some "religious" friends and they explained from the Bible that when Jesus was crucified, He did so as my substitute. I had heard that the Bible says "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world". I learned that Jesus took my sins on Himself and paid the penalty so that I could have a relationship with God.

That night I realized how much God loves me! When I was alone, I agreed with God that I was a sinner, and I believed that Jesus was God’s only way to be forgiven. But I was not made right with God until I chose personally to receive Christ’s forgiveness and asked Him be the leader of my life.

That was 25 years ago. Since then, God has guided my husband and I as we raised our three grown sons. He has lead us with integrity through our business dealings. He has also helped us to keep our marriage of 30 years still growing in love today! I have never once regretted saying "yes" to Jesus Christ, and I know you won’t either. If God is tugging at your heart as you read this, I hope that you will also say "yes" to Him.

Take a look at your life. How would you describe it? Contented? Rushed? Exciting? Stressful? Moving forward? Holding back? For many of us it’s all of the above at times. There are things we dream of doing one day, there are things we wish we could forget. In the Bible, it says that Jesus came to make all things new. What would your life look like if you could start over with a clean slate?

Living with hope

If you are looking for peace, there is a way to balance your life. No one can be perfect, or have a perfect life. But every one of us has the opportunity to experience perfect grace through a personal relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ.

You can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer. Praying is simply talking to God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. Here’s 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.

Does this prayer express the desire of your heart? You can pray it right now, and Jesus Christ will come into your life, just as He promised.

Is this the life for you?

If you invited Christ into your life, thank God often that He is in your life, that He will never leave you and that you have eternal life. As you learn more about your relationship with God, and how much He loves you, you’ll experience life to the fullest.

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