Child of God

I want to share my testimony of how I came to know Jesus Christ as my personal savior. I want you to know that you too can have this same relationship with Jesus. I was fortunate to be brought up in a Christian home. I do not take the term “Christian” lightly and do not feel that “all” of us are Christian. There are many who claim to be “Christian” but have never thought about what it means to follow Jesus.

My mother accepted Jesus into her heart and became a Christian when I was about 4 years old, my Father was blessed with Christian parents and accepted Christ in his life as well. I grew up hearing Bible verses, going to Sunday School and church regularly and saying family prayers. All this, however, didn’t automatically make me a Christian!

It wasn’t until I was 17 years old that I really knew what it meant for ME to be a Christian, or saved. At a summer family Bible camp I realized that I had something missing in my life, that if I were to die today, I wouldn’t see heaven. I realized that all I had been living for meant nothing. I had previously been living for me, looking out for number one, what and how can I further my life for the now. I realized that the something missing was a relationship with Jesus Christ. Only through Him can I be truly happy. That summer at camp I committed my life to Jesus. I prayed the “sinner's prayer” and instantly realized that a void had been filled in my life and that I had assurance over my eternity. I now had a peace present in my life that hadn’t been there before. It is a peace that you won’t understand until you yourself have it.

Keep in mind, before this I thought I had it all. I thought that I was a good person who goes to church, most of the time. I did what was right, I didn’t steal or cheat, I didn’t do drugs, you know…all those things that are wrong! I am a good person! I assumed I was going to heaven…right?

It is so easy to be led into a false hope.

“I am a good person.”
“I try do good for someone each day.”
“I am faithful with tithing in our church.”
“I attend church regularly.”
“I attend church when I can.”
“Surely God can see that I am a good person and won’t keep me from heaven!”

Being a good person makes NO difference. You can’t get yourself to heaven by being a good person or through the things you do.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8 & 9

There aren’t levels to heaven. You either go – or don’t.
There aren’t levels to heaven based on what you do in this life. You either go – or don’t.



Ask yourself this question truthfully: Do I sin?

What is sin? We already decided that sin is the bad things that we obviously don’t do like murder, cheat, steal. But how about lying, being angry/crabby all the time, or gossiping? Use your imagination; there are MANY things that count in this area!

The Bible says, “For ALL have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.” Romans 3:23

Yes! This means everyone! Even as a Christian I still sin!

What is the punishment for our sin??

DEATH.

“For the wages of sin is death..” Romans 6:23a

Wow, this can be scary! You might think that yes, we do all die…it’s part of life. Death means heaven or hell. Both are very real places.

So, if we all sin, and the punishment for sin is death…how is it even possible for anyone to make it into heaven??

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans5 5:8

Why do you think we celebrate Easter? This is the MOST important day in the entire year! This is the day that God chose to die for our sins, because He LOVES us. He rose again so that we might have life with Him in heaven! He is God, He didn’t have to choose this, but He did. That really makes me feel loved!

“..but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23b


A gift of God!

“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” John 1:12

When you choose to trust Jesus and love Him and pray the sinners prayer for yourself, you ARE a child of God! As a child of God, you WILL see heaven!

Jesus says in Rev 3:20 “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”


"Dear Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner. I believe in you and that your word is true. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that he died on the cross so that I may now have forgiveness for my sins and eternal life. I know that without you in my heart my life is meaningless.
I believe in my heart that you, Lord God, raised Him from the dead. Please Jesus forgive me, for every sin I have ever committed or done in my heart, please Lord Jesus forgive me and come into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior today. I need you to be my Father and my friend.I give you my life and ask you to take full control from this moment on; I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ." Amen.

The sinner's prayer must come from your heart and I hope this will help you to invite Jesus into yours. This prayer is here only as a guide. I urge you to pour out your heart to Jesus in your own words.
If you have prayed this prayer and truly meant it, you now have the assurance of seeing heaven when you die! This means that even when we do sin, we can be forgiven!

“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” 1John 5:11-12

For people who think they are simply good people, maybe they think that they don’t need “religion”, maybe they have an alternate religion, or maybe they just want to wait until they are older so they can have fun now – THEY DO NOT HAVE LIFE! You won’t see heaven!


“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” John 10:27-30

In Jesus, we no longer need to worry about being safe, loved, alone, etc. He keeps us in His hand for always! You don’t need to recite special prayers each day, you don’t need to wear special clothing for protection, you don’t need to eat special foods. None of that matters! Jesus is mightier than all that! He wants you to come directly to Him for your needs and trust that He will care for you!

I urge you to think about where you stand when you die.
Do you KNOW that you know that you will be in heaven?
--or are you just hoping?