Christian History
8 Steps to More Abundant Life
Christian History “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Hosea 4:6 |
|
1. WHY ARE WE HERE ON EARTH
Gen. 1:26: “God said, ‘Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness!’” What does that mean?
God wants us to have an eternal and personal relationship with Him and give us His more abundant life here and now!
John 10:10: “Jesus said, ‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly!’”
What keeps us from having this more abundant life?
2. THE BIBLE SAYS – SIN SEPARATES US FROM GOD – HIS LIFE WITH MEANING & MORE ABUNDANCE
SIN is basically not loving God and others, as we should.
Mat. 22:37: “Jesus said, ‘love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love others as yourself.’”
Rom. 3:23: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Isa. 59:2: “God said, ‘your sins have separated you from Me!’”
Where does that leave you?
3. SEPARATED FROM GOD – WITHOUT MEANING & ABUNDANT LIFE
Jer. 5:25: “Your sins have separated you from this abundant life; your wrongdoing has robbed you of good things.”
No religion or good works – nothing YOU can do gets you to God – because you still have your sin.
What is God’s solution?
4. GOD’S ONLY SOLUTION – HIS ONE & ONLY SON JESUS
John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life!”
John 14:6: “Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to God the Father except through Me.”
Why is Jesus God’s ONLY way to Him and abundant life?
5. ONLY JESUS BEING SINLESS DIED TO PAY FOR YOUR SIN
Rom.6:23: “For God’s just penalty for sin is death.” Jesus paid for our sin with His death on the cross.
2Cor.5:21: “For God made Jesus, who never sinned, to be the sacrifice for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Jesus.”
So how do we get to God and His abundant life?
6. IT’S A GIFT FROM GOD & NOT BY ANY GOOD WORKS
Eph. 2:8-9: “For by undeserved favor you are saved through faith, and not of yourself. It is the free gift of God, not of any good works we have done, so no one can boast.”
Isa. 64:6: “We are all infected and impure with the disease sin. And all our good works are like contaminated rags.”
So how do we get God’s gift of abundant life right now?
7. IT’S A CHOICE YOU MAKE
Deut.30:19: “God said, ‘this day I have set before you life and death. Choose life now so that you may live!’”
Rev.3:20: “Jesus said, ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and live in you.”
Which side would you choose?
8. JESUS CAN COME INTO YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW
Rom. 10:9,13: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Is this a prayer of your heart:
Dear God, I confess Jesus is Lord, and believe in my heart He died to pay for my sin, and then rose from the dead. I ask You to come into my heart, forgive all my sin, and give me eternal life with You. Help me to follow You the rest of my life. I pray to You God, in Jesus Name.
If you meant what you prayed, where is Jesus’s Spirit right now?
Heb. 13:5: “I will never leave you and I will never forsake you.”
John 3:36: “Whoever believes in God’s Son has eternal life right now.”
TRUST GOD’S WORD – NEVER YOUR FEELINGS
A train can run with any caboose, or no caboose. So don’t worry about your feelings. Just keep trusting ONLY God’s Word so you can always experience God’s more abundant life for you. Salvation is free gift but to follow Jesus you must do what He says, which will not always be easy but will always be best.
2Cor. 5:17: “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”
So what must I do now to follow Jesus?
HOW WE FOLLOW JESUS
- DAILY pray & read His Word, the Bible, start in John 1 – “Like newborn infants, crave the spiritual milk so you will grow into the full experience of salvation” (1 Peter 2:2).
- REGULARLY get with the person who shared this with you – “Encourage one another daily” (Heb.3:13). Ask them about why baptism is so important.
- FAITHFULLY get with your new spiritual family – “Believers devoted themselves to the Word, fellowship, eating together, and prayer” (Acts 2:42).
- ALWAYS give thanks – “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus” (1Thess. 5:18).
PRAY again right now – give thanks to Jesus for dying for you, forgiving all your sins, coming into your life, and giving you eternal life. And ask Jesus to help you to be faithful in all the above 4 areas.
[This blog is free to share if forwarded in its entirety.]