Friday, January 8, 2016

Friday Focus #21

Fresh Start with Jesus

No matter where you are in life, that is not the end. It is not over. There is still another chance when you bring Jesus in. He will not force his way in and make you submit to him. It is your choice to bring him in and let him work through your life. I have had people tell me that they 1) are not good enough to go to church and 2) are not good enough to go to Heaven. They have missed the point. You don't earn church attendance or Heaven. You don't earn Jesus. You cannot read scripture and come away with that belief. Please do not be misled. Seek Jesus and begin again with him.


Before Paul wrote many books from the New Testament, he was not the Christ loving individual we have come to understand him to be. In Acts 9, we are taken through Paul's transformation and experiences with Christ. Paul was responsible for the stoning of Stephen (a new disciple). Paul was responsible for pulling men and women out of their homes and having them killed for following Christ which stepped on the toes of the Jewish faith. On the road to Damascus, Paul has an encounter with the voice of Jesus who asks why Paul was persecuting believers. When Paul rose from the encounter he was blinded and instructed to go a temple to meet someone. Once he meets that person his sight will be restored. Paul followed through and had his sight restored. Paul began to proclaim Jesus as the son of God in the synagogues. It did not matter what life Paul had before he came to know and follow Christ, but what mattered was his dedication to Christ after deciding to serve him. Paul didn't have to be good enough. He just had to have a fresh start which including repentance for his sins.


I will say it again, you do not have to earn your way into God's good graces. God's grace is free. It does not cost any money. Grace is not connected to any good deed. Grace is not connected to any church or denomination. Grace is given to us freely from God and all we have to do is accept it (Ephesians 2:1-10). I was watching a video last night from Ray Comfort who was evangelizing (preaching the word of Christ) on the streets of Huntington Beach, Ca. He explains to people that their set of beliefs is opposite to what scripture teaches. Check out the videos below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsQ7G9FLXPc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CFx4Hezdz0


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