Finding Salvation

"Seek the Lord while you can find Him.  Call on Him now while He is near.  Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong.  Let them turn to the Lord that He may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for He will forgive generously." Isaiah 55:6-7 NLT

If you don't know how much you are loved, or how valuable you are in God's eyes, it is never too late to find out as long as you are still breathing.  His love for you is so broad, so grand, so rich, that your heart almost can't take it all in. 
If you have been living a life of wickedness, and believing in a false god to bring you to heaven, you should seek the one true God--El Shaddai--now while He is here calling you.  Don't put it off any longer, as none know the time of His coming, not even Jesus Himself.  It will be too late to ask for mercy when the end has already come. 

It isn't a difficult thing to come to the Living God.  You must change your ways (Paul did, Moses did, David did) and do your best to follow His commands and not sin. And He will help you with that--He will always give you a way out of temptation.  If you come to the Lord, to Jesus, He will have mercy on you.  He will forgive you of all your past sins. We've all made mistakes, we have all sinned, and yet He still loves us and wants desperately for all of humanity to know Him.

Please, don't be afraid that your past is too awful to be forgiven.  So many in the Bible have committed terrible sins, and yet our all-forgiving God redeemed them, and He will redeem you too.  King David committed adultery and then had the husband of the woman murdered.  Yet God called David, "a man after My own heart."  Not because of David's sins, but because of what he then did, which was to ask God's forgiveness and repent of his evil ways. 

Moses killed an Egyptian, yet God chose him to lead the people of Israel to the Promised Land.  God loved Moses so much that He buried him Himself! 

Saul (later to be named Paul by God) ruthlessly went out looking for Christians--men, women, and children--to persecute and stone to death.  He was a very intelligent man and a Pharisee.  He watched the Apostle Stephen be stoned with no remorse. Then Jesus, in all His glory appeared to Saul while he was on the road to Damascus to gather more people of "The Way" to persecute.  Saul was changed once he was in the presence of Jesus. He eventually wrote 2/3 of the New Testament, and did amazing things for the Kingdom of God and converted thousands to what is now called Christianity.

The Bible is filled with stories of God's love and forgiveness.  So there is nothing you may have done that He won't forgive, even if you have a difficult time forgiving yourself.

Wouldn't you like to share in the most wonderful experience known to man, being able to return to the one true God, the one Who created you and wants to welcome you back into His open arms?  Did you know that He will even sing and dance at your choice to make Jesus your Lord (Zephaniah 3:17)?  When you come to Him asking for His forgiveness and have a sincere heart to repent, He WILL forgive you and He'll cast all your sins into the Sea of Forgetfulness and never hold them against you or even remember them ever again!

If you died today, would you go to Heaven?  Do you know the awesome love of Jesus?  If you have a desire in your heart to know Jesus, and to know true life, and life everlasting; or if you have fallen away from Him and wish to renew your relationship, please pray the following prayer of salvation. 

"Heavenly Father,
I come to You admitting that I am a sinner.  Right now, I choose to turn away from sin, and ask You to cleanse me of all unrighteousness.  I believe that Your Son, Jesus, died on the cross to take away my sins.  I also believe that He rose again from the dead so that I may be justified and made righteous through faith in Him.  I call upon the name of Jesus Christ to be the Savior and Lord of my life.  Jesus, I choose to follow You, and I ask that You fill me with the power of the Holy Spirit.  I declare right now that I am a born-again child of God.  I am free from sin, and full of the righteousness of God.  I am saved in Jesus' name, Amen."

Welcome (back) to the family of God!

(If you have just received Jesus into your heart for the first time or have just returned to Him, please comment below so that we may all celebrate the newest member of our family! Thank you, and God bless you!)

Mountains Sing and Trees Clap

"For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands."  Isaiah 55:12 NKJV

This verse always, and I mean always, brings a smile to my face and fills my soul.  Just picture in your heart and mind the absolute wonder of such incredible joy--the mountains and hills sing and the trees clap their hands!! (Yes, it is worthy of two exclamation points.)

When man sinned, not only was the human race changed, but all of creation suffered the consequences.  The earth itself, and all of the universe became subject to deteriorating.  None of God's creation was meant to die, but sin changed that.  Everything began to age, and with age comes weakness and finally death. 

Remember, God made us in His image.  He placed man above all the rest of creation, and gave him authority over all things on the earth, in the sky, and in the sea.  But when man fell, he lost that authority.  He tried to hide from God and found blame in others for his disobedience. 

But God gave us hope when He gave us Jesus.  When our final redemption arrives, all of creation will be set free from the curse of death and decay and will share our glory.  All created things!

Imagine, when He returns for us, a symphony of worship from Everest and Kilimanjaro, and even the smallest hill accompanied by the rhythmic melody of claps from the tallest redwoods and sequoias to a new sapling, will fill the earth with a sound so beautiful, and so stunning to see, that our souls will beam with such euphoria as we, all of creation, in unison, give worship to the King of the Universe! Is this verse strictly symbolic?  I can't answer that, for the day has not yet arrived.  But as for me, I will take this verse literally because it fills me with such emotion. What a day it will be!  And we shall all bow to the name of Jesus, our Savior.  Hallelujah, I can hardly wait!!  Go with God and know His peace.  May constant and contagious joy be in your heart today!