Riverside Baptist Church, Helena
I was 19 years old at Central Baptist Church in Selma. Mr. Beardon finished the lesson, closed the book and began to share from his heart about the Lord. He said that God loves us so much that He sent His only Son to die on a cross for our sins. I had never heard this before. The words that Mr. Beardon spoke cut me to the heart. I kept wondering, “Is it really possible for God to love me?”
Mr. Beardon said, “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). After wrestling for several weeks, I knelt in my apartment and cried out to the Lord. I asked the Lord to take my life and He did. A peace entered my heart. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you” (John 14:27).
What about you? Do you possess the peace of God’s forgiveness in your life? His love for you is real and available. You can know the Lord today. First of all, realize that you need the Lord in your life. The Word of God says, “[A]ll have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). The word “sin” literally means to miss the mark. If you realize that you need the Lord, then you are ready to move on to the next step — repentance.
When Peter finished sharing the good news about Jesus in Acts 2, the crowd of people asked Peter, “What must we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38). The word “repent” means to change direction. In other words, when you repent, you are turning away from a life of unbelief and turning to Jesus.
Jesus is the only way anyone will experience forgiveness and have assurance of heaven. Do you believe? The word “believe” means to trust in and rely upon with one’s whole life. When you believe in Jesus, your life will never be the same. I remember a slogan by Dawson McAllister: “Know Jesus, Know Change; No Jesus, No Change.” Do you know Jesus? If not, I pray today will be the day that you turn to the Lord and believe in Him alone for the forgiveness of sin and the assurance of heaven.
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