Why Today Is One of the Best Days of My Life!

Today started as any ordinary day.  We got up, got Molly off to Pre-K, got Katie and Ryan ready and went to playgroup at the grade school.  After that, I got a headache and rested for a while.  I blogged and then we got Molly from school.  My headache got worse... boo!  Then it was time for Awanas to start!  The whole way there I had such a bad headache that I thought I was going to throw up in the van.  I prayed and asked God to help my head.  Being in a room with 80 other people can get very loud and isn't great for a headache.  By about 6:30 my head started feeling better.  I was sitting in the Awana office and I could hear the Cubbies lesson being taught, where my two oldest kids were.  As I listened to the lesson, I thought to myself, I bet one of those kids will accept Christ tonight as their Savior!  I could hear the lesson and I could hear their responses and they were "getting it". 

For the last year or so, Molly, my oldest daughter who is 5, has been asking me about Jesus, God, heaven, hell, the devil, lambs, The Lamb and even about atonement and why someone would have to die for our sins.  I know that's a lot for a kid her age, but this is the kid who could write her name when she was two and had 150 animals memorized when she was just over 18 months.  I have always been able to talk to her about everything.  When we have talked about Jesus and salvation in the past, she always tells me she understands it all but when she's 8 she's going to ask Jesus in her heart.  I always responded, "Whenever you want to, you can!"  and I would leave it at that.  It's not my job to "save" her or convince her of her need for salvation.  It's the Holy Spirit's job to make her realize she needs a Savior. 

So back to Awanas tonight... one of her teachers came and got me and told me that Molly listened to the lesson and before the lesson was over she was raising her hand and saying she needed to ask Jesus into her heart TONIGHT and she told her teacher at least 4 more times that as soon as she saw her Mom she was going to ask Jesus into her heart! 

Of course, I was thrilled.  I have had the opportunity to tell other people about Jesus many times and have had the privilege of leading many people in the sinner's prayer.  Let me just say, those times were awesome, but when it's your child, it's unlike anything else!  To know that my child understands that she's a sinner and that Jesus died on the cross to pay for her sins, is a beautiful thing.  I've been praying for her salvation and the salvation of my other children since before I had even conceived children!  I know what a difference it makes in life to have Christ and I want that for all 3 of my children!  It, of course, is their choice to follow Christ in life or not, but I pray today and everyday that they do!  It's a wonderful thing to be a Christian!  Molly left church tonight telling everyone that she was so excited!  She told them she asked Jesus into her heart and she was now a Christian!

You might have read all this and wondered, what does it take for a person to go to heaven?  Let me tell you that you don't have to know everything and you don't have to know every word of the Bible.  You don't have to be perfect.  You can be a nasty, filthy sinner.  We all are!  Any sin is awful in the eyes of God.  However, Jesus paid the price for that and made a way for you and me to be forgiven!  Please keep reading... all of you :)

The Bible says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). That means you are a sinner and I am a sinner. ALL are sinners. First, we have to ADMIT we are sinners to God. Anything that we do in life that is against God's will is a sin.

The Bible says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31). You must BELIEVE that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. You must believe that He died on the cross for you to save you from your sins. Someone had to pay your debt. God is a HOLY and righteous God. He cannot have sin in His presence. In order for us to ever be with God, someone had to pay for our sins. Jesus did that for you and for me. He died on the cross, an innocent man and He was God, and He paid for our sins. He was buried and three days later rose again.

The Bible says, "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" (Romans 10:9). That means that you have to confess it with your mouth. If you are saved, you will want to tell others what the Lord has done for you. That Jesus died on the cross to save you from your sins. You will want others to know because they too, like you and I, need to hear that there is Saving Grace in this world.

What the Bible does not say:
The Bible does not say that being a good person gets you into heaven. The Bible says "For by grace you are saved through faith; and not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). This means that our good works cannot get us into heaven. Only by grace are we saved and that is the grace of God.

The Bible does not say, if you go to church, you will go to heaven. If you go to the chicken house, you are not a chicken. If you go to McDonald's you are not a McFly Guy or Grimmace. If you go to church, that does not make you a Christian. You should go to church if you are a Christian. The Bible does say, "Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves" in Hebrews 10:25. However, if you attend church your entire life and never actually choose to follow Christ with your words, life, and actions, you are not saved.

The Bible does not say that knowing Scripture will get you into heaven. There are lots of verses to back this one up, but to put it plain and simple....The devil knows Scripture. The devil has lived in heaven before. The devil is a fallen angel. Just because you know Scripture and know about God and know what heaven is does not mean that you're going to heaven. I KNOW Satan will not be there!

The answer to the question is: You have to believe in the Lord, Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. You have to ADMIT, BELIEVE and CONFESS.

I'm sure if you're reading this, you know us very well. We really do believe everything we've just written. We put this on our blog because if you're reading this, we're most certain that we love you and God has allowed you to be in our lives and us to be in your lives. We are telling you this because we don't want to go to heaven one day and not find you there. We don't want to have to stand in front of God on Judgement Day and explain why we didn't care enough to tell you about Him and what it truly takes to KNOW Him. If you don't know where you'll spend eternity, just ADMIT, BELIEVE and CONFESS. If you do that, please let us know so we can PRAY for you. It is not easy being a Christian. Sometimes people think you're crazy, people don't always understand why you do the things you do. But we do what we do because this is what the Bible says. And, if you do this too, not everyone will understand you either. Just tell us, so we can pray for you and encourage you! Trust us, there is no greater JOY in life than knowing that Jesus is your Lord and Savior and knowing that He is in control of your life.