For the Son of man has come to seek
and to save those who are lost.
Luke 19:10
The Scripture declares that Jesus Christ…
and to save those who are lost.
Luke 19:10
The Scripture declares that Jesus Christ…
...had come to seek out and save those who are lost in their sins, and thereby bring them into a loving relationship with their Creator, the One who chose to make us in His image.
The devil, however, is slick. The Bible says the devil is a liar (John 8:44). And one of his most often told lies is getting people to believe they have sinned too much and did so many bad things that God would never forgive them, nor want anything to do with them. I know what I'm talking about because this is how I once thought. That God had nothing but contempt and disdain for me, and was merely awaiting the day when He would carry out the sentence of eternal damnation upon my soul.
Believing those lies was the excuse I had given to a young man who approached me more than thirty years ago. After first introducing himself, he began to tell me that God loved me and wanted to forgive me. I countered that there was no way God would forgive me. "Surely He couldn't possibly want anything to do with me?" I reasoned.
Satan's lies were deeply entrenched within my mind. Lies that I was evil and worthless and was nothing but a "monster" living inside a human body. But the Holy Spirit, working through this fellow prisoner, easily managed to overrule the devil and expose all his untruths.
I am sharing this because I know there are many people from all walks of life, young and old, who remain trapped in these lies. They have rejected Christ's offer of mercy, and His promise of unconditional forgiveness, and the free gift of eternal life because they think they've gone too far. That their sins are too numerous for God to forgive, but how wrong they are! And how wrong I was.
I have often encountered those who have such faulty views of God. I believe these individuals are living with feelings of guilt and failure. Inwardly they would love to be forgiven, which is what I wanted, as well, but thoughts of God's rejection held me back. It took an act of God's Spirit to break through my erroneous thinking, and to embrace the thought of turning to Christ to seek forgiveness.
I therefore want to encourage anyone who may be reading this, that even at this very moment, the Lord Jesus has His arms wide open waiting to welcome you into His kingdom. He is knocking on the door of your heart, hoping you would open the door and invite Him in.
Please do not believe the lies that God hates you. He loves you. He gave His only Son to die on the cross and shed His blood as payment for your sins. Neither will God reject you for "sinning too much," as many claim to have done.
"But God has demonstrated His love for us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
D.B.
The devil, however, is slick. The Bible says the devil is a liar (John 8:44). And one of his most often told lies is getting people to believe they have sinned too much and did so many bad things that God would never forgive them, nor want anything to do with them. I know what I'm talking about because this is how I once thought. That God had nothing but contempt and disdain for me, and was merely awaiting the day when He would carry out the sentence of eternal damnation upon my soul.
Believing those lies was the excuse I had given to a young man who approached me more than thirty years ago. After first introducing himself, he began to tell me that God loved me and wanted to forgive me. I countered that there was no way God would forgive me. "Surely He couldn't possibly want anything to do with me?" I reasoned.
Satan's lies were deeply entrenched within my mind. Lies that I was evil and worthless and was nothing but a "monster" living inside a human body. But the Holy Spirit, working through this fellow prisoner, easily managed to overrule the devil and expose all his untruths.
I am sharing this because I know there are many people from all walks of life, young and old, who remain trapped in these lies. They have rejected Christ's offer of mercy, and His promise of unconditional forgiveness, and the free gift of eternal life because they think they've gone too far. That their sins are too numerous for God to forgive, but how wrong they are! And how wrong I was.
I have often encountered those who have such faulty views of God. I believe these individuals are living with feelings of guilt and failure. Inwardly they would love to be forgiven, which is what I wanted, as well, but thoughts of God's rejection held me back. It took an act of God's Spirit to break through my erroneous thinking, and to embrace the thought of turning to Christ to seek forgiveness.
I therefore want to encourage anyone who may be reading this, that even at this very moment, the Lord Jesus has His arms wide open waiting to welcome you into His kingdom. He is knocking on the door of your heart, hoping you would open the door and invite Him in.
Please do not believe the lies that God hates you. He loves you. He gave His only Son to die on the cross and shed His blood as payment for your sins. Neither will God reject you for "sinning too much," as many claim to have done.
"But God has demonstrated His love for us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
D.B.
