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What does God really want from you and me?

So many of us today have been raised in one religion or another. We have gone through the motions and feel we have done all we need to appease God. Yet the one thing we fail to realize is that God never made up religions as we know them — we did! Religions are all man made; many are loosely based on what God really desires from his creation. The simple truth is this: God doesn't want a life of religious observances, he wants us to have an intimate relationship with him.

Well, how can we have an intimate relationship with our God? We need to be made clean and holy, which is one thing we can't do on our own. The fact is, we are all sinners — you, me, all of us. Romans 3:23 says, For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. If we are sinners, then we have no way of approaching God ever. Well, some may say, I'm a good person, but when we compare ourselves to God's law, that is, the Ten Commandments, we come up guilty. James 2:10 says, For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. What this means is, if you ever even once, say when you were ten years old, broke even one of God's laws, say you stole a pencil — you are guilty of all and face eternal separation from God — in other words, hell!

So the question is, if I can't keep all of the laws all of the time, what can I do? Well, we can't do anything, but God can. God, because he loves us so much, made a way for anyone to be made clean and right in his eyes. He offers us a gift, and gifts are always free. He offered up his son to pay your sins and mine, if we would just receive the gift. Romans 6:23 says, For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. No good deeds are needed, no money needed, no church affiliation needed.

What is needed is Jesus' shed blood on the cross: his death, burial, and resurrection. Hebrews 9:22 says, ...and without shedding of blood is no remission. All we have to do is the following:

  1. Confess our sins to God and admit we are hopelessly lost because of our sinful state.
  2. Put all of our trust for eternal salvation in the only one who can provide it — Jesus Christ.
  3. Ask Jesus to come into your heart and become Lord and Savior of your life.
  4. Confess that Jesus in not only the Son of God, but God the Son.

If you would like to make this choice for Christ today and become a child of God, please say this prayer:

Dear Father in heaven, I am a sinner unable to ever stand in your presence. The law shows me that I can never be what I need to be to stand before you. I ask for your forgiveness and mercy on my soul. I ask Jesus Christ to come into my heart and become Lord of my life. I believe and trust in his atonement (payment) for my sins on his cross — his death, his shed blood, and his resurrection. I ask Jesus to become Lord and God of my life, and I trust him to be able to accomplish what I could never accomplish on my own. I ask this in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Romans 10:9-10 says, That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

If you have made this confession of faith today and would like more information, or maybe you're not sure and want to know more, please call or e-mail Pastor Scott Kraniak: (631) 732-3283, scott.kraniak@centereachbiblechurch.net.