Have you had everything that you ever wanted in life but you are still not satisfied or have you felt cheated in life and nothing has gone your way? Do you feel like you have come to that point in life when there is nothing to live for? If your answer is yes to any of these questions then you are on your way to hearing God. When a person is honest with God and is willing to tell Him how he feels about life, about his hatred, bitterness, and unbelief then that person is coming to God with a true heart. God hears those who admit the truth about themselves. God may not hear a Christian who asks Him to help him love a brother whom he has a disliking for but God does hear when he admits his hatred for that brother but wants to be able to love him.
Repentance is not feeling sorry for our sins but admitting them and then expecting Jesus to impart His life in order to change our hearts. It is a change that comes when we learn to hear His word. Most of the time what we think about ourselves is just the opposite of what God wants to reveal to us (1 Corinthians 7:22-24).
God loves us so much that He not only came to earth as Jesus Christ (His Son) and died for us, but also wants to live for us. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, His blood cleansed us from all of our sins and made us worthy to receive His life. But we have to admit our emptiness, open the door, and ask Him in. When we are willing to lose our lives to find His life then we will really be living life that is “more than a conqueror”(Rom. 8:35-39).
A disciple is one who constantly follows a person around and learns from that person. Jesus wants to teach us the unseen wisdom that makes up His very life that will let us see Him as our Fulfiller. But to be His disciple we have to be willing to lose our lives (Luke 14:26, 27, 33). To take up our own cross can be painful but in the midst of it is where we find His life (Rom. 15:13).
A person who has been rich all of their life does not know how it feels to be rich (they are always wanting more). But take a poor person and make him rich and he will truly know how it feels to be rich. (riches of Glory- Ephesians 3:16) If we will lay our lives at the feet of Jesus and by faith believe that from now on everything in our life is His will for us, all because He accepts us as we are, then when the sorrow or suffering comes we can know that He wants to teach us something in it all to experience His glory now (Hebrews 5:8; Colossians 1:27).
Have you ever felt that you were so down that it was like being in a deep pit? If you will tell Jesus the truth of how you feel and learn to listen He may speak words like, “Didn’t I put Jeremiah in a pit (Jeremiah 38:6) and My prophets in prison?” Through words like this we will know that we are pleasing to Him no matter what situations we are in because it is Christ in us that is in the same circumstance (Psalm 139:8-18).
Christianity spread through persecution and imprisonment and the greatest Biblical writings came about in the same type of situations. It is when we give up our lives that He is able to take over and live it for us (Galatians 2:20). Do you desire to live a holy life for God? If you do, then realize that the desire within is not you but Jesus in you. Do you cry to God for help? It is not you but Jesus in you that is doing the crying (Galatians 4:6).
Eternal life is learning to see and know God in the every day situations of life (John 17:3). The things we see with our eyes are temporary but the unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:11, 17, 18). The selfpity, bitterness, and jealousies within are nothing more than a thirst for identity that can only be satisfied by knowing you are accepted by the ONE who is in control of it all (Hebrews ll:1-5, 36-40).
Learn to eat and drink of Jesus Christ when the pains of thirst arise and you will live because of Him (John 6:53-58). To feel inferior for any reason is to tell God He doesn’t know how to run things. How we look, what we wear, what we live in, or what we do for a living, are all temporary things that have nothing to do with being accepted and loved by God. He was born in a stable, a poor carpenter, called a devil, no where to lay His head, rejected, forsaken by disciples, falsely accused and crucified. He was laid in a borrowed tomb but arose from the dead. He tasted all of the temptations and pains that we do but was yet without sin in order to pay the penalty of death for our sins.
Jesus gave His life on the cross in order for you to receive His life (John 12:24-28). Jesus knows our sinful hearts and failures but He is still willing to come in if we want forgiveness and cleansing (Hebrews 4:13-16). It is a forgiveness that remembers our sins no more (Isaiah 43:25; Hebrews 8:12) allowing us to come into God’s presence anytime and a cleansing that Jesus continues to do as we learn to walk in Him (1 John 1:7-10).
Jesus can transform you into a new creation if you will pray and ask Him into your heart and allow Him to be LORD of your life (2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 10:9-13; 12:1,2). With His Spirit within, He will teach you how to put off the bad attitudes and put on Christ who will give you peace in every situation (Philippians 4:11; Romans 13:13-14). Confess with your mouth that Jesus is LORD and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead and be saved. He will continue to cleanse you until you KNOW you dwell IN HIS LOVE and are freed from every fear (verse 18 of 1John 4:1-21).
Ephesians 2:8-10; 3:14-21; 4:21-32; John 8:31-32; Romans 13:14; Colossians 3:8-17; Philippians 1:29; Matthew 6:19-33; John chapters 14-15; Romans chapters 6, 7, 8 & 12