Are You Ready? Part 2

Part 2

Revelation 3:10 "Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth."

Luke 21:34 "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap."

In part 1, I shared some of my testimony. I wasn't real sure why I felt that God wanted me to share it for this post. I prayed about it, then the answer came to me. Before the pastor came to my door and asked me, "If you were to die today where do you think you would go? To Heaven or to Hell?" I thought I would go to Heaven because I felt that I was good person. I believed in God, I love and care about people. But, I realized that I would've gone to Hell if I would've died before that day! 

I have tears in my eyes as I write this. I thought I was okay. I thought that everyone who was a "good person" (including myself) went to Heaven. I was totally wrong! There is only one way to Heaven. That one way is through Jesus Christ. He lived a perfect sinless life of 33 years on earth. He died for me, a sinner. He didn't deserve to be tortured and die. But because of His love, Jesus took my place upon the cross. 

Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners Christ died for us."

I don't deserve salvation. I know there is nothing I can do to earn it. The only way that I am saved, is by faith in Jesus Christ. By his precious blood that he shed upon the cross I am cleansed of my sins, and found righteous before God. 

Jesus died not only for me, but for you as well. It's not too late to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. But, I believe we are living in the end times. No one knows the time or day when Jesus will return. In Luke 21:34 (scripture above) it warns us to not be unprepared. We need to keep our focus first on the kingdom of God, second on things in the world. 

Matthew 6:33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you."

Are you ready to choose eternal life? Are you ready to choose joy? Peace through trials? A hope for your future? Are you ready to choose Jesus as your Lord and Savior? If your answer is yes, you have made the most important and best decision of your whole life! 

If you are ready, all you need to do is pray to the Lord and ask Him to forgive you of all of your sins. Ask Jesus Christ to come into your life, and accept him as your Lord and Savior. 

After you commit your life to Jesus you will be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will guide your life, and help you grow in your relationship to Jesus. It's important to pray everyday, read the Bible and find a church whose beliefs line up with the word of God. Pray and ask God to lead you to right church, where he wants you to be. 

Romans 10:9 "If you declare with your mouth that, "Jesus is Lord", and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask for you to bless each person who is reading this right now. I pray for each person who has just accepted your Son Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, that you will protect them and lead them in the right direction for their life. Fill them with your Holy Spirit, so that they will be a light for you in the world. I thank you for your gift of salvation. I thank you for you your great love that you pour out upon us. In Jesus name I pray, Amen. 

**If you have any questions please feel free to email me at wordstobless@yahoo.com, or message me through my Kerri's Korner FaceBook, and/or Instagram pages. Thank You! 

Are you Ready? PART 1

 

Part 1

1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 "for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying "Peace and safety," then destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape."

Are you ready? Ready for the day of the Lord? What is the day of the Lord? It will be the glorious day that our Lord Jesus Christ comes to take his children out of the earth, to join Him in Heaven (in other words, the rapture). The only way to know for sure if you are ready for the day of the Lord is if you have repented of your sins, confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. If you have done this then, you are ready!

1 Thessalonians 4:17 "After that we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."

Romans 10:9 "If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

I want to share with you a little bit about my testimony. I had grown up knowing about God. I remember reading and hearing Bible stories and going to church, not every Sunday but every once in awhile. I was raised with Christian values, learning right from wrong. As a child I would pray most every night, I always believed that God was real. But, as I became a teenager I was a little torn about who I was. I can remember going to Sunday school, learning more about the Lord. But, I was uncomfortable to come out and say that I was a Christian. I guess because I really wasn't sure. I still prayed, I didn't read my Bible everyday, but I would read it every so often. 

A couple years after I graduated, I married my high school sweetheart. I'm so thankful to God for blessing me with my husband. We have been happily married for almost 35 years! God has blessed by having two sons, who are both married and together have given to us four beautiful granddaughters. 

When our youngest son was a baby, there was a pastor that came to our door. I answered the door he introduced himself and told me he was the pastor at a church near to where we lived. As he talked to me he asked me the question, "If you were to die today, where would you go? To Heaven or to Hell?" I took a moment to think about it and I replied, "I think I would go to Heaven."

He then asked me, "Why do you think you would go to Heaven?" 

I thought about it, then I answered, "Because, I think I'm a good person, and I care about people."

He was very kind in responding to my answer. To be honest I can't remember exactly what he said to me, except that he handed me a pamphlet that talked about salvation. After he left, the only thing in my mind was me asking myself," What just happened?" I felt a huge stirring in my heart, but I didn't really know what was going on, why I felt this way.

I can't remember if it was one or two days later, I was watching a Christian television program. I had only seen the show briefly maybe a couple times before. But, for some reason  I curiously looked for it and found it that day. They were talking about how a person can become saved. I listened to them and I knew in my heart that I needed and wanted to know Jesus. I prayed along with the person on the program and asked Jesus Christ to forgive me of all my sins, and to come into my heart. 

I felt excited after accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I felt like a big weight was lifted from me. I thank the Lord everyday for saving me and giving me the strength to get through each day. I realized after I became saved, why I felt uncomfortable to say that I was a Christian. It was because at that time, I had only head knowledge about the Lord, but I didn't have the Lord in my heart. 

I'm not going to tell you that your life will be without problems, or that you will be perfect and not ever fall into sin. The Bible tells us that all of us fall short of the glory of God, because we are all sinners. It's by the grace of God through Jesus Christ that we are saved and the blood of Jesus that we are forgiven. 

Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." 

Ephesians 2:8-9 "for it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves it is a gift from God-not by works so that no one can boast."

"Are You Ready?"  Part 2 will be coming soon.