Today’s SERVING JESUS IN YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE

“I’m going out soul-winning!” a sister in the Lord exclaimed one morning over the telephone.

If there’s anything I know about my friend, it’s that her two greatest loves are the Lord Himself and going out into the highways and byways to share the Gospel message with the world around her.

My friend isn’t any spring chicken. In fact, her nickname is “Ducky” based on her last name. Joking aside, she’s in her early 80’s. But that doesn’t stop her from hopping on her bicycle even in the coldest of weather and heading out to proclaim the Lord to the world. But she’s quick to say it wasn’t always that way.

For so very long, for years in fact, she thought it was enough to simply commit her life to the Lord Jesus Christ and enjoy her relationship with the Lord on earth until one day she would skip off happily to heaven. Tragically, her church life was such that she wasn’t taught where she attended that Christ’s followers are given Christ’s commission. To go tell the world the only way to a relationship with God and forever in heaven with Him is through turning from our sins and believing Christ is Lord and died for us and was raised from the dead whereby we genuinely turn away from our sins and henceforth learn to live for God according to His ways.

The Lord in His mercy led her to a church where she learned the truth. That she as Christ’s follower has a job to do. Sometimes talking to my friend is like looking in the mirror. For she like myself has a love beyond measure for the Lord and a passion beyond description to help others to know and be with Him forever.

Friend, this message isn’t about my soul-winning sister and her fervor for serving Christ by telling the world about Him. It’s a message for all of us that we all need to make our greatest priorities loving and following Jesus and telling the world how to be in His presence forevermore!

The Greatest Love Ever from the Heart of Lara Love

The Lord God almighty who created the world and created us designed us humans to be in perfect loving and awesomely amazing up close and personal glorious face to face intimate relationship with Himself forever in a perfect place with no pain, disease, brokenness, hurt, tears, dying, violence, divorce, tragedies, trials, tribulations, etc.

But humanity’s perfect relationship with God in a perfect place is impossible. We are all sinners and therefore can’t live in the face to face full forever glorious magnificent presence of perfect, holy, and righteous God almighty in the Kingdom of heaven because of our sins which separate us from Him. We all fall short of God’s glory, and we can never measure up to nor earn His love, forgiveness, and everlasting life.

Everything bad, hard, ugly, painful, etc. in this world is a result of sin in this world, and our final destination because we’re sinners is judgment, condemnation, and the curse, i.e. punishment, of His wrath, death, hell, and the lake of fire in everlasting torment forever & ever apart from God.

But God in His infinitely phenomenally indescribably beautiful love, mercy, and grace for us and matchless passion and immeasurable yearning for us whom He created to be in His forever fellowship sent His only Son Jesus Christ to the cross in our place as our atonement to take on the punishment we deserve and raised Him from the dead for one sole reason.

JESUS CHRIST IS LORD. He is God who came in the flesh, lived a perfect life, and died and rose from the dead for this one reason. Everyone who believes He is Lord, Son of God, died for us and was raised from the dead, who genuinely turns away from a lifestyle of sin (repents) and turns to God and His ways, truly committing his or her life to Jesus as LORD and SAVIOR, is saved from God’s wrath and punishment and receives God’s forgiveness and the promise of an everlasting relationship with Him – now and forever in the Kingdom of heaven!

We become Christ’s followers, and God’s very Holy Spirit comes to live inside us and leads and empowers us in God’s ways forever. Our sins are washed away, and we begin a new life of living for Jesus according to God’s ways as the Bible teaches, led by God’s Spirit. We enjoy God’s forever fellowship and live to bring love, honor, praise, and glory to God for eternity. This is called being born again. We are born again – spiritually – with a clean slate and fresh start and become part of God’s Kingdom and forever family!

Now, by studying and living by the Bible, spending time with the Lord praying, praising Him, and hearing from and obeying Him; and worshiping, learning, and growing with fellow Christ followers in a good Bible-teaching church, Bible study, house church, Christian small group, etc.; and by serving God in helping to build and encourage His Kingdom of forever followers, we follow Jesus, live for Jesus, grow in our relationship with Jesus, and are conformed to the image of our beloved Jesus who is forever and ever God and Lord!

The ONLY way to a forever relationship with God and to be in heaven with Him is through turning from a lifestyle of sin to faith in Jesus Christ as LORD and to live our lives accordingly.

In these times, false teaching about God, the Bible, and Christianity is rampant, even in some churches. So it’s more important than ever to continually study the Bible, surround ourselves with Christ followers strongly grounded in the Bible who can help us grow, and measure everything against the Bible because God only speaks in line with His Word.

God created us to love and worship and serve and obey and enjoy Him FOREVER, and Jesus died on the cross and was raised from the dead so we who repent and believe in Christ as Lord, devoting our lives to Him, enter into a relationship with Jesus forever and ever!  Intellectual faith in the Lord is not enough. We need to live like Jesus is Lord, yielding ourselves to God and the Bible day by day because He is Lord forevermore! We surrender to His Spirit as He leads us forth!

How to begin? Turn away from your sins, believe Christ is Lord and died for you and was raised from the dead, and cry out to and call upon the Lord in prayer to forgive and save you and give you the gift of His Holy Spirit. Receive Christ as your Lord and Savior and devote yourself to Him forevermore!

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no not one:” Rom. 3:10. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”  Rom. 3:23. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rom. 6:2. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. ”that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Rom. 10:9. ”For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”” Rom. 10:13. “…If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Mt. 16:24. ““Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”… “…He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” 2 Cor. 5:15

 FOR HELP FOLLOWING JESUS, to read Lara’s personal story, sign up for Daily Inspiration by email, order tracts & Faithful Magazine, or see the ministry’s handicapped dogs:

Lara Love & Walk by Faith Ministry

3715 Argent Blvd – M2 / Ridgeland, SC 29936

843-338-2219 /www.walkbyfaithministry.com love@walkbyfaithministry.com

Scriptures unless otherwise noted are from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.