God wants everyone to join Him in heaven. No matter who you are or what you’ve done, He is prepared to welcome you. There is only one requirement: You need to seek His forgiveness before you leave this world. If you repent of your sin, confess it, and trust Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you will be saved from the spiritual penalty of your sin and be freed to enjoy eternity with Him in heaven!
Receiving God’s forgiveness is simpler than you might imagine.
Receiving God’s forgiveness is simpler than you might imagine. Psalm 51:17 assures us that God “will not reject a broken and repentant heart” (NLT). There is no rite or ritual you need to perform. Any confession, spoken with sincerity and repentance, will be accepted by your Heavenly Father. You can use your own words or follow a sample prayer.
To receive Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, pray a prayer such as this one:
Lord Jesus, I’m like everyone else—I can’t make it through life on my own. I’m imperfect. I’m prone to sin. I have come to realize that there’s nothing in the world I can do to make myself acceptable to You. But I know You have loved me so much You were willing to submit to the cross and die on my behalf. That’s so amazing I cannot understand it; I can only accept it. And I do. I accept Your free gift. I know I am saved from this moment on. I am a child of God. And I give the rest of my life to serving You and experiencing the joy that only You can offer. Fill me now, dear Lord, and raise me to walk in the newness of life. I thank You and praise You! Amen.
Designed to last for a lifetime, marriage and adoption are two of the most binding commitments we make on this earth. That is why the Bible uses both terms to describe a Christian’s relationship with God. In one of His parables, Jesus depicted Himself as a bridegroom (Matthew 25:1–13). When He conquered our sin by dying in our place, He initiated a binding pledge that transforms anyone who accepts the pledge into a permanent member of His family. God the Father affirms Christ’s pledge by giving us His Holy Spirit and adopting us into His family (Galatians 4:6–7).
God is eager to spend time with us
Newlyweds and new parents have something else in common: They can’t get enough of their new family member. In the same way, God is eager to spend time with us, and our natural response is to want to spend time with Him. As we look forward to our future life with the Lord in heaven, we will want to get to know Him better. There are many ways to accomplish this, but here are some practical steps to get you started.
To grow in your relationship with Jesus, take these six steps:
1. Be baptized.
Baptism identifies you with Christ.
Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea. (Acts 8:35–40)
2. Study the Bible.
The Bible will guide you through life and answer life’s questions.
Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105)
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)
3. Share your faith with others.
Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. (2 Timothy 1:8)
Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 10:32)
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
4. Be part of a local church.
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11–13)
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16)
5. Spend time with other Christians.
And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24, 25)
6. Make prayer a part of your daily life.
So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” (Luke 11:2–4)
If you would like to know more about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, request your FREE copy of Your Greatest Turning Point here.
