Jesus

Jesus is still alive today. It is through a relationship with him that we can know eternal life and peace. He died for all of mankind's crimes against God. It is this intense love of his for us that allows us to know God and live forever despite the fact that we are imperfect and fail to live up to the standards God has for us. By knowing Jesus, we receive a pardon for our crimes. You can know him too. In fact, that is the best way of finding out more about him. By praying for him to reveal himself to you, and in seeking to know him better, you can enter into a relationship with him.

The first thing you'll want to do is find a Bible. If you don't have one handy in print, or if you don't want to go and buy or borrow one, there is one available online which offers most major English translations, and even some foreign ones! It helps to read something from the Bible every day. It is the inspired word of God, so you can trust it to give you accurate information about him, and to give you things to pray about with him. When you read your Bible, pray that God shows you something in it. God will often lead you to a specific page or verse which will be relevant to your life, or to something he wants you to know about him or about yourself. Read the new testament. The accounts of Jesus' ministry written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John will show you a lot about him. By praying to know him, you'll find out even more.

God is a being who desires to have a relationship with us. This desire is not based on who we are or what we've done, but rather on his own purposes in creating us in his image. From the beginning he desired for us to know him, spend time with him, and generally be friends in the richest sense of the word.

When asked, most people will say they know about God. They know where Jesus was born, the names of his parents, some of his famous quotes, a few miracles, and possibly even some of his friends' names. Most of the information people spew about Jesus is the same or less than they can recite about a famous movie star or sports personality. Information from TV and magazines can tell the average person a lot about a famous personality, but it can never be the same as actually knowing them.

God doesn't want us just to know about him, he wants us to know him personally. Knowing things about God isn't enough. The God who desires relationship with his people wants us to know him in an intimate way; like best friends would know and relate to one another. We can say we know about a famous personality, but until we are introduced to them, we really can't know them.

This introduction is available to you right now.

Think about it: You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Even if we are all wrong, and this Jesus thing is just a scam to waste your time praying a prayer, it still only costs you is 45 seconds of your life. But if we're right, you may gain all of eternity. THAT is a great offer.

How?
Pray to receive Christ into your life like you would receive a friend into your house. Invite him in, give him place in your life daily, and pledge to get to know him better through talking to him as often as you can and finding out about him in his biography (the bible). All this does is start a relationship - an introduction. The rest is up to you.

 

View Verse of the Day

"A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop-a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear."
The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"

He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables:
"Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
" 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
For this people's heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.'But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

"Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."

"The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
"The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?'

" 'An enemy did this,' he replied.
"The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'

" 'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.' "

Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field."
He answered, "The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

"As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

"Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
"Have you understood all these things?" Jesus asked.
"Yes," they replied.

"A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.
"He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, 'They will respect my son.'

"But the tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

"What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. Haven't you read this scripture:
" 'The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;
11the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes'?"

12Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.

"A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.'

"But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.'

"Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.'

"Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.'

"The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'

" 'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.'

"Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.' "