Spiritual Truth

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#0099FF" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="09648483.gif"> <div> <IMG SRC="0999e2c0.png" border=0 width="158" height="44" ALT="Microsoft Clip Gallery" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> T<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#111111" FACE="Arial" >To Our Brother To Be</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I>"Your searching for the truth in life, you think you'll never find.  Bits and pieces of philosophies are darkening your mind.  Do you need something to cling to?  To hold to something true?  If you give God the green light, He'll reveal Himself to you.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>There are no 10 quick steps to Heaven, no magic recipie.  No formulas to follow to reach eternity.  No pat or easy answers to make it on your own, but if you trust in Jesus, you'll never walk alone.  </I></div> <bR> <div> <I>No, all the good deeds ever done won't buy one ticked in.  Perfection is expected!  So who'll pay for the sin?  Well, thank God, Jesus did when he died upon that tree.  He signed our pardon, "Paid in Full" and in Him, we are free."</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>                         -    JEC  </I></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#0099FF" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="09648483.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#0066FF" FACE="Arial" ><B> Lyrical Truth</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#333399" FACE="Arial" >    </FONT> |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Lyrical Truth"><U>home</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Now Available from the Carrot Patch"><U>Now Available from the Carrot Patch</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lyrics"><U>Lyrics</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Short Biography"><U>Short Biography</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Favorite Links"><U>Favorite Links</U></A>   |   <B>Spiritual Truth</B>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Poetry"><U>  Poetry</U></A></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Spiritual Truth</div> <div> So you've been searching for something to enrich your spirit.  But which way to turn?  There are so many beliefs out there!  Are there many paths to God and true spirituality?</div> <bR> <div> Well, it does matter what you believe, because <B>there is such a thing as TRUTH! </B> Jesus said, "I am the way, the Truth and the Life.  No one comes to the Father, except by Me."  John 14:6.  </div> <bR> <div>    But, who was Jesus to make such a claim?  John chapter one tells us that Jesus existed throughout eternity past as God... "The Word" who became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth".   And, that  Jesus is the Creator.  "All things were made through Him."</div> <bR> <div> For more information about the deity of Jesus, listen to "Is This Man God?", found at www.kgov.com, or read the book of John in the New Testament of the Bible, and see what claims Jesus made about himself!  </div> <bR> <div> God is One, expressed in three persons:  The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit (Deut. 6:4, Matt. 28:19.)  Jesus is called God the Son, and the Son of God (Isaiah 7:14).  </div> <bR> <div> God created mankind to have fellowship with them.  Fellowship was broken when Adam and Eve broke the ONLY LAW that had been given to them. (Genesis 3).  The one rule that was given to them was not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  But what is the knowledge of good and evil?  It is the Law.  They put themselves under the law which condemned mankind ever since.  They went from innocence, to accountability.</div> <bR> <div> Because God's nature is holy, sin must be punished.  He is not an unrighteous judge that can wink at evil.  Sin is so wrong because it really hurts those God loves.  When we sin, we hurt ourselves, others, and God.  Sin must be destroyed.  It cannot enter into Heaven, or Heaven would become a despicable place, too.  Because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), God had to make the supreme sacrifice if mankind were to ever be rescued from their predicament.  The Bible says that everyone has sinned and Man could not save himself, because <U>one</U> sin caused him to fall short of God's glory (Romans 3:23)... he could never reach Glory again, on his own.</div> <bR> <div> Because God "so loved the world, He sent His only begotten Son" to pay the price for us.  The blood of Jesus Christ, shed on the cross so many years ago had eternal value.  So that through all the ages, "WHOSOEVER believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life."  John 3:16.    The requirement for this eternal pardon?  To believe in Jesus.  To trust in His death to cover our sins.  He paid the price for us, so we don't have to.  Unbelief in God's way of salvation is self-condemnation.  John 3:18  "He who believes is not condemned.  But he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."</div> <bR> <div> The moment we trust in Jesus Christ's atoning death, and his ressurrection from the dead (which proves God accepted the payment, and our hope of eternal life), we are saved.  According to the Scriptures:  "If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved."  Romans 10:9.  From that time on, you are a new person.  Jesus called it "born again".  And we are then, "a new creation."  All the old things are passed away, and everything has become new.  You can learn to grow in this grace (undeserved favor) and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and become a strong Christian.  By reading the Bible and attending a Church where they love God and teach the truth, you  can have confidence to be "more than an overcomer" in this life.  You don't have to face the tough times alone anymore.  You will never be alone once you  belong to God.  Jesus promised, "I will never leave you, or forsake you."  And, "nothing (and no one) can take you out of My Father's hand".  </div> <bR> <div> To learn more about Jesus Christ, I recommend you begin by reading the Gospel of John (in the New Testament), then the book of Romans.  After that, go ahead and start at the beginning!  It's a big book, but the only really important one.  If you have a hard time understanding it, I recommend "The Plot of the Bible" by Bob Enyart (www.enyart.com).  It's helped me tremendously!  </div> <bR> <div> God bless you in the journey!  </div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>