Eternal Planning

The following is from www.ccci.org where more information and the related pictures can be viewed.

How to Know God Personally

You may be surprised that none of those things will work. But God has made it very clear in the Bible how we can know Him.

The following principles will explain how you can personally begin a relationship with God, right now, through Jesus Christ...

Principle 1:

God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life.

God's Love
"God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." ¹

God's Plan
[Christ speaking] "I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly" [that it might be full and meaningful]. ²

Why is it that most people are not experiencing the abundant life? Because...

Principle 2:

All of us sin and our sin has separated us from God.

We Are Sinful
"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." ³

We were created to have fellowship with God; but, because of our stubborn self-will, we chose to go our own independent way, and fellowship with God was broken. This self-will, characterized by an attitude of active rebellion or passive indifference, is evidence of what the Bible calls sin.

We Are Separated
"The wages of sin is death" [spiritual separation from God]. ⁴

This diagram illustrates that God is holy and people are sinful. A great gulf separates us. The arrows illustrate that we are continually trying to reach God and the abundant life through our own efforts, such as a good life, philosophy, or religion -- but we inevitably fail.

The third law explains the only way to bridge this gulf...

Principle 3:

Jesus Christ is God's only provision for our sin. Through Him we can know and experience God's love and plan for our life.

He Died in Our Place
"God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." ⁵

He Rose From the Dead
"Christ died for our sins...He was buried...He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures...He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred..." ⁶

He Is the Only Way to God
"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.'" ⁷

This diagram illustrates that God has bridged the gulf which separates us from Him by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in our place to pay the penalty for our sins.

It is not enough just to know these three principles...

Principle 4:

We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives.

We Must Receive Christ
"As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name." ⁸

We Receive Christ Through Faith
"By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast." ⁹

When We Receive Christ, We Experience a New Birth

We Receive Christ by Personal Invitation
[Christ speaking] "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him." ¹⁰

Receiving Christ involves turning to God from self (repentance) and trusting Christ to come into our lives to forgive our sins and to make us what He wants us to be. Just to agree intellectually that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for your sins is not enough. Nor is it enough to have an emotional experience. You receive Jesus Christ by faith, as an act of the will.

These two circles represent two kinds of lives:

Which circle best describes your life?

Which circle would you like to have represent your life?

The following explains how you can receive Christ:

You can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer

Prayer is talking to God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. The following is a suggested prayer:

"Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be."

If this prayer expresses the desire of your heart, then you can pray this prayer right now and Christ will come into your life, as He promised.

Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?

(1) John 3:16 (NIV); (2) John 10:10; (3) Romans 3:23; (4) Romans 6:23; (5) Romans 5:8; (6) 1 Corinthians 15:3-6; (7) John 14:6; (8) John 1:12; (9) Ephesians 2:8,9; (10) Revelation 3:20

Adapted from Have You Heard of the Four Spiritual Laws and Would You Like to Know God Personally, by Dr. Bill Bright, co-founder of Campus Crusade for Christ. © Campus Crusade for Christ. All rights reserved.

How You Can Be Sure You Are a Christian

Millions Are Not Sure

Millions of followers of Christ still remain unsure about their salvation.

By Bill Bright

The wife of an evangelist told me, "During the past thirty years, my husband and I have introduced thousands of people to Christ, but I have never been sure of my own salvation. Now, I'm desperate to know for sure. I need your help..."

A student who had just received Christ stood to his feet. With a puzzled and troubled look on his face, he said, "I don't feel any different. I guess God didn't hear my prayer. How can I be sure Christ has come into my life?"

Perhaps you, too, are uncertain about your relationship with the Lord.

Uncertainty Plagues Many People of Faith

From my experience of counseling many thousands of students and lay people throughout the years, I have become convinced that millions of church-goers have invited Christ into their lives, many of them over and over again, but are not sure of their salvation. In fact, surveys indicate that 50 percent of the church members in the United States are not sure Christ is in their lives. These are good people. Often, they have served faithfully in their church for years. And yet, they still have no assurance of Christ's abiding presence, no confidence that, if they died today, they would go to be with the Lord in heaven.

Why does this heartbreaking uncertainty exist among so many devoutly religious people? I am persuaded that their lack of assurance is due either to misinformation or to a lack of information regarding who God is. This includes understanding the deity of Christ, the meaning of the crucifixion and the resurrection of our Lord, and what is involved in receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

Permit me to ask you this personal, so very important, question: What about you? If you were to die today, are you absolutely sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt, you would go to heaven?

In the following pages, I want to share with you a message of great hope. It is a message for which the whole world hungers - and one I believe is desperately needed for the Church.

Next Page: A Great Hunger for Christ

You may want to visit www.ccci.org for more information.

How You Can Be Filled with the Holy Spirit

The Wonderful News of the Spirit-Filled Life

Many Christians simply don't know.

By Bill Bright

The senior pastor of one of America's leading churches came to talk with me after my message on "How to Be Filled with the Spirit." He said, "My life will never be the same after tonight! I have been a pastor for more than 20 years, but until now, I have never understood how to be empowered and controlled by the Holy Spirit as a way of life. I can hardly wait to share this with my church members... "

A retired businessman and his wife came to my office from halfway across the continent to share their excitement. "Our lives were totally changed when we learned how to be filled with the Holy Spirit as a result of your ministry. Now we are sharing Christ with others wherever we go."

They handed me a generous check with this request. "We have come to ask you to share on television how to be filled with the Holy Spirit with millions of others. We are eager for other Christians to experience the reality of the Holy Spirit in their lives as He is in ours..."

At the conclusion of one of my lectures, a man came rushing down the aisle. "This is the greatest thing I have ever heard in my life!" he began. "Today I have been liberated!" This man was on 12 boards of various Christian organizations. He exclaimed, "I have been trying to serve God so diligently that I practically ignored my business and my family. I have been trying to serve God in the energy of the flesh. I understand now why I have been so miserable and so unproductive!"

These people were all liberated from what I believe is one of the greatest afflictions in the body of Christ today. This blight is at the core of all the problems hurting the body of Christ throughout the world. The sickness I am speaking about is the epidemic of worldliness or carnality.