Keeping It Simple

Someone loves you.

He created the universe and everything in it, including you.

He's not concerned with where you are... who you are... or what you've done. He loves you unconditionally.

He doesn't expect you to know all about Him. He knows all about you.

He'd like you to know that everything you've ever done wrong in your life... every mistake you've ever made... every wrong choice... every so-called sin you've ever committed has already been forgiven.

You may not understand this at first, but just trust that these words are true. You are loved and you are forgiven.

He's not "out to get you". He's not overly concerned with what church you go to. He's not especially interested in how much you know about the book He's inspired in order for you to know His record. In time, He'll teach you these things, but right now He just wants you to trust that:

He loves you and you are forgiven.

It's just that simple.

Sure, others will tell you that you have to pray a special prayer. Or that you have to attend a certain church. Or that you have to do a list of "do's" and avoid a list of "don'ts", but, for now, He doesn't want you to think that far ahead.

First things first. He wants you to know Him. To know His love... the grace He's given you... the mercy He's given you... the truth of who He is.

He is your Father.

He knew you before you ever existed in physical form.

He knew you'd make mistakes.

He knew you'd be confused sometimes.

He knew things would happen to you.

He knew you'd question why he allowed these things to happen.

He knew.

He has answers for you. He wants you to understand. But first He wants you to trust that...

He loves you and that every offense you've ever committed is forgiven. He holds nothing against you.

How is this possible?

Well, just like He placed you here, He placed His Son here many, many years ago. While here, His Son taught many lessons and was a perfect example of who a human being should be.

He was, if you will, the perfect image of what you can be if you follow Him.

As good as He was, however, many didn't trust Him. They didn't believe He was good, though they couldn't find any fault with Him. Many were even threatened by Him, because He was so loved by so many others.

In their blindness and their jealousy, they tortured and killed Him.

I know, this may sound like a downer. It would be a depressing story if it ended there, but the good news is that it didn't.

Now, this next part sounds unbelievable, but it's true.

When the Father called for the Son to get up... out of His tomb... the Son obeyed and defeated death by coming back to life all over again. In fact, He's still alive and He lives with the Father right now, but He's coming back to earth in the future and, at this point, He'll do away with all of the evilness in the world.

So, while you might wonder why bad things happen... and why the Father allows it... just know that He has a plan to fix it all if we'll just be patient and trust that He does.

Anyway, back to the Son...

See, at one time the only way for your sins and mistakes to be forgiven was through death. Literally, our forefathers slaughtered their best animals in order to ask for the Father's forgiveness.

You'll learn more about this later, but for right now, don't worry about why or how or any of that, just accept that this is just how it once was. Our forefathers weren't being cruel to animals, but this is what they were taught to do and the only way that they could be forgiven for their sins. It was the Father who told them this was necessary.

After a while, though, the Father gave His Son to be that sacrifice instead.

Now, don't worry. Yes, He knew that the Son would suffer. He knew that He would be ridiculed and mocked. And, yes, He knew that, physically, He'd die a torturous, murderous death.

But He also knew He'd be raised from death's state and that He'd live forever. He knew that His death would be the final payment for any and every sin you or I would ever commit. He knew that a day would come in our lives when we felt lost. When we felt disconnected from Him. When we would want to clean our lives up and we'd want to draw closer to Him. He knew we'd want a second, third or one-hundredth chance, so He put this plan in place... a plan that sacrificed His only son... so that He could redeem us and bring us back to Him if we just had the courage to believe that He'd done all of this for us.

And if we believe this, not only are we forgiven, but we're promised to live forever... with Him... just like His son does.

Yeah, we'll die a physical death... just like the Son did. But we'll also be called forward to everlasting life again... just like the Son was!

It's simple, really.

Many will tell you that there are all sorts of requirements or changes that you have to make in order to reap His reward, but really if you make the choice to believe what you've just read, He'll make all the necessary changes for and in you.

If you believe what you've just read is true... even if you don't understand it all, but believe that what you do understand is true... then leave a quick comment so that others will know. Let the first thing you do on this first day of the new you be to publicly acknowledge that you've received a gift... a gift of everlasting life.

In parting, I want you to know that this doesn't mean that your life will be perfect from here on out. It doesn't mean that you'll never make another mistake and it doesn't mean that you won't have anymore challenges to overcome. I want that to be clear, because this is real and in reality, life happens. We experience, we learn, we grow, but life still happens.

What it does mean, however, is that you have accepted His forgiveness and are ready to move on to a better, more meaningful relationship with Him. And, more than anything else, this is what He wants too! He wants to help you, to be there for you, to encourage you, to lead you to better days, to give you great peace, to use you to do great things in the world, to use you to help others who've lost their way... a relationship with Him is an endless journey of blessings and lessons and comfort despite what this world may place in your path. He wants to help you navigate your way around it all.

But first He needs your trust, your acknowledgment and your invitation for Him to come in and help you out.

Will you allow Him to be a Father to you?

You may even already have known everything I just shared with you above, but for whatever reason, you changed courses somewhere along the way and want to return to His path. Oh, He's excited to have you back. He's not going to beat you up for your mistakes either. He wants you to know, right here and right now, that He knows, He understands and He has ALREADY forgiven you. Yes, tell Him about your shortcomings, but do so solely to unload your burden of guilt and shame on Him... He wants to take it all away from you and give you new life... the life He planned for you from the beginning before this world took hold of you and turned life topsy turvy. It's not too late. He's still here for you and He's waiting for an entrance back into your life.

Will you give it to Him?

I hope so and I'm praying for you.

Leave a message as simple or as detailed as you wish, but please let all of us reading this know that you've received the good news and are now receptive to Him and to all of our prayers as well.

And always remember...

He loves you and I do too.