Wednesday May 25, 2011

Speaker: Ben Sigman

Theme: Go Fish

Weekend Music links on iTunes: All Because of Jesus - Fee, Run - Hillsong, For Who You Are - Hillsong, Forever Reign - Hillsong

Read: Romans 3: 9-31 and Romans 6:23

Think: As we’ve been thinking this week about what it means to be Fishers of Men and sharing what the Bible calls The Good News, maybe it’s a good idea to pinpoint what to share...  Think of this as a kind of Cliff Notes version of sharing your faith!

The good news is you’re able to enter into a relationship with God through trusting in Jesus Christ; not through being part of a certain religion, obeying rules, or performing some prescribed set of rituals. When we entrust our lives to Jesus we’re given three incredible benefits. So, when we tell others about the good news, we can let them know: God forgives your past; he gives you purpose in the present; and, he offers you a future.

God forgives your past. None of us are perfect. Everybody has made mistakes. Everyone has skeletons in the closet—things we wish had never happened. God comes along and says, “When you trust Jesus Christ with your life, I take everything you’ve ever done and wipe the slate clean. You get to start over with a brand-new life.”

God gives you purpose in the present. You are not an accident. God created you for a purpose. But you’re never going to know God’s purpose for your life until you first get to know God. When you get to know God, you’re going to know who you are. When you figure out God, you’re going to figure out yourself. There are people all around us who say they are trying to find themselves or know that there is something missing in life… And we have the truth that can help ---  God is what is missing!

God offers you a future. God gives you a future, a home in heaven. Most people hope they’re going to heaven, but they’re not sure. Most people think if you do more good in your life than bad, then maybe God will grade on a curve and say, “Okay, you can come in.” But it doesn’t work that way. You won’t get into heaven on your own power because you’re just not good enough.

There’s only one way we can get into heaven—on somebody else’s ticket. Since none of us are perfect, God came to earth in human form as Jesus. Jesus lived a life of perfection. He died on the cross, paid for our sin, and then went back to heaven. Now you get into heaven on His ticket, if you trust Him. Romans 6:23 (NCV) says, “God gives us a free gift—life forever in Christ Jesus our Lord.” It’s a gift. That means you can’t earn it, you can’t work for it, and you can’t own it in any way.

God promises, if you trust My Son with your life, you get forgiveness for your past, a purpose for living in your present, and a home in heaven in the future.

Do:  We don’t need to make it any more complicated than that. The world is hungry for good news. Let’s go share it!

Pray: Lord, as you bring opportunities for me to share what it means to follow You, I ask that you give me the right words and the right heart. Thank you that we really do have GOOD NEWS to share with the people in our lives. And it’s all because of Your love and desire that none would live apart from You. Amen.  

The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church.