All Christians should look forward to the time when we will be in heaven with Jesus. The trouble with getting there is that we have to take that big step between here and eternity. It’s the mystery of the unknown that keeps us here; besides, God has a very important purpose for us while we are still alive.
Our purpose is to know Him and tell others about God’s love. I personally believe that God calls every person into a relationship with Him. Many people turn away from God. So God, not wanting to give up on anyone, wants to use you and me to reach out to them. God persistently keeps trying to reach everyone because He doesn’t want anyone to miss heaven.
When God first found us, we were a mess. The good news for us is that we heard His voice and responded to His call. We ran into God’s arms and accepted His love. We needed to be cleaned up so He washed us in the blood of Jesus. The cleansing power of the blood of Jesus can wash away every wrong-doing that we have ever done. Even the best people you know need the blood of Jesus to find forgiveness. No one can do enough good to wash away the bad that we are all guilty of committing.
Once we are clean, God can begin the process of healing our broken hearts and lives. If you live in this world your heart has been damaged by the people in your life. Damaged hearts create ruined lives. God can heal all the brokenness in our lives if we will turn to Him for help. It’s hard to expose your sin and brokenness to God, but that is the path to healing.
God has seen everything you have ever done. The good news is once you turn and confess your sins and failures to God, He promises to forgive you and to forget you ever did those things. He wipes them from His memory. We can remember them so we have to forgive ourselves. It’s very hard to forgive ourselves, but if God forgives you then you can forgive yourself. You are a broken human being that needs God’s love, forgiveness, and healing.
We have two main purposes once we accept all that God has done for us. Our first purpose is to spend time getting to know God. How do you get to know an invisible God? He wrote you a love letter: the Bible. That’s His story. There is so much in the Bible about who God is and how He interacts with people. You can learn about His love, mercy, and character. The Bible is God’s story.
We can also learn about Him when we pray and talk with Him. Some people think that prayer is only a one-way conversation. We go to God and tell Him all our concerns. Well, He does want to hear our concerns, but He also wants to talk with us. He talks to us through the Bible, but He also wants to talk to us directly. He speaks to our spirits to guide and encourage us through life. We need to turn off all the noise of this world so that we can hear Him.
Our second purpose is to tell others about what God has done for us. Remember, I said that there were many people who chose not to listen and respond to God’s call to them. He’s hoping that they might listen to our story. There are many people in the world who have been broken by the world in the same way we were broken. When they hear our story of how God healed, forgave, and restored us then they might turn to God and discover those same things for themselves. God wants to speak through us. I promise there are people in your life who will respond to your story of forgiveness, healing, and hope.
I want to encourage you to share your story. God has done a miraculous thing in your life and people need to hear about it from you. God has interacted with you in a unique way and the people in your life will see the evidence of the goodness of God. That evidence, a changed life, may cause them to finally find the courage in themselves to turn to God. Your Father is hoping you will share your story so those who are lost and still searching will find Him. Then they will be forgiven, healed, and have their own story. To know Him and share our story, that’s our purpose.
Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com
