Pursuit22

Week 8:  The Simple Truth…

This week is the Gospel, the message of salvation, the SIMPLE TRUTH! No matter where we are in our walk with Christ (considering Christ, beginning a walk, or maturing more and more) it is always beneficial to remember the Gospel! If you are reading this and you have never accepted Christ’s sacrifice for your sins, this is a great way to reflect on the simple truths of the salvation message. For those of you reading this who are followers of Christ, use this in 2 ways…. 1. To remind yourself of God’s grace and mercy so you can be renewed in thankfulness. 2. To better learn how to share the Gospel with those around you!

 

Memory Verse
{John 3.17 – “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.”}

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~Day 1~
The Problem

Read Romans 3.23.

The problem is this…… we can NEVER be “good enough” for God. I feel like that word “ALL” keeps coming up in our conversations. It says “all have sinned.” Because we are humans, because we are descendants from Adam and Eve, we are incapable of living a sinless life. But what about those who do many good deeds????

Read Isaiah 64.6.

Scripture is clear that out “good deeds” and our efforts to be righteous on our own are like “filthy rags.” We all need God to give us righteousness… HIS righteousness! There is no other way we can be good enough. We can’t live a pretty peaceful life or be known as a “good person” and this get us to Heaven. There is only one Solution….. we will get to that later this week.

-          Think on the statement “I’m not good enough to enter Heaven.” If you’ve been saved spend time thanking God for giving you His righteousness. If you’re not saved ask yourself if you’ve believed the lie that you could be good enough.

-          When you think about, talk about, and live for Jesus, do you have the mentality that you are good enough? Or as you share truth and live out the Gospel do you constantly remember and express that Jesus’ righteousness is what saves you?

 

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~Day 2~
The Consequence

In life when we mess up or don’t measure up there is always a CONSEQUENCE. Some people like to miss this part of the Gospel. It’s not fun or easy to think about the consequences of our sins without Jesus…. But it’s necessary.

Take a look at Romans 6.23

Today we are just going to look at the first part of the verse…. “the wages of sin is death.” So what kind of death are we discussing here? It’s not talking about our physical death.

Read 2 Thessalonians 1.8.

The death that is being discussed as the consequence is separation from God…. What a heart wrenching thought.  The truly awesome part though is that God doesn’t leave us drowning our consequence without help. This is what we will discuss tomorrow!

-          Have you ever considered the consequence for someone who doesn’t accept Jesus? Do you constantly remind yourself that there is a Heaven and a Hell and people will go to one or the other?

-          As you think about this consequence I want you to apply it to your life. 1^st if you are not saved, what are you waiting for? Do you realize that this is your consequence if you do not accept God’s free gift of salvation? 2^nd Christian, do you have an urgency and a passion to share the Gospel with everyone knowing that if they die without Jesus this would be their consequence? Should you?

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~Day 3~
The Intervention

PRAISE GOD that there is an intervention. “Intervene” means to interfere with the outcome. I’m so thankful that God chose to intervene.

Read Colossians 2.13-14.

ESV reads that He “cancelled the record of debt that stood against us” and “this He set aside, nailing it to the cross.” WOW! JESUS came to earth (fully God, fully human) and was tempted, and beat, and eventually killed on a cross so that He could be our salvation. So that He could take our debt! I think I will live the rest of my life on Earth and never get over that!

Some of you may wonder how this helped. Why did Jesus have to die on a cross to save us? First of all He died a physical death and rose again three days later because in that He defeated physical death. He also defeated Spiritual death (separation from God). See in the Old Testament, before Jesus’ sacrifice, the way the people of God would receive forgiveness is to sacrifice an animal. The blood of that animal would be their offering to God so that through that blood they would be forgiven. However it was something that the people had to do over and over, because the sacrifice wasn’t enough just once.

Read Hebrews 9.13-14.

Jesus is the perfect sacrifice because He never sinned! He was without “blemish.” There was nothing wrong with Him. Because of His sacrifice, we are saved from all our sins by accepting His blood as our sacrifice.

-          Spend some time thanking Jesus for His perfect blood that covers all your sins!

-          Remembering Jesus’ sacrifice, take a moment to imagine what your life would be like without that.

 

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~Day 4~
The Motivation

BUT WHY? Why would a perfect God, who holds the entire world, send His Son (His only Son) to die for us?  And why would Jesus agree to it? WHY?

Read Ephesians 2.1-5.

Take another good look at verse 4…. “BUT GOD being rich in mercy, because of the GREAT LOVE with which HE LOVED US.” That is some kind of love! He was rich in mercy, full of grace, showing forgiveness because He loves us that much! I cannot wrap my head around this.

Read Romans 5.8.

God didn’t wait until we, as humans, got our acts together. He doesn’t say you can receive my forgiveness after you’ve spent three weeks without sinning. He died for us WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS. He saves us although WE ARE STILL SINNERS. Why……????? Because He loves us! In a way I will never understand. In an unconditional, unending, unthreatened kind of way.

-          Think about that God loves you that much! Do something today (journal a prayer, tell a friend, set aside extra time) to thank God for loving you that much!

-          Do you share this love with others? Or do you keep it bottled up inside afraid to show the world?

 

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~Day 5~
The Resolution

So what now? You know all these this. You know that without Jesus you are a sinner not worthy of God. You know that those who never accept Christ pass up a free offer and are sentenced to the consequence of Hell. You know that God sent an intervention in the form of Jesus dying on the cross to save you from that consequence. And you’ve learned that He did this because He loves you. So how to you respond? It’s simple really.

Read Romans 10.9-11.

You have to ADMIT you are a sinner who needs God to be anything at all.
BELIEVE that Jesus came to die for your sins and saves you through His perfect sacrifice and that He also rose from the dead on the third day.
Lastly CONFESS with your mouth and your life the JESUS IS LORD! That HE is your GOD who saved you!

I know it almost sounds too simple. And maybe you’re wondering if it only works for certain people.

Read Romans 10.13

EVERYONE who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved! EVERYONE! Praise GOD!

-          Have you ever truly accepted Christ as the Lord of your life and salvation from your sin?

-          If not, what is holding you back? What are you scared of?

-          If so, are you sharing the Gospel? I encourage you to use this week’s devotional as a guide to help you share the Gospel with those you encounter.

IF you have never accepted Christ, please please contact me! I would love to talk with you, answer questions, pray for you and with you! Don’t hold off! This is one decision you will never ever regret! You will never ever want to change! It will be the best decision you ever make!

What are your thoughts? I want feedback. Feel free to send me any question responses. I would love to hear from you, answer any questions you have, and pray for your needs specifically. Feel free to share this, comment, email me at brandycaudill90@gmail.com, or facebook message me!