What's Your Plan?

We all make plans every day—from “to do” lists for our day, to vacation plans, business plans, house plans, meal plans—we live in a planning culture.  But are you missing the most important plan of all?  Because you will spend eternity somewhere, have you considered planning for that? You may work very hard to take care of yourself, but are you fully taking care of YOU—the you that will exist for eternity? Where do you start? The fact that your eternity is forever compels me to share with you just how much God loves you and to ask you, “Do you know Jesus—really KNOW Him?  This eternal plan is way too important to neglect.  And it has everything to do with God and His Son Jesus Christ. Know God You were created by the God of the universe who loves you and has a plan for your life. Because of the way God designed you, there is a place in your heart that only God can fill. As recorded in Jeremiah 29:11, God says, “I know the plans I have for you …plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” He wants you to know Him, not just know about Him, and He longs to have an intimate relationship with you that allows Him to show you how to live and to have the abundant life He has planned for you. Love God You have a choice to love God. When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus responded: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). God will not force you into a relationship with Him. He freely offers you His love and asks you to love Him back. I can honestly tell you that there is nothing more meaningful in this life than to know you are loved and accepted by the God of the universe. Others around us will disappoint us at times and we may feel their love come and go, but if you have a relationship with God, you can rest assured that He loves you unconditionally. But how can you have this love relationship with God? See yourself through God’s eyes God’s design of mankind to have a free will opened the door for sin, which is anything that is not in line with God’s character as described in the Bible. We were given the choice or the freedom to obey God or disobey Him. Accordingly, the Bible says that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Anything you’ve ever done that was not pleasing to God is considered sin. When sin was first introduced into the world through Adam and Eve, the relationship between God and man (and woman) was broken, and because God is holy, there became a need for a way for man to be reconnected to God. Recognize the gift of Jesus God’s plan from the beginning of time, because He knew that man would sin, was to offer His only Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Jesus willingly gave up His life so that we can be reconciled to God. Therefore, Jesus is our only possible connection to God the Father. This is explained more fully in the Bible, which is God’s Word, sometimes referred to as God’s love letter to His people. What’s most important is that our resurrected Christ is the essence of Christianity; nearly all other religions worship a person whose grave is occupied. But because He defeated death, Jesus is alive and well and we can know that the debt of our sin was marked “paid in full” by His sacrifice. We have the choice to accept or reject Jesus’ payment for us. Although available, this gift is not ours until we accept it. Understand Jesus’ invitation Acceptance of the gift of Jesus has to do with two things. The first is repentance: acknowledging our sins for what they are and turning from them to God. The second is faith: placing our faith not in what we have done or have not done, but in the gift of Christ Jesus as our Savior and Lord. We tell God that we’re willing to follow His plan for our life and not our own. This means that we trade all that we are for all that we can be through God’s saving power and direction. It’s like giving up a flawed set of fake pearls for a genuine, perfect set of pearls. You may think something like, “I need to clean up my life before I can give it to God.” Remember that Jesus died for us when we were still sinners. God loves you, and He simply asks you to trust and follow Him. He will forgive your sin and give you the desire and ability to obey Him. You may also say something like, “I live a better moral life than some Christians I know” and you’re probably right. Please don’t let the inconsistencies of some Christians keep you from experiencing a relationship with your Creator. It’s sad that we as Christians don’t always live up to the character of Christ, but it’s even sadder when others reject Him because of our mistakes. Just look to God as the measure of holiness, not to us who call ourselves Christians. God knows that we will fail at times to live up to a perfect standard, but if we’re genuine in our repentance, He’s there to forgive us when we do. Believe Jesus is the only way to God You will talk to many people who say that there are many different paths or religions that all lead to God. However, you can’t believe the Bible and believe that. Scripture is very clear that Jesus is the one and only way to God. One example is from Jesus Himself—He said: “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). If there were other ways to God, could we possibly think that God would have allowed His Son to suffer the agony of the cross? No other religion has a founder whose life, death and resurrection were predicted centuries before he lived, then who died and afterwards was raised to life again, his presence witnessed by hundreds of people. As said earlier, this resurrected Jesus is the essence of Christianity. Accept His invitation If you would like to accept God’s gift, the gift of Jesus as payment for your sins, and give Him your life, then stop right now and do it. I have given you this information because I want to convey to you the fact that God loves you and He wants you to accept the free gift of His Son Jesus. Please, please don’t disregard this plea to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and give Him your life. When you do, you place your life in the hands of the One who created you and gave you life. Romans 10:9-10 says: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Here is how you do this: (1) Acknowledge to God that you are a sinner, that you are sorry for the sins you’ve committed. (2) Claim Jesus’ sacrifice as payment for your sins. (3) Tell God that you are turning from your sins and giving your life to Him, surrendering yourself to follow Him and His plan for your life as He reveals it to you. (4) Thank God for loving you enough to give His Son for you and for bringing you into a saving relationship with Him. If you do this, please let me know. Also, let me know if you have any questions that you would like to discuss. Feel free to call or email me anytime. My contact information is on the back of this booklet. Who I am I have had a relationship with Christ since I was a young girl. I am far from perfect, but I have experienced and continue to experience the abundant life that God offers to anyone who seeks Him. My heart’s desire is to share Jesus with anyone who doesn’t know Him because a relationship with Jesus is way too important to not share. It means the difference between eternal life and eternal death. I want to take each person I meet by the hand and ask, “But do YOU know Jesus?” I realize that many people are uncomfortable with that question and also there are times that I have contact with someone that isn’t long enough for me to share these thoughts, so I’m sharing these words with you to offer you a taste of the One who can give real meaning to your life. My prayer is that if you don’t already have a relationship with Jesus Christ, that you will come to know Him and have a personal relationship with Him.