I was brought up as a Christian by my parents. We went to church every Sunday .We practiced our faith religiously, confessing our sins at least once a week. We were told there is a heaven and a hell, and in order to avoid hell we had to be as good as we could be. We had to obey all Gods commandments as well as we could.

For years I was under the impression that if I didn’t live up to the teachings of my church, I could never make it to heaven. Lo and behold, this did remind me to turn to God when I thought I was behaving badly. But it also taught me that the more I tried, the more I seemed to be failing.

As I grew older, I began to read the scriptures for myself. I asked friends, some Christian some not, what their religion was teaching them. As I explored my faith in Christ, I sincerely asked God to help me. I found what God said in His magnificent Word. We are all sinners and we all fall short of satisfying Him. But because of His unconditional love for us, He sent Jesus His only begotten Son to pay the price for our sins. All that is required of us is to confess that we are unworthy and to believe in His Son Jesus.

When we are baptized He seals us for the day of our redemption. When we are confirmed He empowers us with the Holy Spirit to live for Him. When we fail, He forgives us and indeed loves us unconditionally.

Jesus provides the way back to our loving heavenly Abba, Father. He paid the penalty for all our sins. We need only to accept the grace and mercy freely given to all of us who believe. This breaks the chains of sin we are born with. It allows His Holy Spirit to fill our beings and lead us to do what is right in His sight. A M E N ?

Remember God Loves You Unconditionally!

Joey

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9