Do Not Fear! That's Easy For You To Say

Check out this story about the prophet Elisha.

2 Kings 6:12-16(NKJV)

12And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.”

13So he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him.” And it was told him, saying, “Surely he is in Dothan.”

14Therefore he sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. 

15And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”

16So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 

So the King is out to get Elisha.  Elisha's servant wakes up and sees the city surrounded.  He tells Elisha and what are the first words out of Elisha's mouth?

Do not fear!

2 Timothy 1:7(NKJV)

7For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

It's often been said that faith and fear cannot exist in the same body.  Why is it then that for most of us, when faced with the unknown we get fearful?  It seems to be our natural reaction.  How do we deal with that?

First we have to train ourselves to recognize it.  When we feel fear we need to train ourselves to immediately  recognize that we are feeling fear and put a stop to it.  We aren't powerless here.  Look at the Scripture from 2 Timothy.

That Scripture tells us specifically that fear isn't from God.  That same Scripture goes on to tell us that God has given us power.   I would assume that if God gives us power it would be OK with Him if we use that power to defeat fear!

So how do you get that power?  Well the first step is to invite Jesus into your life.  Have you done that yet?  Just have a talk with Jesus and let you know what you need.  "Dear Jesus…."

Please Answer My Prayer (but only if you do it my way)

You ever notice how picky some people can be?

2 Kings 5:8-12(NKJV)

8So it was, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Please let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

9Then Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the door of Elisha’s house. 

10And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” 

11But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’ 

12Are not the £Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. 

What was Naaman's goal?  To be cured of leprosy.  Why was he upset?  Because God didn't cure Naaman's leprosy in a flashy enough manner.  There weren't enough theatrics to suit him. 

The lesson to be learned?  When God answer's your prayer be grateful for the answer and accept that God's answer was delivered in the way God felt best.  Go with it! 

"empty vessels; do not gather just a few"

Great story.  I'll share what I take from this story after you read it.

2 Kings 4:1-7(NKJV)

1A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.”

2So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”

3Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. 

4And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.”

5So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. 

6Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased. 

7Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”

Scripture tells us that once we accept Jesus and are part of the family of God, that God wants to bless us.  I think this story gives us a clue as to how that happens.

We all have things to contribute to spreading God's Word.  One of the most important things we have is our time.  But whatever it is that each of us has to offer, I believe that it is through being willing to use those gifts in the service of God that God blesses us.

As the story says "“Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few.  ".  Each of those empty vessels is a time when you have responded to God's call.  Whether it be an answer to a need for money, for volunteers, for time or whatever, each time we answer we open another empty vessel through which God can pour out additional blessings on us.

And notice that Scripture tells us to get a lot of empty pots, not just a few.  Why?  Because once the empty pots were gone, the blessings dried up.  What's that tell us? 

Be generous towards God in all that you have and do!

Not sure what to pray for? Try this!

Sometimes people get stumped on what to pray for.  I have a couple of ideas. 

First off if you are having trouble coming up with something to say to God, maybe that is an indication that it is time to just quietly sit and listen for God to speak to you.

Second, check out this verse.

2 Kings 2:9(NKJV)

9And so it was, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?” Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.”

Reminds me of King Solomon when he asked for wisdom and knowledge.  Imagine what life would be like with a "double portion of God's spirit". 

Give it a try!

How Did God Deal With Bullies?

Bullying is a big topic in the US.  I never realized that the Bible addressed bullying this directly but look what I found in II Kings 2.

2 Kings 2:22-24(NKJV)

22So the water remains healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.

23Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some youths came from the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!”

24So he turned around and looked at them, and pronounced a curse on them in the name of the Lord. And two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.

LOL, wow!  God sends two female bears to maul the kids!

The Bible never ceases to amaze me.  What a great guide for life.  There is something in there to cover just about every situation you can think of.  Even bullying.

Pick it up and give it a read!

Dude, Maybe That's A Clue!

Dude, Maybe That's A Clue!

Thursday, April 18, 2013

5:26 PM

This Scripture just made me chuckle.

1 Kings 22:8(NKJV)

8So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord; but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say such things!”

Dude, if a man of God doesn't prophecy anything good for or about you, maybe that's a clue!  Might be time to consider your ways.

I'm just saying…. :)

We Have To Do Our Part!

1 Kings 20:22(NKJV)

22And the prophet came to the king of Israel and said to him, “Go, strengthen yourself; take note, and see what you should do, for in the spring of the year the king of Syria will come up against you.”

Interesting advice.  We are always looking for God to help us and that is a good thing.  He has promised to do so.  But that doesn't mean that He is going to do everything for us.  The verse above tells us what He expects from us.

I see two main things here.

#1. Strengthen yourself.  What do you think God is talking about there?  I think He means that we need to strengthen ourselves physically by exercising and taking care of our bodies.  We also need to strengthen ourselves spiritually by being in the Word daily.

#2. Take note, and see what you should do.  To me this means to use our God given abilities of intellect and observation to develop a strategy to achieve the objectives that God has given us.

We need to lean on and depend on God but we have a responsibility to be prepared and ready when he calls!

The Ruthlessness of God

The Bible offers an interesting dichotomy when we compare God of the Old Testament with God of the New Testament.  Everyone seems to focus on what they view as the lovey dovey God in the NT.  What they like to ignore is the ruthlessness of God in the OT.

Are we talking about two different Gods here?  They can't be the same God can they?

Not only can they but they are.  Let me explain.

In the OT we see several times where the Israelites are punished because they didn't follow God's orders.  One example is King Saul.  Before a certain battle God told Saul to kill every man, woman, child, and animal.  Wow, that seems pretty cruel by today's standards.  Killing women and children?  That is what God told Saul to do.

And what happened.  Saul didn't follow orders.  He and his men let some live.  So what did God do?  He took the kingdom from Saul and gave it to David.  Saul lost his kingdom because he didn't follow God's orders.

Now I just ran across another example.  Ben-Hadad had attacked the Israelites on multiple occasions.  He was an enemy of God.  God helped King Ahab defeat Ben-Hadad twice.  After the second time King Ahab had Ben-Hadad at his mercy and instead of killing him he makes a treaty with him and lets him go.  And what did God do? 

1 Kings 20:37-42(NKJV)

37And he found another man, and said, “Strike me, please.” So the man struck him, inflicting a wound. 

38Then the prophet departed and waited for the king by the road, and disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes. 

39Now as the king passed by, he cried out to the king and said, “Your servant went out into the midst of the battle; and there, a man came over and brought a man to me, and said, ‘Guard this man; if by any means he is missing, your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.’ 

40While your servant was busy here and there, he was gone.” Then the king of Israel said to him, “So shall your judgment be; you yourself have decided it.”

41And he hastened to take the bandage away from his eyes; and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. 

42Then he said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because you have let slip out of your hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people.’”

 

So how do we square that with God of the NT?  In my mind it is pretty simple.  Notice that when God calls for total destruction it is destruction of those who are enemies of God. 

In the NT it is no different.  God loves those who love Him and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  God also plainly tells us that if we reject Christ then we are enemies of God.  Notice that no one was forced to become an enemy of God.  Every single person on this earth who is an enemy of God did so by their own choosing.  And what do we know about how God deals with His enemies? 

Now look at what Jesus said in the very first gospel, Matthew.

Matthew 10:34-36(NKJV)

34“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 

35For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 

36and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ £ 

Even Jesus, the Prince of Peace, uses the imagery of being armed..  His stated purpose is to make people choose sides.   Either for or against God.  He will force them to choose to be on God's side or they will choose to be enemies of God, but again it is their choice.

So what do you choose?  Have you accepted Jesus yet?  Have you declared which side you are on?  Why not do it right now?  Just tell Jesus that you would like to be on His side.  "Dear Jesus…." 

“Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.”

Have you ever felt that God asks too much of you?  That you've gone as far as you can for God but you just don't have the strength to continue?  Well don't think you are the only one.  Elijah, one of God's great prophets felt the same way at one time.

1 Kings 19:1-4(NKJV)

1And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. 

2Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” 

3And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

4But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!”

That is a tough spot to be in.  Elijah was tired and discouraged.  He had reached the end of his rope.  Now look how God handled it.

1 Kings 19:5-8(NKJV)

5Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an £angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 

6Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. 

7And the £angel of the Lord came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” 

8So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.

God sent an angel to feed and nourish Elijah to prepare him for the next part of his journey.  Notice what the angel says.   “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” 

The journey was too great for Elijah to handle on his own but rest assured that if God has asked you to do something then He will supply all you need to accomplish the task as long as you depend on God's strength instead of your own!

Take Some From Here, Take Some From There

How many of you have those "enlightened" friends who don't want to commit to any religion.  They think all religions have some good ideas.  So they take some ideas from this religion, some other ideas from that religion, mix them all together and "Walah" they have their own custom religion.

What do you think God thinks of that?

1 Kings 18:21(NKJV)

21And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word. 

God says pick one.  Make a decision.  Take a stand. 

Revelation 3:16(NKJV)

16So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither £cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 

Again, take a stand.  What happens when to those who try to follow God and other gods at the same time?  Same thing that happens to those who outright choose to follow other gods.  God sees those two things as the same.  Want to know?  Read the rest of 1 Kings 16! 

All They Did Was Ask For A King

Why is it that we always try to out think  God? How often does it turn out well when we do that?  What are the usual results when we do that?  More turmoil in our lives?  Could we have known that would be the case? 

I believe  we could.  I have been reading I Kings.  Today I was in Chapters 15 and 16.  It chronicles the succession of Kings for both Judah and Israel.  The thing that really strikes me is all of the turmoil this succession of Kings caused.  You have treachery, assassinations, double crosses, etc. 

And all because they asked for a King.  God had a perfect plan already in place but the people thought they knew better than God.  The cool thing about God is that He is a great parent.  He is perfectly willing to step out of the way and let us go out and screw up our lives.  It's better to learn from the mistakes of others but sometimes we can only really learn the lessons from our own mistakes.

Reading these verses today gives me the opportunity to pause and examine my life to see if there are any areas where I am trying to out think God.  It just serves as a good reminder to refocus and do things God's way!

Sometimes Dying Is A Mercy From God

One of the hardest things to understand is why some people die young.  Why does God allow that to happen? 

I'm sure there are many reasons.  I ran across one specific reason in my reading today that I found comforting.

1 Kings 14:12-13(NKJV)

12Arise therefore, go to your own house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die. 

13And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he is the only one of Jeroboam who shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something good toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.

Sometimes dying is a mercy from God.  In this case the child dies and God specifically said that it was because He found good in the child towards God. 

God knew that there was a whole lot of trouble, suffering, and pain coming to the House of Jeroboam.  Instead of making this little child suffer through all of that, God allowed the child to die beforehand.  As humans that is hard for us to comprehend because we want our loved ones here with us but think about it, could there be anyplace better to be than with God?

Oh Come On, Who You Gonna Believe?

This bit of Scripture just amazes me.  The Man of God that the Scripture refers to is a prophet who is returning from rebuking King Jeroboam.

1 Kings 13:11-19(NKJV)

11Now an old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; they also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king. 

12And their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” For his sons £had seen which way the man of God went who came from Judah. 

13Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on it, 

14and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. Then he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am.”

15Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.”

16And he said, “I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place. 

17For I have been told by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by going the way you came.’”

18He said to him, “I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’” (He was lying to him.)

19So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water.

Oh come on, who you gonna believe?!

If God has spoken to you and then someone comes along and tells you God spoke to them as well and then they contradict what God told you directly, why would you ever listen to the other person?

But how can we be sure that we are right and the other person is wrong?  Or to put it another way how do we know that God was actually speaking to us?  Those of us who have accepted Jesus as our savior know it because we have received the Holy Spirit.

What is the Holy Spirit?  Here is the way one commentator described the Holy Spirit.

"The Holy Spirit is the bridge to God within you. It is the part of your mind—the part of your Spirit—that is joined with the Mind of God. The Holy Spirit is the Voice for God and acts as a reminder to all of God's children of the unconditional love that God has for them.

Pasted from <http://thevoiceforlove.com/holy-spirit.html>

One of the purposes of the Holy Spirit is to guide us in our lives.

John 16:13(NKJV)

13However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 

The Holy Spirit is sent to guide us and Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit will only tell us what God has told Him to tell us. 

So unless God is in the habit of playing tricks on us, you can rest assured that what God spoke directly to you is what you should listen to, that is as long as you have the Holy Spirit.

So how do I get the Holy Spirit?  That's easy.  All you have to do is accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  Just simply ask Jesus to come into your life and take over.  Simply confess your belief in Him and your need for Him to lead you in your life.  Have a heartfelt conversation with Jesus.  "Dear Jesus…."

The More You Help Others Get What They Want In Life….

The more you will get what you want out of life.  So saith the great sales trainer Zig Ziglar, who by the way was a very strong Christian man.  Think about that.  What he is talking about is serving others.  Being of service. 

Another old friend used to say "You will pretty much make money in your life in direct proportion to the amount of service you provide your fellow man."  Again notice the theme.  Serving others. 

Seems like a pretty simple concept doesn't it?  Then why is it that some people don't get it?  Take a look at this verse from 1 Kings.

1 Kings 12:3-7(NKJV)

3that they sent and called him. Then Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 

4“Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.”

5So he said to them, “Depart for three days, then come back to me.” And the people departed.

6Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, and he said, “How do you advise me to answer these people?”

7And they spoke to him, saying, “If you will be a servant to these people today, and serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.”

Now think about it.  These are the advisors who had helped King Solomon to be so successful.  Don't you think it would be a good idea to listen to them and take their advice?  After all, what were they telling Rehoboam?  Serve others and they will gladly return the service.

But did he listen? 

1 Kings 12:10-11(NKJV)

10Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you should speak to this people who have spoken to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us’—thus you shall say to them: ‘My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s waist! 

11And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with £scourges!’”

Of course not.  Instead of becoming a servant to his people he became a tyrant.  And how did that work out for him?  Did he get what he wanted?  Nope!  He lost the Kingdom of Israel.

So remember the more we can help others get what they want in life, the more you will get what you want out of life.  Be a blessing by being a servant to others!

It's A Daily Struggle!

And so easy to slip and fall.  Don't worry, I'm not talking anything earth shaking here.  Just my daily walk with God.  No matter how long I have been doing daily Bible reading, it is still so easy to fall out of the habit.

Here I am, 9:00 PM on a Friday night and I am just now getting to my time with God.  Two other days this week I didn't get to it at all.  What changed?  God has blessed us incredibly the past couple of months.  Along with those blessings came more work.  Before I realized it I had scheduled away my time with God.  I rationalized it by telling myself that I would get to it later, I had to prepare for my appointments first.

Now I am grateful that I realized it early so now I can correct it.  Isn't it amazing though how quickly and easily we sometimes forget how important our daily walk is?  If it happens to you don't beat yourself up about it, I don't.  If it can happen to King Solomon, it can happen to us.  Check this out.

1 Kings 11:3-8(NKJV)

3And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. 

4For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. 

5For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 

6Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David. 

7Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. 

8And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

After all that God had done for Solomon, you would think that  he would be impervious to being led astray but apparently not.  Now let me make it perfectly clear that unlike Solomon, I wasn't worshipping other gods or anything.  I just forgot to crack open my Bible and spend my time with God a couple of days in a row. 

I figured I'd share this today because I doubt that I am the only one that struggles with this.  As I said above, I don't beat myself up over it, I just vow to do better and move one.  A daily walk with God is a great adventure and this is just part of it.  Enjoy!

The Queen of Sheba Inspires Us!

One of our codes at Valley Family Church is:

The Queen of Sheba Inspires Us: We get that a spirit of excellence glorifies God and leaves people - especially the lost - breathless and receptive to God and His Word. So, we give God our best and seek excellence in all that we do. (1 Kings 10)

Here is an excerpt from 1 Kings 10.

1 Kings 10:1-9(NKJV)

1Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions. 

2She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels that bore spices, very much gold, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. 

3So Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing so difficult for the king that he could not explain it to her. 

4And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 

5the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers, and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. 

6Then she said to the king: “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. 

7However I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard. 

8Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! 

9Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness.”

"A spirit of excellence glorifies God"

Doesn't that have a nice ring to it?  Sounds nice doesn't it?  Do we always live up to it?  Of course not.  But is it something to strive for?  Absolutely!

In all that we do in life let's try to do our best simply because it glorifies God!

Integrity of Heart

I ran across this phrase today and I liked the sound of it.  Integrity of Heart.  As I wrote the other day, God doesn't expect perfection.  Even though we are all saved we know that we all will still sin occasionally.  No way around it. 

What I like about the phrase is that it gives us each a way to judge how we are doing in our walk.  Even though we stumble, is our heart still set on God?  Are we still focused on Him.  Is the desire of our heart still to do God's will?  I think that is what is meant by the phrase "Integrity of Heart". 

In the Bible, God's promises are always conditional as you can see from the following verse.  God promises to do X as long as we do Y.  But God tells us right up front that if we don't do Y then all bets are off. 

1 Kings 9:4-6(NKJV)

4Now if you walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, 

5then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’ 

6But if you or your sons at all turn from following Me…..

So what happens when we don't do Y?  Sometimes there are consequences and sometimes God lets it slide.  An example would be King David.  He took the consecrated bread for he and his men to eat.  What is the difference between the times there are consequences and the times God lets it slide? 

What the verse above seems to indicate is that one of the things God takes into account is the integrity of our hearts.  Were we and are we really focused on God? 

What is the best way to get and stay focused on God?  By accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior.  Have you done that yet?  Just invite Jesus into your life.  "Dear Jesus…."