Forgiven

	Forgiven
	by Sanctus Real
	When I don't fit in and I don’t feel like I belong anywhere/ When I don’t measure up to much in this life/ Oh, I’m a treasure in the arms of Christ
	Allow God to work through your brokenness and insecurities, you may just be surprised at what He chooses to do. In Philippians, Paul used his weaknesses to draw others to Christ:
	Philippians 3:8-14 , New Living Translation
	Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I f ocus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
	Why is it so easy to feel out of place in this world? It is easy to look around and feel like everyone around us knows exactly who they are and where they’re going. Everyone else seems to have it all together. But the truth is that nobody actually has it all figured out. Those people who have all the “right” clothes, and the “right” car, and the “right” house, and the “perfect” kids, they are in the same boat as you. Scratch the surface and you’ll find they have the same insecurities and problems that you do. They think you have it all together too. But Christ is the great equalizer. As Sanctus Real said, “When I don’t fit in…I’m a treasure in the arms of Christ.” When you follow Christ, your problems don’t go away. You don’t instantly figure out the meaning of life or get a bigger bank account. But knowing that you are somebody to Someone so powerful can change your outlook. Knowing Him allows you to see others differently, and to not judge yourself against them so harshly. And more importantly it allows you to be honest about who you are, your problems, and your fears, because you know that He’s not going to leave you or abandon you because of them. And that allows you to reach out to others out of your brokenness, which will ultimately bring you, and them, healing and strength.

If you seek me with all your heart you will find me.

If you seek me with all your heart
you will find me.

Deuteronomy 4:29
But if from there you seek the LORD your God,
you will find him if you look for him with all your heart
and with all your soul. (NIV Bible) 


The Lord encourages us to seek Him with all our heart and all our soul. If we do pursue Him with everything within us, He promises that we will find Him. I imagine this to be similar to a child's game of hide and seek. When my children were young, they would love to play this game with my wife and I. They would turn towards the wall and close their eyes and count to ten.

In the mean time, we would scamper off into another part of the house to find a place in which to hide. At the count of ten, our children would shriek in delight and begin their quest to find us. Their anticipation would build as they would open every closet door and look under every bed.
While the searching part of the game was always fun, it was the finding part that was the real climax! We never chose a place too hard for our children to find us for we loved the moment when our children would finally catch us. Our cry of "You found me!" and their cry of "I found you!" would happen simultaneously followed by a mutual celebration that the game was over.
The game wouldn't have been fun if our intention was to hide so that our children would never find us. The fun is in being found. I think it is the same way in our relationship with God. When He calls us to search for Him, He never hides Himself so well that He cannot be found.

PRAYER
Father, I am thankful that You do not make it difficult for me to find You, for You are never far away and are always happy to be found! I pray that I might pursue You with all my heart and my soul, all the while having a child-like anticipation of finding You! In the name of your beloved Son Jesus I pray, AMEN.

You Do The Math 

 

Faith versus works is a debate that still continues. 

Can we work our way to heaven? 

Can we obtain salvation simply through faith regardless of how we live? 

This video investigates how the truth really adds up.

salvation Animation

God is Love
The bible says that God is love. Pure love. And He wants to lavish His love on you. He is not looking for more servants to add to His Kingdom but more children to fill His house. He wants to be in relationship with you, not because you deserve it but just because He made you, and is "head over heels" in love with you. It is our hope that after visiting this website, you might have a better understanding of His heart for you.


God's Original Intent
It was God's original plan in the Garden of Eden that Adam and Eve would live all the days of their lives in the presence of a loving Father, and would in turn reflect His love to their children. It was the Father's hope that each generation would grow up in the light of His love never knowing a day of rejection or pain.  


Love Cannot Be Forced
However, love is not something that can be forced so God gave Adam and Eve the privilege of a free will. They had the freedom to trust God and stay in the garden or disobey Him and leave. In Genesis we read that the latter happened and as a result of their choice to become independent, they became separated from God. 


Broken Relationships
As a result of Adam and Eve's actions, a new deadly disease called 'sin' infected humanity. The world that God originally intended to be perfect and full of love,
was now wrought with pain and suffering because of the consequences of sin. Hurting people tend to hurt others, which is a legacy that has been passed on from generation to generation. 


Understanding Our Need For Love
Since God created us for love, we are born with a great expectation to be loved and accepted. It is a scientific fact that babies who are not shown loving touch in the first few months of their lives can be physically and emotionally affected for the rest of their lives.


We All Have A Love Deficit
Unfortunately our parents could only express the love that they had first received from their parents. As a result, many of us have grown up with love deficits in our hearts. While we may know we are missing something, we might not be able to identify the emptiness that resides in the deepest part of our being. 


Filling The Void
All we know is that we need to try and fill the emptiness somehow. Some try to fill this void in relationships, others in performance and success. And others seek to dull the emptiness with addictions. No matter what we do, if we do not encounter the real thing, we will always be left with a feeling of emptiness and unfulfillment.


Having A Personal Relationship With God
There is only one place where we will find the true love and acceptance that we are looking for and that is in a personal relationship with God. We were all born with a God sized "hole in our soul" that can only be filled by God Himself. Many of us have tried to fill this void with other things, but it is like putting a square peg in a round hole...it just doesn't fit. 


The Good News
The good news is that God wants to be in a relationship with us more than we want to be in a relationship with Him. The One who knew us before we were conceived (Jeremiah 1:4) and knit us together in our mother's womb (Psalm 139:13) wants to be our Father. While we are His offspring by creation, His desire is that we might become His children through redemption. 


Finding Our Way Home
While we were still estranged, God the Father made a way for us to come home by sending His only son, Jesus Christ, to earth two thousand years ago to take care of the "sin" issue that had kept us separated. In obedience to His Father, Jesus bore upon Himself the weight of our sin, nailing it to the cross so that we could be born into His wonderful family.  


Jesus Is The Way To The Father
His resurrection from the dead signalled the victory that would allow many sons and daughters to come into glory! In John 14:6, Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father except through me". Our access to the Father is through Jesus alone. His sacrifice was the one and only price that could be paid for our redemption and restoration into the family of His wonderful Father. If we receive God's gift of His Son Jesus Christ, we receive the right to become children of God! 


Would You Like To Receive This Gift?
If you would like to accept this gift (eternal life in relationship with God), Jesus Christ has secured it for you. All you need to do is to tell God that you want to be saved. You are saved by believing, and the words below might help you express your thoughts to God. It's not these exact words that will save you, but the attitude of your heart towards God.


A prayer to accept or reaffirm your
relationship with Jesus Christ:
Father, I'm coming home. Please make me your child. I turn from my sin. I accept your forgiveness made possible through Jesus Christ by his death and resurrection. I place my faith and trust in Jesus alone. I receive him as my Savior and Lord. I want to follow and serve you. Let today be the beginning of my new journey as your child and a member of your family. Thank you for making a way for me to come home. In Jesus name I pray Amen. .....


....         Your New Relationship With God
As you begin your new life as God's child, you will have the privilege of getting to know Him as your Father. You are now part of His incredible family! By faith in Jesus Christ, you can be assured of the following truths...

1.You Are God's Child - John 1:12-13
"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. (NIV Bible)

2. God Loves You - 1 John 3:1
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are! (NIV Bible)

3. You Have The Assurance Of Eternal Life - John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV Bible)

4. He Put His Holy Spirit In You - 2 Corinthians 1:21-21
"Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come.

5. You Can Talk Directly To God - Matthew 7:7-11
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" (NIV Bible)

6. Nothing Will Ever Separate You From His Love - Romans 8:38
"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Steps To Help You In Your Walk With God
1. Get a Bible and read it each day.
2. Begin to cultivate "talking to God" in prayer each day.
3. Go to a church that believes and teaches the Bible.
4. Share your decision with a close friend 

On and On

On and On
by Chasen
I tried my way It always ends up being a mistake But You’re right when You say That You set the time for the plans You make I never thought that I could ever learn to let it go Somehow its better when I follow in the paths You show You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail. Proverbs 19:21 , New Living Translation All too often we make our own plans,  set out on the path, and then when we get into trouble,  or things don’t work out like we thought they would,  we throw our hands up and ask God to rescue us.  What He’s probably thinking is, "I’ll help you,  but this wasn’t where I wanted you in the first place." Instead if we ask God to guide our decisions  and plans on the front end, we might not end up  in trouble, or at least we’ll know that where we’re headed is exactly where  He wants us to be. And where  He wants us to be is always better than anything  we could ever want on our own.