THE KING JAMES BIBLE OF 1611
“For by grace are you saved through faith:
and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man
should boast.”
Ephesians 2:8-9
HOW CAN I REACH GOD?
Are you in a place of difficulty
today? Sometimes we come to a place in
our life where we might ask: “Where is God?
Doesn’t He love me? Does God even
exist?” One simple answer to that last
question is to look out at nature - it’s order,
precision, and beauty. Nature tells us
that yes, God does exist! All this order
and precision certainly did NOT start with an explosion! Only a divine intelligence could create this
universe and keep it going; and that Divine Person is God. And as for His loving you? His great love for all of us was demonstrated
when He sent His only Son to the cross for us 2000 years ago. But you ask:
“How can I reach God to get His help?
He seems so far away!” Well, you
won’t reach God through any “religion”.
You won’t learn too much about Him by staring up at the stars. You can’t make yourself acceptable to Him by
“trying to be good” or by praying or by performing this or that religious
ritual or by belonging to a certain church or organization. No man can make his own way to God. And many times, God puts us in a dark,
confusing place of difficulty in our lives so that we can see just that. Why? Because He knows that He is the ONLY ONE
who can help! He is the ONLY ONE who
can and has provided our way to Himself and heaven - to be saved from the
eternal Lake of Fire.
He is the ONLY ONE who can truly help us through the dark places and
troubles of life while we still live here on planet earth. This is what God’s word says in Acts
17:24-27: “God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he
is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples
made with hands: Neither is worshipped
with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth
to all life, and breath, and all things:” God is in control of all the circumstances of
life. Where we are today is no surprise
to God. He is the One who has determined
it would be so. If we are alive and
breathing today, it is because God gave us life and breath and all things. He doesn’t need a thing from us. So why did God give us life? Listen, His Word tells us why: “That
they should seek the Lord, if haply (perhaps) they might feel
after him, and find him,” God
placed us here on earth - He gave us life and breath and all things - so we
might “feel after Him AND FIND HIM!
That word for “feel after” means “to grope” like a blind man in a
maze! A blind man in a maze is
HELPLESS. And that is just how we stand
before God. We are all wretched sinners
who are helpless to make ourselves acceptable to Him. We do not like to admit we are sinners,
helpless before a perfect and Holy God.
And especially when life is going along too easy, we may not see
ourselves as helpless at all. We may not
see our need for God. And that’s why God
often sends or allows the places of troubles, confusion, and darkness to
intrude upon our lives. So we will,
grope and know we need Him. So we will
want Him to help us. And then, and only
then - when we come to that place where we realize we need Him, do we find
Him. He reveals Himself to us. And where is He? “though
he be not far from every one of us:”
How far is “not far”? Really He
is only a tiny, tiny, tiny “mustard seed” of faith away. What should you have faith in? In what the Word of God says. His word says we can’t search for God on our
own; but He has revealed Himself to us in His Son, Jesus Christ. He sent His Son to become a man - like us in
every way except He never sinned. He
sent His Son to show us what God is like & to suffer the most gruesome
death of all - death by crucifixion.
Why? So He could save us vile
sinners from the awful end of spending eternity in the Lake of Fire,
separated from God and all His goodness and love. If you have never yet accepted Jesus Christ
as your Savior, realize that God’s word says that Jesus is the ONLY WAY to be
saved from that Eternal Lake of Fire. He
is the ONLY way to have your place in heaven reserved. His written Word is near to us too. It is now preserved for us in the Authorized
Version of the King James Bible from 1611.
So if you have not yet accepted Jesus as your Savior, God’s word is near you right now! “The word is nigh (near) thee,
even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of
faith, which we preach:” And what does
God’s word tell those who have not yet accepted Jesus as their Savior? “That if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt
believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness: and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation. For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him
shall not be ashamed. For there is no
difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich
unto all that call upon him. For whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:8-13
Right now, in the
privacy of your own heart & mind, you can accept His Son Jesus Christ as
your Savior.
By a simple act of
faith, you can tell God: “God, I know that I am a sinner; but I believe that
The Lord Jesus Christ died for my sins and rose again. And I’m trusting
Jesus and Him alone for my salvation.
Thank you for saving me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.