Important Lessons from Judges (and the Rest of the BIBLE)

This morning I started reading in the Old Testament - Judges. This book of the Bible tells about Israel's repetitive disobedience to God, and God's great mercy to them. He does not tolerate their disobedience - He punishes them. But He does not destroy them. They ARE His chosen people. But they have to learn - He is God and they must serve Him ALONE. Same is true with me (and you). GOD IS. The sooner we learn this and trust Him alone, the better off we are. The first 2 chapters talk about the generation of Joshua dying off and the next generation rising up, but not knowing, serving or trusting God. It really drove home to me the importance of teaching my children about God. I can't for the life of me figure out why He would bother, but the truth is that He loves me (and you) more than anything. That is why He does what He does. Pure love. He gives us what we do not deserve, what we could never earn or never repay. Grace and mercy. Completely undeserved. Yet, given freely - by accepting what His precious Son, Jesus, did for me (and you) on the cross. Jesus was fully obedient to God - even doing what He did not want to do - suffering so that we could be free. Free from the wages of sin - which is death. We have complete forgiveness from our sins through the blood of Jesus. Do you realize that? Do you know what an amazing gift that is? It is there for me (and you)!!!!!! Jesus is there for me (and you). Just like God never left the Israelites (oh, He hid His presence from them, but He never left), Jesus will never leave you. Sweet children of mine.....know that Jesus loves you. He went to the cross with your name on his heart. He suffered for you. Don't turn away from Him. Accept His priceless gift. Know, that you know, that you know, that you will be with Him for all eternity. It is too important to neglect. Pray....

Dear Jesus, I am a sinner, completely unworthy of all you have done. In spite of that, I know that you love me. Please forgive me. Please make your home in my heart. Thank you, Jesus for all you have done. Please be my Lord and Savior. In your precious Name, Amen.

That's all it takes. Jesus is yours!!! You have freedom from your sins - forgiveness from your sins. Does this mean you won't sin anymore? Heck no. We are all sinners. The Holy Spirit will help you say no to temptation, but we all still make mistakes. If you mess up, go - at once - to the feet of Jesus. Ask His forgiveness and be restored. He loves you and will NEVER give up on you!

But, there will come a time when it will be too late. Jesus IS coming back. He will take His children home to live FOREVER with Him in Heaven. You DO NOT want to miss that, I promise!!!! If Jesus returns, and you have not accepted Him, you will be separated from God FOREVER. Forever is a very, very long time. You DO NOT want eternal separation from God. This is known as hell.

I love you. I love you more than words can say. Whoever you are, whoever is reading this, I am talking to you. Jesus loves you and so do I! Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Trust Him with all you have. He is all you need.

I LOVE YOU!!!!