GOD'S GREATEST DESIRE

Good Evening to All!

Behold, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel--which, when translated, means, God with us.
Matthew 1:23

Related verse: 1 Timothy 3:16 --And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.
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God loves us so much, that He came to earth as a man, to live among us, go through our same trials, and temptations to end up being a sacrifice for our sins. He looked the world over for a "human" without blemish that was a worthy sacrifice, but none could be found, so He took it upon Himself. He took on our sins that we may be redeemed.

God says to be able to go to heaven we MUST be saved. We all agree on that I think. The differences begin with "how we are saved". Now if we use some common sense, we will look at these facts. God originally created us to remain in the garden and live forever and commune with Him. Then Eve made the biggest mistake in the world's history by allowing herself to be deceived by Satan and committed the first sin and caused all of the future to change.

Fast-forwarding to the New Testament, God became flesh because He was the only one perfect and spotless enough according to His mandates to be a sacrifice for our sins. He therefore allowed Himself to be mocked, ridiculed and killed to save us. The Word says "we were bought with a price" the price being God's human life. So our life is not actually ours. It belongs to God.

Thinking along these lines, all God "requires from us for us to be saved is to love Him and live for Him. To do this however, we must have a relationship with Him. Have you ever tried loving someone whom you didn't know anything about? I don't really think that's possible. Not on a personal level at least. Anyway, to begin a personal relationship with God the first thing is to read about Him. Read and study His Word. After you start doing that, then begin praying and asking Him for understanding and knowledge of His Word. Ask Him to "open your eyes" to what He has for you, and be sincere about wanting this relationship and learning.

Without this "personal relationship" with God, we are no better than the Pharisees. They were religious, but in book-learning, rules and laws only. They "went through the motions" and that was all. A relationship takes 2 parties. Therefore, without our effort of studying the Word, praying and talking to God and "living for Him (abiding by His ways) and doing what He wants us to do, there is no relationship.

Another part I would like to discuss is the "Plan of Salvation" . God inspired Paul to preach the Plan of Salvation. According to Acts 2:38, the beginning of our Salvation Journey is to "Repent, be baptized everyone of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins and you SHALL receive the Holy Ghost. (Note that it does not say "can, might, possibly receive. It says a definitive SHALL). Therefore, the Holy Ghost or "Holy Spirit" is part of the Plan of Salvation. It plays a pivotal part because the Holy Ghost or Spirit Guides us into ALL TRUTHS, and teaches us. It convicts our spirits when we are doing something that God would not be pleased with. It brings scriptures to our remembrance when we need them. It helps to KEEP US SAVED. A very kind blogger friend of mine, the Southern Jackass, reminded me of several scriptures which prove what I am saying; Romans 8:14, 16; I Corinthians 6:11; Ephesians 1:13, 2:18. These are just a few which talk about the role of the Holy Spirit and Salvation.

Now, back to our Personal Relationship with Him. As with any relationship, the first step is to listen. We all like to be heard. Don't bombard God with prayer requests and keep talking. Be sure to spend some time in quiet contemplation so that you can hear God when He answers you. It's hard to hear what the other person is saying if we are talking at the same time. It's best to talk a little bit, then be quiet for a bit, then pray some more, then listen a bit. You'll find that you will get more answers that way. He answers all the time we just don't hear Him all the time.

The next step in showing Him that you are sincere about wanting a relationship is studying His Word. That's the only way we will know what He wants us to do and "how to live for Him".

Last but definitely not least is to live for Him. Obey His commands. He knows what is best for us because He can see our past, present and future. He can see what happens to us "down the road", so who best to make our decisions? Let Him have control of the reins of our lives and we will be much better off, much happier and we will stay saved.

God's Greatest Desire is for all of us to spend eternity with Him

Good Night to All and May God Bless!