My parents took me, my two brothers and my sister to a Baptist church in Corpus Christi, Texas for a short time when we were kids but I didn’t understand then.  I remember my sister and my mother being baptized in that church.  I was only 7 or 8 at the time.  My father was in the Navy and when we moved away to a different State we never went back to church, but my sister, somehow always found a way to go.  As I got older I believed God existed and so I thought I was a Christian. When I was 17 years old in high school, my girlfriend, then, invited me to go to church with her one Sunday.  It was a small country church.  I decided to go and that day I paid attention to the bible being preached for the first time in my life.  The pastor preached on Luke 16:19-31, about The Rich Man and Lazarus.

The pastor met everyone as we left the service that morning and he said to me if I had any questions he would be happy to talk to me about them.  From that Sunday morning on, I was troubled about what would happen to me after I died.  A few weeks later, on July 5, 1967, a Wednesday evening, I decided to go see that pastor.  As I drove up to the church, in my 1958 Ford, I saw the parking lot was full of cars.  I didn’t realize there was a service on Wednesday so I decided not to stop with all the people there.  After driving around for a while, I drove back by the church on my way home.  Amazingly, the pastor and his wife were walking up the road near the church, so I stopped and we talked for a minute.  They lived in a small house on the church property and I ended up giving them a short ride back.

The pastor led me to his office and there explained the plan of salvation to me, that I was lost and separated from God because of my sins.  He said Jesus loved me and died for my sins on the cross and then was raised from the dead, and if I asked God to forgive me and asked Jesus to come into my heart and save me He would. Afterward, he invited me to pray and receive Jesus, and I did. I believed!  I was forgiven, and God gave me the gift of eternal life. I knew from that moment my faith was real.  I went home that night knowing I was going to Heaven when I died.  I remember I was very happy!

If I could, one thing I would give you is the hope I have in life that this is not the end for us; that we live a little while and then we die.  If I were to find the most priceless, valuable thing in the world, something everyone could have, I would share it.  There is a true story of two men who found someone who promised them eternal life.  Andrew, one of the two men, immediately ran and found his brother, Peter.  He told him about it and took him to see that man so he could have eternal life, too.  The person who offered them eternal life was Jesus. The hope I’m talking about is the hope I have, by faith, in Christ.  I have done many bad things (sins) in my life.  The thing is, everyone has failed to live a sinless life.  The problem is, we have to be perfect to be allowed into Heaven, and no one is perfect!

The result is, we have no hope of life after death.  We are all guilty and we will be condemned to exist forever, without God, in eternal punishment. BUT, Jesus loves us.  He came, lived a perfect life, sacrificed himself for us all on the cross, died, and was raised from the dead and lives at the right hand of God the Father, today!  The blood Jesus shed for us covers all of our sins, forever.  If we ask Jesus to forgive us, He will. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”   We come to Jesus as we are.  We don’t have to, somehow, clean up our lives first.  He loves us, as we are.  He died for us, as we are.  He will forgive us if we sincerely ask him to.  Then, He will come and live in our hearts forever and give us the gift of eternal life and a new heart!  When we die we will see Jesus and everyone else who believes.  I am looking forward to seeing so many of those who have already died and passed into eternity, people I have loved. When we believe, Jesus promises never to leave us.

Many years ago, I quit going to church for a while, I stopped obeying Him and followed my own path without Him, but He was still there.  When I turned around and came back to Him, He loved me and forgave me.  As I try to live for Him every day, I sometimes fail, but He forgives me, accepts me and helps me learn how to love Him.  All my sins, past, present and future have been forgiven, as yours can be, too, if you trust him. Without Him we would be lost.  I trust Him and I look forward to seeing Him.  Someday I will die, but then I will see Jesus.  No one wants to die, but I am not afraid because it is not the end.  I have this hope and Jesus offers it to you, too, if you believe!  John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

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