Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Am I Accepted?



Photo Credit: Image Base





I believe most people want to be accepted by others. Many high school students smoke their first cigarette because they want to fit in with the "cool kids." Us adults are no different, we may wear one mask at work, another when out with friends and yet another when we around church members. Why is this? The reason is that we want to be accepted.

Unfortunately most people give no consideration of the acceptance of God. Some people believe in the existence of God, yet care less if they are accepted by Him. Of course we have those who do not even believe in God’s existence. But for those who do care, is it possible to know for sure that that I am accepted by God? If I am not saved and done many horrible things, would He still accept me? How is it that I can know for sure that I am accepted by God?

1 John 5:13 informs us that we can know for sure that we have eternal life, which means we are accepted by God. I have spoken to many people who say, "no one can know for sure, we just have to wait and see." Those who say this may (in fact) have good reason to question their salvation. They may be in church, yet are not walking with the Lord or obeying His commandments. However, we may rest assured that God desires a relationship with each of us. "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:3-4 NKJV) 2 Peter 3:9 confirms Gods desire for a relationship with everyone, even those who has done many horrible things. "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." If you are an unbeliever who feels as though God would not save someone like you because of the things you have done in the past, I encourage you to do some Biblical research on this matter. First you may investigate the thief of the cross who died along side Jesus. You may also research the life of the Apostle Paul before his conversion then consider the transformation God made in his life.

Now that we have established that God is willing to save us, we must ask, “On what bases does our salvation rest?" The answer is that our acceptance is totally based upon Jesus. I cannot do enough good deeds to right my wrongs. No amount of religious activity, rites or rituals will earn me God's favor.  Only through faith in Christ Jesus may one be accepted of God. Please consider the following passage: "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” (John 14:21 NKJV) Note that those who love Jesus are loved by the Father. Now let’s read the passage from 1st John mentioned above.

11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. (1 John 5:11-13 NKJV)

Ask of yourself these questions: Do I have the Son? Do I love Jesus? If you can truthfully answer yes to these questions, you can rest assured you are accepted of God. My friend, you are either with Jesus or against Him, there is no middle ground. If you do not have the Son, you must come to Him. Scripture says "All who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Call out to Him today, repent and believe in the gospel.

For further study:
Read the Gospel of John. John wrote this book that we believe in Jesus and be saved. (See John20:30-31)

Read the Book of 1st John which informs us on how to know that you are saved. Print the little work sheet here and use while you study this book. This is a PDF file. The First John Project by Life Action Ministries.








10 comments:

  1. Thank you Ken for this reminder of basic truths. It's good to read them over again. And thank you for the explanations.God bless.

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  2. Many times in the past I tried to change and/or modify myself into what others wanted me to be, or to live up to other people's expectations and standards. It has taken me many years and continued spiritual growth to realize that not being true to me is not a perfect fit, and that it limits my potential to express the creative and unique individual that God created me to be. It's a blessing like mo other to be truly accepted by HIM! :)

    Great post Ken....be blessed today!
    Denise

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  3. Hi Ken,
    This post brought back so many memories of all the times in my life I tried so hard to fit in wherever I was. It is great freedom to come to the understanding that God only wants us to conform to the image of His Son. How is that possible, people might ask? Simply by living a life that reflects what Christ taught ...He summed it up for us here in Luke 10:27
    And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
    We are also accepted when we study the Word as in 2 Tim 2:15. Although the word used in this scripture is 'approved' I think it means the same as accepted. This does not mean we are saved by the 'work' of studying, our salvation was accomplished on the cross of Christ...but it is our conduct that is acceptable to God as being one of His own.
    In order to become Christlike, Jesus said we should "learn of Him" (Mat.11:29)
    Thank you Ken for bringing this message to the unsaved, as well as reminding the brethren that we are accepted by our heavenly Father!

    ~God Bless~ Lisa

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  4. Hi Ken,
    When I was a baby Christian my walk was weak and I cared and thought more about what others thought of me. As I grew in the knowledge of our Father, I started to desire His approval more and more. I am at the point now where I can't bare to offend our God, it hurts me to know I am not doing as He asks.

    Yesterday was Halloween and I feel like I have been slighted by the people I know. I shared a link about the evilness of Halloween, that this is purely an evil and pagan practice with zero ties to God and not one person commented or agreed with me. They all shared about their costumes and candy and 'fun' time. :( It totally breaks my heart and I just can't imagine how much this must break the heart of the Father. Although it was disappointing and hurt being slighted by people who I believed I have something in common with, the part that hurts so much is knowing they claim to be Christians yet choose to still be part of this world and deny the heart of God.

    I know these people are Christians and follow Jesus but they are living with half of themselves in this world therefore bringing on trouble into their lives. Jesus never conformed to the ways of the world even when He went into the sinners home to have supper with them. He stayed pure, it was them who made the change.

    Good word Ken. I truly enjoy reading what you share, it challenges me.

    Blessings brother,
    <><

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  5. It is indeed wonderful to know that we can bank on the truth that God accepts us, no matter what we've done in the past.
    Thank you for your reminder.

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  6. Vilisi--You are welcome and thank you for visiting and commenting. God bless

    Denise--You are right, there is no blessing better that being accepted by God. Thank you for visiting and your comment. God bless,
    Ken

    Lisa--I can sure remember them times of trying to fit in, and be someone I was not. We must remind ourselves that we seek the approval of God, and not man. Thank you for visiting and commenting. God bless,
    Ken

    Child of God-- Me too. When I was a young Christian I also thought more about how other people felt than God. Now I strive to grow in my walk desiring to be more like God.
    I will be over to your blog shortly to read what you wrote about Halloween. Yes it does hurt when believers, especially ones who are close to you reject your beliefs. I have upset some people who I know are true Christians over similar things. We must just keep fighting the good fight, pray and stand on the truth. Thank you for visiting and your comment. God bless,
    Ken

    Peggy-- Amen! And while we were enemies of God, Christ died for us. Thank you for visiting and God bless,
    Ken

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  7. Hi Ken,
    I didn't write about Halloween on my blog it was on another messaging site. Sorry for the confusion. I am sure if I wrote about it on my blog many would have agreed with me. No, this is a private site for my home church family. People who really know the physical me. :s

    Blessings,
    <><

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  8. Been there....now I want to be pleasing to God....when it comes to people you can please some of the people some of the time but not all the people all the time...it is much more satisfying being pleasing to the Lord. :)

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  9. Dee, right on. Thank you for visiting and your comment. God bless,
    Ken

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  10. Superb posting, I share the same views. I wonder why this particular world truly does not picture for a moment like me and also the blog site creator :D

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