But Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth [Truly, truly I say to you], unless you are born from water and the Spirit [equivalent to being born again; water could symbolize physical birth, but more likely symbolizes spiritual cleansing which brings renewal]., you cannot enter God’s kingdom. (John 3:5)
[For] God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only [only; unique; only begotten] Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost [perish], but have eternal life. [For; Indeed] God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world guilty [condemn the world], but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17
Then anyone who calls on [the name of] the Lord will be saved. (Acts 2:21)
Jesus is the only One who can save people [Salvation is found/present in no one else]. No one else [No other name given to people] in the world [under heaven] is able to save us.” (Acts 4:12)
He brought them outside and said, “Men [Lords; Sirs], what must I do to be saved?” They said to him, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved — you and all the people in your house [your household].” (Acts 16:30-31)
[For] I am not ashamed of the Good News [Gospel], because it is the power God uses to save everyone who believes — to save the Jews first, and then to save Gentiles [the Greeks; here meaning anyone who is not Jewish;]. (Romans 1:16)
If you declare [confess] with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved. [For] We believe with our hearts, and so we are made right with God [are justified; receive righteousness]. And we declare [confess] with our mouths, and so we are saved pleading to salvation. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts [believes] in him will never be disappointed or put to shame.” That Scripture says “anyone” because [For] there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles. (Romans 10:9-12)
Let us look only to [keep our eyes on] Jesus, the One who began [Pioneer/Founder of; or Leader/Prince of] our faith and who makes it perfect [completes it]. He suffered death on [endured] the cross, accepting the shame as if it were nothing [disregarding/despising the shame] because of the joy that God put before [lay ahead for] him. And now he is sitting at the right side [hand] hostility [opposition] from sinful people, so that you will not get tired [grow weary; get discouraged] and stop trying [give up]. (Hebrews 12:2-3)
If anyone belongs to Christ, there is a new creation [the new creation has arrived; or that person has become a new creation]. The old things have gone; [look; behold] everything is made new [the new has come]! All this is from God, who through Christ made peace between us and [reconciled us to] himself, and gave us the work of telling everyone about the peace we can have with him [ministry/service of reconciliation]. (2 Corinthians 5:17-18)
Jesus said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust [Believe] in God, and trust [Believe] in me [or You trust/believe in God, trust/believe also in me]. There are many rooms [places to live] in my Father’s house [heaven; metaphorically portrayed as a great palace]; I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you. After [And if] I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you may be where I am. (John 14:1-3)
Brothers and sisters, we want you to know [do not want you to be uninformed] about those Christians who have died [who sleep; a euphemism for death] so you will not be sad [grieve], as others [the rest] who have not hope. [For] We believe that Jesus died and that he rose again. So, through him, God will raise with Jesus those who have died [or So God will bring with Jesus those who have died/fallen asleep in him]. What we tell you now is the Lord’s own message [by the word of the Lord]. We who are living [still alive] when the Lord comes again will [certainly; surely] not go before those who have already died [fallen asleep]. The Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command [or shout], with [or accompanied by; or preceded by] the voice of the archangel [a leading or ruling angel], and with the trumpet call of God. And those who have died believing [the dead] in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive [or alive and are left] will be gathered [caught; taken] up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And [so; in this way] we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage [comfort] each other with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
From generation to generation God has always spoke to His people. He uses people like you and me to get His Word across the whole world. I’m here to let people know that God’s Word is true and is life to those to trust and believe in God. My brother’s and sister’s, God loves us and He wants the best for us. God is love and it doesn’t matter what some of you might think about Him. He is love and there is none like His love. In fact, there is none like our God. Our God is strong and mighty, our God is loving and kind and full of grace and mercy, thank you Daddy Jesus.
The word of God is truth and is going to stand forever and ever. Even when this life is over, God’s words will still be alive standing and full of power. The word of God will never lose its power, that’s why we need to read our Bible and meditate on the word of God. Some of you might be saying “I read my Bible but I just don’t understand what God is trying to tell me.” You know what? I used to say the same thing when I first started reading my Bible. Let me drop this in your spirit, I know some of you are not going to believe me but I asked the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to help me understand what the Bible is saying. I ask you, don’t be afraid to ask Him because that’s His job to help us and that’s why He is also called “The Helper.” There are also Bibles you can buy that will break scriptures down into today’s English where you can understand it more. I said all of this just to let you know that God’s words will come to pass even if you read your Bible or not so let it be known that there will be no excuses when we stand before Jesus. It’s totally up to us to read, study and understand the Word of God.
In closing I just want to say, before it’s too late accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Do it today because we could be here today and gone today. It will make all the difference in the long run if you do so. May the God of Heaven bless and keep you. AMEN.
(Contact Marcus: mchandler2011@hotmail.com or 501-908-9507)