Turn To Me And Be Saved, All You Ends Of The Earth;

…for I am God, and there is no other. Isaiah 45:22

Everyone needs to be saved and in this verse; God is extending an invitation to all people to turn to Him and be saved, for He is God and there is no other.

This is a guest post by Beth Harris. She is a wife, mother, Bible study leader and volunteer editor for markalanwilliams.net.

Until I received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior at age 27, I had turned to many things and people in life for help. I knew Jesus was Lord; but I was terrified to turn to Him because of my many sins. The truth is I thought I’d gone too far to be forgiven and to be saved.

But, on New Year’s Day of 1989, I attended a Presbyterian church and heard a message about having a fresh start and a clean slate. I knew exactly what the pastor meant, because I wanted a new beginning and I felt dirty from sin. Then, I finally understood that because Jesus died on the cross for my sins, I could turn to God through Christ and be saved; and so I did.

In this verse, God is addressing all the inhabitants of earth to turn to Him and be saved. Maybe you have turned to other things instead of God, as I had prior to becoming a Christian. Which as I consider my actions now; I realize that I was actually, turning my back on Him.

To turn is to change direction and move toward a person or thing; and usually when we do, it’s because we need help.

We may not even realize that we need God’s help, but we do; specifically, we need His grace and forgiveness. That’s because we have all sinned and therefore, we need God’s help to be forgiven and to be saved.

The Bible says that we have each turned and gone our own way, but that God has provided a way for us to be saved from the punishment we deserve for our iniquities or sins.

We all like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6 NIV)

To not be forgiven and therefore not be saved; is to spend an eternity separated from Him; in a real place of unimaginable torment called hell.

We turn to God to be saved, but it must be according to His plan which the Bible teaches is through Jesus Christ. His Name is the only name given by which we must be saved. There is no other name or way for mankind to be saved.

Acts 4:12 says, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (NIV)1 Timothy 2:5-6 says, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.” (NIV)John 14:6 says, “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (NIV)

Only Jesus, the Son of God, lived a sinless life; and only He, the Spotless Lamb of God could shed His blood as an acceptable sacrifice to God for the forgiveness of our iniquities; this means every single sin.

Sin is so deadly and it was our sins that cost Jesus His life. He was lifted up on a cross to die for us. Therefore, we must turn to Him to believe and receive Him as our personal Lord and Savior, so that we can escape sins penalty which is death.

And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:14-17 NLT)

The gift of salvation is open to all and if we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He will forgive our sins and help us to break sinful patterns and habits. One thing is for sure; we cannot have a personal encounter with Jesus and stay the same. He changes us in the best possible way.

There is One God who is Lord of all; our Redeemer who is mighty to save.

Isaiah 44:6 says, “This is what the LORD says – Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies: “I am the LORD and there is no other.” (NLT)

Why not turn to God through Jesus today and be saved?

Please click here if you would like to accept Christ as your personal Lord and Savior now.

Your thoughts are welcome! You can leave a comment below.

Help Spread the Word! If you found this article helpful, we’d love for you to share it with others on social media or otherwise. This will help get the Word in front of more people who need biblical guidance. Thanks for your help!

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Lessons Learned On My Recent Trip To Malawi

It was a remarkable opportunity to share Discipleship Journeys with Jesus!

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It was my great privilege to take a ministry trip to Malawi recently. However, many or perhaps most readers might not know where this country is located. It is in Southern Africa and is one of the poorest nations of the world.

My trip to Malawi was for the purpose of launching Discipleship Journeys with Jesus there. This was done in partnership with our DJJ Board Chairman Carlos Sales and the mission he leads called Reaching the Hungry.

During the missionary trip to Malawi we trained over 100 people in how to utilize our DJJ materials to make disciples. We also trained those leaders in House Church Planting, in partnership with my former ministry, Dynamic Church Planting International.

We installed this water well on our trip to Malawi and I was privileged to make a dedication presentation to the village chief (standing in the white shirt).

The trip to Malawi took about 35 hours of air travel from our home in San Diego. It was exhausting, but well worth it. The people in Malawi are eager to serve Jesus.

Here are the statistical outcomes from this outreach:

• We trained over 100 in DJJ and how to use the materials (the first 7 lessons are now in Chichewa).

• We trained all of these in “House Church Planting” for 2 days.

• We certified 23 Certified Trainers for the House Church Planting materials. (These can now train others in House Church Planting.)

• We installed one water well in a village and repaired one in another village. I had the privilege of sharing the Gospel at the dedication and about 50 prayed to receive salvation.

• We showed the Jesus Film to a village and perhaps 200 prayed to receive salvation.

• We spoke at a fundraising church service to raise funds for a building for a new church plant.

• We spoke to about 50 village chiefs to introduce DJJ. We also handed out 10 “Talking Bibles.”

• We visited a mission station pioneered by the famous Scottish Missionary David Livingstone.

But beyond these wonderful outcomes, I learned some interesting lessons.

Here are 3 lessons learned (or relearned) on my trip to Malawi:

1. Much of Malawi and the world has no access to electricity, running water and technology.

Living in a developed country in the West I take running water, flushing toilets, electricity, technology, the internet and other conveniences for granted. But most Malawians have never enjoyed such “luxuries.”

As noted above, we installed a water well—this was in a village where until the well, people had to walk some distance to obtain water, and that water might not have been very sanitary.

But running water is so normal to me, if my (hot) water doesn’t come instantly, I think I’m deprived.

Of course, while Malawi is one of the poorest nations of the world, it is not the only country without standard western conveniences. Many people live this way.

My take away: Renewed thanksgiving for the blessings I enjoy at home.

These chefs cooked over open fires!

2. The greatest ministry opportunities are often in the majority world.

One of the great joys of travel to majority world countries is that they are often so open to the message of the Bible and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Such was the case on my trip to Malawi.

People listened eagerly and responded to the Gospel—most wanted to receive Christ and eternal salvation.

At our training, people were eager to learn and receive the certificates of completion we signed and presented. With little formal educational opportunities, it is special for them to receive training and a certificate to show they have been trained.

We westerners are often educated beyond our obedience and often even educated to unbelief. We become jaded and skeptical, stuffed full of knowledge, but lacking in obedience.

My take away: It is truly a joy to share with people who so eagerly receive!

At dusk we showed The Jesus Film. Over 200 people stood or sat on the ground to watch the story of Jesus and afterwards most prayed to profess faith in Jesus!

3. While we are flooded with discipling materials, other languages have very little available.

The language of Malawi is called Chichewa. There is precious little discipleship material available in Chichewa for Malawi and other African nations who speak it.

This is not unusual and is a result of our prosperity and the profit motive. We can go online or to a Christian bookstore and find dozens of discipleship guidebooks in English. But in Chichewa, and many other majority world languages, there is very little if any help available.

So, can you guess where my heart is? It’s in the translation and distribution of our DJJ discipleship journey lessons in many languages. Yes, the journey lessons are available in English first—it’s our mother tongue. But our desire is to provide DJJ lessons in as many languages as possible to reach those who need it so much because they have so little training available.

Praise God that already our lessons are being translated into 5 languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi, Chinese, and Chichewa.

My take away: I want to continue to focus on providing materials for those in nations like Malawi who need it the most!

Over 100 were trained in how to use our Discipleship Journeys with Jesus materials. Afterwards they received Certificates of Completion.

Conclusion:

Our ministry trip to Malawi lasted 12 days. After another 35 hours of travel we were back home. Like the Apostle Paul and his missionary journeys, we have laid a foundation that with God’s help and the hard work of the Malawian staff and believers will spring up into immense fruit in Malawi.

Please pray with us for this end.

If you are inclined to do so, you can partner with us financially by visiting our Donate Page.

To utilize our FREE discipleship journey lessons, just visit our website and click “START YOUR JOURNEY HERE.”

If you’re not sure you are indeed a Christian, please go HERE to learn how to be saved now.

Help Spread the Word! If you found this article helpful, we’d love for you to share it with others on social media or otherwise. This will help get the Word in front of more people who need biblical guidance. Thanks for your help!

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Things Work Out Best For Those Who Make The Best Of The Way Things Work Out. -John Wooden

It’s so true that things work out best for those who make the best of the way things work out. It’s quite easy to accept favorable circumstances in life, but what about the unwelcome, unexpected and uninvited circumstances that can catch us by surprise? Our response to these events can cause things to work out best if we learn to make the best of the way things work out.

This is a guest post by Beth Harris. She is a wife, mother, Bible study leader and volunteer editor for markalanwilliams.net. 

I’ve mentioned before that I went through a major depression about 6 years ago and while I’m unqualified to dispense medical advice, I did want to share how I believe God led me in my recovery. The first thing I had to do was to surrender or submit the situation to God, then I had to submit to the care of qualified professionals and then to the desires of my concerned husband. As a result, I had to do several things I really didn’t want to do, but did in order to get well.

I would have never chosen this ordeal for myself, but I can now see the good that has come from this difficult time. For some reason, this period of darkness gave birth to creativity. Specifically, writing, cooking and art. Also, I have had a strong desire to give back since I was the recipient of so much compassion. I joined a women’s ministry that helps hurting women to heal. So, while I wouldn’t care to repeat this trial; I grew through it and learned by the grace of God, that things really do work out best for those who make the best of the way things work out.

Circumstances in life don’t always go the way we want or plan, but, things work out best for those who make the best of the way things work out; and for Christians, this means we respond to undesirable circumstances with faith which leads to a positive attitude.

Our hope should come from a deeply grounded faith that believes God is working in both favorable and unfavorable circumstances for our good, especially when life makes it seem otherwise.

Here is a wonderful promise for believers:

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. (Romans 8:28 NLT)

The alternative to making the best of things; it is to make things worse, like I sometimes do when I respond to negative circumstances with bitterness, discouragement, disappointment, depression, regret, sorrow, hopelessness, despair, and anger. But, this only doubles the trouble.

Of course, it’s only natural to feel unpleasant emotions, when we experience unexpected circumstances; however, even though it’s difficult, we need to accept and deal with the circumstances, so we can move forward. If we don’t, we may give up, become ill, destroy our relationships; lose faith, and actually prolong the pain.

We can trust that God is accomplishing a good work in us from the things that don’t work out in our lives.  

Romans 5:3-5 says, “3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” (NLT)

We can make the best of how things work out in our lives by rather than resisting change, which is inevitable; we instead reframe negative circumstances to see them as growth opportunities, and possibilities that God is opening new doors for us.

Growth is never easy, but in fact, it is often painful and hard, but so worth it in the end.

2 Corinthians 4:18 says, “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” (NLT)

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:1-2 NIV)

Our present circumstances are only temporary; therefore, it’s best to keep an eternal perspective, especially during times of difficulty and suffering.

What do you do to make the best of circumstances in your life?

Please click here if you would like to accept Christ as your personal Lord and Savior now.

Your thoughts are welcome! You can leave a comment below.

Help Spread the Word! If you found this article helpful, we’d love for you to share it with others on social media or otherwise. This will help get the Word in front of more people who need biblical guidance. Thanks for your help!

For more FREE Inspirational Quote Cards you can use and share click HERE | CLICK TO TWEET

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NOTE: Facebook is random. Email is reliable. Subscribe via email and you won’t miss any of my articles, podcasts or videos. You’ll also get my eBook: 10 Prayers to Unlock Heaven on Earth