Rachelle

Hi! I'm Rachelle and I want you to know how much God loves you! Yes you! He loved you enough to give up the one thing He held most dear to His heart so that you would have the opportunity to spend a beautiful and perfect eternity with Him! The thing He gave up was His ONLY SON!(John 3:16-17) "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. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."Why do we need to be saved? Because we're sinners and God won't have anything to do with sin. Don't think you're a bad person? Think again honey! (Romans 3:10) "As it is written: there is none righteous, no, not one." (Romans 3:23) "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."(Romans 5:12) "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned -"But there's something else! (Romans 6:23) "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." (GOT THAT? EVERYONE HAS TO DIE AS THE PRICE FOR OUR SIN, BUT GOD HAS GIVEN US PROMISE OF A WONDERFUL LIFE AFTER DEATH) (Romans 5:8) "{But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."Why did it have to be Jesus? (2Corinthians 5:21) "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."Jesus came from Heaven, where perfection was born. He then came to earth, was born of a virgin, and lived a completely SINLESS life for more than thirty years! Why? Because only a perfect sacrifice could wipe out the threat of eternal damnation. Jesus took on the horrible burden of our sins in order to give us the most important gift of our life: salvation!We can't work our way to Heaven, we have to believe in the power of Jesus Christ and what he accomplished when he died and ROSE AGAIN THREE DAYS LATER!(John 14:6) "Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."(John 11:23) "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"(Romans 10:9-10)"That if you confess with you mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."John 8:31-32 "Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."John 3:3 "Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."John 10:27-30 "My sheep hear My Voice and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snath them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one."It's very important to confess your sins to the Lord, but He has made it so easy to do! You don't need priest, a pastor, a saint, you just need an open heart and an honest prayer. After confessing your sins you must confess your need for the only Savior there is: Jesus! Pray that through His blood that he freely gave us on that day many years ago your sins will be forgiven. Acknowledge that you understand there is no other way to achieve forgiveness and salvation than through the awesome power of Jesus Christ! And give your life to the Lord of all the earth!Once you've prayed for forgiveness and salvation from your sins and given your life to Christ, you have been washed clean by the blood of righteousness! How awesome is that?! Now as good as you feel after this initial act of faith, there is still one more thing necassary to a good relationship with the Heavenly Father. And it's something some people reject, even as Christians because they don't feel they need it. Why? PRIDE! And pride is a disgusting habit we need to get rid of through prayer and patience. This act of faith I'm talking about is the baptism and the receiving of the Holy Spirit. Some Christians argue that when you confess your sins and give your life to Christ you automatically receive the Holy Spirit. I was one such Christian. But through much prayer and resistance and searching of the Word of God, I have been truly reborn! The Bible has much to say about the Holy Spirit:(Luke 11:9-13) "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him."(John 4:23-24 "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."(John 16:7-13 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you, but if I depart I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world has judged. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth..."Acts 1:4-6 "And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."Acts 2:4 "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."John 3:5-8 "Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The Wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."My sister said it like this, "Jesus is the perfect gentleman, he won't force anything on you." And that's true. Though it is God's fervent hope that we will receive His "Helper" (the Holy Spirit) He will not give it without us asking Him for it. When you are baptized with the Holy Spirit and have received it, you will have the amazing ability to pray in the spirit. Also known as praying in tongues. This is when the Holy Spirit prays through you to the Lord in a different language, one that God alone understands! Romans 8:26 "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with GROANINGS which cannot be uttered."Some people are uncomfortable with this and they say that praying in the spirit (or tongues) is not a "gift" for today. In 1 Peter 1:25 it says, "But the word of the Lord endures forever." right there it says that God's words are forever, permanant, fixed. And in 2 Timothy 3:16 it says, "ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteouness." So if the whole Bible is God word and God's word endures forever, that means EVERY THING IN IT IS THE TRUTH! AMEN! If that's true than the powerful gift of praying in the spirit is most certainly for today and all days!You need to believe first and then take an action. "Faith without works is dead." after all. When you pray to be baptized by the Holy Spirit and you believe it in faith, you will be baptized and you will receive the Holy Spirit and in doing so, will have the gift of praying in your spirit. You don't have to worry about how to do it, it will come to you. With all the love in my soul! Peace be with you, Rachelle.