June- A Closer Look (Pt 1)
Rescue Mission
By: Amanda Underwood
"For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him."- John 3:17
There are moments in my life where I can look back and remember not knowing for sure that I was ‘saved’. I didn’t understand what exactly I needed to do in order to gain God’s acceptance into Heaven. There was so much religious upbringing that I was around that very much influenced my thoughts. The whole process of doing good to gain God’s approval and making sure I was forgiven of my sins was almost crippling to my young soul.
Thankfully, as I got older, my beautiful Savior began to really show me WHO HE WAS! I was still doubting and worrying about where I stood with Him. But as I continued to walk outside the box of religion, I discovered that Jesus was the exact opposite of everything I had grown up thinking. I began to really see scripture for what it meant- that God created me to walk in communion with Him. But sin came with Adam & Eve. And since that moment, this world has been so difficult and life gets super hard. Not because our Father doesn’t care but because He created the perfect place and we made the choice to destroy it.
And this is where we pick up from last month’s memory verse. We saw the love of God in John 3:16 when Jesus tells Nicodemus that His Father sent Him to bring salvation to all that choose to believe. And through this there is eternal life in Him! But hang on…it gets better. This month, we are looking at verse 17. Jesus didn’t come to judge but to rescue us. Is that not the most amazing thing ever?
Now, that doesn’t give us a reason to continue in sin just because we have the grace of God through Jesus. It is a call to bring us out of the old and become something new. And that process isn’t always easy and scripture tells us this. But it is the absolute most amazing decision we could ever make. For some, it is a call out of an addiction that has us wrapped up so tight that we can’t breathe. For others, due to life’s upbringing or horrible circumstances, we must walk opposite of what our heart and mind tell us. No matter what cards you have been dealt, God is calling all of us to surrender. And He is doing this because He doesn’t want to see ANYONE perish but rather be rescued through His wonderful Son, Jesus Christ.
May we continue to remember what John 3:17 tells us. Jesus didn’t come to condemn us but save us. And now, we must take this good news and tell others. We can do this by loving them right where they are while we are living out the gospel of Christ. I can assure you that this will speak louder and stronger than any religious rhetoric that they are already seeing everywhere they turn. When we do this, we will be able to continue the ministry that Jesus intended for us- to love God, love His people and serve both.
There are moments in my life where I can look back and remember not knowing for sure that I was ‘saved’. I didn’t understand what exactly I needed to do in order to gain God’s acceptance into Heaven. There was so much religious upbringing that I was around that very much influenced my thoughts. The whole process of doing good to gain God’s approval and making sure I was forgiven of my sins was almost crippling to my young soul.
Thankfully, as I got older, my beautiful Savior began to really show me WHO HE WAS! I was still doubting and worrying about where I stood with Him. But as I continued to walk outside the box of religion, I discovered that Jesus was the exact opposite of everything I had grown up thinking. I began to really see scripture for what it meant- that God created me to walk in communion with Him. But sin came with Adam & Eve. And since that moment, this world has been so difficult and life gets super hard. Not because our Father doesn’t care but because He created the perfect place and we made the choice to destroy it.
And this is where we pick up from last month’s memory verse. We saw the love of God in John 3:16 when Jesus tells Nicodemus that His Father sent Him to bring salvation to all that choose to believe. And through this there is eternal life in Him! But hang on…it gets better. This month, we are looking at verse 17. Jesus didn’t come to judge but to rescue us. Is that not the most amazing thing ever?
Now, that doesn’t give us a reason to continue in sin just because we have the grace of God through Jesus. It is a call to bring us out of the old and become something new. And that process isn’t always easy and scripture tells us this. But it is the absolute most amazing decision we could ever make. For some, it is a call out of an addiction that has us wrapped up so tight that we can’t breathe. For others, due to life’s upbringing or horrible circumstances, we must walk opposite of what our heart and mind tell us. No matter what cards you have been dealt, God is calling all of us to surrender. And He is doing this because He doesn’t want to see ANYONE perish but rather be rescued through His wonderful Son, Jesus Christ.
May we continue to remember what John 3:17 tells us. Jesus didn’t come to condemn us but save us. And now, we must take this good news and tell others. We can do this by loving them right where they are while we are living out the gospel of Christ. I can assure you that this will speak louder and stronger than any religious rhetoric that they are already seeing everywhere they turn. When we do this, we will be able to continue the ministry that Jesus intended for us- to love God, love His people and serve both.
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