FAITH

At the World Cup we all want to see the action. We want to be in the stadium. We want to hear the roar of the crowd. We want to experience all the World Cup has to offer. While at times we may miss a bit of the action, we can still be assured that an end will come and one team will be crowned the champion. Life is much the same way. We live our lives and hopefully enjoy the journey along the way. However, an end will come. Everyone dies sometime. Hebrews 9.27 says, “… it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” The question is, will we be ready when the end comes?
How will you handle the end? Each player here hopes that at the end of the World Cup they have the trophy in their hands. If they work hard, have some good fortune and progress through the tournament they may get what they hope for. Salvation, eternity with God, is not like that. We have already established that we cannot work for it. Paul said in Romans 9.16, “it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” How do we receive that mercy? “To the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, their faith is counted as righteousness.” Romans 4.5. So faith is what counts before God. God wants people to believe that He has taken care of our sins. (Remember those red cards?) “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him (Jesus) from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame.”’ Romans 10.9-10. Did you notice the quote above talked about confessing with our mouth? It is not the “prayer” that saves us, but the faith. However, it is a good thing to verbalize the words before God. That is what prayer really is – expressing our thoughts to God. He has promised that He will always hear our prayers, so a prayer of accepting salvation would be something like this: Looking Without Eyes

“Thank you God for all You have done. You have loved me, and You have given me the opportunity to learn more about Yourself.
Thank You for sending Jesus to this earth as an example for me. I believe He died and rose again to make my salvation possible. I want to accept that gift, that prize, today, God. I receive Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. Thank You for no longer holding my sin against me because of my faith in Jesus. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen” If you can pray that prayer or something like it, and mean it, you are as the Bible puts it “born again” or saved. These two terms Jesus Himself used to describe the change from depending on yourself to depending on what God has done. “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3.16-17.