All the "Faith" Things

A little bit of my testimony: 

Before ever becoming a mommy, I became a Christian. I was saved at the age of 17 and I'll be honest, even though I grew up in Church, it took me getting out of it to realize that I wasn't. I grew up believing that as long as I was a good girl, I'd go to Heaven. I wasn't perfect, but I tried hard to follow the Ten Commandments. 

But Isaiah 64:6 says But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

and Ephesians 2:8-9 says For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. 

What this means, is that nothing I do (works) will ever be good enough to get into Heaven (i.e. "filthy rags", "not of works lest any man should boast").

So what then? What now? How am I supposed to get into Heaven if I can't even do anything to get me there? Does God even hear me? And WHY would God make a Heaven for me if there's nothing I can even do to get there? How do I get "saved?" What does "saved" even mean?

WELLL.....

When I have questions that I can't answer, I turn to my Bible. It truly is a life-book. I believe it to be the best self-help book ever written. The Bible says:

Romans 10:9-10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 

and

John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. 

and

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Here's what I gathered from those verses: 

First, being "saved" means to literally be saved from Hell. It means that Jesus reached down and saved you from eternal death - and instead gave you eternal life. The reality is, we are all going somewhere when we die. 

Once I came to the realization that being good wasn't going to get me anywhere, I knew what to do. I prayed for the Lord to come into my heart, to save me from the hell I knew I was going to, and with every ounce of my being I confessed not only my sins, but my love and belief in Him. It didn't take the Lord long to answer that prayer either. He reached down and poured His love and mercy on me and I knew that I was saved from that very day. He gave me the gift of new life. 

I'll never have to question what's going to happen to me when I die in this physical body. I don't have to be afraid of what's next. I'm thankful for the Lord's love, mercy, and assurance of Salvation. I know that no matter what I do in this life, the Lord loves me, and he will never take that gift of Salvation from me. 

So if you asked me "What's your point?", I would have to say that my entire purpose for creating this blog and writing all of this is simply this: I want to show others the LOVE of Christ. I want others to experience the gift that I now have. I don't want anyone to fear what's next. So I hope and pray that this blog will be an encouragement. Even if I only ever have one reader. If that one reader receives a blessing from it - or even better, gets saved, then I've accomplished my goal. 

XO, Megan