Showing posts with label born again. Show all posts
Showing posts with label born again. Show all posts

Friday, September 5, 2014

Have you turned in your RSVP yet?

Jesus taught truths using parables, so I think I can base a blog post on a dream I had.  This dream was very vivid.  I don’t usually remember my dreams, so I thought this dream must have some sort of meaning. 

The dream started out with Mike (my husband) and I going to a friend’s house.  When we got there, our friends were sitting at the kitchen table, reading the paper, cooking food, etc.  I urged them to hurry up and get ready or they would be late to the wedding supper, or miss it altogether.  But the wife said, “Go on, we’ll see you there.”

So Mike and I went to the reception hall.  There were round tables with water goblets and china place settings.  There were tall place card holders in the center of the tables with square place cards in them. These place cards had a letter and a number (like L30).  But for some strange reason, we couldn't find the table where we were supposed to sit. 

We went to the maître d’ and asked him to help us find our seats.  He took us to a large, wooden oval shaped table.  It had black edging all the way around it.  There were no place settings and people were crowded around the table.  Pat Neshek of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team was seated at the oval table and he was showing off his baseball card collection, although what this had to do with the rest of the dream, I don’t know.  I turned to Mike and said, “See, I told you that we should have sent our reservation in earlier!”

I was puzzled as to what the dream meant.  I was pondering the dream during worship in church that Sunday and it came to me that the dream represented the wedding supper of the Lamb and His bride, the church. 

My friends in the first part of the dream thought they had plenty of time to get to the wedding supper, i.e., repent of their sins and receive Christ as their Savior.  But only God knows when your last day on Earth will be.  It could be tomorrow, or in the very next minute. Also, the Rapture is imminent – no other prophecies have to come true before the Rapture can occur.

Mike and I went to the reception hall, so it appears we had received Christ.  But we were not seated at the round tables with the rest of the guests.  Perhaps we were carnal Christians and had not grown enough in our faith?  The reason why we were at the oval table was not made clear to me.  We were not cast out of the reception hall; we were just seated in a different location.  Those who reject Christ will be tossed out into the darkness, where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Matt. 8:12)

When you are invited to a wedding, there is usually a card enclosed with the invitation for you to mail back to the bride (the RSVP card) to let her know how many people in your family will be attending the wedding.  The bride will then total up the number of guests who have indicated on the RSVP cards that they will be attending the wedding.  She will then advise the caterer of the total number of attendees so that the caterer can prepare enough food. 

RSVP is an acronym for the French phrase “Répondez s'il vous plaît,” which translates in English to “respond if it pleases you.”  You have a choice whether or not to attend a wedding. You also have a choice whether or not to repent of your sins and accept Christ as your Savior.  In order to attend the wedding supper of Christ (Rev. 19:9),  you have to turn in your RSVP card, which means repenting of your sins and receiving Christ as your Savior. You can respond to Jesus' invitation to trust Him for your salvation and to believe in Him if you please, or not.  It's up to you. Jesus has extended the invitation to all who would repent of their sins and receive Him as their Savior (1 Tim. 2:3-4).  I know that I have accepted Jesus' invitation and have put my trust in Him for salvation.  

So if you’re reading this and have not accepted Jesus’ invitation to the wedding feast, why haven’t you?  Time is short.  I would love to be able to hang out with you at the wedding feast.  If you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and wish for Him to come into your heart and clean it up and make you a new person on the inside, all you have to do is repent for your sins (or confess that you have sinned). This is called "being born again" or "saved." Here is a simple prayer that you can pray: "Lord, I know I am a sinner, and I need Your forgiveness for my sins. I believe that You died for me on the Cross. Please come into my heart and make me new. I want you to be my Lord and Savior. I give my life totally and completely to You. Thank you for forgiving my sins and making me new."

That's all for now!  Thanks for reading!  See you next time!

Diane

Saturday, December 31, 2011

New Year . . . New life

Today is the last day of 2011. People are saying farewell to 2011 by gathering with friends at parties, going to restaurants and standing outside in Times Square to watch a big crystal ball drop (and what the appeal is in that, I have no clue). 

For many, New Year's Day represents new hope and a new beginning.  The old year is over and a new year has begun.  People take this time to make resolutions to be better in the new year - lose weight, spend more time with their kids, etc.  Usually, however, by the end of the year, these resolutions have been broken and the person is right back where he or she started. 

When a person repents of his sins and asks Jesus to come into their hearts to be his or her Savior, he or she is born again.  This means a new, clean life and a new beginning. That person becomes a new creation in Christ.  They become children of God and have eternal life in Christ.  All of their sins have been forgiven and forgotten. In contrast with the broken resolutions, if we sin after we have been born again, Jesus stands ready to forgive us  and welcome us back into the fold.  The blood He shed on the Cross covers our sins.

Unlike the New Year, which shows up without us doing anything at all, being born again is a conscious decision.  We have to open our mouth and ask Jesus to forgive our sins in order to be born again and receive that new and eternal life.  By repenting of your sins and receiving Jesus as your Savior, you escape the wrath of hell and get to spend eternity in Heaven.

Friend, if you are reading this and you have not yet repented of your sins and received Jesus as your Savior, what's holding you back? Why not make this new year the first year of your walk with Christ? If you need help, here's a prayer: 

"Lord, I know I am a sinner, and I need Your forgiveness for my sins. I believe that You died for me on the Cross. Please come into my heart and make me new. I want you to be my Lord and Savior. I give my life totally and completely to You. Thank you for forgiving my sins and making me new."

Did you say the prayer? If so, congratulations! You are now my brother or sister in Christ. Your first step should be to purchase a Bible. Start by reading the first four books of the New Testament, also known as the Gospels. They will tell you about Jesus. The second thing you should do is find a Bible-believing church where you can learn about being a Christian and you can meet other Christians. I would love to know if you prayed to receive Jesus. Please enter a comment to let me know.

Happy New Year!  I pray for a happy, healthy and prosperous new year for you!

Diane