Jeremiah 29:11 says:“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
God loves us and cares about us. He is our Father and has promised to take are of all our needs. We became His children when we believed in and accepted His Son the Lord Jesus Christ into our hearts and lives. We were adopted into the family of God and became citizens of heaven. Now we are citizens of heaven. The Bible says:
“But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Saviour.” – Philippians 3:20.
We have passports to heaven that no man can take away; we have a passport written in the blood of Jesus that even the devil cannot take away. Our faith in Jesus is something that cannot be taken away from us. We are in our Father’s hands and we are comforted and cared for by Him. He will never forsake us and never leave us like orphans. Jesus says:
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you.” – John 14:16-18.
God has a plan for you
God has a plan for you. The Bible says:
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” – Ephesians 2:10
God has many wonderful things planned for us to do. HE wants to keep us busy working for the Lord. Some people preach the gospel message; other people help those who are poor, suffering and in need; others feed the hungry and still others give water to those who are thirsty.
God has given us all jobs to do while we are here on this earth so let us live for Jesus and serve God.
Our past cannot change that
Some people might think that they have been very big sinners here on earth and that God will not allow them to do any work for Him. This is not true. You may have been a very big sinner before you became a Christian but the old things have passed away and behold the new things have come. What you did when you were a sinner is now in the past; you are a new creation in Christ; you have a new life in God hidden in Christ and the desires you have are new desires planted in your heart by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Your sins have been forgiven and washed in the blood of Jesus Christ. The old you has died and you are now alive as the new you in Christ Jesus. The things you did in the past have been forgiven and do not affect what it is the Lord now has for you to do.
In the New Testament there is a man named Paul. Paul used to be in charge of the chasing down Christians and killing them. People were afraid of Paul because he was very cruel towards Christians. Then one day Jesus appeared to Paul and told him to stop persecuting Christians and fighting against the Holy Spirit. Paul believed God and stopped persecuting Christians. Paul believed that God was true and that God was able to stop him from doing the evil things that he had been doing.
Paul became a new man. Even though he used to murder people and hate Christians God used Paul to become one of the greatest evangelists and preachers the world has ever seen.
We read about Paul’s conversion in Acts chapter 9:
“Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest. He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and women—back to Jerusalem in chains.
As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”
“Who are you, lord?” Saul asked.
And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
The men with Saul stood speechless, for they heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one! Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus. He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink.”
A Somali Christian named Omar Khalafe died for Jesus
Omar Khalafe was a man who believed in Jesus Christ as His Lord and Saviour and accepted Jesus into his heart and his life. Omar was a Christian who chose to stay and live in Somalia. This was a very dangerous move because living as a Christian in Somalia at that time meant that you might be killed if the Islamic militants found out who you were.
God had a plan for Omar. Omar helped Somali Christians in and around Somalia by encouraging them in their faith and helping them in any way that he could. One day he decided to deliver some Bibles that were written in the Somali language. He was going to deliver them to a town called Merca.
However, the bus that he was travelling on was stopped by the Al-Shabab militant group. The soldiers searched the bus and found that Omar had 25 Bibles with him that he was delivering to Somali Christians in the town of Merca. The militants were angry and took Omar off of the bus and brought him to the side of the road where they killed him. Omar became a martyr for the Lord Jesus Christ and is not in heaven rejoicing with our Lord.
Live for Jesus
What has happened in the past is no basis for thinking about what will happen in the future. God is a God of second chances. In the past you did not have a life with God – you were on your own and lost to the powers and principalities of this world. You lived for your selfish desires and did what your flesh wanted you to do.
Now you have been born again by the power of the Holy Spirit if indeed you have asked Jesus Christ to wash away your sins with His blood. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord you are a new creation in Christ – you are a new person. The old has passed away and behold the new has come.
So you are on a new path and God is your light and leader of what it is you do. So trust in the Lord and lean on Him and do not trust in your own understanding. God will bring about many wonderful changes in your life as you believe in Him and as you trust in Him.
God is good and he loves you. Open your heart to the new things God is doing in your life and do not reject what God is doing in your life and through those around you. God wants to lead you and help you very much.
Starting a new life
Becoming a Christian is all about starting a new life. We are all born into this world as babies and we grow up into adults. We are born with a human nature that is affected by sin.
The Bible says, “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.”
And so we all sin. Sin causes us to do things that we are ashamed of and then we feel guilty afterwards for the sins that we have committed.
Here are some of the things that sin makes us do: “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.”
But when you become a Christian you become a new person and start to act in a different way. Here is how you start to live when you become a Christian: “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.”
Believe in Jesus
If you want a new life and want to live a holy life then you need to ask Jesus Christ to come into your life and into your heart. You need to tell Jesus that you are sorry for the sinful things that you have done and ask Him to forgive you. Then you need to cry out to God and ask Him to help you live a good life for Him, so that you can be a good servant to God.
May the Lord bless you as you live for Him.