Aug 12, 2022
Welcome to Celebrating God's Grace, a Women World Leaders Podcast. I'm Kimberly Hobbs, I'm the founder of Women World Leaders. And it is my honor to bring to you today, a reading from Voice of Truth magazine. God has called Women World Leaders to produce this publication throughout each year. And I'm excited to share that this is our second year of publishing. We work with artists and writers, authors and helpers to showcase God's glory. Please visit womenworldleaders.com where you can read every edition that has come out since day one, we are certain it will encourage you and empower you to a closer walk with Jesus Christ. Please register for a free digital subscription going forward. And if you become a monthly contributor of any size donation, we will make certain you receive a beautiful magazine coffee table quality sent to your mailbox. We are a 501 C three and all donations are tax-deductible. Maybe you'd like to pay it forward and provide the printed copies as gifts to someone who could use the encouragement and the word of God through messages and stories. Whatever way you choose, it is our heart that you will be blessed by hearing and reading Voice of Truth. Today's reading is from our fifth edition, September October of 2021. The article is gospel grace and it was written by Best Selling Author Lillian Cuzuzza. Lillian is a leader in women world leaders and she's the founder of his creations. She is a professional photographer, and some of her spectacular artistry work is found in every edition of voice of truth magazine with a story that goes with her work and it relates from God's Word. Lillian is an encourager, and lover of Jesus and His creations, and she uses her gifts and talents to serve him. Please enjoy today's message nestled in Gospel grace. I spell grace by Lillian Kusa. I grew up in a family that attended church regularly. I did the readings during church services when I was 14 years old. I was raised to believe there was a God and a heaven. But I did not know God personally. Even though I was involved in a church, I worried about dying, because I did not know if I would qualify for heaven. I felt a heavy weight on my shoulders, that all the activities I was doing are just never enough. Secretly, my big question was, how would I know if I had done enough or was good enough to get into heaven? I avoided conversations with others about religion and church. I did not own and had never read the Bible. So I did not have enough information to know whether someone was telling me the truth, or just giving me their opinion. I certainly did not want to come across as ignorant. So I just avoided those conversations as much as possible. Does this sound familiar? One day, I was sent a, an accompany business trip to Minnesota. Since my new brother in law, Tom and his family lived in Minnesota. I decided to go a few days early to get to know them better. He was a Bible teaching pastor. And I knew I would not be able to avoid that dreaded conversation much longer. However, I knew I could trust and learn from him. Tom picked me up at the airport. And it wasn't long before we got into the conversation, the conversation. He asked me two questions. If you were to die tonight, do you know for certain you are going to heaven? Well, my immediate response was No. His second question was, if you did die tonight, and you are standing before God at the gates of heaven, and he were to ask you, why should I let you into heaven? What would you say? And I answered, well,
I've tried to be a good person. Do all the right things, go to church, be active in the church, but I don't know if that's good enough. Then Tom gave me a little checklist to find out what I thought was necessary to get into heaven. The list included things like obey God's laws. Try to do your best. Give money to the church, do good deeds. and receive water baptism and Holy Communion. Wow. After I checked off most of the list, he explained that none of these things can help you get to heaven. There is nothing you can do to earn eternal life. The Bible says there's only one way to enter heaven. Jesus answered, I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14, six, Tom shared that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That's Romans 323 in the NIV. And the payment for sin is death. Romans 623. feeling queasy? I told Tom, I always thought the death penalty was for the worst of criminal criminals. And I was not a criminal. I never broke the law. He asked me if I had ever lied to anyone. Sure, I answered. But they were just little white lies. He replied that it does not matter how big or small the lie or the sin. God counts it all is sin. He continued to explain that because heaven is a perfect place. Nothing impure or imperfect will ever enter it. Revelation 2127. If we sinned, just once in our life, no matter how small we think that sin is, it corrupts in defiles us making us impure and unable to enter heaven. So far, it sounded quite bad and hopeless. We are all sinners, and we deserve to go to hell. Heaven is a perfect place. And nothing we can do makes us perfect. I was getting depressed. All my life I heard how God is love. Now I was wondering how a loving God can be so cruel, and send us to hell for being a sinner. Then Tom shared the good news. God is love and he loves us. The Bible says For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that who so ever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. That's John 316. God sent His Son Jesus Christ, to shed his blood and die in the cross to pay for all of our sins. And three days later, he rose from the dead. He died for us. By trusting in Jesus Christ as the one who died for our sins, we can have eternal life. That is a loving God. Nothing we do can make us perfect or sinless. No deeds, charity, contribution, contribution to churches, going to church, being baptized, taking Holy Communion, trying to obey God's laws, nor any good work can take away our sins or save us. Heaven is a free gift, we do not deserve it, and we cannot earn it.
For it is by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast Ephesians two, eight and nine in the NIV He saved us not because of the righteous things we have done. But because of His mercy. Titus three, five NIV mercy means not getting what we deserve death and separation from God for ever, as the penalty for our sins. Grace is getting what we do not deserve total forgiveness for our sins, making us perfect in God's eyes, and allowing us to spend eternity with Him in Heaven. Grace is an acronym for God's riches at Christ's expense. Because Jesus paid the ultimate price for our sins by shedding His blood and dying on the cross. We get to partake in God's riches for eternity. Wow. That is grace. Tom told me that moment I trust Jesus as my Lord and Savior, my sins would be forgiven, and I would receive God's righteousness perfection. As it says in Romans 10 Nine, if you declare with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. This righteousness allows me to enter into heaven. I finally had the answer to my big question. How would I know I did enough or was good enough to get into heaven? It was not because of anything I did. It was because of what Jesus did for me. I also learned that you can do nothing more to add to the finished work of Christ. It is not trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior. plus.dot.it is putting your trust only in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. And it is a one time decision in your life. You can never lose it, nor can you forfeit it. God's unconditional promise is that he will never take it away from you. Jesus said, I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand, John 1028 NIV. I was so excited to learn this good news. Then I made the decision right there to to trust Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. At that very moment, the burden was totally lifted off my shoulders, and whether I could do enough or be good enough to enter heaven. It was because of Jesus. And I knew that I now have eternal security. Friend, I cannot make you believe in heaven or hell. You may not believe in it because you cannot see it. But you cannot see the air you breathe either. Yet without it, you would die. Heaven and hell are real. If you have not yet trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. You can do it right now with a simple prayer, and he will save you from all eternity. The prayer is Dear God, thank you for loving me. I admit that I'm a sinner and in need of a Savior. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died on the cross as payment for all of my sins and was buried and raised from the dead, and is now in heaven. I understand that the good deeds I do will not help me get to heaven. Right now I confess that Jesus is Lord and I receive Him as my Savior. Thank you, Jesus for saving me so that I can live forever with you. Help me to live a life that is pleasing to You, Lord, in Jesus name, amen.
If this is your prayer today, welcome to the family of God. Let us know about your decision so that we can encourage you and help you on your journey of faith and to Jesus Christ. You can contact us at voice of truth by reaching out to info at women world leaders.com You can find a list of churches in your area we will reach out to you. There are also many learning opportunities available at www dot women world leaders.com. To help you grow in your faith, knowledge and relationship with Jesus Christ. You can have the assurance that your sins are forgiven, past, present and future. God has said it and he cannot lie. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. First John 513 NIV. hallelujah and Amen. One final thought. As we remember the victims of 911 in 2001. I cannot help but think of what their last thoughts words, or even prayers were besides agonizing about their predicament. And if they would ever see their loved ones again. I wonder how many cried and prayed to God to save them in that very moment. I also wonder how many did not have the opportunity to pray. Because the end came with no warning. We cannot change what has happened to them. But we can change what happens to us and where we will spend eternity. If we pray for salvation now. Before we don't get another chance. The choice is spending eternity in heaven with God or in hell separated forever from God. The choice is yours. I say this with nothing but a heart full of love. Please choose widely As we close out today, I will reinstate what Lillian just wrote. The Bible teaches us that heaven and hell are real. If you'd like to pray right now, I can lead you in that same prayer that Lillian wrote. And all you have to do is just say this in your own heart to God. Just follow after what I say, and mean it with all of your being. Let's pray it again together. Dear God, thank you for loving me. I admit that I'm in sinner, and I'm in need of You as my Savior. I believe Jesus, that you are the Son of God, that You died on the cross as a payment for my sin. And I believe that you were buried and raised from the dead. And now you're in heaven, and I want to live in heaven with you. I understand that the good deeds that I do here on earth aren't what's going to get me to heaven. I believe it's you God in the blood that Jesus shed for my sins. So right now, I confess Jesus as Lord, and I receive Him as my own personal Savior. Thank you, Jesus for saving me so that I can live forever with you. Please help me to live a life that is pleasing to You, Lord, in Jesus name, I pray this. Amen. Dear ladies, dear listeners, we would love for you to contact us at women world leaders.com. If you have made a decision to follow Jesus today, we are here to help you with many ways we have daily devotions on the website. And we have many tools that can help you in your walk and coming closer to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Thank you for listening to women world leaders podcast. Please join us each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. As we explore together God's extravagant love and your courageous purpose. Visit our website at w w w. Dot women world leaders.com And submit a prayer request, read a devotion or make a donation in the name of Jesus. today's podcast is copyrighted and cannot be used without expressed written consent. Thank you for joining us and have a blessed day.