John 3:16

John 3:16 - For God so Loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

This scripture pretty much sums up the entire story of the bible. All of the Old Testament led up to this and all of the New Testament revolves around it. From the moment man fell for the first time God put this plan into motion. His Love kept it in motion and brought it to fulfillment.

Imagine for a moment how much Love it would take to follow through with this plan. We see Abraham willing to sacrifice his son out of Love and obedience to God, but with God it is different.

Jesus was with God in heaven and man had fallen away. When God looked at man He would see that as a whole we rejected and turned away from Him. God was able to look past all of that and past all of our sin and still Love us.

The bible says that, “While we were still sinners Christ died for us.” He didn’t wait until we turned our hearts to Him. God Loves us so much that He sent His only Son when our hearts were deceitful.

Now we have a hope and a possibility for a future. All we have to do is accept it. Christ died so we can live. Believe in Him; receive Him into your heart and you will be saved. Then you will have eternal life with Him.

God’s Love for you is greater than you could possibly imagine. Believe in Christ and let God show you how much He truly Loves you.

Mark 11:22-23

Mark 11:22-23 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself in the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.”

       “Have faith in God.” It is a simple statement, yet there are times when it seems so hard. When you are going through the storm and the mountain is in front of you it can be hard to put your faith in God. All your circumstances tell you one thing, but God’s Word speaks something different.

       These are the times when it is most important to believe in the promises of God. You see, Jesus never said you would have an easy life. He never said that when we choose Him, life would get simple. It is definitely better and we can find hope in Him, but He assures us that in this world we will face trials.

       There will be mountains that we have to face, but He also tells us how to face them. He gives us a way through. Jesus tells us that if we say to the mountain ‘Go throw yourself in the sea,’ and have no doubts, it will happen. How’s that for a promise?

       If we have faith in God there is nothing that can stop us. Troubles will come, you can count on it; there will be things that stand before you, but God is bigger than all of them. Proverbs says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.

Put your faith in God and nothing will be able to block your path. If anything tries, speak to it and it will move.  

Mark 9:23-24

Mark 9:23-24 – “If you can?” said Jesus, “Everything is possible for him who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.”

       There are often times in our lives when we have the head knowledge, but it ends there. This man had probably heard all about Jesus. He knew that Jesus had healed the sick, cast out demons and done many other miraculous things. His son was now possessed by an evil spirit and Jesus was the one who could help him.

       In his search for Jesus he came across the disciples first. When he approached them to see where Jesus was they told him they could take care of his son. They thought they could cast out the demon, but they were wrong.

       Now the man was beginning to lose faith. He saw the disciples try to cast out the demon and fail. All the stuff that Jesus had done was still true, but in his mind, he now began to think his situation was different.

       How many times has this happened to you? You know all about what Jesus has done and can do, but somehow your situation seems different. Sometimes it seems easier to believe for someone else’s miracle than for your own. In a manner of speaking your have come to accept your ‘fate’.

Even though you ‘know’ that Jesus wants to help you, your unbelief limits what He can do in your life. That needs to change. With God, all things are possible and your situation is no different than anyone else’s. If you are being limited by unbelief pray as this man did and God will help you. “I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief.”

Matthew 21:22

Matthew 21:22 - If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.

Faith can be exercised on something as simple as a fig tree. Many times we get caught up on ‘if it God’s will’ it will happen, but Jesus doesn't limit us here. Don’t get me wrong, part of faith working on your behalf is being right with God, but too often ‘God’s will’ is used as an excuse for our doubt and unbelief.

Take this story for instance. Jesus and His disciples are walking along and Jesus gets hungry. In the distance He sees a fig tree and his mouth begins to water. The closer He gets the more He starts to want some figs.

Jesus arrives at the tree to be disappointed due to its lack of figs. He then curses the fig tree saying, “may you never bear fruit again.” At that time the disciples don’t think anything of it. 

At a later time they are walking that same path and the disciples see something odd, the fig tree is withered and dead. Noticing the drastic change from the morning, they ask Jesus about it.

Jesus did not give them some ‘spiritual’ answer saying that God spoke to Him about the tree. Instead He told them that what He did to the fig tree is small compared to what faith can do. “With faith you can move mountains,” He told them. “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

Jesus doesn't limit your faith and you shouldn't either. Live right with God and let faith determine your circumstance. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.

John 11:25-26

John 11:25-26 - Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

For hundreds of years people have been searching for the “fountain of youth.” It has been the subject of countless books and movies. People want to live forever. They don’t want to age, they don’t want to die. Many people spend their whole lives trying to find ways to keep their body from aging. Now as far as the body I don’t have an answer. Our bodies are just shells that house who we truly are. They are for us to live here on earth and then they will be discarded for our new eternal bodies that won’t age.

I do, however, have an answer for living forever. His name is Jesus Christ. He is the resurrection and the life. Jesus is our “fountain of youth”. In Him we find everlasting life and will never die. Again, I am not talking about your body, that is not you. I’m talking about your true self, your spiritual self, along with your soul. These two parts make up the real you and through Jesus you will live forever. That is what Jesus is saying here, “He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.” Your physical body may die, but you will not.

Once you receive Christ you enter life. Your spirit is revived and you become immortal. Jesus spoke these lines to Martha after her brother Lazarus died and I repeat it to you, “Do you believe this?” Jesus is our “fountain of youth”, we just need to receive Him.

John 3:16

John 3:16 - For God so Loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

          This passage of scripture is probably the most known and most quoted out of any other passage in the Bible. Because of this we often forget the power this statement represents. In this passage we see a summary of the entire Gospel message, just like “Love God and Love people” sums up the law and the commandments. “For God so Loved the world.”

          We need to understand how powerful this statement is and what it means to us. As we begin to look at God’s Love we see that everything that was created was through Love. And it is this same Love that makes the foundation on which we stand to reach God.

          Paul reminds us in Ephesians that we are “rooted and established in Love” (Ephesians 3:17) Then in John’s letter first letter to the church He tells us that “God is Love” (1 John 4:8). And again in Paul’s letter to the saints in Rome we see that he is convinced that “nothing else in all of creation will be able to separate us from the Love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

          So we see that God is Love and Love is God. To Love is to be like God and God’s Love made a way for us to come to Him. Because He Loves us and did not want us to perish (because we were sinners and the penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23)), He sent His Son to die for us.

          Jesus was righteous and sin free, so He was able to pay the penalty of death for us all. Now that work is done and completed. The penalty for our sin has now been paid and our position with God is now up to us. We must make a decision to believe in Jesus, because it is only through Him that we can receive the Love of God.