We all need a lotta more Jesus

I do not consider myself to be a master of any trade, subject, or ability. But I know that I have gotten A LOT better at thinking before I speak, counting to ten before I boil over, observing the dear human beings surrounding me, and turning to scripture to find knowledge and make sense of the world around me.

I have pondered writing this for a few weeks now, attempting to address the remedy for what is going on in the world from my Jesus-loving viewpoint.

I'd love to share with you (if you'd stick with me and read this post to its entirety) some verses from my favorite book of the Bible, along with some of my thoughts. Romans is one of my favorite books of the Bible. It is written by Apostle Paul, who was an awesome follower of Jesus and speaker of the truth. I do have to warn you that some of what I may say, or quote from the Bible, may offend you. As 37 is knocking on my door, and in the realization that life is but a vapor, I care about you, and want to share with you truth.

In Romans 3:11, Paul states that "None is righteous, no, not one." I've attended church most of my life, but it wasn't until I truly became a Christian a few years ago, that I asked what exactly does righteous mean? Webster defines righteous as acting in accord with divine or moral law. So if the Bible says none is righteous that means not one. Not you, not me, not my children, or your sweet grandma. No one.

Romans 3:23 states, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," So this is kind of important. See God created us. He formed us in our mothers' womb, gave us the breath in our lungs, the food that we eat, he's responsible for every good thing. All we want to do is rebel against his word and will for our lives. We hate God and love our sin. Maybe now you're thinking, Oh my ok Melanie's 37 and she's done lost her mind, I don't hate God, I don't love sin. Maybe you are like me and think of yourself as not 'that bad' of a person, that is at least compared to the other guy, right? Well let's not compare ourselves to each other, but only to God's commandments, here's just a few of them. Have you ever told a lie (even if it was a small lie)? Have you ever stolen something? Have you ever used the Lord's name in vain? Have you ever looked at another person with lust? Those are just a few, but it turns out we are guilty. We are all sinners. My kids are sinners. Your parents are sinners. Our friends and neighbors are sinners. Our pastors and elders at our churches are sinners. That guy you watch on tv, he's a sinner. American's are sinners, Canadians are sinners, Africans are sinners, Western Europeans are sinners, are you understanding where I am going with this? It doesn't matter our nationality, our race, our gender, our age, or our socio-economic status. Every last one of us is a sinner.

Romans 5:12 says, "Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all have sinned." Maybe you remember the story from Genesis about Adam and Eve, or maybe you don't. Adam and Eve lived a beautiful life in that garden of Eden. God told them they could eat of any tree, except the tree of knowledge of good and evil, or else the day they eat of it they would surely die (Gen 2:16-17). But they ate of this tree. God commanded them to not eat of THIS ONE TREE, but they disobeyed. Because Adam was our representative, and he sinned, sin has spread to all of God's creation (except one, I'll tell you about him in a minute).

Romans 6:23 states, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." OK so we first have to understand that we all deserve death because of our sin. We have disobeyed God's commandments. God, our creator and ruler, gave us a set of rules. Justice for each and every one of us would be death by the breaking of his law (the commandments). But as the scripture states, there is GOOD NEWS! Even though Adam was our first representative and sin was brought into the world, Jesus came to conquer the world and pay for that sin. You see, Jesus lived a life we COULD NEVER live, he lived a sinless life. Only a sinless life could pay the price of the sin of the world. And Jesus did that. But keep reading...

Romans 5:8 says, "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." God sent his Son (the second Person in the Trinity) to this Earth to take on flesh, in the form of man, to die for our sins. But Jesus didn't die. Jesus rose from the grave on the third day, to take his seat at the right hand of the Father. So while we were lying, stealing, lusting after one another, using his name as a curse word---he sent his son to die for us. Let me say it again for the people in the back-- GOD SEND HIS SON TO DIE FOR OUR SINS. Jesus was crucified, are you aware what that means? Nails through the palms of his hands, and through his feet, hanging on a big, wooden cross--lungs being constricted because he was just hanging there. Before that he was beaten and cursed, whipped and humility. He did that for us, sinners deserving death. We did absolutely nothing to deserve this free gift, this gift called grace.

Romans 10:9-10 tells us what we should do, "because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and the mouth one confesses and is saved." Now that you know, you must confess and believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, and repent of your sins. To repent means to do two things--- to ask for forgiveness and to turn away from. When Jesus is living in your heart, he fills all those dark parts of our deceitful hearts with his beautiful light (1 John 1:5-7). Of course, don't take my word for it, go pick up a bible and read it! I can not sing it enough how INCREDIBLY God has worked in my life.

Lastly, Romans 10:13 proclaims, "For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." We don't have to be afraid of death, it holds no power over us anymore. Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe, sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow.