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Just as You Are
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Luke 23:39-43 One of the criminals hanging there began to shout insults at Jesus: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Then save yourself and save us too!” But the other criminal stopped him. He said, “You should fear God. All of us will die soon. You and I are guilty. We deserve to die because we did wrong. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you begin ruling as king!” Then Jesus said to him, “I promise you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Listen to the radio broadcast of Just as You Are
Download audio fileToday I want to share with you one of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made in my life. You see, for many, many years, I thought I had to clean up my act, before I came to Jesus. And that one lie, kept me from Him, for years. Year!
So … Jesus was hanging there on the Cross, suffering, dying. There were two criminals crucified at the same time. One to his right, one to his left.
Luke 23:39-43 One of the criminals hanging there began to shout insults at Jesus: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Then save yourself and save us too!” But the other criminal stopped him. He said, “You should fear God. All of us will die soon. You and I are guilty. We deserve to die because we did wrong. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you begin ruling as king!” Then Jesus said to him, “I promise you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
A criminal forgiven, just like that. So what makes us imagine that somehow we have to clean up our act before we come to Jesus? What makes us think that we have to find some eloquent prayer of repentance, that we pray faultlessly, dressed in our Sunday best in order for Jesus to accept us?
Where did we get that crazy idea? That criminal who was kind to Jesus had neither of those things. He was in agony. He, like Jesus, was gasping for breath, dying.
All he had was: “Jesus, remember me when you begin ruling as king!” and a simple faith in this Jesus hanging next to him. And as things turned out, that’s all it took.
“I promise you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
All Jesus wants is for you to come to Him … just as you are.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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