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We live in a chaotic and uncertain world. Events confront us that can make us question: how can I know God and what is His plan for me, today? Even in the most troubled times you can be sure of these things:

1. God loves you and has an incredible future planned for you.

In the Bible, God tells us:

"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." Jeremiah 29:11

Jesus, Himself, when speaking about the people who belong to Him, put it this way:

"My purpose is to give life in all its fullness." John 10:10

Even when life seems out of control, you can be sure of this...God has a plan and a purpose for you. Because of God’s love for each one of us, He provided a plan for our salvation - the way that we can become a part of His family and live the life He has promised us.

2. Our sin has separated us from God.

Mankind is sinful. We only have to look at the world around us to know this is true. You and I have not lived up to the standard of God’s holy and perfect law. As a result of our sin, we are separated from God. In this state of separation, we cannot know God or experience the peace and hope of the life He has planned for us.

"For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard." Romans 3:23

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23

"If we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth." I John 1:8

But, because of God’s deep love for each one of us, He provided the way of salvation – the only way that we are able to enter a relationship with Him. This plan is called "the Gospel." The word Gospel means "Good News." The Good News is that God Himself has already made all the arrangements for your salvation. No matter what you have done, Jesus Christ’s sacrifice is able to pay the penalty for your sin. God loves you and wants you to be His own child.

3. Jesus Christ is the only provision for our sin.

Through Jesus Christ, you can experience a personal relationship with God and enjoy a life of peace and hope. When Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood for our sin, He bridged the gap that separated us from God. The Bible outlines this incredible plan:

"God showed us how much He loved us by sending His only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sin." I John 4:9 –10

"So we praise God for the wonderful kindness He has poured out on us because we belong to His dearly loved Son. He is so rich in kindness that He purchased our freedom through the blood of His Son, and our sins are forgiven." Ephesians 1:6-7

"For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ." II Corinthians 5:21

It is only through Jesus Christ that we can know God personally. It is through Jesus alone, that we can experience God’s love, enjoy peace and hope, and receive the gift of eternal life.

4. We must each receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

Just to give mental agreement that Jesus died on the cross is not enough. Each of us must turn to God, acknowledging our sin and powerlessness to save ourselves. We must ask Jesus to come into our lives and receive His sacrifice as total payment for our sins. We exercise our will and do this as an act of faith.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

"I assure you, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sin, but they have already passed from death into life." John 5:24

"Jesus told her, 'I am the Resurrection and the Life. Those who believe in me, even though they die like everyone else, will live again.' " John 11:25

"God saved you by His special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it." Ephesians 2:8–9

Would you like to give your life over to Jesus Christ right now?

Yes, I would like to give my life to Jesus Christ

No, I am not yet ready and have questions

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Daily Devotion from CBN

Four Little Words

By Michael Plemmons
CBN Staff Writer

CBN.com -- Day by day our world seems to endure one shock wave after another. The headlines present a bleak assessment of terror attacks, economic uncertainty, and danger on every side. My heart is moved by the suffering that so many are enduring in these desperate times. Yet in spite of it all we can have hope because of the perfect love of Father God.

Perfect love will by its very nature overcome evil. For within Father’s heart dwells the divine ideal of love and sacrifice for which evil has no ability to withstand or even comprehend. The fall of man has produced in the human heart a crop of selfishness driven by lust and ruthlessness. Into this maelstrom of evil a new ideal was born. It was a simple ideal in its conception but one that would bring eternal consequences for the world of mankind.

Satanic forces had been unleashed in the world and had for thousands of years corrupted the human race. Yet in spite of all the ambition and plans of evil that we see all around us today, evil shall ultimately be destroyed by the force and power of one simple ideal. That ideal radiates from the heart of the greatest force of love and compassion that can be known. John wrote it down in his gospel and he said it with four little words.

To that poor suffering soul looking for answers today, I would like to share with you this great principle that has ever been released in the world of men. It was a principle that led to the virgin birth of Jesus Christ and ultimately to the cross. Four simple words that John encapsulated so beautifully has because of their divine origin in the heart of Father God forever changed the world of man.

These four little words stand as an eternal monument to the power, glory, and authority of almighty God. Four words expressed as only Father God could say and feel them. Four words that destroyed the kingdom of darkness for captured within them are expressed the greatest principles of love and virtue.

These four words were the driving force in the heart of Jesus Christ for all he did in his earth walk in the world of man. These four words are so simply said, but their power and force have to this very day shaken the forces of the kingdom of darkness to the lowest hell. In these four words any and all seekers of truth can take refuge. By the power of these four words evil shall at some point be vanquished for all time.

These four words whose force once unleashed established the kingdom of God on earth are these, for God so loved. The love of Father’s heart is the greatest force the world has ever known. Evil by its very nature is ruthless and self-centered. Jesus Christ as a divine expression of this divine love, gave his life on the cross, to purchase for all freedom from the darkness evil had produced in the human heart.

Evil shall forever be vanquished because it has no answer for the power of divine love that God has given the world through the sacrifice of his son. Yet Jesus death was far more than just a heavenly expression of love. It brings with it the ability to transform a human heart. To the wounded heart, to the broken, to the man, woman, or child desperately looking for answers: because God so loved, he purchased for you freedom and deliverance.

All of us looking for answers to the problems surfacing in our world can take great comfort in these four little words. Whatever may come our way the force and power of God unleashed at the resurrection of Jesus Christ is as powerful today as it has ever been. God not only so loved but it can truthfully be said that God so loves. His love and compassion for any and all has never changed. No matter what you may be dealing with in your life, he longs for you to turn to him.

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 NLT)