You want to have a new life, or you wouldn’t be here reading this right now. Maybe you lost something. You lost your job, or you lost your wife in a divorce, or you lost your father, mother, son, or daughter because they died, or you lost your health. Or maybe you made a big mistake. So now you’re in pain, the kind that makes you realize you need help–from God. Or maybe you just decided it’s time to invite Jesus in for other reasons.

Whatever your feeling, I’m here to tell you some things you’ve probably never heard before about becoming a Christian. You want God’s help, so you’re ready to ask Jesus Christ into your life, but you probably don’t realize what you’re in for. It’s not like you’re inviting a parakeet into your life, putting him in a bird cage, and feeding him once a day. Yes Jesus can help you, but remember, He’s the One Who created you. He’s the One Who created the whole world, and the sun and the solar system. He created the whole galaxy. He created the whole universe.

He created quarks, and black holes, and oceans, and mountains, and atoms, and electrons, and clouds, and comets. When you invite Him into your life, yes, you get His help, but along with the power to help you, you get the rest of His power too. He will willingly walk with you through your pain, if you’re brave enough to willingly walk with Him.

Another thing about Him: His standards are impossibly high, and you’ll never live up to those standards. Like all of us, you realize you’ve failed in your life. At one time or another, maybe very recently, you’ve lied, or you’ve stolen, or you’ve lusted, or you’ve broken a promise. Other religions try to teach you how to live, but with Christ, God provides you with life. God of course knows about your sins. So God provided His Son Jesus, to die for those sins, on your behalf. Jesus is life. He is the way, the truth, and the life.

You have access to that life, to eternal life, to new life. You have access to Jesus Christ. You can not only experience God’s presence while walking in your pain, but you can experience God’s presence forever. You can live, with Him, in heaven. In fact, God says: If you don’t want to live with Me in heaven, it will have to be over My dead body — the dead body of My Son. If you accept Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for your sins, if you accept Jesus Christ into your life, if you ask Jesus Christ into your heart, to be your savior, and your Lord, and your friend, then you’ll receive God’s presence in this life, and in eternity.

If you want to receive Him now, say the prayer:

Jesus, I’m a sinner. I believe you died on the cross to pay for my sins and I thank you for doing that. I believe you rose again and that you are the Son of God. Please come into my life and into my heart. Be my Lord and my Savior.

The words aren’t magic, what’s important is you opened your heart to invite Jesus into your life. And that’s the beginning.

Now find yourself a bible and read it. (I recommend these bible reading plans on the YouVersion App) Don’t worry about how much you read. Just be sure to read a little from the Old and New Testaments each day. It’s taken me as long as four years to read through the whole Bible.

Find yourself a church with people who love Jesus with everything they have and attend it. Surround yourself with those people. You’ll be blessed when you do.

Pray, every day.

Send me an email at kurt@kurtbennettbooks.com .

If you like videos, you might want to check out this one:

[Image of man crying via Tim Li – Creative Commons]