Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all (my emphasis) people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour who is Christ the Lord.

— Luke 2:10 (Angel appears to shepherds)

Do you know this Saviour and have you already accepted this Saviour as your own personal Saviour? If you believe and pray the following prayer out loud you will be saved:

1.1 THE PRAYER OF REDEMPTION

“Heavenly Father, thank you for your grace and mercy. You said in Romans 10:13 that, ‘everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved’. You also told me in Romans 10:9, that ‘if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved.’

I believe Your Word. I believe that You raised Jesus from the dead, and that He is alive today. I confess that Jesus is my Lord. Thank you for coming into my heart.

I am saved, in the Name of Jesus. Amen”

If you prayed this prayer you are now one of God’s children and you have been transferred from the world to God’s Kingdom and you now share in all the blessings that we receive from God.

(Col 1:13 “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,”)

God has made you the Righteousness of God.

(2 Cor 5:21 ‘For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.)

He no longer sees you as the sinner that you were. God now sees you through the blood of Jesus, washed white as snow

(You are now one with Christ and God sends the Comforter/ Holy Spirit to dwell in your heart.)

(Ephes 2:8 ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.’)

(Remember that God has given you this salvation as a gift not because of your works no matter how good you think you have been.)

2. FIRST STEPS TO LIVING AND SERVING GOD AFTER BEING SAVED

Now that you have been saved you should start living and serving the Lord.

(1 Timothy 2:3-4 ‘³ This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour, ⁴ who desires all (My emphasis) people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.’)

2.1 The first most important thing that you should do is find a Holy Spirit filled church and start attending the sermons and times of worship.

In fellowship with other Christians we are blessed and learn a lot about the Lord. Also listen to sermons on the TV or radio. I myself have really received so much knowledge and blessing from the sermons on the TV.

2.2 The second important thing that you should do is buy yourself a good Bible (I prefer the older King James Version).

Then start reading it as much as you possibly can because faith comes by hearing the Word of God and by storing it into your heart.

(Rom 10:17 ‘So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.’)

2.3 The third important thing that you should do is, when you feel you are ready and you are really committed to the Lord, you should arrange with your Pastor to be baptized in the Name of Jesus.

(Acts 2:38 ‘Then Peter said to them, ”Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”)

Jesus was baptized by John as an example to us and God spoke out of the heavens to show how pleased He was with His Son. Being baptized means that you are clothing yourself with Jesus and are starting to live to serve the Lord. It pleases God when we are baptized.

(Mark 1:9-11 ‘It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.¹⁰And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. ¹¹Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”’)

(You will notice that before Jesus was crucified the Word said you should be baptized in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost but after Jesus’ crucifixion the Word says you should be baptized in the Name of Jesus.)

Some people seem to think that once you are saved all your troubles will be over and everyday life will be a bed of roses.

This is not true because the Word of God says that in the world we will have tribulations but we should not worry because Jesus has overcome the world.

(John 16:33 ‘…… In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.’)

(1 John 5:4-5 ‘⁴For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.⁵Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?’)

This means that if we trust God we will get through all the afflictions with his help because He loves us. It doesn’t matter what you have to face in the world always remember that you are a child of the Living God and He will never leave nor forsake you.

(Heb 13:5 ‘…… For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”’)

He provided for our forgiveness, our healing, and our freedom from the curse and for everything else that we will ever need to live on this earth.

Leave all in his very capable hands and do not let your heart be troubled.

Enter into His rest and receive His completed works.

In PART 2 I will be delving deeper into what Jesus did for us when He was crucified. Also aspects that have deeply troubled me many times.