What's This About, and Where's the Pizza? Life's Big Questions

 "I'm out here somewhere."

I wish that had been the first e-mail ever. It would be a nice touch, like the first words spoken over the phone ("Watson, come here, I want you"), or the first radio signal across the Atlantic. (Morse code for the letter "S." Hey, that's more interesting than some YouTube videos, right?)

It may also describe how you feel. So many stresses, so much confusion, and all you know is, you're looking for victory over all of it. It feels a lot more stressful sometimes than it did when my mom wrote those words - hey, at least it was someone's first e-mail. She could afford to play around on her and my dad's new computer. And, even she had to call me every day for a few months with questions like, "What's a browser?"

But, this is your future. Worse yet, it's your present, too.

This blog will share tips on how to overcome. But, I'm not just some blogger "out there somewhere" - I've felt this victory I'll share about, while adding among my silly jokes, goofy stories, and what have you. I might even link to a cute pet video here and there, who knows?

"What's This About?" isn't just a question about this blog, though. It's about life. I learned long ago (well, to us, it's not I learned this in 1822) that most people, young and old, have 3 questions: "Who am I?" "Why am I here?" And, "Where am I going?" Or, you can narrow those down to, "What's the meaning of all of this?

The Struggle

There's a struggle between good and evil all around us. You want to be on the victory side, right? I don't know of anyone who wants to be trampled down by life like the coyote trying to catch the roadrunner and having an epic fail. Even if you wonder if you deserve to succeed. Someone has taken upon Himself to save you from that epic fail, to give you victory.

Psalm 139:14 says, in part, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made." That verse gives power to the reader and answers part of that question.There is a purpose for you. You are not just an accident. You are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Just knowing you have a purpose might give you confidence. Your purpose is to overcome this world and all the crazy stuff in it. But, that answer also opens up a couple other questions, I imagine. Thankfully, they are easy to answer.

1. How do I use that to help me overcome since I'm not perfect?

I'm going to ask you to do a little thought experiment. It might help with this next bit. I'm talking to you as one of almost 8 billion people, so we have to narrow this down to eliminate all the thoughts and ideas you've had or heard before about life, since they might not be the same as someone else.

The one thing you have in common for certain with all those others is that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. So, it's just you and that One who created you.

We, as people, mess up. We all have simple flubs that are just silly. Once, as a teen, I put something in my mouth next to a bowl of candy thinking it, too, was candy. It tasted really gross so I spit it out. What I had put in my mouth was potpourri. Putting potpourri in your mouth since you've never seen it up close is not sin.

 Being mean, lying, being selfish, etc. is sin. Sin is saying, thinking, or doing things that displease God, your Creator. That Creator, God, is perfect.

Since we're not perfect, we can only overcome by turning to Him.Imperfect people can't become perfect on our own, any more than a baby can learn to fly an airplane without learning... well, a lot of things.

2 . Who made me?

Ah, now we're getting somewhere. The end of that first answer leads into this - we may not be perfect, but the One who made us is. So, who is He?

God made this world perfect. But, He gave us freedom so we wouldn't be mindless robots. And, we all choose to sin at times in our lives; sin came into the world and death by sin; that's why life got dark and drearyin many ways.

Yet, God created you so you could overcome that.

The world's system is based on sin - we try to reach up to God. But, God reached down to us instead because, like that baby trying to fly a plane, we couldn't do it ourselves..

God is love. That's one of the keys - He loves you so much that He wants you to be in His perfect Heaven someday, and to overcome this world now. His perfect Heaven has no sin. That means no pain, no suffering, no sadness, no sickness, no death. That also means He can't let anything that is sin up there.

He promises that all who trust in Him by faith to save them from their sins will go there. So do those too young to understand the need to be saved from their sin. God knows each person's heart. He made you, after all.

Once you trust Him to save you from your sin, He comes to live in you through the Holy Spirit; that's one of three ways God makes Himself known to us. The Holy Spirit unites all believers. Since it's God living in us, that is how we can overcome the world.

Keep reading this blog. We'll have fun here, and hopefully lots of cool posts. But, this is the most important part of this post, and the most important subject.

Here is how He saves us and how you can trust Him to save you so you can go to Heaven.

It's by simple faith. And important. We don't know how much longer we have - any one of us could get hit by a bus tomorrow. Okay, if you're in the middle of a desert I guess you can't, but we don't know when we'll die.

How Does God Save Me and How Do I Get That?

We all have an idea of perfect justice and perfect love. Perfect justice is when sin is punished in the same way for everyone; no special favors. Perfect love is what God is.

So, God used His perfect justice by coming to Earth as a baby and living a perfect, sinless life, growing up to be a man, and dying on the cross to take the punishment we deserved for our sins. Then, He rose from the dead.

It's that simple. God saves us by taking the punishment we deserve for our sins. He didn't have to be punished for His own sin because He was sinless.

Jesus says in John 16:33, "In this world you will have tribulation. But, be of good cheer. I have overcome the world." He was telling His followers that He had overcome this world of sin, and because He did, they could, too.

To receive means to trust Him by faith. It's as easy as ABC:

A=Admit you're a sinner. Hey, it's simple, we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. Lying, being selfish, mean, etc. is just who we choose to be. So, it means admitting that you are a sinner. We all are, as hard as we try to do what's right.

B=Believe that Jesus Christ, God in flesh, died to take the punishment for your sins and rose from the dead. That we can't reach Heaven on our own but we can through what He did for us.

C=Call on Jesus by faith to save you from your sins, choosing to invite Himself into your heart and life to make you new inside. 9You could say it as 3 C's,, too - Confess, Choose, and Calll.)

You can do that right now. Just pray a simple prayer like this, believing in your own words and with your heart, not just your head:

"Dear Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. I don't even understand what all are sins, I just know I don't deserve your perfect Heaven because of my sins. But, I believe you died to take the punishment for my sins and rose from the dead. Lord Jesus, I call on you today to forgive me for my sins. I confess I need you, and I choose to trust you to save me from my sin and make me new inside. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus, and change me, make me new inside and work in me so I can not only be in your perfect Heaven but have eternal life right now. I believe you have saved me not because of anything I have done but only because of your perfect love. In Jesus' name, Amen."

If you have questions, the people at Godlife have some great sites where you can ask questions like somethingbetter or - for those with really simple questions ExploreGod.com. You can even also get some great studies at Godlife.com itself and have good volunteers to chat with about spiritual things, too.

So, that's it? Do I just go eat pizza all the time till I die?

The way this world's going, you might feel like it. It's easy to feel very isolated. But, there are things you can do besides just pigging out on pizza till you're 1,750 pounds. Because, God wants you to grow in Him and bear fruit.

First, read the Bible - God's Word to you. Start in the Gospel of John. Blue Letter Bible is great since it has lots of tools like the original Greek and Hebrew in a concordance. But, that and one more item are the most churchy I'll get, because lots of people are turning away from organized religion. That can be a good thing because religion has become a word that means works, and works can't save you.

The other bit - the King James Bible comes from the original Greek and Hebrew texts which came from Antioch. All other English versions come from other manuscripts. That's why the King James is the one to read, and is the default one at the site I mentioned. God's Word is Truth - but we'll get into that at a later date.

Second, get in touch with other believers. As I said, the Holy Spirit unites all believers. Jesus says those who were following Him closely would be known by our love for one another.(John 13:35) Not all believers are perfect, of course - none of us will be till we get to Heaven. So, you will fit in better with some groups than others. However, most importantly, be careful and avoid false doctrine. That's why reading the Bible is important.

To know what is sound doctrine. there's lots of great answers at Gotquestions.

3. Pray. You have a relationship with Jesus Christ once you are saved.  You can talk with Jesus anywhere, anytime, about anything. Let God know the requests you have for everything, big and little. God is not a Heavenly vending machine - but He does tell us to make all our requests known to Him.

 Why? He knows what we need, right?

Yes, but too often we try in our own power. That's one thing I'm guilty of a lot, not praying first. I'm getting a lot better at praying first, but it's still a struggle. I've spent so much time overcoming handicaps in my life that it's very easy to rely on myself.

There are two other things you can do - giving and serving. But, giving isn't just money, it's about time and talents. And serving is just doing things for others so God gets the glory, not we ourselves. So, they go hand in hand at times. Serving God is how you bear fruit, when you are doing what is right to draw others to Jesus.

We'll have fun with this blog. I know it'll grow slowly, but I'm actually praying this time that God brings readers to this blog. I'm not the most Internet-savvy person. But, I do know God and want to serve Him. I've done a lot for Him in the past, and I'll share about that sometimes. I'll also share all sorts of other things in these pages.

So, invite some friends, but please, don't make me the focus. Make Jesus the focus. Because, yes, we'll hopefully have some fun, but I don't want to be known as just a blogger with some fun stories, funny jokes, and interesting stuff. I want to be known as a blogger who knows Jesus, and shares Him.

After all, the only reason I've overcome all I have is because of Jesus. He's the reason those I know - some of them really struggling - have overcome what they have. And, He's the one who can help you overcome, too.

So, till my next post, be of good cheer - He has overcome the world. And, you can, too, through Him.