#23 - A Fresh Start with God

0:04 Hi there, I'm Dr. Corey Potter, and I'm really excited to share this week's episode with you I want you to know that it's probably one of the most critical things I could do and I want you to know that Not just because someone told me because I've experienced this There is power in the Word of God and I believe the Bible and There are so many people that get caught up in misinterpretations and misunderstandings that they don't find the simple truth. And so today I want to welcome you to Mind & Faith Matters.

0:49 If you're hurting, searching, doubting, or really unsure where you stand with God, I want to share with you the most important message there is. It's the gospel, which means the good news of what God has done for us in Jesus. The gospel answers the biggest questions of life. Who am I? Why am I here? What do I do with my guilt and pain? Where is hope found? What we are talking about today is an invitation to a relationship that can change everything. It's about knowing with confidence the God who made you and loves you. Before we begin, I want to be honest. I am fully aware some people have been deeply hurt by Christians or by the church. And maybe that's where you are today. Maybe you've been hurt by people who claimed to follow Jesus. really weren't or weren't following his way or maybe you felt judged or ignored by those in the church and I want to say to you I know that pain is real but what if even through that pain God's heart

2:23 for you has been different all along what if he's been caring for you in ways you didn't see Yet. And I want you to know this. That was never God's heart for you. His heart is towards you, not against you. What we are talking about today is meant to meet you right where you are. I want to meet you with honesty. I want to introduce you to grace and the truth. But let me give you a picture. There was this young man renting a small apartment in the city. Life was hard, money was tight, and most days he felt like he was barely making it. He figured no one was really looking out for him, that he was on his own.

3:19 But what he didn't know was that his landlord, an older woman who owned the building, had been quietly watching over him. When the heat went out in the middle of the night, In the winter she had it fixed overnight at her own expense. When he fell behind on his bills she covered the water without saying a word. She even kept his rent lower than others just so he could stay. For years he thought he was surviving by his own strength and then one day she passed away. He found a letter she had written and it said something like this I wanted you to have a place, a safe place until you found your own footing.

4:06 You mattered to me. And that moment changed everything for this young man. He realized he hadn't been alone. Someone had been caring for him all along. And that is what the gospel reveals about God. Some people think we are on our own trying to carry out life. carry our own failures and guilt But God has been caring for us the whole time Some people don't know but in Jesus He stepped in at his own expense paying the debt we could never pay and when we finally see it when we realize the cross and the empty tomb our God's letter to us saying You matter to me. It changes everything. So I want to look at four simple truths of the gospel. Truth number one. God loves you. And this first truth is very simple. He does. He loves you. He created you on purpose for a purpose. And the Bible says He knows you.

5:27 He sees you. He deeply loves you He made you for connection with him and with others John 3 16 in the Bible says it this way For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him Shall not perish but have eternal life But the Bible also talks about love and love requires freedom God didn't make us as robots. He gave each and every one of us the freedom to choose to love Him or to turn away. Real love always requires a choice.

6:11 We have all made choices that pulled us away from God. We look for peace, we look for identity, meaning, or even control in the wrong places. even in things that seem good. When we choose anything over Him, we become disconnected from Him. And that brings us to this second truth. Our sin separates us from God. In the book of Romans, the Bible says in Romans 3, 23, that all have sinned and fall short. of the glory of God. And sin is more than just breaking rules.

7:02 It's turning away from God. It's really our choice to live outside of God's design. Sin is saying, I want it my way, not his. And another truth here is that God is holy, perfect, and good. And because of his holiness, He will not allow sin in his presence. Just like darkness disappears in the light, sin cannot survive in the presence of a holy God. And in Romans chapter 6 verse 23 the Bible says, See, we cannot fix the sin problem on our own. we need help and that leads to truth number three Jesus died and rose again for you God did not leave us to figure it out on our own he sent his son Jesus to live a perfect life and then he was crucified or killed on the cross for our sins he took on our sins the Bible says through his death and then resurrection or God bringing him back to life, he offers forgiveness and new life to us. And this is grace. God giving us what we could never earn on our own and offering

8:36 love and mercy in place of judgment that we deserve. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 15 says, and was raised again grace is the heart of the gospel god meets us not because we were good enough but because he is good we do not work our way to him in other words he comes to us and the fourth truth you are invited to respond to this the gospel is an invitation for you right now.

9:25 The book of John chapter 3 verse 3 says you must be born again and this is a fresh spiritual start a new heart towards God a life built on trust in Jesus instead of a trust in yourself and the Bible says that Jesus is close to us. Revelation chapter 3 verse 20 says here I am stand at the door and knock if anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in and eat with that person and they with me and I want you to know you don't have to clean yourself up first you only need to open the door right this is not about you figuring it out and then coming to him it's about coming to him to figure it out Romans chapter 10 verses 9 and 10 says it this way if you declare with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved and I've experienced God's power in my life the same power that rose Jesus from the dead is the same power that gives us spiritual renewal and gives us the ability with his spirit the Holy Spirit in us to face life trusting him If this is that moment for you where you decide to trust Him, I have a simple prayer that you can pray out loud. Dear God, I know

11:00 that I have sinned. I have gone my own way and I need your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus died for me and rose again. I want to follow you. Come into my life. Make me new. I trust you. Thank you for loving me and saving me. Amen. In Jesus name, Amen is how the Bible tells us to pray. If you prayed that with faith, the Bible says now you are a child of God. It's a new beginning for you. You're forgiven and free from all the weight and guilt of all your sin. And I want to walk with you from here. One of the most important things after this decision is making some changes in your life. And so I want you to visit mindandfaithmatters .com forward slash gospel. That's G -O -S -P -E -L. And it's mindandfaithmatters .com. forward slash gospel for some next steps on what you can do ways that you can connect with other believers and resources to help you grow in this new faith and if you're still unsure or you have questions that's okay too i'd love to hear from you you

12:32 can reach out through the website you do not have to figure this out alone the gospel is not only how we begin our relationship with god It's how we live each day. We live by grace, receiving from God what we could never earn. And now we can rest in love that never runs out. And we live anchored in grace. I love that. And we're loved more than we can even imagine. So I want to thank you for listening to this Mind and Faith Matters episode. And if this message stirred something in you, a couple things you could do.

13:18 You could let me know by reaching out on the website. Or you could share it with someone else who needs to hear the hope of Jesus. Remember, you do not have to stay perfect to stay with God. You stay with Him because of His grace and His love. I want you to have a blessed week. I'm so hoping. that this message makes it to as many people as possible so that they can start this fresh new life with God. I just pray for you this week and I will be continuing to pray for new believers to come out of this work and this podcast. So God bless and have a wonderful, wonderful week.