21 Verses For the Lost

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

God cares about all His people. He loves them, and He calls on them to live holy lives according to His Word. That said, God knows that humans are imperfect. He knows that you will fall short of His expectations. He knows that you will sin. What is important is what comes after you have sinned. Do you return to God with a repentant heart and work to do better in the future? If so, know that God loves you and will forgive you. Christ came to Earth to forgive us of our sins. If you confess them, He will forgive them.

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah 1:5

You may sometimes feel like God is a stranger to you. Following tragedy or disaster, you may feel as if you do not know what sort of god would allow for such terrible things. At the same time, you know that God is all-loving. Reconciling those two things can make you feel like you are dealing with a stranger when you try to speak to God. Know that even if God seems strange to you, you are familiar to Him. He has known you and loved you since before you were born, and He is waiting for you to find your way back to Him.

"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" John 14:6

When Jesus was on Earth, He lived as a man. He walked in the blistering Judean sun. He ate and drank with His disciples. He woke up in the mornings and went to sleep at night. He was, however, so much more than a mere man, and He came for us. He came down to Earth to redeem those who were not even fully aware that they needed redemption. Though no one is alive today who walked with Him when He was on Earth, He calls to those who are alive now to believe in Him in this life so that they might be with Him eternally in the next.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." John 1:1-4

We often remember God as a redeemer and a protector of His people. There is no doubt that He is both of those things. He protects those who are faithful, and He has redeemed all who believe through the sacrifice of Christ. We do not always, however, honor Him as the Creator that He is. We might call Him Creator and remember that He created the world, but too often we fail to really internalize that fact. Next time you walk outside and see the stars or hear the roar of the ocean, remember that God shaped this world. Then remember that the same God that shaped the stars and the sea came to Earth and walked among us.

"Here I am! I 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." Revelation 3:20

God moves in mysterious ways. That fact is so well known that it has become a cliche. That said, sometimes we forget that the phrase is a cliche because it is so true. It is not always obvious what God is calling you to do. His voice and instructions may not always be easily understood. In fact, it is often difficult to discern what God is asking of you. Once you figure out what He is telling you, however, do not hesitate to do it. It may not be what you expect, but you must open the door and let Him in regardless of what He asks you to do.

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

One of today's biggest buzzwords is "stress." Everyone is concerned about being stressed out or wants to minimize the stress in their life. One of the easiest ways to limit the stress in your life is to stop worrying. Unless you can translate your worry into action and a change in circumstances, worry is useless and does nothing but waste your energy. Instead, turn to God and pray to Him who can actually make changes.

"'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

God will not abandon His people. This is shown over and over in the Bible. He will not turn His back on those who are His, and He will stand when them through both times of trial and triumph. No matter how alone and lost you may feel, you will never face the world on your own. God is with you always, and He will not abandon you. He will be with you and help you find your way through the dark and difficult times of your life.

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

When you feel lost or alone, you usually feel worthless as well. This is a complete lie. You are not worthless. You are a child of God, and God loved you so much that He sent Christ to suffer and die in order to redeem you. God looked at you and felt that you were worth sacrificing His only Son. You have worth beyond your imagining. The next time you question your own worth, look at the innumerable stars in the sky or the roaring waves on the sea and know that the same God who made those was willing to suffer and die for you. You are anything but worthless.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil." Proverbs 3:5-7

Humans make mistakes. We misunderstand what we are told. We jump to conclusions. We assume we are right and shut out all the evidence that suggests otherwise. There is much that we misunderstand and much that we fail to understand in the first place. We are fallible. God is not. That is why we must put our trust in God rather than ourselves. We will, almost inevitably, misunderstand something important. God is the one who created the important things in the first place.

"The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promises as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." 2 Peter 3:9

Most people have felt that their prayers have been ignored or gone unanswered at least once in their life. God, however, does not ignore His people's prayers or leave them unfulfilled. Instead, He waits for the right time to answer our prayers. He is patient and works with everyone's best interests in mind. When you seek God's help and guidance, you must be patient as well. It may seem like it takes a long time for Him to answer, but know that He will do so eventually.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father." John 14:12

The Christian faith is based on believing the unbelievable. It is unbelievable to think that a God as powerful as the Christian God, a God that created the heavens, the earth and everything in between, would take the fragile form of a human man and live among us. It is unbelievable that Christ, the Son of God, would allow Himself to be tortured, humiliated and murdered in order to save mankind. Yet that is exactly what happened in Judea 2,000 years ago. That is what God calls on us to believe.

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." 1 Timothy 3:16-17

The Bible is not meant to be a book you read every Sunday for an hour or two in church. It should not sit on your bookshelf and gather dust. You should also not turn to it only when you feel you need a little spiritual boost. If you truly believe what the Good Book says on its pages, you should be reading it often and doing your very best to live the way it commands. You should be using God's Word to shape every aspect of your life, not just the spiritual parts.

"In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 John 4:10

God knows that you are imperfect. He knows that you will struggle with sin and that sometimes, no matter how hard you try to live a holy life, you will fail and fall to sin. He knows this and loves you regardless. You do not have to be perfect or powerful for God to love you. The mere fact that you were shaped by His hands tells you that He loved you enough to create you. The fact that Christ died so that your life would not end when this earthly one does, tells you that you are loved more than you can ever imagine.

"Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness." Matthew 7:21-23

Doing the right thing is not always easy. In fact, many times you can figure out what is the right thing to do by looking at what is the hardest thing to do. Often, what is right and what is easy run in completely different directions. God, however, does not want us to do what is easy or what is comfortable. Instead, He calls on us to always do what is right. He demands that we live by His Word regardless of how difficult it may be to do so.

"If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth." 1 John 1:6

God knows our hearts. He knows when we are lying. He knows when we are being truthful. He sees when we claim to be following Him but are actually only putting on a show for those around us. Far too many people glory in being self-righteous. They may feel that they are more righteous than others because they attend church more often, hold a certain political ideology or work in a specific job. When we become self-righteous, we are no longer following Christ. He rebuked the Pharisees for their self-righteousness, and He would do the same for us if we would humble ourselves enough to hear Him speak.

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." Proverbs 3:5-7

Let's be perfectly honest. Humans do not understand anything. We make mistakes. We misunderstand what we see. We do mental gymnastics that would make an Olympic gold medalist stare in awe as we try to fit new data into a rigid worldview that we refuse to reevaluate. Our understanding of both ourselves and the world is imperfect, but we always want to know more. There is nothing wrong with curiosity. In fact, it is one of God's greatest gifts to us. We do have to make sure we remember, however, that there are some things we will never truly understand. Those things are known only to God.

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:7-10

Everyone has struggles in their life. There are terrible habits that we cannot seem to break despite the fact that we know that they are terrible for us. Maybe you have a habit of lashing out at others when you are angry. Maybe you have tried to stop smoking three times but are still addicted. Maybe you are always lying to people about minor things such as why you were late to lunch or why the meat for dinner burned. Habits are heard to break, and we cannot always do it alone. When you are trapped in a vicious cycle or a habit you cannot break, seek God's help. He will be there for you.