Know this, the Lord – salvation – is never more than one step from you. It only takes one step and not a leap of faith to be in His arms. While you were learning to walk, God was never more than one step away. It may seem as though you have walked so many miles away from God, but He has stayed within one step with His arms ready to catch you. Trust not to your own understanding, but listen to the Holy Spirit. Accept Jesus as the Christ and let Him into your heart. That is the one step.
What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after the one that is lost? God has not left us on our own, just because we have left Him. Heaven rejoices over the return of one sinner. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him that knocks it will be open. So I say to you ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened. I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned, strengthen your brethren.
“If anyone desires to come to Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. Whoever is ashamed of Me and My Words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His glory and His Father’s, and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.“ Those words were spoken by our Lord Jesus when He walked this earth as a man. You can see the glory of the kingdom of God before you die. But without Christ you are dead already.
Do not believe because I tell you to believe. Do not believe the words I tell you for their sake alone. Do not trust your own understanding of the words. Pray (ask) and receive the Word yourself. The Holy Spirit is not a stranger to the believer. The Word of God is our Lord Jesus. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God and the Word is God. God the Father loves us. That is not just something to say and feel good about. It is also something to believe. This is love, not that we loved God, but that He first loved us. This is love that you lay down your life for another. God did lay down His life for us. Jesus was and is God – the Word of God that was with God and that was and is God. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.
God is only one step away from the lost. That step is the acceptance of the life, death and life of Jesus the Savior for the redemption of sin. Sin is the only thing that keeps us from the Father. Jesus takes that sin away; He covers the sin so we can return to the Father that loves us. Jesus promised and God is faithful in delivering the Holy Spirit to comfort and give understanding. A fruit of the Holy Spirit is love. God, out of love for us, gives to us the Holy Spirit that produces in us pure love. An apple tree cannot produce an orange, so to produce love one must be of the tree of love. Jesus is the branch on which the believer grows. The Holy Spirit is the life that flows through the branches and the fruit of love grows. Believe and become part of the tree of life, the tree of love, in the middle of the garden.