Deep in our hearts, most of us are aware that things are not right between us and God. And because we are all different, we experience the need to get right with God in a variety of ways. Some have a feeling of deep guilt – a sense of being out of step with their Maker, unable to make amends for past failure. Others have a profound need to be loved. They may have heard that God loves them personally, but haven't felt it to be true in their case. Some may have been cruising through life with no real interest in God. Then something caused a change of mind, and they now have a genuine desire to find God personally. O t h e r s c o u l d h a v e experienced a growing sense of emp ness – a feeling that 'something' is missing from their lives. This inner lack has driven them to look into the spiritual side of life for an answer.God is a personal being and His purpose in making us was that we might live in a personal rela onship with Him. The experiences of guilt, the need to be loved, the desire to find God, and the sense of emp ness, are all symptoms of a broken rela onship with God. They point to the deepest need of all – the need to get right with God. Here is a simple explana on of how this can be your personal experience: STEP 1 - ADMIT YOUR NEED A doctor can only help people who admit their need and are willing to take the remedy prescribed. God, the Great Physician, has diagnosed us with a serious condion. We have a broken rela onship with God, causing symptoms such as guilt and empness. We can only be healed when we get right with Him. But He is powerless to help us un l we honestly face up to our true condion. We are guilty of breaking God's law, but we need to admit it! We may try to hide behind a happy façade, and may even fool others; but we cannot fool God. 1. WE NEED FORGIVENESS God shows in His Word that every person has done wrong, and is guilty before Him. “There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). SIN IS SERIOUS because it is evidence that we have rebelled against God, and broken His laws. " . . . they have rebelled against Me" (Isaiah 1:2). "Everyone who sins breaks the law, in fact sin is lawlessness" (I John 3:4). SIN ISN'T JUST DOING "REALLY BAD THINGS" Selfishness is sin: "each of us has turned to his own way" -(Isaiah 53:6). Failing to do what we should is sin: "Anyone then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins" (James 4:17). ONE SIN IS ALL THAT IS NEEDED TO BRING DEATH AND JUDGMENT UPON US.Only one link needs to snap in order for a chain to be broken. In the same way, only one sin is needed to make us guilty of breaking the whole of God's law. "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it" (James 2:10). SIN IS SERIOUS because it breaks our rela onship with God. "But your iniquies (sins) have separated you from your God" (Isaiah 59:2). God's nature is so holy (perfectly pure) that even though He is loving and kind, our sin creates an automa c ri between us and Him. IF WE DIE WHILE WE STILL HAVE A BROKEN RELATION- SHIP WITH GOD, WE REMAIN IN THAT STATE OF SEPARATION FROM GOD FOR ALL ETERNITY (FOREVER AND EVER). "These will pay the penalty of eternal destrucon, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power" (2 Thessalonians 1:9).2.WE NEED FREEDOM When we do things we do not want to do (because we k n o w t h e y a r e wrong), it proves that we are under t h e c o n t ro l l i n g power of those inner desires that move us to sin. In the words of Jesus we are slaves to our sinful nature. "Everyone who sins is a slave to sin" (John 8:34). The Bible helps us to understand our slavery to sin in these words, "I am … sold as a slave to sin, for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For ... the evil I do not want to do, this I keep on doing" (Romans 7:14, 18, 19). THE PROBLEM IS – WE DO WHAT WE DO, BECAUSE WE ARE WHAT WE ARE. We are sinful by nature, so we cannot help but show what we are by the things we say and do. Ge ng right with God involves more than being forgiven for past sins, it also involves being set free from the rule of sin over us. Jesus Christ is the only One who is able to free us. He gives a new power to rise above tempta on and self-centredness. He said, "If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36). 3. WE NEED FULFILMENT One of the symptoms of being separated from God is empness. We were made by God to have a personal rela onship with Him and nothing in this world is able to take His place. Only He can fully sa sfy our deepest need. W e c a n e a s i l y b e deceived into thinking that by living independ- ently of God we will be able to enjoy a more f u l fi l l i n g l i f e . B u t though we may pamper our bodies, our spirits are parched. Without God in our lives we experience an inner empness and even restlessness. Jesus spoke of this lack of fulfilment when He said, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink" (John 7:37), and "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10: 10). SUMMARY THE FIRST STEP TOWARD GETTING RIGHT WITH GOD IS TO ADMIT OUR NEED OF FORGIVENESS, FREEDOM FROM SIN'S RULE OVER US, AND FULFILMENT. STEP 2 - BE WILLING TO CHANGE If a man broke his marriage by leaving his wife for another woman, there would be no hope of mending that rela onship un l he had a change of heart. He may return to where his wife lives, but unless there is a heart-change where he is willing to return to her completely and sincerely, the rela onship will remain broken, even though they live together in the same house!The ri in our rela onship with God cannot be patched up by an outward act of ge ng closer to God (e.g. going to church, praying, taking communion, etc.). The Bible teaches that we must REPENT; that is, be willing to change direcon from the heart and begin following God's way. "Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him TURN TO THE LORD" (Isaiah 53:7). P a u l , o n e o f G o d ' s servants in the early Church, said, "I preached that they should REPENT AND TURN TO GOD and prove their repentance by their deeds" (Acts 26:20). We are the ones who have broken the rela onship with God, so we are the ones who must turn back. However, THIS STEP ALONE DOES NOT MAKE US RIGHT WITH GOD.Next >