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God is so good to all of us and has been extremely good to me! This is not heaven here on earth, and because sin entered the world back in the garden of Eden through Adam and Eve, we are all feeling the consequences. We have a very real enemy called the devil but we also have a very loving heavenly Father and Creator who seeks to have relationship with us if we will allow Him to cleanse us and make us holy so we can enjoy His presence, for He is perfectly holy.

I had a very good childhood and truly have a wonderful life. It amazes me when I look at all the things I get to enjoy and have been blessed with. I was born into a wonderful family in the U.S., in the "land of opportunity," and I have had more opportunities than I could even have imagined. There is no other time or place I would rather have been born than now and in the U.S.! I am also an only child and got to do a lot of things other children don't get to do. I got to travel a lot and be exposed to a lot of different things. I was very active in sports (particularly soccer, volleyball, indoor racquetball and golf), Indian Guides, Boy Scouts, Civil Air Patrol... I went to a lot of summer camps, got active in church and youth group at 16, went to a private Christian school, went to college... I have lived a lot of places and have visited a lot of places. I'll admit I was a little spoiled but I am very thankful for having two wonderful parents! I couldn't imagine being more loved, even though it often wasn't appreciated or reciprocated by me. They have always been supportive and have loved me unconditionally. My family, now that I am married, is pretty large. My side is small and everyone pretty much lives in the same area, while her side mostly lives in Venezuela.

Thank you God I am very healthy! I have never been sick beside the normal stuff. However, I do remember when I was young I sometimes had lower back pain but it wasn't bad so I did nothing about it. One night on a Christian retreat with my youth group, I had annoying back pain and it is clear to me now that God wanted to teach me something. I humbled myself and asked the group to pray for me to be healed. My youth pastor stopped everything and had everyone gather around me and pray. My youth pastor began to pray with authority and everyone prayed. When they did, I immediately felt a heat throughout my body and the presence of the Holy Spirit. I was miraculously healed from that moment! God has also healed me many times since then and I am a strong believer in healing.

God's angels have also miraculously protected me, and He has always been there for me. I almost died a number of times but I was always protected and never got even a scratch, even though I could have died! The most significant was a bad car accident (the car I was driving was totaled and twisted into a "U" around a tree, but I crawled out of a window without a scratch!). I also had an angel help me when I was rock climbing in Kentucky several hundred feet up. I thought it would be an easy climb so I didn't use my protection (I had $2,000 worth of gear and ropes sitting at the rock floor). Then I got to a tough spot I could not get down from. I was stuck and scared to death! I slipped, fell back, and would have fallen over 200 feet to the rock floor below where I would have simply died, but as I was falling back (and I remember this so vividly!), I miraculously was held to the rock and was quickened to reach out and slap a hold on some rock that couldn't have been there before. It was absolutely amazing! I was able to continue climbing and got to the top without any other problems. But I always used protection from then on! God has always been there for me, even when I have walked away from Him. He always welcomed me back like the "prodigal son" in the Bible and has allowed me to have a real and thriving relationship with Him.

God is so good he has allowed me to live selfishly and ungratefully, constantly disobeying Him and hardly acknowledging Him, yet He died for me and has continued to love me, even when I am doing wrong. He also has perfect love for you that never fails, no matter what you may do. He is so good He has allowed me to make my own choices, live my own life, despite the fact that He only wants what is best for me, and has even given me His Word to live by. His Word is perfect, it has stood the test of time, and it will last forever. Why is it so hard to follow when it is clearly best for us? Why do we choose to try to do things on our own, only to regret it later?

I have never understood these people that proclaim they have "no regrets" in life. I have a life full of regrets, but I am still young and (Lord willing) have a long wonderful life ahead of me. I became a Christian on January 22, 1988 which saved me from a lot of heartache as I was naturally headed in the wrong direction. It has been an up and down battle and I have walked away from Him many times, but I have always asked God to change my heart to make be a better man. Todd means "wise as a fox," but I have definitely had my stupid moments! I tried doing things on my own and failed miserably but God has been restoring everything back to me as I have been faithful to Him.

 I am really enjoying life now and I have so much to look forward to! Now God has blessed me with the most wonderful wife in the world (Yvethe) and I am truly in love. It took me a long time to mature and start to really become the person God created me to be. Praise and thanks be to God that I am finally living a victorious life in Him! It's only by His grace! And there is so much I am looking forward to... spending more time with my family, having 10 beautiful children (*just joking*), and most importantly having a treasure in heaven I can be proud to present to Jesus when I see Him face-to-face. I encourage you to get to know Him because He said in Matthew 7:21-23 that you have to know Him personally to go to heaven. He said you can't be good enough on your own... Jesus said:

²¹"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' ²³Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

- Matthew 7:21-23 (New International Version)

If we could be good enough, Jesus wouldn't have had to endure torture and die for our sins. Think about it.

"...For if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"

- Galatians 2:21 (New International Version)

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.

- Ephesians 2:8,9 (New International Version)

"He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done..."

- Titus 3:5 (New International Version)

The Bible is very specific on this point and there are a lot more Scriptures that make this clear. God always required a sacrifice be made for disobedience, ever since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:21). These sacrifices "put off" the wrath of God against sin until the "ultimate sacrifice" could be made in Jesus Christ.  We must accept Christ's sacrifice for our sins or we will die in our sins. "I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins" (John 8:24). Jesus Christ suffered and died so you could have a good life. I really do hope you are having one but the greatest life will only come from knowing your creator and if you let Him show you what is best for you! Don't miss out on eternity with Him. You're better safe than sorry. Please think about this and I will say it again. You are better safe than sorry and you will be if you don't have a real relationship with Him.

¹⁵I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. ¹⁸I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. ¹⁹Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. ²⁰Here 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 him, and he with me. ²¹To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.

- Revelation 3:15-21 (New International Version)
 

If you do not know the God who created you and have a personal relationship with him, this may not make sense, but I encourage you to change that. God loves you more than you could ever imagine and He has been there waiting for you to open the door and let him into your life. He is perfectly holy and your prayers cannot reach him as long as you are in your sin. Isaiah 59:1 says "Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities has separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that He will not hear." You must first accept the forgiveness that Jesus provides through His death on the cross. He was the perfect sacrifice which allows you to come to Him (and Him to you). Please pray this prayer and make things right. He created you (and everything else you see) for your pleasure and He only wants what is best for you. Let Him in today by praying these words:

"Dear God, I confess that I have sinned against you and I ask you to forgive me. I turn from all my sins (tell God your sins), and acknowledge that I could never earn salvation by my good works. I believe that you love me and that Jesus died and rose again so that I can be forgiven and know you. I ask you now to come into my heart and be the Lord of my life, for I have decided from this day to follow you. In Jesus Name, Amen."

Another great site is http://www.needgod.com. Please check these out, even if you are a Christian... We all need to be refreshed and hopefully you can share this with someone you know or meet.