Dear Friend,

Many wonderful things happened when I took the Lord Jesus as my Savior. These wonderful things are true of every believer.

The very moment I took the Lord Jesus as my Savior, God forgave me of all my sins. God forgave me for Jesus' sake. The Bible says, "I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake" (1 John 2:12).

Another wonderful thing happened when I took the Lord Jesus as my Savior—God made me His child! The Bible says, "As many as received Him [the Lord Jesus as their Savior], to them gave He power to become the sons [children] of God, even to those who believe on His name" (John 1:12).

Have you taken the Lord Jesus as your Savior? If so, you are now a child of God. God is your heavenly Father, and you are His beloved child forever. God loves to have His children talk to Him, and you can talk to Him in prayer at any time and in any place.

The moment I was saved, the Lord Jesus came to live in my heart. The Lord Jesus Himself is in Heaven, but He also lives in my heart by His Spirit. The apostle Paul said, "Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20).

Has the Lord Jesus come to live in your heart? If so, you can say, "Christ lives in me!" Say it to yourself right now, "Christ lives in ME!"

When the Lord Jesus comes to live in your heart, you belong to Him and He belongs to you forever! He will never leave you. No matter what you do or where you go, He is always with you. He said, "I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU" (Hebrews 13:5b).

When I took Jesus as my Savior, the Holy Spirit came to live in me. He is called "the Spirit of Christ" because He is the same Spirit who lives in Christ. Every child of God has the Holy Spirit living in him. The Bible says, "Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts…" (Galatians 4:6).

God sends the Holy Spirit to live in me that I might know how He feels toward me. The Holy Spirit impresses on me the wonderful fact that God loves me with all His heart. The Bible says, "…the love of God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us" (Romans 5:5).

The Holy Spirit fills my heart with the love of God. Through the Holy Spirit, God is saying to me, "I love you! I love you! I love you!"

The moment I took the Lord Jesus as my Savior, God gave me everlasting life. My name is written in "The Lamb's Book of Life." Now I belong to the Lord Jesus forever. I have everlasting life. The Bible says, "He who has the Son has life [everlasting life]…"(1 John 5:12).

What does it mean to have "everlasting life"? It means that I will live forever with Jesus in Heaven. Because the Lord Jesus is living in me, I am not afraid to die. The moment I die, I go to be with the Lord Jesus, and I will live with Him in Heaven forever and ever.

How do I know for sure that I have everlasting life? I know because GOD SAYS SO! The Bible says, "He who has the Son has life [everlasting life]…"

What happens if I sin after I am saved? Does this mean that I am no longer a child of God? No, it does not mean this. Once you become a child of God, you are always a child of God. But sin hurts God's heart, and sin comes between my heavenly Father and me. I feel bad inside.

What should I do? I should confess that sin to God at once. I tell Him what I did wrong; I tell Him I am sorry for my sin; and I ask Him to forgive me. God promises to forgive me when I confess my sin to Him. The Bible says, "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).

"How can I please the Lord Jesus?"

If the Lord Jesus has saved you, then you will surely love Him and want to please Him. Here are ways you can please the Lord.

* Love Him with all your heart.

The Lord Jesus loves you with all His heart, and He wants you to love Him the same way. If you truly love Him, you will obey Him. Jesus said, "If you love me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15).

* Love Jesus' friends.

Jesus wants us to love other people, especially those who have trusted Him as their Savior. They are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus said, "This is My commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you" (John 15:12).

* Spend time alone with Jesus each day.

If you really love a person, you want to spend time with that person. Take time each day to be alone with the Lord Jesus to read His Word and pray to Him. Tell Him all that is on your heart.

The story so far…

Maria suspected Susan of messing up her school notebook. Steven took Jesus as his Savior at Mr. Warren's house.

Chapter 7
Maria Forgives

On her way home from school, Maria kept thinking of her school project and Susan. She was grateful that she was able to do her work again quickly. "Susan must be very mad at me if she was the one who messed up my notebook," she thought to herself. "But, what if she has to give the sweater back? We will never be friends again."

When Maria got home from school, she found her mother preparing supper. "Mommy," Maria said, "I have something to tell you. I...I... hope you will not be angry with me."

Her mother looked at her sternly. "What is it now, Maria?" she asked.

Maria started at the beginning. She told her mother everything about going to the retirement home to sing for her grandmother and the red sweater she had given Susan. She ended by telling her how she had asked Jesus to be her Savior and now she was sorry for the wrong things she had done.

When Maria finished, her mother shook her head slowly. "I never thought a child of mine would do all those things," she said. "I really should punish you Maria. I will, too, if you do not get that sweater back tomorrow."

"Oh, Mommy," Maria begged. "Please, please, let Susan keep the sweater. It would not be fair to take it back since I did go in her place. I promise I will wear my blue sweater all the time without complaining."

Her mother looked at Maria's pleading face. At last she agreed, "Oh, well, I suppose she should keep it since you gave it to her. And, Maria," her mother paused for a minute, "if you want to see your grandmother all that much, I guess I can take you and Steven to see her on Saturday."

"Oh, Mommy, thank you," Maria said, with a big smile.

The next day Susan was still absent. So after school Maria decided to go to Susan's home. The sky was full of dark, gray clouds. In a few minutes, the rain came pouring down. By the time Maria reached Susan's house, she was wet and cold.

Maria knocked on the door, but no one answered. She was just turning away when she saw Susan peek through the curtain.

Maria jerked the door open and stepped inside. "Susan," she called, "it is me, Maria. Why didn't you answer the door?"

Susan came slowly into the room. "I suppose you came for the sweater," she said frowning.

"No," Maria answered as she wiped her shoes on the mat and began to unbutton her jacket.

"You better not take your jacket off," Susan warned. "It is cold in here because the furnace has gone out."

"Is there anyone else at home?" Maria asked. She shivered as she sat down and pulled the damp jacket close around her.

"No. Mother is working," Susan answered. "Did you tell your mother about the sweater?"

"Yes," Maria said, smiling. "You can keep the sweater, Susan. Miss Wilson said to tell you it was all right about last Friday."

"Oh, thank you." Susan said with a surprised look. "I did not want to come to school because I thought I would be in so much trouble." Then Susan looked down at the floor and was quiet.

Suddenly Maria had an idea. "Susan," she said, "will you come to Sunday School with me on Sunday?"

Susan shook her head back and forth. "I tried going to Sunday School once. I thought it would make me good so I could go to Heaven. But it was no use. I still did bad things, just like before. So I stopped going."

"But, Susan," Maria said, "we cannot get to Heaven by being good. Do you remember what I told you about Jesus dying on the cross? He died to take away our sins."

Susan looked as if she were going to cry. "You do not know what a mean thing I have done, Maria. If you did—"

"Oh, yes I do!" Maria broke in. "I saw you run from the classroom. You marked up my notebook, didn't you?"

Susan nodded slowly. Large tears ran down her cheeks as she whispered, "I am so sorry for what I did. I feel terrible. Did you tell on me, Maria?"

"No," Maria said. "I forgive you, Susan. Jesus will forgive you too, if you ask Him."

"Will I have to wait and do it in church, Maria?" Susan asked.

Maria thought for a moment. "No, I don't think so," she said. "Steven took Jesus as His Savior at Mr. Warren's house. And my Sunday School teacher told me we could talk to Jesus any time we wanted to."

"Then I want to ask Jesus to forgive me and be my Savior right now," Susan said. "I am sorry I got mad at you and spoiled your book, Maria. And I do want to belong to Jesus so I can go to Heaven."

The two girls knelt in the chilly room. Susan prayed and asked the Lord Jesus to forgive her and to come into her heart.

Maria and Susan gave each other a hug and were glad they were friends again. Then Maria said goodbye and ran all the way home in the cold wind. She did not notice the chill because Jesus had helped her do the right thing once again.

That night Maria could not sleep. She was tossing and turning when her parents came into her room. "Mommy," Maria called, "my throat hurts."

Her mother felt Maria's forehead. She left the room and in a few minutes returned with a thermometer and took Maria's temperature. Her voice was worried as she said to her husband, "John, you better call the doctor. Maria is very sick."

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