Sometimes, it can feel daunting to think about how to talk to someone about their need for salvation. We can get stalled out wondering, “Where should I start? What should I say? What Bible verses should I use?” I like to keep things simple—and easy to find and remember, especially when I’m talking with someone about God’s plan of salvation. Showing them from the Bible what God says, so they can look it up again later, lays the foundation that the Scriptures are our “go-to” for the Christian life. 

I’m new to everything. Can you tell me how I can know God? In a nutshell, you need to know that Jesus is the means God has given for salvation. In fact, He is the only way you can be saved. Salvation is only in and through Jesus.

I was…am a dictionary reader. Dictionaries are splendid things and we had a marvelously fat one when I was little. It was huge, probably 5 or 6 inches thick, and contained all sorts of extra tidbits of knowledge, but the part I liked best was the section on names and their meanings. Eagerly I looked up “Lisa” and discovered my name was taken from “Elisabeth,” meaning “consecrated to God.” Well, I had to look that word up and discovered “consecrated” meant “dedicated or set aside for God.” I hoped that one day my life would belong to God and I would truly become “Elisabeth.”

You might be struggling for joy because of trying circumstances and great sorrows, yet joy is possible. Good news leads to great joy when we remember the hope and exhilaration that forgiveness of all our sins, fellowship with the Eternal God, and the hope of heaven can bring. Joy isn’t out of reach. Joy just needs to be uncovered so it can be recovered.