There were 3 little girls playing by the sea.
One girl saw a beautiful ship out on the ocean, and swam off in that direction, trying to reach it. She swam and swam, and was soon tired out in the deep water, no closer to the ship than when she started. A watchful lifeguard noticed she was in trouble and swam out to save her. When he reached the little girl, he explained he was there to bring her back to shore. "No," she told him, "I don't want to be rescued! The ship is so beautiful - I will continue to swim here in the ocean, no matter how deep! I am sure I will reach the ship sooner or later." So the lifeguard swam back to shore without her, and the little girl drowned.

The second girl also saw the beautiful ship and tried to swim out to reach it. When she got tired of swimming she started flailing in the deep water, and another lifeguard swam out to rescue her. When he reached her he asked if she needed help getting back to shore, and she said, "Yes, please help me or I will surely drown!" So the lifeguard gave her one end of a rope, told her to hold on tight, and he began to swim back to shore with the girl in tow. The little girl held on tightly to the rope, but soon her arms became numb and she started to lose her grip on the rope. She shouted to the lifeguard that she was having trouble holding on, and he encouraged her with many words to "hold on tight" and "you can do it!" and continued to pull her towards the shore. When the shore was close in sight, the little girl just couldn't hold on any longer. She let go of the rope and drowned.

The third girl swam out to the deep sea to get a better look at the beautiful ship. She also became weary and in danger of drowning. Another lifeguard noticed her plight and swam out to her. "Do you need help?" he asked her. "Yes!" she said. "I will surely drown! I have swum out too far, and I can't swim back to shore myself - please help me!"
"Don't worry," the lifeguard reassured her. He took the little girl in his arms and began to swim back to shore with her. "I'm scared," she told him, "the waves are so big and the shore is so far away."
"Don't worry," he assured her, "I have got you safely in my arms, and though the waves are fierce, I am a good strong swimmer." And sure enough, he finally brought the little girl safely to the shore.
She promised the lifeguard she would never go back into the deep water again. "Try not to," he told her, "but if you do, I am here to help you."

There are some people who teach that Jesus is like the second lifeguard: He offers us the promise of salvation, but He requires that we do our part to ensure our salvation, by doing good things and not sinning too greatly. And if we don't keep up our end, we will end up in hell like the first girl who didn't want to be saved.

What do YOU think of a "savior" who isn't able to completely save you? Who cares enough to meet you "halfway" but insists you must earn the other half yourself? Who leaves you to drown if you don't have enough in you to "hold on tight"? Or who wants to save you, but isn't powerful enough to finish the job himself?

That is NOT the Jesus who has been revealed to us by the Bible!

All 3 of the girls were enticed by the ship into dangerous waters. That is our natural human nature. Ever since Adam and Eve first sinned, we all are born into sin.

The Bible tells us:

So how do we ever become "righteous" so that we may be saved and enter heaven?

The TRUTH is that we, ourselves, can NEVER be "good enough". We will continue to sin, even after we have been saved by Jesus.

The answer is found in the Bible: When we put our full trust in Jesus ALONE to save us, God accepts us by the blood of His precious Son who died for us. God then sees us as "clean, pure and holy". Not because of anything WE do, but by Jesus alone...

When we call on Jesus to save us, and we repent and turn from our sinful ways, we are born again. This second birth is the birth by which we are made spiritual beings and we become more than just human, fleshly ones. The Holy Spirit then lives inside of us and keeps us safe until we go to heaven.

Don't be fooled...there are many called "Jesus" who are NOT the REAL ONE!

Make SURE that you are trusting in the TRUE Jesus - the One and Only Savior.

When we make God conform to our own ideas of him, when we think he is someone we would LIKE him to be, we are worshipping an IDOL - a FALSE GOD!

You are breaking the 1st and 2nd Commandments if you worship a "God" made in your own image of him, rather than the TRUE God Who has revealed Himself through the Bible which is also Jesus, the Word.

So how can you be sure?

Read your Bible. The King James Version is one of the best versions to read to understand the true nature of God. Many other modern versions have been watered down and have removed words and truths that are too "controversial".

When I was 12 years old, my parents took me with them on vacation to Long Beach Island. How I loved the ocean! One early morning, my father invited me to go with him to the beach, and I happily went with him. The sun was just rising, and we were the only ones on the beach. My father took our only raft and swam out into the deep of the ocean. I began to follow, but the bottom of the ocean dropped off steeply just a few yards from the shore. I had seen my father walking on higher ground a few yards beyond, so I tried to swim out to that shallower area of the ocean so I could regain my footing. The undercurrent was very strong, and I found that I was caught right were I was. By that time, my father was far out, and never looking back, he did not see that I was stuck or hear my call for help. No one else was around. I tried in vain to swim back to the shore, but the current was too strong. I was very scared and in real danger of drowning. Even though I was so close to the shore, there was no way I could make it back on my own strength. I cried out for help to my Heavenly Father, Who lovingly sent me His calm and peacefulness and somehow impressed on my mind that I should no longer "fight" the current but instead relax and try to float. I was still scared and felt like I was drowning, but God used the tide to slowly push me back onto the shore. It was painstakingly slow...I would float a bit in toward the shore, then back out again. But the tide brought me closer to the shore each time, and eventually God brought me safely to land. I caught my breath and rested for a little while, so thankful to God for saving me!

I know that I am totally incapable of saving myself, and I can't make my own way to Heaven when I die. Praise the Lord, that I have my wonderful Savior, Lord Jesus, Who has me safely in His arms for the rest of my life until He brings me home to Heaven to be with Him forever!

No other gods can save us, except the TRUE and ONLY God!

Won't you call upon Jesus right now, and ask Him to save you?