You can have a new life. God said so. If you're young and healthy, if things are going well for you, if people like you, if you're making money--then a new life may not interest you.

But if things aren't going well, if people have rejected you, if your body is wearing out, if your regrets have outnumbered your dreams, if you are addicted beyond your ability to stop, or even if your successes have only left you thirsty--read on.

You need a new life.

Not an improved life--not a new diet, or a new relaxation technique, a new drug or a new business opportunity. You've tried that.

You need a new life.

You, me, Charles Manson and the Pope-- we all need a new life.

God said so.

He is God, and He has big plans for you--not little improvement plans, but a major overhaul, inside-out, 180-degree turn plans. It's more than just starting over. It's more than just trying harder. (you've tried enough already!)

Here's the thing--the new life God wants to give you is HIS life. God wants to give you His mind, His character, His love, His self-control, His joy and His purpose!

He said so.

He came to earth as a man -- Jesus Christ. He knew the same sorrow and pain you know. Yet he lived a perfect, sinless life. He allowed Himself to be arrested and murdered "execution-style"--in your place. Three days later He came back to life. This same new life HE promises to anyone who will believe and trust in Him as Savior and Lord.

It's a new life that will last forever!

How do you get this new life?

Is it complicated?

No, but it isn't easy either!

Your old life has to die. (Who wouldn't let go of a baloney sandwich in order to feast at a banquet?)

Your old dreams, appetites, lusts, and successes--the good and the bad--all have to die.

You must let go of everyone and everything you thought would make you OK--money, youth, drugs, fame, friends, possessions, even religion! Only one thing can make you ready for your new life. It's what Jesus did on the cross for you. You can't be good enough, go to church enough, give away enough or perform enough to make yourself OK with God. You must be through with your old life...leave it behind--let it "die".

Only dead things can be born again. (A caterpiller with butterfly wings glued on is still a caterpiller.) For a caterpiller to become a butterfly, it must give up "caterpillering". It must "die" to caterpillar behavior and thoughts. A caterpillar must stop everythying, get into its cocoon and "die".

God does the rest.

Is it painful? It could be.

Is it worth it? Figure it out--even at its best, what's 90 years compared to a new life that will last forever?

To receive this new life God wants to give.

• You must be convinced that you need a new life. Without God, you actually have no real life in you. You're lost and separated from Him forever.
• You must be convinced that God's saving work in Jesus (His life, death, resurrection) is the only way you can have a new life.
• You must leave your old life behind, hate your sin and turn away from it. You must also give up trusting in your own accomplishments.
• You must ask Jesus Christ to come into your life with His forgiveness and new life. The only way to know Him is to love and receive Him as your Lord and Savior.

1. Tell someone who is close to you.
2. Let nothing keep you from becoming a faithful member of a church family (There is probably a Free Methodist church near you.)
3. Get acquainted with God by reading the Bible and praying to Him daily.