This day is a day of remembrance for those who have lost loved ones in wartime conflicts. We strive in our Christian lives against the powers of the world and the Satanic powers and demons and we should be careful in our walk with Jesus because of the influence against us. While it is true that in America we are not killed for our faith, we are still persecuted for it if we show it openly. But…isn’t that what Jesus told us to do? Jesus said to “go and tell the world the good news of salvation“.
We should remember those who have gone into the world and told of His good news because many of those were martyred for their witness and their faith. They are casualties in the war between the Light of Jesus and the Darkness of the world. God offers each of us the chance for salvation through belief in Jesus as our Savior but how will others know of Him if we don’t tell them? Do not forget the sacrifice of those who died for our freedoms but also don’t forget those who have died for the cause and the message of Jesus Christ our Lord as well.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
Proverbs 9:10 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/pro.9.10.KJV
In the Bible, the words which point you toward faith in Jesus don’t tell you the whole story. Jesus, Yeshua, was and is God in the flesh. God came down to Earth to be among those that He created. Not to make us feel unworthy, although we are, but to show His love for us because we don’t deserve it at all. Humanity failed Him in every way and we are still failing Him. Oh, those of us who truly are His followers are at least moving in the right direction but the majority of people in the world tend toward apathy or even hatred toward God and especially Jesus.
We are human and we aren’t capable of pleasing God without having faith in Him. But, we aren’t born with that faith. When God calls us to know Him, He is the giver of the faith necessary to know Him. We can’t just decide to believe in Him one day, all of us are chosen by Him to be His. But it is still our decision to accept that invitation and many still refuse because they don’t want to give up their sins…their life without Him being a part of it.
So, why is this important? Because, whether you believe it or not, there is an eternity on the other side of your last breath here and it is your choice which determines where you spend that eternity. The Pope can’t save you nor will any other religious figure from any other religion. Only Jesus came to pay the price for your soul and for your sins and since He stands at the right of the Father in Heaven and is not in a grave somewhere, you have the chance to live into eternity with Him. But only if you choose to follow Him and ask Him to forgive your sins and give you the strength to walk with Him until your last day on this Earth.
Why is being a Christian and believing in Jesus as your Savior so important? Because of the eternity which is there if you don’t believe in Him for your salvation. If there is a heaven there is also a hell and it is spoken of in God’s Word many times as an eternal punishment. Not for just a little while or instantaneous vaporization! Hell was created by God to punish Satan and his demons who have hounded mankind for thousands of years. They have driven some people mad and they are the ones who caused all of these aberrant religions which dealt in child sacrifice and other abominations. They will do anything to point people toward any “ideal religion” which doesn’t believe in or follow God the Father.
I pray that anyone who reads this will seek Jesus out as their Savior. In His Word, in a Bible-teaching church or Bible study. Any way that you can learn more about Jesus and His love for you and the fact of His Love for you that was so powerful that He chose to go to the cross and die for your salvation. One day soon the church will be taken from the Earth and there will be seven years of hell on Earth because of those who chose not to believe in Jesus for their salvation. I pray that you will not be here during this time but will be with the church in Heaven.
When you read the gospels and the accounts of all of the different ways that Jesus interacted with people and healed some and raised some from the dead or freed them from demonic possession it makes you wonder what else He might’ve done in between all of these. When you read about everything that He did in the few years that His disciples walked with Him and then read at the end of John’s gospel that “if everything that Jesus did were written down the world couldn’t hold all of the books“.
Jesus payed attention to all of the little things. The children that were around Him, the women who were supporting His ministry and were disciples too. He looked at the small lunch which fed over five thousand people and knew it was possible. He noticed so many things around Him in His ministry which aren’t recorded in the gospels. So, how do I know that He noticed these small details around Him? Because He was and is the Creator! An artist notices the color of clouds and birds and flowers and trees so how much more would our Creator notice everything and everyone around Him?
Even if the writers of the gospels didn’t notice it and He didn’t bring it to their attention, He would’ve noticed. Every flower and bird and tree and cloud and the stars at night. He was there during creation so why not take in your creation and truly notice all of the beauty in everything around you? I know I would have and you would too.
Jesus is our Savior and He paid that price for our salvation willingly. His humanity was afraid of the pain and suffering but He knew it had to be done. He is the Author of Life and the Creator and He did all of this for us. So when you feel His call in your heart and you know it is Him, please don’t turn away from that call because that call may be the only one you will hear or maybe the last time you may hear from Him. I pray that all of you who read this will give your heart and life to Jesus and follow Him for the rest of your life.
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Matthew 7:12-14 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/mat.7.12-14.KJV
God is our Creator and the Creator of everything that you can see. So…why is it so hard for people to understand that He wants the best for you? Is it because we can’t see Him like we can see a friend or our spouse? Possibly. But according to God’s Word, He has always been available to us through prayer and by reading of His Word.
I think that the reason that so many people are hesitant or unwilling to follow God and the few rules which He put into place is that it is too simple. Salvation is so simple that a child can understand it and yet when we become “educated” adults we can’t believe that it is that simple. What we should understand is the same thing that the thief on the cross understood, it is our belief in Jesus which saves us. It is not the church or a preacher or a certain ritual which we have to do in order to be saved.
Just believe in Jesus and what He did for you. Do this in the faith which God has granted you and then walk in that faith so that you will be a reflection of Jesus in your life. Because you may be the only Jesus some people may ever see before the end of their life or yours. Your life has an expiration date and it is only known by God, thankfully. But during the time which we have even the small things which we do that people notice because they know that we profess to be Christians can have an impact.
You may not think that a “Thank you” or a blessing said at McDonald’s over your food could have an impact but it can. You may not know about it before you get to Heaven but someone will let you know that it was that word or deed or some small thing that prompted them to seek out what made you different.
God is understanding and loving toward all of His children even though there are many who are hurting and struggling and it doesn’t look like He even cares, but He does. God is awesome because He created all of this universe and we have been studying it for hundreds of years and we’ve only scratched the surface. We have explored our own planet for thousands of years and scientists are still finding creatures which are new to science.
Why did God make this universe so complex? Because of His power and majesty but also because He wanted us to look at all of the beauty and the awesome size and diversity that is out there and wonder about Him. We would look at the intricate complexity of cells and bacteria and whales and humanity and even into the cosmos and realize that this couldn’t have come into being because of some accidental gathering of dirt and goo. There had to be a Supreme Intelligence behind every atom and molecule and His name is God.
He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
John 3:18 KJV https://bible.com/verse-of-the-day/jhn.3.18/5791
The Living Message of Christ 