How many must pay the price?

Why do we have to pay the price of being Christians in America? Why should we have to live in fear of expressing our faith in public, just to bless our food? What is going on in our world?

IleftALighton4you To find the answers to these questions you should read the Bible. Because we are living in the days prior to the Great Tribulation. It hasn’t begun yet, but it is very close. Read the news media of your choice, watch the news on the Internet or TV. All of the small things which are happening around us and many of the larger and more significant prophecies have already happened. Of course, few people are paying attention to these things. Everyone is more worried about illegal immigrants and their children than they are about our veterans or the economy.

I don’t want to get on a soapbox about any of these issues here. But, there are so many issues which are truly outside the reporting of the news today until many of these should be taken up by someone who wants to bring them to the people’s attention. So, back to my point and the title of this piece.

How many must pay the price? I know there are some who will wonder “Which of the “many” are you talking about?”! In truth. I am speaking of those who have put their faith and their lives in the belief in Jesus for salvation. There are many places in our world today, even in America, where being a Christian is dangerous. Christians are put in jail, stoned, killed, taken to court for their beliefs, and the list could go on…all because of their faith in Jesus.

Why?

If you don’t believe in Jesus, I am not going to try to kill you so why would you want to kill me because my faith is not the same as yours? I never have understood why atheists want to argue with Christians about their beliefs when the atheist doesn’t believe what they believe. What is the argument about? I am not going to change my belief in my Savior just because you don’t believe in Him. For many who are atheists, I don’t think my belief in Jesus could change their mind either so what is the point?

Then there are the other religions of the world and I am not going into a description of them because I don’t know enough about them other than they don’t believe the way I do. But, that doesn’t mean that I hate them. I have a love for people which is only explained by the Love of Christ in my heart. He loves you and deemed you worthy of His sacrifice to pay the debt for your sins, therefore I love you in Christ. I don’t know most of you who will read this, but that doesn’t change anything.

WhereAreYouGoing Jesus still loves you, God loves you so, in Christ I love you and I pray that you will find salvation in Jesus before the end of your life. Because the alternative is too horrible to imagine. An eternity of punishment in hell because you didn’t choose to believe in and follow Jesus. It doesn’t matter what sins you may have committed in this life, that is the one which will send you to hell! You may be punished for your other sins, but that decision is the one which condemns you to hell and no other.

What is your calling?

Have you considered what your calling in your walk with Jesus really is? Many people it seems have never thought about this in the least. Some don’t seem to have ever considered it a calling at all to be a Christian and therefore use their salvation in service to our King! Why I have often wondered, are they claiming to be Christians and yet never seek to be a servant of His?

John Newton, the writer of that great hymn “Amazing Grace”, said this just before his death: “it is a great thing to die; and when flesh and heart fail, to have God for the strength of our heart and our portion forever;….”

At another time prior to his death, he said these words: “Hereafter I hope, when I shut my eyes on the things of time, I shall open them in a better world. What a thing it is to live under the shadow of the wings of the Almighty! I am going the way of all flesh. If it were not so, how could I dare to stand before Him?”

I just finished reading Mr. Newton’s autobiography and he was a libertine as he put it during his younger years. But, he came to his senses during his marriage to his sweetheart. God used him in a special and powerful way to touch more lives after his life than during it because of the song which he wrote mostly about his early life and his salvation. Many of us can see our own lives within that song, in each verse, and in our own walk with the Lord or even by our attempts to run from HIm.

In the book of Jonah, you can see just how futile running away really is. In Genesis, Adam and Eve try to hide from the Presence of God but it is futile. God knows where each person is, He knows the number of hairs on our heads and He knows when a sparrow falls from the sky…so there is no possibility of getting away from Him.

So, think on this…God loves you in a more deep and entirely spiritual way than we can understand in this life. He has provided the Way for you to come to Him in forgiveness and stain-free from the sin which we all have in this life. That way is through Jesus and by belief in Him and the atonement which He paid for with His death and resurrection on the cross. There is no other pathway to eternity in Heaven except by Him, so make sure of your salvation before you draw your last breath.

Good shepherd

Truth…

Psalm 25:5 “Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you, I wait all the day long.”

John 4:23 “But the hour is coming, and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.”

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Bridge2Salvation Ephesians 4:15 “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ…”

All of these scriptures tell that God’s Word is Truth. Jesus was and is the Word of God in the flesh, and He came so we could be free from the burden and the entanglement of sin and its consequences. God loves each of us and that is the Truth as well. We can see the results of God’s love for us because we live in a world which exists because He created it for us. God is the Creator and all of the glory of Heaven and the stars which are out there in space tells us of His power and love for us.

Many questions have been asked about why the galaxies spin in such a manner that they don’t fly apart? It’s not dark matter, it is God’s power which sustains the stars and galaxies in their places. The perfection of the placement of our own star, the Sun, and all of the planets have been debated in scientific circles, yet our “modern” scientists won’t accept that God placed our planet at the precise distance and all of the other bodies too.

The truth is that God is sovereign over all. Jesus said that “not even a sparrow falls to the ground without the Father knowing it“. Since God knows even when small birds die, how can you say He doesn’t care for you? He cares for ALL of His Creation including every person on the Earth, even those who don’t believe in Him! Why does God care so much? Because He loves us, each and every person on this little ball of blue in the cosmos!

The Truth is contained within the Bible and if people can’t or won’t accept it, that doesn’t make it untrue. Just because you don’t want something to be true doesn’t change it at all. I would love for it to be a bit cooler in the summer but it won’t be cooler because I want it to be that way. Choosing to not believe a scripture just because you don’t like the implications of it doesn’t make it invalid. Ignoring a command in God’s Word doesn’t erase it from the Bible but it does condemn you in the end.

How? Because, when you are standing in front of God when your life is over here, you will still be responsible for your actions whether you lived by His commandments or not. The way to Heaven and true Life everlasting is only through Jesus. You can’t do it on your own and you can’t add to your salvation by “working” here on Earth to “help” Jesus save you. Read the Bible and study it with prayer and conviction that He loves you. Seek Him out in every verse because He is there.

Laws cannot save you!

This is the message which Jesus brought with His teachings. The Law of Moses and all of the commandments are great but they only let you know what is a sin and that you cannot hope to fulfill the Law perfectly on your own! The only Person to ever accomplish that was the Son of God, Jesus the Christ (Yeshua the Messiah)! We, as humans, can’t keep the Law perfectly because of our sinful nature and that is why He came.

Paul wrote that he didn’t know what sin was until he read the laws of Moses and then he knew that he was a sinner and he needed Yeshua as his Savior. But he didn’t acknowledge Jesus as his Savior until Jesus confronted him on the road to Damascus but he knew that he couldn’t keep the Law perfectly in his own strength. The laws of Moses do not bring salvation but they do let us know that we are sinners and that we cannot keep them with our own power.

Trying to be good enough to be accepted into Heaven doesn’t work because our righteousness is not and cannot be good enough to bring us into salvation without faith in Jesus.

Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. Galatians 3:21

True righteousness could not come by the law because it only let each of us know that we couldn’t keep it completely, which convicted us of our sinfulness and our sinful natures. It proved that we needed a Savior and that was Jesus (Yeshua) Who came and gave His life and shed His blood to pay the price for ALL of our sins! Not just those born since He came but also those who were waiting for the Promise to come from the beginning.

God knew that mankind wasn’t able to resist the temptations thrown at them by Satan and therefore a Savior was needed and necessary. Otherwise, the relationship which God created us for would be lost forever and so would all of us be. Your eternity and mine are contained in the blood of Christ and if you haven’t accepted Him as your Savior then I would suggest that you consider Him as soon as possible. We are not guaranteed tomorrow or even the rest of tonight so I would make sure of my salvation before going to sleep.

God loves you and has made the pathway easy to find in His Word and by accepting Jesus as your Savior but the choice is up to you when you are convicted of your sins. Will you give your life to Him and turn away from your sinful ways or will you take the chance that this is a joke and the Bible is just a fable? The choice is yours but…after your last breath you will stand before God and the question will be why did you refuse the offer of salvation?

WhereAreYouGoing

Dear America,

Have you considered that we have never looked at our condition religiously? Our country and its people have never actually thought of Christianity as our religion. Specifically, since our government doesn’t endorse or choose any particular religion for our nation. Our people have many denominations and religions in our country and today we also have many who don’t claim any belief in God or religion.

So have you thought about any of this? Is it possible that we truly need religion? There are so many who commit suicide on a daily basis and we have so many who are struggling with drugs and alcohol on a daily basis too. So…what is the fix or the cure for this emptiness which we seem to be dealing with?

Whether our country as a whole wants to believe it or not, the answer actually is a relationship with Jesus. The empty place in all of our lives which we try to fill with all sorts of things from sex or money or careers and even family is only filled by one Person. Jesus Christ. That is the missing piece of the puzzle which we have been searching for all of our lives!

It isn’t a hard thing to do but in a society which prides itself on its independence, individually and collectively, we don’t want to depend upon any one person whether it is a Savior or even a spouse or a friend. Except when you look at the feeling of hope which He brings into our collective conscience. So why don’t we look to Him for our hope? Why can’t we do this so our country can have more hope?

Hope hasn’t died but to look at the news, you would think it has. Hope is in the Person of Jesus, Love is Jesus and He is Love for all of us because He did love us enough to give His life on the cross to pay the debt which we owed because of our sins. Even those of us where weren’t born when He did this still owe the debt if we haven’t given our hearts to Him.

I pray that those of you reading this will give Jesus a chance in your life. If for no other reason than to fill that empty place and give you hope for eternity and a heart full of gratitude for a Creator Who loves you more than you can imagine. Please, seek Jesus out for your soul and for your eternal hope because it is needed in our country today.

You are special

When God called Jeremiah He told him this: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5 NASB

OnlyJesuscansaveYou In truth and by His admission we are all known by God in this way. He has a plan and a purpose for each of us but it is up to us to fulfill that plan and purpose in His Kingdom. Why do I place the responsibility on each of us? Because God doesn’t bring us into this world as automatons! We have a choice! His call may touch us in our twenties but, like me, you may not actually answer that call until almost thirty years later!

Oh, you may get saved and ask Jesus into your life before you answer the call on your life but you still have a choice of doing what God wants you to do with your salvation and your life in Christ. Could Saul have chosen not to be the apostle to go to the Gentile nations around Israel? Actually, I don’t think that he could have said no to Jesus because of the way Jesus spoke to him directly. But…we can choose and many people do choose not to be what God wants them to be.

It is kinda sad though because Jesus gave all of His Life for our salvation so you would think that we could at least be thankful enough to give our lives to Him in return! But many people who do give their heart to Jesus do it and then go back to their way of living and that is wrong! It is hard to reconcile the changed heart which Jesus gives us when we truly accept Him as our Savior and then watch someone go from studying their Bible back to living in the world which they were supposed to leave behind.

Some people claim to have done just that but when you ask them if they are you saved, they will tell you they are. Even if they are living with someone or drinking and smoking and even using cuss words, they will tell you that Jesus is their Savior. It is at times like this that I just pray for them and usually I ask God to watch over them because only He knows the condition of their heart and soul. I do not.

We are not to try to judge a person’s salvation because we can’t. That is something that only God knows for sure. If their name is in the Book of Life then that is wonderful, regardless of what their life may be to everyone around them. We may be surprised one day to find many in Heaven who we didn’t think would make the cut and we will be just as surprised at those who will be told: “Depart from me for I never knew you.”

I pray that I am included in the few who will be welcomed into Heaven and hopefully those in my church family and my immediate family will be too. Please, make that choice today if you have not. My words here are not of my own choosing but come from my Spirit and I pray that you are saved and sanctified by Jesus because there are no second chances in this decision. If it isn’t done before your life ends then it is too late.

Father’s Day

Before any of us who are fathers became fathers, God had a plan for us. Being in a relationship with our wives, we were and are supposed to be the religious leader of our household. We are to be the example of being the leader in our own home. Some even go so far as to call us “kings and priests”, although that might get each of us in trouble if we tried to actually live that way at home.

God knows each of us and our strengths and our weaknesses which is why we have our helpers, our wives, to take over in those areas where we may fall short. Which is what God designed marriage for, it is supposed to be a partnership in which each gives one hundred percent to whatever the goal may be. It isn’t a 50/50 agreement.

Fathers in Scripture had a tremendous responsibility. They were the priests of their household, particularly in Job’s case but also in the majority of households in Jewish society. So why don’t Christians live this way and do these same idealistic things which need to be done?

In today’s society even being a Christian, whether you are male or female, is frowned upon. So being a father who is bringing his children up in a Christian home and training them to look to God’s wisdom is also looked down on as well. His children may even be bullied or endure some other form of persecution because of it. Why is this? I think it is because there are too few fathers who actually teach their children about God’s wisdom from the Bible.

In Joshua 24:15 he told the Israelites what they should do and what he and his house would do:

15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

In Proverbs 3:11-12, Solomon wrote these words: 11 My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, 12 because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.

We as fathers have a responsibility to teach our children to be Christian men and women. This can be done as a family or just by the father but it should be a family night study where the father leads the family in this. This is not my idea, it is in God’s Word that men are supposed to do and be the religious leader of their household.

If you are a Christian and you neglect to do this then the consequences of your inaction will fall on your children. If you don’t model and reflect Jesus in their eyes, then you are failing them in many ways. Don’t be the father who has not shown Jesus to his family in whatever life situation you may find yourself in.

God expects each of us, as fathers, to do these things which He outlined in His Word. But, many of us today don’t read the Bible enough to know what God expects of us. I encourage you to get started reading His Word and learn what your responsibility to God and to your family really is. While it is true that our responsibility is to be fathers and husbands it is also true that we are to be the priests of our family, the religious leaders in our homes.

God expects us to do this and yet many don’t know what they are supposed to do because, even as Christians, we only read our Bibles or listen to sermons when we are at a church service. This is not the way to follow and know Jesus. Yes, the Bible was written a long time ago but when you study it…God’s Word reads you and your heart as well. His Word gives each of us different wisdom when we read it prayerfully and earnestly. Not as a book but as The Book, our guide to a Life with Jesus.

It is our duty as men and fathers and parents to lead our family by our example and if that example is one based on God’s Word then our future and that of our children and their children will be assured in Christ. Don’t neglect your calling as a father and a husband because we are called by God when we are granted children to raise and they become what they have seen in our lives. If they don’t, then we have failed them and failed in our calling as well.

Be the leader and the father that God intended for you to be, even if it is hard to do, seek out His Wisdom for your life and the advice which you need in this life so that you can lead your family into the next Life in eternity.

Which door will you be taking?

Have you ever considered whether you are on the way to Heaven or hell? There is only one way to Heaven and that is with belief in Jesus and His atonement for us which was paid for on the cross.

DoorwaytoLife

God’s love for us came with the appearance of Jesus and His sacrifice for all of our sins. All you have to do is believe in Him and repent of your old life and your sins. Don’t take the easy way or the way that seems to be the way which everyone else is on. Follow Jesus, ask Him to become your Savior when you feel convicted of your sins, whatever they may be!

There will be many religious people on that broad road and many will be going through the big doorway. Many of them will believe that they have been Christians for years since they attend church semi-regularly, but going through the motions of going to church and giving tithes and reading your Bible isn’t enough. If Jesus isn’t in your heart and if He hasn’t changed your life then all of those things mean nothing!

If it would surprise someone to know that you even attend church then you need to seek your salvation through God’s Word and repentance before it is too late.

Are you a good Samaritan?

Jesus’ parable about the good Samaritan is one which is about being a true neighbor in the likeness of Jesus and His teaching on the subject. So why is it so hard for us, even in the church, to practice and DO this!? Is it because we are too selfish or are we too scared to admit that we can’t do it?! Read this and listen to the wisdom within it:

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

25And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27And he answering said Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

30And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 33But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. 36Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

As Jesus said, “Go and do thou likewise”. This is a command from our Lord and the church should honor and obey this command but we aren’t doing it wholeheartedly. We do things a little at a time. Why? Are we afraid of doing this because it isn’t politically correct? We shouldn’t be worried about this! We should be getting out there and doing the things which our Lord told us to do!

The family down the road who doesn’t have enough food for their children would be happy to get a couple of sacks of good food. The man in your church, who needs someone to visit him because he has lost his wife and is alone again could use some fellowship. There are many in our immediate family who would appreciate a visit or a meal or even a trip to get out of the house once in a while…these are your neighbors so go and do as the Samaritan did and see to their needs whatever they might be. Good deeds

Is the Bible true?

There have been archaeological finds which have proven that many of the places and cities which are mentioned in the Bible are real and are or were in the places where the Bible says they were. If this is true then why should we doubt the veracity of Scripture? Do we doubt it because we don’t want it to be true?

Among Christians, there is only about thirty percent on average who claim to believe that it is the inspired Word of God. These are not Catholics but Protestants, and of those, the numbers go down with the amount of education that they have. The most educated of them only believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God in about ten to fifteen percent of the polls taken.

Why does more education lead to less belief in the Bible? It doesn’t change because you have a Ph.D. or a Master’s degree, so what caused those with graduate degrees to discount the Bible? I think it is because of the liberal education system which pushes evolution theory as fact and all sorts of liberal ideas which contradict the wisdom found in scripture.

I have a Bachelor’s degree in Clinical Lab Science but that only reinforced my belief in God and His wondrous works! Our cells and the cells of bacteria are so complex until there is no possible explanation for our existence except that God created everything that is here and out in the universe. Look at a drop of pond water under a microscope and see all of the small single cell and multicellular creatures swimming in it! Those did not come about by accident or evolution, they are there because the Creator brought them all into existence when He made our world.

I will not reverse my belief in Him for someone’s idea or theory and I will not discount the truthfulness of God’s Word in the Bible. Why? Because if by some weird coincidence that the Bible is just a “book of fables” then when I die I am just buried in the ground and that’s that…but if what I believe is true then my life goes on into eternity in Heaven and that is where my Hope is. It is in Jesus, the Son of the Living God!

“Absent from the body, present with the Lord“; that is what I believe and will continue to do so until I am in that glorious place with my Lord and Savior. Won’t you join me?

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