Category: A new life in Christ

What was the purpose?


Before I became a Christian many years ago I wondered why Jesus came to settle the accounts of humanity? What was the purpose? During the past decade I’ve tried my best to teach and preach from the Bible the whole counsel of God and tell those who would listen about my Savior and Lord even if they were only reading something that was published here. Sounds tedious doesn’t it? Well, not so much. Until last year when this “new” corona virus showed up and scared almost everyone out of the church, things looked pretty good actually. When the lock down began many went into hiding or at least “sheltering in place”.

The church that I had been a pastor of for nine years shut down with no idea when we might start back up again. So, I began a daily post here…sometimes more than once a day and it seemed to be what many people were looking for. I had more visitors and people looking at those posts than I had in previous years. I’m not blowing my own horn but the fact was that people needed to find some encouragement and good news and I suppose some of the words that I was given helped. Mainly because I sought God’s words just as I am still doing today and just like I sought His input for the sermons that I preached.

So truly…what is our purpose and what was the purpose for Jesus’ death and resurrection? The first is easy in a way. My purpose and yours is to accept the calling on our life when we feel the Spirit move our heart to accept Jesus as our Savior. Ignoring that call is a very dangerous thing to do because you might not have time to accept Him if you have a wreck on the way home or even if you had a heart attack tonight. When your time is up…that’s it.

The purpose for Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection was simply to be the Spotless Lamb of God to pay for ALL of the sins of mankind once and for all time. Sacrifices don’t have to be made afterward for something that you did on Friday night, Jesus paid the price so all you have to do is believe in Him for your salvation, repent of your sinful life and follow Him daily. Is it easy to follow Jesus? No, it isn’t at all easy but the reward is tremendous! If you have never given your heart to Jesus you will need someone to guide you through the early days because you likely didn’t read and study the Bible before. It will be strange to read and unless someone can help you, it can discourage you in your new life with Jesus.

That is why I have so many different translations of the Bible. Some of them are paraphrased like the Living Bible or the Message. The original translations from Greek and Aramaic to Latin and then to English are the King James Bible and the Gutenberg Bible. Today you also have the Christian Standard Bible, the New International Version, the New King James Bible, and a host of others that I won’t list here. The Living Bible or the Message are the easiest to read and get the ideas which are presented in the text, especially for a new believer. But you need to compare those ideas with the words from another version in order to get all that you can from God’s Word. Ask God to help you understand His Word and He will so don’t give up on reading it.

God inspired His prophets and others to write the words, His Word down so that we would have a complete understanding of His story and Who He is. If He had not done this, we would be clueless about His plan of salvation that began in Genesis and is shown all the way through until the book of Revelation. God doesn’t want anyone to die apart from Him but He gave us the ability to choose to follow His instructions and be redeemed or we can choose to reject His offer of salvation and be condemned…it is up to us.

You are important!


Why do I say this in the title? Because God would not have sent His Son to redeem you or me or anyone else on Earth if He didn’t think you are important.

God has a plan for each of us. He can bring blessings into your life that you cannot imagine. I don’t mean that He is going to drop millions of dollars into your bank account, He gives you what you need when you need it. Remember, Jesus told the disciples that the hair of your head is numbered and that God even watches over the sparrows of the field and knows when one falls to the ground. If He cares for His creation enough to keep up with sparrows, don’t you think He cares for you even more?

God had a plan for each of us long before we were born, even before the foundation of the world, so that should tell you that you are important to Him. We are important enough for God to come down in the form of His Son in human flesh to redeem the sin nature that began in the Garden of Eden. He wants a relationship with you and He was willing to pay the price for it to come about.

Jesus taught His disciples for three years about the Father and His plans and what we should do with our salvation. Give it away! Others need to know the good news of Christ and the atonement that He paid for with His life and His resurrection that we celebrate this weekend. Jesus said, “I am the way, the Truth and the Life, no one can come to the Father except through Me.”

Even the thief on the cross believed in Jesus and His Kingdom and it was enough to bring salvation to His soul. Remember, no one is guaranteed another day to live. Make sure of your salvation before tonight is over because your eternity depends on it.

You are never alone


Many of us think that we are alone, even when we are in a crowd. Sometimes this feeling gets to be overwhelming and people think of suicide because the loneliness feels like it is crushing them. I’ve felt this way myself although I’ve usually prayed about it and God has given me peace enough to carry on.

Anyway, when you have accepted Jesus as your Savior you are never alone because His Holy Spirit is always there to comfort and guide you through troubled times. He never leaves you once you have truly opened your heart to Him and asked Him to come in and save you from yourself. It is your sins and your own life that is at stake after all. God knew this long before any of us were born. Jesus did all of this because of His love for us.

Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, whether you have been taught this or not, it is the Truth of Scripture. God’s Word is true in all aspects, I pray that everyone who reads this will seek Him for their salvation. This age that we have lived in for nearly 2000 years is coming to an end. There is nothing which has to happen before Jesus calls His Bride, the church, to come home except the salvation of those who have been called by the Holy Spirit. If you have felt this in your heart, please seek your Savior soon and accept Him as your Savior.

God loves you and He has paid the price for our sins through the sacrifice of His Son, the Lamb of God. Do not refuse this gift of God because it has been given to each of us. The greatest gift ever given to humanity in the Person of Jesus Christ.

Faith, hope and Love


These three are in one of the most beautiful chapters in the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13. Many people call it the love chapter and it is used almost exclusively at weddings and sometimes at funerals for the hope that it gives to those who have lost someone dear to them. Paul writes at the end of this chapter that “the greatest of these is love”. Why?

Because it was love that brought Jesus to Earth to be the perfect Lamb of God for our sins. It was love that compelled Him to minister to all of the people who were not allowed in the Temple because of who they were or what sort of occupation they had. He taught them, fed them, healed them, and set them free through belief in Him and in His message. It was love that caused Him to sweat drops of blood in the garden that night before His crucifixion because the flesh of His humanity was not ready for the punishment that was coming.

Many people think that since Jesus was the Son of God, He didn’t feel pain or fear or helplessness but He did. All of those and more were part of His humanity that He was born into. The pain of a skinned knee as a child and the pain from the Roman soldiers scourging were both equally real. The pain from the soldiers whipping Him was far more excruciating because of their ferocity and hatred for the Jewish people that He represented to them. Then, after the scourging, He had to endure the humiliation of carrying His cross to the hill where He would be crucified on it. Jesus, the Son of God, endured this because of His love for you and for me and for every person of the human race past, present at His time on Earth and for all of the future generations to come after which includes us.

The greatest of the three is the true Love of God. Because if it hadn’t been, Jesus would not have been sent to redeem us and He wouldn’t have gone through all of the things which He allowed to happen and be done to Him if it had not been for the vast love of God poured out on humanity through the blood of Jesus. We are still loved and God still calls many to repentance with the offer of salvation. Some hear His call and listen but choose not to respond to it because of ignorance and pride. Some hear it and do respond but they don’t last because of family or the enticements of the world. Some do embrace the promise and the call and take it in completely and these are the ones that Jesus came to save and welcome into His home one day.

I pray if you don’t know your Savior yet, seek Him out. He came to pay the way for you and if you have ever felt even a little bit of God’s call in your heart, please make the decision to accept it and seek to follow Him today. It doesn’t cost you anything but the eternal reward will be more than you or I can imagine.

Faith walks…


When Jesus looked for followers, before He called His disciples, He knew He needed men who would follow Him every day during His ministry. He knew that He would find them because His Father had sent Him to Israel to teach, preach and touch the lost children of Israel. The only way that this ministry would last and make a real difference in the world would be men who would have faith in Him and His ministry but also men who would walk their faith in and around Israel so others would see that what they believed about Him was true.

This is what James talks about when he wrote “faith without works is dead“, not because you have to have works to be saved but because your faith should be a working, walking faith. One that gets your Spirit moving in God’s direction and in His will. I used to wonder how could Jesus sleep in a boat which was being tossed by the waves in a storm but as I’ve grown in my faith and in my walk with Him I realized that His ministry covered many hundreds of miles. Not every day naturally but all of it was by foot! He and His disciples were bone tired by the end of each day, regardless of the miracles they saw or the healings that He performed. Jesus was the Son of God but He was also the Son of Man, human in all of its respects except that He didn’t have our sinful nature.

So He was tired every day what does that mean to me? It means that we are supposed to be tired from telling others about Him. We should walk with Him each and every day because He said that we would do “greater things than these” if we did. Does your faith in Jesus walk with you each day regardless of the circumstances? It should. If you are a born-again Christian your faith should take you through each day and each trial in your life, regardless of the circumstances or problems that you may face. While it is true that there will be some days that are better than others, for a Christian there is no way of avoiding the bad and the good days. All of them go together and He will see you through each of them.

God loved each of us even before He created the universe and our planet and He had determined at that time that He would come down and save us from our own sinfulness one day. He did it as the Son Who gave Himself as a ransom for many. Make sure that your life in Christ reflects the gratitude of one who has been saved from the fire of hell and eternal separation from God so that others will want to have your hope and your Savior as well.

What gets your attention?


In everyday life many of us get distracted because there is so much information out in front of our eyes. We have smart phones and tablets and laptops and TV’s and all of them can truly have almost the same “shows” on them. As distracting as that is…what can you do with the information that you find there? For most information on these media devices the answer would be exactly that…information and very little else. It isn’t very useful and most of the information found is just that and not much more. Some people may find some usefulness in it but most of it just takes up time or clicks or may be used for “posting” on Facebook or Instagram.

So what good is all of this information? Not much more than a time wasting exercise to be truthful about it. Most of our media platforms could be classified as such too. Before all of you who love your media, wherever it comes from, get upset about this part of my post this is simply my opinion and we are all entitled to have one whether you agree with mine or not.

Moving on from there. Our lives could be so much more rewarding and useful if we would seek to place our lives and our pursuits in the hands of Jesus. His Kingdom is coming to Earth one day in the not-so-distant future and if you aren’t ready for it then you need to be getting ready soon…like today! Not one of us has a guarantee on whether we will be alive tomorrow so the actual day of salvation should be today and if not then why? God loves each of us and He has a plan for us. Whether we choose to get onboard His wagon or ship is our choice but think of this for a moment: when the group of believers is taken from this Earth it will be even harder to declare your heart belongs to Jesus. Not long after that event, Christians will not be very popular and it will be dangerous to associate with others who believe the way you want to.

Eventually you will have to choose. Take the chip/mark in order to be able to buy or sell anything or refuse it and be killed because of your decision to not take the mark. One decision will condemn your soul to hell and the other, if you have given your heart to Jesus, will take you to Heaven. Read the book of Revelation, it details most of what I’ve written and it tells in detail how most of those seven years will play out because God told John to write them down nearly two thousand years ago. This is going to come to pass whether you believe it or believe the Bible or not so regardless of your belief it will happen.

God has made a way of salvation through the blood of Jesus who paid the price for all of our sins on the cross. Belief in His atoning work on the cross is one of the first steps toward salvation. The first is realizing that you need to be saved which is when God’s Spirit touches your heart and convicts you of it. At that time please don’t turn away from His touch. He loves you and wants the best for you. All you need to do is accept it and act on it by asking Jesus to come into your life and cleanse your heart, giving you a new heart which can hear all of the wisdom that God has in store for you.

I pray that everyone who reads this will give their heart to Jesus because if you don’t…eternity is a very long time to be separated from your family and God Himself.

Humility


This is a word that is not heard much in the media today whether it is the news or on social sites. It is a rare word in today’s society period. But what does it say about a person if it is used about them? Do they stay out of the spotlight or never seek fame of any kind? That is a type of humility I suppose. What about the “knowing your limitations” type of humility and not bragging about your abilities? Rather…not bragging at all. That is also a type of humility.

Moses was said to be the most humble man in the Bible yet Jesus was even more so. During his time, Moses was the most humble (meek) man on the face of the Earth. When Jesus came He became the most humble of all because of his humanity but also because of Who He was. He was humble because He needed to be not because He had to be. He was and is the Son of God after all and His humility helped Him to be under the authority of the Father.

God needs people to be meek/humble because our temper sometimes flares up and it can cause all kinds of problems. Meekness doesn’t mean weak, it is strength under control and that is what humility is as well. Your strength and pride under the control of the Holy Spirit and not your own. People who allow God’s Holy Spirit into their lives to change them and use them as the apostles were have to be humble in this way. It isn’t a sign of weakness and it isn’t a “false” humility either.

Being used by God for His Kingdom’s purposes is exactly what we are called to do and to be…useful to Him. So why are there so many who claim to belong to Jesus but never show any fruit of the Spirit in their lives? Only God knows the real truth of that. He is the only Person that knows your heart and whether or not it truly belongs to Jesus. Some people have the gift of discernment but it isn’t accurate enough to see your heart’s condition. God knows who will accept Jesus fully as their Savior and Lord and who will not. Many of those who do not actually think that they did because of their place in the church or their “feelings” but that isn’t how it works.

God loves each of us because He has known each of us since the foundation of the world. He has known your future decisions and Who you will choose to follow and He knows that your decision will be one that will bring Him honor and glory through Jesus Christ. Does that mean that we have to come to Him? Eventually, but there are some who will resist and may even back away from the call of the Holy Spirit and at that point they have committed the sin for which there is no forgiveness. Because once you have felt His touch in your heart and know that you need Him only to turn away there will never be another time that your heart will change that decision. So…make the right one before it is too late.

Jesus washes their feet


Then he said, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You address me as ‘Teacher’ and ‘Master,’ and rightly so. That is what I am. So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other’s feet. I’ve laid down a pattern for you. What I’ve done, you do. I’m only pointing out the obvious. A servant is not ranked above his master; an employee doesn’t give orders to the employer. If you understand what I’m telling you, act like it—and live a blessed life. John 13:14 MSG https://bible.com/bible/97/jhn.13.14.MSG

This act of love on the part of Jesus would be considered invasive and possibly a sexual perversion today. God loves you and has always been near you, seek Him while their is still time.

Our Savior…


Sometimes it seems that our world just flies off on a tangent that has no relation to the reality in the world but only in the mind of those who are loudly blasting it on the Internet or in the news media. It especially happens during election years depending upon the “news” that is being shotgunned everywhere.

Although, if you are a Christian, you know Who is in control of it all. God is never on the sidelines and He never loses sight of what is happening here on Earth and in each of our lives. I mean if He keeps up with the little sparrows then He can surely keep up with us as well. Jesus said that “even the hairs of your head are numbered”, so since God’s knowledge of us goes that intimate don’t you think that He truly cares for you? Because He does!

In the book of John, Jesus is referred to as the Living Word and He is. He is also the embodiment of God in human form so that He could come and reconcile us to Himself. Jesus fulfilled every prophecy from the Old Testament about the Suffering servant and the Son of God and every other reference to Himself found there. No other human could do that if He were not God in human form. The celebration of Easter is coming up soon and many people will celebrate it with candy and egg hunts and some will even give presents but this is not the reason we celebrate it nor should it be.

Easter fell during a celebration of First Fruits in Israel since Jesus was the “first fruit” to be raised to life eternal. Read the account of His resurrection in Luke and then His ascension to the Father in the first chapter of Acts. Read these accounts and learn more about our risen Savior because He is coming back!

Your identity is in Christ


There are many scriptures that cover this subject for believers and the list is a little long but each of them tells us who we are in Christ.

  • You are His special possession (1 Peter 2:9, Deut. 14:2)
  • You are chosen, picked by God Who created everything (Jeremiah 1:5, Eph. 1:3-4)
  • You are treasured (Deut. 7:6, 14:2, 26:18)
  • You are irreplaceable (1Thess. 1:4)
  • You are loved (1John 4:19, 4:10, 3:16, Rom. 5:8, 8:35-39)
  • You are worth dying for (John 3:16, Rom. 5: 7-9)
  • You are forgiven (Eph. 1:7, 1 John 1:9)
  • You are His child (1 John 3:1, Gal. 3:26)
  • You are secure (2 Cor. 1:22, John 10: 28-29)
  • You are set free (Rom. 6:18, Gal. 5:1)
  • You are precious to Him (Isaiah 43:4)
  • You have been set apart (John 15:16-19, 1 Pet. 2:9)

Why do I go to the trouble of listing all of these for you? Because it is needed and necessary. Because if anyone is in Christ He is a new creation and you need to know where you fit into His Kingdom. You can’t learn this in Sunday school and many churches don’t teach this to new believers, they just baptize them and put them on the roll for the numbers.

The problem is that most of us never hear about our identity in Christ until many years down the road and we really need to hear it as soon as we are brought into the family of God. The church has dropped the ball, so to speak, in the decades since prayer was taken out of schools and we truly need to pick it up before it is too late. In some areas of our country, it may already be too late.

We have our salvation when we believe in Jesus as our Savior and repent of our sins but we need to be taught about Him and our identity in Him because the more we know about Him, the better we will know Him. In many religions, your identity is in the religion itself but our identity falls in two places. One of those places is that you can claim your Christian identity as a follower of Jesus but your real identity is a bit deeper than that if you are planning on growing into your faith which all of us are expected to do. We aren’t supposed to remain as “babes in Christ”.

If you are a new Christian or if you are curious about becoming one, look these scriptures up online or in a Bible if you have one. Read them and ask God to show Himself to you and show you His love for you because it is found in every Scripture that is listed above. Let me know how it goes and keep seeking because you will find your answers in Jesus Christ.