There is so much evidence for His love for mankind until I would imagine that it hurts His heart when someone asks this. He loved us enough that He created Earth for us. He placed it at the right distance from our Sun so that it isn’t too hot or too cold. He put the right mixture of gases in our atmosphere so that plants and animals of all kinds could grow along with us. Our planet has an abundance of water and the right nutrients in it for all of the life in the oceans and rivers.
God also sent Jesus to pay the penalty of our sin debt so that we could live into eternity with Him one day if we will place our faith in Jesus for our salvation. That is the one gift which we have that no other part of creation has or can understand…the gift of God’s love and His atonement for our sins through His Son, Jesus. This gift from God is by no amount of worth on our part. We cannot earn it nor can we purchase it in any way other than our deep belief in Jesus as our Savior. That is the easiest purchase that we can ever make because we don’t have to spend anything for it. Just believe in Jesus for your salvation and ask Him for your forgiveness of your sinful life before you knew that you needed Him.
God calls us to come to Him through His grace and He gives us enough faith to believe and repent in order to be saved. It has nothing to do with your idea of being saved or your decision of going to church to be saved. When His Holy Spirit convicts your heart of your need of Him, you will respond one way or the other. Choose the right way and trust in Jesus for your salvation. Time is growing short and when He comes for His church you do want to be in the number of those called home to Heaven.
In the world in which we live today, there are many people inside and outside the church who don’t believe in God’s ability to answer our prayers. Many times God answers our prayers almost before we pray them. Sometimes the answer is “no” or “not yet” but sometimes the answer is “Yes!”. We may not recognize His answer as if it came from God but I believe that many of our answers, if not all of them, do come from Him. Just like any parent or guardian, God says yes to some prayers which will give glory to Him and will help us in our journey. Then there are prayers, usually spoken in haste or anger, that God will answer “No!”.
Sometimes we can understand His reasons when we don’t get a positive answer but many times we act like a spoiled child and pitch a fit when we don’t get our way. It is the negative answers which teach us how to be truly patient and one day we will understand why He didn’t answer our request with a “yes”.
14 This is the confidence we have before him: If we ask† anything according to his will, he hears us.†15 And if we know that he hears whatever we ask,† we know that we have what we have asked of him.†
Notice that John writes “If we ask anything according to His will…”, meaning that our request should be prayed about, and in asking Him to do one thing or another we must be in His will for Him to answer us with a “Yes!”. In other words, we should be walking with Him, studying His Word, and in a state of prayerful living so that we will know what is His will for our lives.
Unfortunately, there are many people in the church and in the pulpit, who are not walking with Jesus on a daily basis. We tend to visit Him on Sunday or on a holiday or when something goes wrong in our lives and He is the only recourse for us to turn to at the time. Other than that, we just go through our day without a thought about Him or His Word…until we really NEED Him to show up!
God does answer prayers and He hears the prayers of those who belong to Him in their hearts. The Holy Spirit speaks to Him even before we do especially when it is a request that is painful to ask for and it is during those times when God’s answer shows up before we even know that we need it. Sometimes it shows up in a way that we weren’t expecting but many times it will show up in an unexpected way and it will bring joy into our lives that we never knew we had.
Considering our prayers and our relationship with God, we need to remember that He is not a genie. God doesn’t answer at the same moment that we ask and He is not willing to give us the desires of our heart unless our desires and His are the same. Would He give us the desires of our heart? Yes, if it would bring Him glory and bring more people into His Kingdom.
We have to have a close relationship with Him in order for our requests to truly be in line with His will for our lives. Today there are many people in the church who really aren’t that close to God at all. Even though they may think they are. Some of those who think they are close to God are not and some of those are in the pulpit. Are they saved? Maybe or maybe they think they are, only God can answer that question.
That is the most important question of all. Are you truly saved like the thief on the cross? Believe in Jesus for your salvation because He is the only way. Or…will you leave the church with the idea that you’ll get around to it one day but not today. Are you sure that you will be here the next time we meet? Not one person knows that they have tomorrow as another day to make that decision. I don’t and none of you know without a doubt that you will live another day or another week. The only person who knew when He would die was Jesus and that only because He was God in the flesh.
13 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: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Our pathway is very long and narrow but with Jesus as our guide we can make it. One day at a time, keeping prayer on our lips and our eyes on Jesus as we travel this road. Why is the pathway narrow? Because it is not an easy path to walk. There are trials and temptations and problems which come into every person’s life and it is by faith alone that we can endure until the end. Because when the end arrives and the Trumpet sounds we shall be taken home. Then the whole world will know that the Christians and the Jews were right to believe in their Holy Book and in the God Who inspired the writings in it.
Many who have heard sermons from God’s Word will know what is happening or what is about to happen but since the church, the body of true believers, has been taken away that is the only sign which will confirm it. There will be many who won’t believe it or possibly just brushed the revelation of it away as a fairy tale.
You would be wise to seek to know Jesus now, today. Because once the church is gone the riots and the collapse of governments will bring much chaos. Even more than is happening today. The pathway is narrow because it takes diligence and patience and faith to keep your feet on the path. The easy road has always been there and it has lured many people to believe that they are following the right way when in fact they are headed for hell.
Doing good works or being a good person is a wonderful accomplishment but those actions won’t save your soul. Only belief in Jesus as your Savior can do that. Some think that a socialist society and government would be better for our world today. But if everyone is getting paid by the government where does the money come from to pay each person a wage? Free healthcare and education are wonderful goals but again where does the money come from to pay for those?
Your life, your soul is worth more than the world to God and He loves you. I pray that anyone reading this will seek to find Jesus as your Savior. The church age is coming to a close. I don’t know when it will happen but it will because it is foretold in the Bible and God cannot lie. Seek Him as your Savior and tell others about Him while you can. I don’t believe there is much time left before this happens. Be watchful, read the books of Daniel and Ezekiel and Revelation and pray about what you are reading. Ask God to give you the wisdom to understand the prophecies contained within them. Listen to the Holy Spirit as He convicts you of your sins and repent and ask Jesus to cleanse your heart.
In a relationship don’t you keep your promises? Particularly to your significant other?
God has always kept His promises to us because He loves us. He sent Jesus to pay the debt for our sins and not just American Christians but for all Christians in the world. Yet, somehow we think that we are special and that we deserve His favor. None of us deserve His favor or His grace or His love but God has given us those things because of His love for us not because of what we deserve!
Why would that be true? We have pushed Him out of nearly every government office and building. We have taken Him and His Word out of schools and there are many who are trying to get any reference to Him out of our country so they won’t have to hear about Him or His Son again.
In Matthew 6: 25, 31-34 God promises to meet our needs. Here is the text of those verses:
25Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30Wherefore, if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34Take, therefore, no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Every promise that God made with anyone in the Bible, He has kept. Even if the promise hasn’t come to completion yet. All of the promises leading up to it have been. So why do so many people doubt the existence of God or His love for us? Why is it that one part of humanity considers themselves to be the apple of His eye and yet they don’t seem to follow Him any better than the rest of the world?
God’s promises are sure and yet we doubt Him and His Word all of the time. Do you believe His promises for His provision in your life? I do.
I have been pushing the lawnmower and I will ask Him for a cloud or a little breeze to give me some relief from the heat. Most of the time it is provided. I know that many people won’t ask God for such little things but they aren’t little to me at the time. I have laid before Him the fact that we needed to pay this bill or that one and somehow the money is available. It may be just enough to pay the bill but He provides.
While it is true that many of the promises that are in the Old Testament are not available to us today, the promises in the New Testament are available to each of us who has given their life and their heart to Jesus. I don’t mean walking down and getting wet. I mean real, honest, and completely giving your heart to Him. Changing your life and living each day with Him, reading the Bible and learning more about Him and actually leaning on Him for your day to day, getting by kind of things.
Will God answer the prayers of one of His children who is living day to day with Him? If it’s asking for a million dollars, probably not. But if you are talking to Him and listening to His responses then what you ask for is usually in line with what He wants to give you and He’s waiting for you to ask for it. Is living by His side easy to do? No, it isn’t. There are so many temptations around us and Satan knows exactly which buttons to push to cause you to step off of the pathway that you were on. But, the closer you are walking with God it makes it harder for you to listen to anything that Satan says.
God has given us many things and many promises in His Word and yet many people who claim to be saved through their belief in Jesus ignore them or don’t believe that He will deliver on them. God is not like we are. He doesn’t lie because if He did He would not be God. This message is for those of us who have given our hearts and our life to God through Jesus His Son. If you have not done so, then these promises don’t apply to you until you do.
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
Jesus came to Earth as a baby, born of a virgin in Bethlehem, of parents whose lineage could be traced back to King David of the tribe of Judah. All of these were foretold years before He came and He fulfilled all of these prophecies and more. The people who choose not to believe God’s Word or even any part of it have no claim on even this first promise. The promise that you, as a believer, are a child of God. You have been adopted into the family of God through your belief in Jesus as your Savior.
This is God’s promise and it doesn’t matter if you believe in man’s doctrine of once saved you are always saved or if you believe that you can lose your salvation. God’s promise stands regardless of your belief in man’s doctrine because it is His promise and that settles it. As long as you believe in Jesus as your Savior in your heart and you live your life in accordance with your belief, then you truly are His child.
This promise is from God’s Word and it applies to each of us who are His. During these troubled times in which we are living, we need to lean on our Lord for His strength and guidance because without it we are lost. Our faith in Him should bring hope to those around us and yet we see every day the despair and hopelessness in the world. Those who have no hope cling to what they know and most of that is fear and anger and revenge for anything that is happening to them. Even if it is a virus that mankind has not caused but it brings fear into their lives and then other men bring hatred and murder to people only because of the color of their skin. Fear stirs up hatred and hatred lights a fire that won’t be put out easily.
Can the church and the believers who make up the church have any influence in this troubled world? Yes but only by living our lives daily so others can see Jesus in what we are saying and doing. If we live our lives as if we aren’t the church and like those who don’t believe in Him then we shouldn’t claim to be His at all. Yes we were sinners and we still are sinners but as Christians, we are forgiven and we need to live like it. Don’t leave your “Christianity” at the church building on Sunday. Your life was supposed to change when Jesus came into your heart so live your life as a changed Christian who can be seen as a Christian and not labeled as a hypocrite.
When you accepted Jesus as your Savior you were adopted into the family of God. The Holy Spirit came to dwell within your heart to teach you about Jesus and about your life in Christ, so act like you received the most precious gift of all instead of a burden or something that you never wanted to begin with. The gift which each of us has been given through belief in Jesus for our salvation is worth more than all of the wealth in the whole world because we have a home with Him in eternity. This life doesn’t matter except for what we can give to others by our faith in Him. Any gift which has no beginning in Jesus Christ means nothing.
Do you have a real foundation? In our world today many people seem to be devoid of a foundation. They seem to have no concept of even needing a foundation to base their lives and their beliefs on. Yet, America was founded upon Christian principles. Granted many of those were twisted out of context to legalize all kinds of wrongs such as slavery and prostitution and murder and rape. When I said “legalize” I don’t mean that these wrongs were legal in the eyes of the law but they used principles found in God’s Word to either justify what they were doing or to make themselves feel better about something that they knew was wrong in God’s eyes.
The foundation of our principles is based on God’s Law but it is also based on our conscience which God gave to us by way of reading and hearing His Word preached. Whether it was done by a preacher in a church or by your parents or your grandparents it really doesn’t matter. As long as you have heard the Truth from God’s Word then your conscience will let you know when you are doing something which God does not approve of.
We are made in the image of God and have been since the beginning in the Garden of Eden. That has not changed. Man is the only part of God’s creation which is formed from the clay. To form something you have to put your hands in it and make it into a shape that you approve of. Every other creation on Earth was called forth by the Word of God.Mankind was formed from the clay by God’s hands. Can you understand what that means?
When a potter or a sculptor takes a lump of clay or a piece of stone and makes something beautiful out of it they call themselves forming their vision of what is already there. They can see in their mind the man or woman or some other shape and then they either remove the stone or wood from around their vision. A potter looks at the clay and sees what it can be when he lays his hands on it. A master violin player can take a dusty old violin and tune it and make it sound like it came from heaven. God looked at the clay and saw us and all of the good that we could be. Unfortunately He also saw the bad and evil that mankind would be as well.
The only way that we can be what God saw before or during His formation of man is by His grace bringing us to conviction so that we know that we need Jesus in order to be the people which God saw. We need Him and His righteousness in our hearts so that we will live and be more like Jesus than ourselves. Adam was created perfect and sinless and so was Eve until they allowed Satan to twist the words which God has said. They were duped into thinking that they could become more like God. Except in doing so they disobeyed God’s command and in doing so they became more like Satan himself.
Our foundation has to be laid on the rock of salvation through Jesus and our belief in Him as our Savior. If we don’t start our true life off on that foundation by being forgiven and sanctified by the blood of Jesus then we are fooling ourselves and we are wasting out lives. God knows each of us far better than we know ourselves and He knows how far we will go before He needs to bring us to the point where we recognize our Savior and Lord as Jesus the Christ. I pray that many of you who read this will take it to heart and use it so that someone may come to know Jesus as their Savior. If you do not know Him then please seek Him out as your Savior.
Colossians 1:23 if indeed you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope of the gospel you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
There are many people in church and outside of church who will tell you that “God doesn’t speak to us anymore!”. Really? Who do you think is speaking when you read the Bible? It isn’t the person who wrote the words down because it is God’s Holy Spirit which has inspired them to write and speak and pray and write some more. The words in the Bible come from God so how can you say that He doesn’t speak today? No, He doesn’t use His “God” voice because most people would fall down dead if He did! (maybe not dead, but it would scare a lot of people).
God speaks through the words which we read from the Bible but if you don’t read His Word how will you know what He sounds like? God loves us and He has loved us since the beginning of everything. He knew Adam would not be able to resist the Tree of Knowledge. That was not a surprise to God at all. Jesus, His Son, was the Second Person of the Trinity and He knew that He would have to go one day and pay for all of our sins and He willingly did it. His human body and mind didn’t want to but His will submitted to His Father and did it anyway.
Was it painful? Yes! He bled and died for our sins…but He rose to life on the third day and now He is waiting for His Father to tell Him to “Go and get your Bride”. God is giving each of us a chance to be saved but it is up to us and our decision whether we will accept His gift of grace. Salvation is a gift from God just as your life and your health is a gift from Him. Whether we actually accept it or not is our decision. Can God force it on us? He could but that would prove nothing. Forcing obedience from someone is slavery and God doesn’t want slaves, He wants followers and people who love Him because He loved us first!
Love cannot be forced it is given from both parties in the relationship. If it is not or if the love is only flowing one way then pretty soon the stream dries up. A loving relationship is a two way stream and if both parties are not contributing to the stream then pretty soon the relationship will become one sided and then it will die. God doesn’t begin relationships with us in order to let them die. He is the Creator and the Author of Life so a relationship with Him is a two way relationship. He gives and we give as well. We give Him our life just as He gave His Son’s life for us to be sanctified and holy. Did it cost God anything? Of course it did! He felt the nails. He felt the whip as it ripped into Jesus’ body. He knew the suffering that Jesus went through to bring salvation to all who would accept it.
But…not everyone will accept it.
I pray that you who read this will accept His love into your life and accept Jesus as your Savior because one day soon our period of grace will be over and the time of testing and tribulation will begin.
But thou, Beth–lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Micah 5:2 KJV
The Lord of Hosts is His name and He will rule the Earth with a rod of iron. Our King is coming back and all who have rejected Him will know that He is the Lord and Savior of us all!
We are going through some trials now but they will pale in comparison to the time of the Tribulation. There will be many wars and famines and other disasters which the world has never experienced in the time that mankind has been on the Earth. Jesus came to Bethlehem to be born, to live His life as one of us in order to identify with our suffering and then He was crucified on the cross, was buried and then rose again on the third day to pay the penalty for mankind’s sins.
Even though there are many religions in the world, there is only one which has a Savior which has died and was raised to life again. He is coming back one day soon to take His believers home to be with Him. It will be a terrible time for those who are not chosen to be taken to Heaven on that day. Many have heard of this and may even profess to be Christian in their life but if their life doesn’t bear the fruit which comes from being a follower of Jesus, they are fooling themselves. Too many think and even believe in their hearts that they are saved because they have grown up in the church but that doesn’t save your soul. Going to church and Bible school doesn’t save you either, only the absolute belief in Jesus as your Savior when the Spirit calls you into conviction of your need for Him will truly save your soul.
Make sure which side you are on when that Trumpet sounds because pretenders will not enter into the Kingdom.
In churches you sometimes see little cards to quantify if you are a visitor to the church. When you fill out one of these you admit that you are “just visiting” but what about the members of the church? Are you just visiting? Why do I ask this question? Because some people who come to church on Sunday morning don’t even darken the door at any other time. Some come to Sunday school and church on Sunday morning but you don’t see or hear from them until the next Sunday and this covers many people in the church today. To explain what I mean when I say that you are “just visiting” even when you attend every Sunday morning I want to ask a question of you: Does anyone at your place of business or your workplace know that you are a Christian? I am not speaking of those who may know that you attend church on Sunday. I am asking you if they can see the influence of Jesus in your work and in your speech when you are at work?
Or do you sound like everyone else at work and in public? Do you act like those around you when you are away from your church or can they see Jesus in your everyday life?
See, visitors who attend church only get a little bit of what is available to each of us. When you are committed to Jesus and your walk with Him goes out of the church and into the world then you are NOT visiting…you are being the church which Jesus wants us to be. Because, how are your co-workers going to know about Him if you don’t show Him to them in your life and your words? In many parts of America only twenty percent of people even attend church so if you aren’t taking Jesus with you then how will the other eighty percent find out about Him?
Many of us don’t even invite other people to come to our church so how will they ever find out about their Savior unless you show them how He has changed your life? God sent Jesus to the entire world and everyone in it. While it is true that He came to the Israelites first His message was intended for everyone. So how will it get to everyone if the church (people who are committed to Jesus) doesn’t carry the message outside the church building?
The world and those living in it have eternity ahead of them and you have a message to give them about Jesus Who can bring salvation to their lives and give them an eternity worth dying for. Because each of us has an eternal soul and whether you decide to follow Jesus and know Him as your Savior or not has an impact on your destination to live out your eternity. If you aren’t sure about your salvation or where you will spend eternity I would suggest that you take care of that as soon as possible. Not one person is guaranteed to see tomorrow and if you die tonight your eternity begins at that point. The question still remains: where will you spend eternity?
There is a chapter in the New Testament which the Apostle Paul wrote which gives a clear description of your life and mine as believers in Christ. Read chapter 8 in Romans and you will see. We are responsible for our lives and what we say and do here on Earth. We cannot be sinless because we sin every day. There are no sinless people on Earth, Christian or not because we cannot be sinless. Our life is given to us every day by God Himself and if you are a Christian we should be telling others about our Savior especially if we aren’t sure about their salvation and especially if they aren’t sure of it either.
Don’t be a visitor in church, be a disciple who takes God’s Word and your Salvation in Christ out into the world around you so others can see it and hear about Him. Be doers of the Word not just hearers only.
Do you wonder about our priorities or the priorities of someone you see at a store? I do. When tax time comes around or this “stimulus check” comes around, how many people take care of needs with that money? Then again how many do you see coming out of a store with big TV’s or brand new phones? Almost every year when a little so-called “extra money” comes into our hands we use it for things or stuff. What about giving God His tithe on the money that you get? Don’t you think that He deserves a portion of His money to keep His Kingdom priorities going? It is His money after all, He only gives us what we need because of our abilities which He gave to us.
Your abilities and talents were given to you by God before you were born. The job that you get and the salary that comes with it are from Him. Your raises and your promotions come from Him not from your own efforts. God is the provider of all good things but He also tests us when we need to be tested. The only necessity is Jesus.
Jesus is Life and our Creator and it is through Him alone that we move every day and have our life and our being. Eternity awaits but only if you believe in Him for your salvation.
The Living Message of Christ 