Category: Accepting Christ is your choice

Jesus was human too


He gave up some of His deity and clothed Himself in humanity for the time that He spent here, but He never sinned. Did He make mistakes like we do? Possibly a few, but they weren’t recorded. When He worked in His father’s shop as a carpenter I imagine He banged His fingers a few times or got some splinters in His fingers. The Bible says that He didn’t sin, it says nothing about any mistakes like those I described. That is the most incredible thing about our Lord and Savior, He lived as a human being with our limitations but He was still God. He was still in control of the demons and diseases and the storms and even life and death!

But…He was human in some ways, the most human ways.

He was tempted. He felt hunger and pain and sorrow and fear. He likely felt many of the feelings which we feel every day of our lives, but He didn’t sin and He didn’t allow Himself to be drawn toward sin. Could we do that? Humanly speaking, not a chance. With the Holy Spirit and determination to live according to His teachings and following His example…we might come close. But in our world today it would be very hard to do or very nearly impossible unless you lived in a very secluded place.

In fact, I don’t believe that we could live even one whole day without a sinful thought or action, even with the Holy Spirit living within us as Christians. Why? Because we are just not attuned to His leading and His voice well enough to hear and obey everything that He says. Jesus could and He did live that way because He listened to His Father and the Holy Spirit. Why did Jesus go through all of this?

For you!

This was planned from the beginning, even before the Earth was formed or Eden became a garden! God knew that we would need a Savior and Jesus was tasked with this long before you or I came into this world. He lived and worked as a carpenter so He wasn’t some frail, sickly Jesus. The only reason He had trouble carrying the cross was because of the beating that He took before the crucifixion. He had already lost a couple of pints of blood (likely) before they placed the cross on His shoulders. Yes, Jesus went through all of this for your sins and mine just so we could become joint heirs with Him in God’s Kingdom.

Once you give your heart to Jesus and repent of your sinful life, your salvation can never be lost or taken from you.

Who is the Lord, that I should obey Him?


This question has been asked by all sorts of people. From Pharaoh on down through the ages until now. Why is it so hard for people to grasp that the Lord is our Creator and our God? He places kings and Presidents in their offices. He keeps governments in place to do His will, even though they may not be Christian in their beliefs. Pharaoh didn’t believe in God and didn’t want to believe in Him until God showed that He was above all of the gods of Egypt and Pharaoh too.

So, why do we either decide that we don’t want to believe in God or His Word or we are so arrogant that we think we are better than He is? Satan thought this and still thinks it, but he is a defeated foe. We, as human beings, are much less powerful than an archangel so how can we think that we might have some sway over God’s decisions? We can’t! God created the entire universe with His Word and formed mankind from the dirt on the Earth…can you do that?

God did all of these things for His glory and to make us see that He is God! Not a carving or a casting of any person or imagination or of an animal or your family or your career! None of those can speak to you in the way that He does and not one of them died and rose from the grave to pay for your sins and mine! Only Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, did that and HE did it because He loved us long before we were born!

God the Father knew each of us before the foundation of the world was laid by Him. Yet, many of us act as if He doesn’t exist or rather we don’t want Him to be real. Why? Because, if God is real then His Word is true and everything that we thought we knew about evolution and science, while they may not be wrong some of it will have to be re-thought a bit. Because many have said that there was no world-wide flood and the Earth has to be more than a few thousand years old. Evolution didn’t happen because God created everything, if His Word is true. Which it is! God doesn’t lie.

Your life is dependent upon many things which God has put into place in our natural world. Many of them govern the way the air and the gases which make up our atmosphere react with one another. Some of these numbers are so precise until a variation between 0.007 up or down by only one thousandth would cause the universe itself to come apart and life would cease to exist. So, don’t say that God has no interest in our lives. Even the molecule of the protein which holds our bodies together, called Laminine, is shaped like a Cross.

Think about this when you feel like denying that God exists.

Who is God?


The names and attributes of God the Father are numerous and are described in detail in His Word. So…who is God? First of all, He is the Creator of everything. He is God and there is no other. Creation was thought of by God long before the Light shone through the darkness of the cosmos. Why did I call it cosmos when there was nothing there? Because it was a place where there was nothing yet it was as huge and as large as all of the universe is now or maybe more! God looked at it, even though there was no light in it at the time and He knew that there would be people of many nations and many languages and He loved them, even though they did not exist…yet! They were in His mind, we were in His mind before there was a planet or a moon or an Earth for us to live on. He loved us before the beginning of everything! Isn’t that wonderful?

I cannot go into all of the attributes of God and His awesomeness in this small article but one of those attributes was Jesus the Son. God existed as a triune being as God the Father, Jesus the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Each of these is God but each of them does different things in creation and in our world. Jesus is the Living Word of God and He was part of the Creator because the Word of God brought all of creation into existence just by His Word. The only part of creation which was not brought about by His spoken Word was mankind. God formed mankind from the clay, the dust of the Earth and later He formed woman from the rib of the man. Formed suggests that God has a personal part in creating us. Isn’t that wonderful?

When you read God’s Word you are studying His speech, His thoughts, His feelings, even if men wrote them down. The Holy Spirit inspired those men and taught them those words and His thoughts and commands that He intended for them to write down for a purpose. To teach us how to live, how to love, how to deal with problems in life. God’s Word is the best textbook in the world because it did not come from the mind of man, but from God Himself! The wisdom contained in it surpasses all of mankind’s wisdom, not because it is better but because it is truthful and it is the absolute Truth.

God’s Word teaches us how to be more like Him. Are there some aspects of God that we can’t be like or live out in our life? Yes, because He is God. We can’t create life from nothing. We are His creation and we will never be “God”. Let no one tell you that you will be and if they do, run! Your life is not just this existence, which is about seventy years or maybe up to one hundred years. That is but a moment in time when you think about eternity. God’s Living Word, Jesus Christ, said that we will either accept Him as our Savior or we will reject Him. There are only two choices. One of them will bring you into God’s Presence in Heaven and rejecting Jesus will send you into hell because you chose to reject Him. It is your choice…so choose wisely because after your last breath comes the judgment and your choice determines your destination.

Remember, God so loved the world (every person in the world), that He gave His only begotten Son. That whosoever believes in Him (for salvation) will have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge and condemn the world [that is, to initiate the final judgment of the world], but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 Whoever believes and has decided to trust in Him [as personal Savior and Lord] is not judged[for this one, there is no judgment, no rejection, no condemnation]; but the one who does not believe [and has decided to reject Him as personal Savior and Lord] is judged already [that one has been convicted and sentenced], because [b]he has not believed and trusted in the name of the [One and] only begotten Son of God [the One who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, the One who alone can save him]. John 3:16-18 AMP.

Eternity, are you ready?


This is the most important decision that anyone can make in their life.

Most people don’t seem to worry much about life after death. They look at it as a fable or a myth that they’ve heard about at church or maybe read about in the Bible but it isn’t clear to them in any way. Until they have something happen to a friend or a family member that brings death and its consequences a bit closer to home.

Jesus did come two thousand years ago and He lived a perfect life, which we cannot, and then He gave His life on the cross for each one of you and your sins. He paid the price for all of our sins so that we wouldn’t have to IF we will believe in Him for our salvation, repent of those sins and then follow Him for the rest of our lives. That is the purpose of all Christian lives. To live our lives through His strength and power and by His atonement for our sins we are to tell others about Him so that they can know Him as their Savior.

That sounds a lot like being a missionary or a preacher? Yes, it does, but that is the command that He gave His disciples and once you have given your heart to Him and are saved through His blood, then you become His disciple and you are just as bound by that command as they were. Even if you don’t tell but one or two people what Christ did for you, if they give their life to Him and become His disciples then maybe they will tell two each and so on. Sooner or later there will be many people who have heard about Him and have given their lives to Him because you told a couple of people.

Does becoming a Christian make all of my problems go away? Not likely! Many of them may multiply because when you become a Christian, Satan now looks on you as the enemy. Before, you didn’t know Jesus and he wasn’t too worried about what you did or said to anyone. But once you begin telling others about Jesus and those people begin listening and changing their lives, now you have become a problem. Satan sees you as part of the enemy’s camp now and he may try to hurt you or your family but all you have to do is rebuke him in the name of Jesus and tell him that no part of your home or your family is his and that he should leave you and your family alone!

God loves you far more than you know or can even imagine which is why He sent His Son to pay the penalty for your sins. Then you can join His family and be with Him in Heaven for eternity, and that is a very long, long time. Much longer than our little sixty or eighty years on Earth. Make sure of your salvation before the day is through because we aren’t guaranteed tomorrow.

All of us have sinned


As it says in the book of Romans, “all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God“. Living in the world as we do, even if you are a Christian, it is impossible to keep from sinning. We are human after all. But while we were yet sinners, Jesus Christ died for us long before we were born so that our debt in our sin was paid by Him. Being a Christian isn’t an easy job but with God all things are possible.

Jesus came and gave His life as a ransom for ALL of our souls and it is by His stripes and through His blood that we are healed and have eternal life, if we believe in Him for our salvation. Did He do this willingly? His humanity didn’t want to go through the pain and suffering which is why He sweat drops of blood in the garden, but Jesus the Son came to ransom us because He loved us, all of us. Whether we accept His gift of salvation when we feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit or not is up to us, it is our choice to choose Him as our Savior.

One small step…


Our Creator placed the “lesser light to rule the night” in the sky many years ago and today there have been celebrations and re-broadcasts of Apollo 11 landing on the moon. Fifty years ago. I was seven years old at the time and I remember hearing those words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. I never thought about being alive fifty years later to re-live those moments. I do remember how much we all hoped that mankind would get better at being mankind and better at agreeing about things.

Our problem has persisted for much longer than fifty years though. Most of our so-called “racial” problems and religious problems won’t be solved until Jesus is ruling the world one day. We don’t have the fortitude and wisdom needed to get along. So, regardless of the songs that are written or the poems which are written about peace on Earth and the fictional stories about mankind putting war aside one day, it is not going to happen until Jesus comes back!

He is the only Person capable of bringing lasting peace to our world. No ruler or any man will be able to bring peace to the whole world. He is also very good at bringing peace into your life too, if you will give Him a chance. God loves each of us so much that He gave His only Son for our sins. Jesus took all of the punishment and the separation from God the Father just so we could be forgiven. Isn’t that amazing enough to warrant giving Him your life so you can tell others about Him too?

Please seek Jesus out while you have a chance in this life because there isn’t a second chance after this one is done.

Give it away!


A missionary by the name of Jim Elliot said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” He was killed taking the gospel to the Amazon Indians but later those who killed him came to know Jesus Christ as their Savior. Jesus said that we were to go and tell all of the world about Him and the salvation offered to them by belief in Him. When you are free from the burden and the heavy toll of a sinful life through the power of Jesus the best thing that you can do is to tell others about it. Give it away!

Because once you have that freedom you can’t lose it so the best thing to do is to give it to someone who needs it. Jesus came to tell the Jewish people about God’s enduring love for them and through His disciples work after He went back to be at the Father’s side they heard it and much of the world, at the time, heard it as well. Many people down through history have tried to stop Christianity from being preached and spreading but it can’t be done.

Remember, we are chosen by God and we were chosen even before the foundation of the world itself. “You did not choose me but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit” ( John 15:16). God has known each of us because He knows who will choose to follow Jesus and who will not. It is because He knows your heart (soul) and because He is our Creator, we are never forced to choose Jesus as our Savior but He knows each person who will choose to be a follower of Him. It is still our choice, but regardless of how long it takes, even the most stubborn of us will choose to follow Jesus even if it is on our death bed.

God wants us to know how much He loves us and by the sacrifice of Jesus to pay our debt from sins He did show everyone just how deep that love goes. So when we become Christians and repent of our sinful lives, following His example from His Word, the best gift that we can give anyone is to give away our best gift which is our Salvation through Jesus Christ! It is worth more than all of the gold and silver in the world and we should give it away, one person at a time.

Amen

Are you poor in spirit?


Matthew 5:3

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Who are the “poor in spirit”? In some commentaries, it means “those who have lost hope”. They have lost their faith in themselves and in God too. They are depressed and weary of this world and its troubles but they can’t see any way out. Does that describe anyone you know? 

Actually, it seems that much of the world around us falls under that category of being “poor in spirit”. They have lost what little faith they had or they just can’t seem to find anything or anyone to place their faith in. Truthfully, there is nobody in this world that we can put our faith in who could bring us out of the “pit” so to speak. The only Person Who could do it…Who can do it is Jesus Christ.

He was telling His audience that day on the mountain that they would have the kingdom of heaven even if they were poor in spirit. How? Because from their point of view the only way to improve their life was to look to God for help, physically and spiritually. The poor in spirit are not those who are following Jesus, they are poor in spirit because of their lot in life, whatever it may be. He was not commanding His followers to become “poor in spirit” but telling those in the crowd that because they were in that condition already, their lives would change one day.

Being close to the kingdom of heaven is exactly where we are today. In this building studying the Bible and what He meant by His words, we are closer to the Kingdom of heaven than we will ever be until we do cross over that threshold from here. We have a responsibility to tell others about the Kingdom of heaven and how they might gain entrance into it one day. 

But…do we take even that responsibility serious today? Many in the church don’t take it seriously at all. They attend services sometimes and they read the Bible, occasionally, but they are not serious about being a follower of Jesus. Many people think that after they have said some words that a preacher told them to say and they got wet in a baptistry, they can go back to living the way they were before. Many do this and think that they are saved. 

But they aren’t. If you haven’t changed your lifestyle because you know that you are born again and that you should be “set apart” from the life that you led before then you aren’t really saved. You are no different than you were before. You may read the Bible on occasion and you may pray about something that you want to do like pass a test in school or get a ribbon in competition but that doesn’t mean anything in your heart, in your soul. Nothing really changed.

You are still “poor in spirit”. You need to seek out Jesus and pray that He will show you what you should do. Because our days are numbered and only God knows how many days each of us has. You may meet Him tonight or tomorrow. You or I could meet Him in a few minutes but the one thing which makes your eternity different or more urgent is that if you don’t know Jesus as your Savior then you will be spending eternity wishing that you had changed and truly given your heart to Him.

Psalm 1 tells us exactly how a godly, righteous person should act:

The Two Paths
(Matthew 5:3-12; Luke 6:20-23)
1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in his law doth he meditates day and night.
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Consider this before your days are up.

When you pray…


Do you just sit there and ask God for stuff or is it an actual, heartfelt prayer? Is your prayer mostly for yourself or for others? Praying for others deals with selfishness because its not really about you, because nothing in this life is. Your Christian life should be about caring for others, whether it is family or not.

Jesus did not say at any time “if you pray…”, He said “when you pray…“. Prayer is a part of your life as a Christian. It is your lifeline to God and your emergency contact point with Him. Prayer can accomplish more in your life and in the lives of those you pray for than any number of doctors or lawyers or anyone else. Just as you enjoy being able to contact your parents or your children, God is our Heavenly Father, our Creator and He enjoys it when His children contact Him for our needs as well as the needs of others.

Prayer is your Spirit crying out to the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, Who can do all things in your life in His will for your life. He doesn’t fulfill your list of things that you want like a grandfather or like Santa. God takes care of our needs when we are living and working in His will for our lives. Asking for a Corvette or a million dollars is not the way to pray! Prayer for yourself should be according to the will of God to strengthen and enable you to work more effectively for His Kingdom and His glory. Would a million dollars do that? Maybe but not likely. Would a Corvette? No.

Prayer is necessary for our life and for our work which God has called us to do, even if you only have one day left to live. If you have more days ahead that is wonderful because you can do more for God each and every day! It doesn’t matter how much pain you are in or how much money you have or don’t have, God can use you in His Kingdom. God’s Word is the most useful and valuable possession that you can own. It is more valuable than a mountain of gold because the words contained within it came from the mind of our Creator and our Father. No amount of human wisdom can match the wisdom contained within its pages.

I truly pray that anyone reading this will search the Bible for the needs in their life because if they don’t have a relationship with Jesus…that is the greatest need that they will ever have. Why? Because without Him, eternity will be lonely, miserable and painful in hell. Why? Because it is a decision that you make when you know that you need Him and if you don’t accept Jesus as your Savior then that is where you will be.

As the thief on the cross said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom”. Jesus said, “Today, you will be with Me in Paradise”. That is how easy it is.

Do you know God?


This sounds like a loaded question doesn’t it? Even Satan knows God but he refused to serve Him and was kicked out of Heaven for his convincing lies which lured away a third of the angels. Most of us who have ever been in a church or listened to a sermon on TV know about God but do you know Him. Another very important question which is part of this is: does God know you?

Many of the generation who have come along in the past twenty-five years or so know more about Star Wars or the Marvel heroes or Poke’ Mon than they know about our Savior. But you asked did I know God? Well, Jesus is God the Son, then there is God the Father and God the Holy Spirit so He is your Savior if you believe in Him and the repentance that HE paid for on the cross for each of you. Knowing God is not some mystical meditation thing, because you can get to know Him by reading His Word and seeking Him as your Savior.

Doing “works” on this Earth and in this life doesn’t help you to get saved. Working for God is the fruit of a person who IS saved and is serving their Lord and Savior because He did all of the work needed to grant you salvation by His grace. We can add nothing to our salvation but we can show others our Savior by talking to them about Him or blogging about Him or teaching a class. These are the result of your salvation but they do not add to it or help God save you. As I said, Jesus did all of the work needed for your salvation, all you have to do is believe in Him and accept Him as your Savior.

It sounds too simple doesn’t it?

But if you read the book of John and the book of Romans in the New Testament you will see that your belief in Him and your surrendering to Him as your Savior is all that is required of you. It doesn’t take giving thousands of dollars to charity or mission fields or even going on a mission trip. It hinges on your reaction to His call on your life convicting you of your sins and then turning from them toward Him in repentance to walk as a new creation in His likeness! I pray that anyone reading this will seek Jesus out as their Savior and Lord because He is coming back soon. Make sure you will be a part of that first resurrection.