Do you believe?

Some people accept the truth of God’s Word. Some people only believe parts of it. Even today people who have heard God’s Word preached in churches for years and yet some people won’t believe that the Bible is true from beginning to end. Why? Because of the lies of Satan and even those in the church today who tell or preach partial truth with just enough Scripture mixed in until it sounds good. It sounds like it came from God’s Word. Some of it did and some was just the wisdom (foolishness) of the person bringing the message.

Many of the “sayings” that we hear today are attributed to a verse in the Bible but they didn’t come from the Bible at all. One, in particular, is this: God helps those who help themselves. This sounds like it’s giving the OK to stealing and being a thief. First, this “saying” is not in the Bible at all. Second, God would not condone breaking one of the Ten Commandments.

Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, not just of Israel but those who are lost in the whole world. He died to pay the penalty for our sins and He did but many people still don’t believe in Him for their salvation. Many of them can’t believe that it is that easy. “All I have to do is believe in Jesus’ sacrifice for me?” There has to be a catch.

No catch. That is why Jesus said that even children understand Him and His plan for salvation. It doesn’t take a degree in theology to get the message. When the Holy Spirit touches your heart and opens your eyes to the fact that you are lost and a sinner and that you NEED Jesus as your Savior, there is no question of “I can do it myself”. The thief on the cross couldn’t do anything except believe in Jesus and he went to heaven with Jesus that very day!

God has never made salvation or righteousness in His sight very hard. You either believe in Him and it is counted as righteousness or you believe in Jesus and you are saved from your sins. Belief and obedience go hand in hand in God’s economy and when you do both you are rewarded. God’s love is free to all if we will accept it and salvation is too when we feel the call of the Holy Spirit on our lives and in our hearts. He is always as close as a prayer, whether it is a prayer of repentance to become a believer or a prayer of need, He answers both.

Our God is in control!

Daniel wrote in chapter 3:16-18: I will begin in verse fourteen: . 14 Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?…but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. 17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament. Because it shows just how much our Lord loves each of us who serves Him and boldly proclaims it to those who deny Him. Even Nebuchadnezzar admitted that the “fourth man looked like a Son of the gods”, which it was the pre-incarnate Jesus Who had come to rescue them from his furnace. They came out with no evidence of smoke or hurt or burning on them or their clothes.

The world around us is in turmoil and we have to flow right along with it but God is in control and our faith in Him can carry us through the problems and the turmoil that is ahead of us regardless of how bad it may get. Keep your faith strong by reading God’s Word and praying to Him so that you may be counted worthy to be taken in the first coming back of Jesus in the clouds to take His Bride away!

His Message

When you consider all of the apostles and preachers and missionaries who have gone into the world since Jesus ascended to His Father nearly two thousand years ago, there is only one message.

God loves you and sent His Son, Jesus, to die for your sins to reconcile each of you to Himself. We can’t save ourselves and there is no amount of work or money or even time that will save us from the wrath of God if we haven’t accepted Jesus as our Savior. God has made it so simple even a small child can understand it, but most adults want to make it complicated and try to add some bit of work or help that we have to do to “help” God save them.

It isn’t needed! We can’t do anything that will get us clean and sanctified without the blood of Jesus and the acceptance of His atonement for us on the cross. Yes, we do want to help but our salvation has already been paid for through Christ. This is the message that has been saving people for two thousand years. It doesn’t take a degree from a seminary or a college to get this message across to people.

Just preach about Jesus Christ and His sacrifice and His resurrection. Tell others why He came to bring salvation to all who would believe. Either by teaching others, preaching, blogging, or just plain witnessing to those who may be curious. A bunch of fishermen did it with a tax collector in the bunch for good measure. Jesus had a larger group than just those twelve and each one brought a special ability to the group. All of them were called to be His representative in the world and all of them did exactly that, just as we are supposed to do.

Jesus paid the price for our sins, the entire world’s sins, it is still up to us whether we will accept His atonement for those sins and live our lives forgiven and free from the slavery of sin.

I will praise You!

We do this too often

What are you talking about now? I’m talking about the way we take so much for granted these days. Men take their wives for granted and children take their parents for granted. It just goes on and on and on. We even go to bed expecting to wake up in the morning and go to work or go fishing…taking the Lord for granted that He will allow us to have another day for our pleasure.

All of this “taking for granted”is just too much! We have never been given nor guaranteed to have a certain number of years or days to live and work and play. God allows us today to serve Him and if we do well in that area then He may give us tomorrow and the next day…possibly. Why do I sound pessimistic? Because, the farmer who built bigger barns for his produce and wanted to sit back and take it easy didn’t have the time to take it easy. His soul was required that night so he didn’t enjoy his so-called “retirement” because God said it was time for his soul to be judged.

If we would wake in the morning and thank God for waking us on this day to serve Him and give us His blessing for the day then we may live past today or tomorrow or next month. But there are many who refuse to give Him thanks for waking them up for the day. They look at it as today is given to me and I’m going to make the most of it for my enjoyment. That is not what we are put here for and it is especially not what we are called for as Christians.

Living our daily life as Christians, honoring God with our life and our income and telling others about His blessings that come to us because of His love for us NOT because of anything that we have done. The only thing that we have done to be a Christian is to recognize that we are sinners and that we need Jesus Christ to come into our hearts and make us a new creation in Him. Once we recognize that we need Him then we repent of those sinful ways and turn to Him and follow Him for the rest of our lives.

We don’t become Christians by attending church and Sunday school every week. We don’t become a Christian because our parents and grandparents are Christians. Many people have claimed to be Christians but their life doesn’t show the fruits of the Holy Spirit which comes to those who truly are! God is the only One Who knows your heart and He is the judge of believers and non-believers alike. For believers He judges your actions after you become a Christian to see the kind of fruit you have produced. For non-believers He is your judge and He asks one question, “Why didn’t you believe in my Son?”

Taking your salvation for granted is the worst mistake that anyone who thinks they are a Christian can possibly make. It is an eternal mistake which will cost you your soul and your eternity. I pray that anyone who has even a small bit of doubt about their eternity or their salvation will seek Jesus and make sure of it soon.

This day is coming!

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:14‭-‬17 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/1th.4.14-17.KJV