Category: Believe in the One Who saves

How soon, Lord?


For many who believe and for many who don’t believe this is a question which has been asked for the past two thousand years. Yet, God is silent…or is He?

If you read His Word and pay close attention to the prophecies in Daniel and Ezekiel and the Revelation, comparing them to each other and watching the world news with your Spirit (if you believe), you can see the prophecies coming together. If you are not a believer then you will keep wondering and scoffing at those who do believe. Many people in government and in the world are skeptical and rightly so. It has been a long time since Jesus ascended to the Father but He said that He would return. God doesn’t lie and the Bible is not a book of legends and myths as many people seem to think.

There have been signs in the heavens and here on Earth which have come to pass in the past fifty years. Just in the past five years, there were four blood moons and an eclipse which all happened on Jewish holy days. Those were not foretold in the Bible exactly, but Jesus did say that there would be signs in the heavens.

Many people have tried over the past few hundred years to predict the day or the hour or even the year that Jesus would return and all of them were wrong. When that day comes there will be no doubt about what is happening and what has happened. Anyone who has heard of these prophecies or heard a sermon about the end times or read one of the books which have been published over the years about this time in history will know what is happening. Although many will doubt and many won’t believe what it is unless they see someone taken up or see a grave opening and the body rising to meet the Lord.

How would you react if a number of people around you just vanished, leaving their shoes and clothes on the pews? If you are still in the church when this happens, what do you do? My advice to you is to make sure of your salvation now so this won’t happen to you.

Even then they will be frightened more than anything. Most will begin looking for answers, trying to find someone who can explain what is happening. In some places, there may be a few who are left that can explain what is happening. If it happens on a day that people are attending a church or worship service there will be some who thought they were “right with the Lord” but they will be left. Talk about a bad day!

You cannot earn your salvation, it is a gift from God!

Are you sure?


The prophetic books of Daniel and Revelation both speak of a time when the redeemed of the world will be taken. The book of Thessalonians also speaks of a time like this just as Jesus said in Matthew 24 that two would be in the field and one would be taken and the other left. So are you sure of your salvation and your place in the Kingdom of God? Do you belong to Him truly and completely? One day we will all find out exactly where our heart and our soul belongs because on that day…we will be taken to be with Him forever.

What if it happened this Sunday morning during the church service? Would you be in that number of people who leave their clothes and their shoes and everything which was man-made behind? Even your dentures and your hip replacements and glasses will be left in the pew. So are you sure of your salvation? Be watching for Jesus and expecting His return because it will happen and all of us need to be ready when that day comes.

Where are you, Lord?


During the times when we are either being attacked because of our faith or brought low in our health, we often ask this question. If you are wondering about the two instances which I listed in the previous sentence, it’s because those are the times when Satan or one of his flunkies are attacking us because of our faith in Jesus. 

For many people in the world who are having real problems with their health, like those suffering from cancer, faith in God is the best way to have any hope of either a complete healing or an eternal future. Are there agnostics or atheists who have these problems? I would have to say, Yes! But they don’t really have faith in God until He is the only real hope for them. Atheists don’t believe in God period, no matter what name you give Him.

I am not trying to put people down who don’t believe in God or have a very low opinion of God, but He is the only One Who can accomplish anything in your life and He will if you will believe in Him for your salvation. Does that mean that you can never have any more fun after giving your life to Him? No indeed, the fun that you will have will be tempered by your faith and by His Spirit but He doesn’t take away your enjoyment of life. You just have a different outlook toward God’s creation all around you.

He is everywhere but that doesn’t mean that you should worship a tree or an ocean or a person other than Jesus because only He is the Son of God. He paid the price to redeem you, therefore He deserves our praise and our worship every day of your life. As Jesus told His disciples, “Not even a sparrow falls that my Father doesn’t know about it”; so since God watches over the birds and the other parts of creation, He will watch over you as well.

God cares for all of His children and we are His, take comfort in this.


A new beginning


A new mother and a new Christian have a lot in common. One has given birth to a new life, the other has been given a new life in Christ. The processes are different since one is a physical birth and the other is a spiritual birth but both are new in their beginnings and in their experience.

The new life of the baby is completely dependent upon the mother for its nourishment and care. A new Christian is dependent upon the people around them to learn about their Savior and about being a Christian. Both babies have to be nourished and cared for but in different ways. The new baby, whether it is a girl or a boy, has to be bathed and have their diaper changed often. They have to be fed either at the breast of the mother or by a bottle for a while, but it won’t be long before they will begin eating “baby food”.

The baby Christian needs to be fed as well. Regularly and with much prayer because they need to start off on a good Biblical foundation, preferably in the New Testament as their starting point. Later, they can go into the Old Testament, again with prayer so the Holy Spirit can teach them what is needed from the books of the Law and the prophets and the historical books. All of these are necessary to their growth as a Christian but the Old Testament could be considered the “meat” of God’s Word. Most of the New Testament is much easier to understand for a Christian who is just starting out.

These descriptions are the best comparisons which I can come up with because this happens all over the world. People are coming to know Jesus as their Savior and they need guidance and direction when they are new in their faith. A baby needs many of the same things but in a physical way. When I became a believer, at first I didn’t get the help I needed so I was more like the wet ground which seeds fell on but it was very thin. In Jesus’ parable about the sower, some fell on good ground but it was thin because of rocks being beneath it. The roots didn’t go very deep and when the heat and other factors came together, the sprout withered away.

That is what happened when I first began my life as a “believer”. I did believe but I didn’t get the spiritual help that I needed so my faith shriveled up and my faith went with it for a time. Belief in Jesus does save us but if your new life in Christ isn’t watered with God’s Word and allowed to process what you are learning, your new life can become stale and ineffective. Without nourishment in a believing home and a believing church, your faith can wither and if you don’t get the help you need before your faith dies, it may be a long time before you will come back, if ever.

I pray that anyone who reads this will seek out the Word in a Bible study group or church, especially if they are a new Christian because it really did help me when I renewed my faith in Christ many years ago. I suppose I was saved at the first but since there wasn’t real growth in my faith for a long time the Holy Spirit just kept nudging me toward God so that I would learn more about Him so eventually I did and you can too.


We begin our lives as babies, in our physical form as well as in our faith in Jesus. You aren’t born knowing everything, it takes time and effort. Becoming a mature Christian does too. Seek His Word in a church and in your Bible so that you will grow to know Him more.

Time and death


Neither of these wait for anyone. Time moves regardless of the speed you perceive it’s movement as. Sometimes it moves slowly and at other times it seems to sprint much faster than you would like. Death on the other hand bides its time. It does come to us but there are times that it makes it’s appearance at inopportune times. For some it comes far too early and for others it shows up when it is least expected.

Time was a part of creation and God ordained it to be. It was supposed to mark seasons and months and years along with the stars and the Sun and the moon. Until that creation week, time had not existed and neither had death. Until the disobedience of mankind, death had never been a part of the universe. But, God had to clothe Adam and Eve with the skin of an animal so death entered into our world.

Life is marked by both time and death but also by birth. An infant comes into the world and from his first breath to his or her last breath God already knows the time that they will have. The best part of your salvation in Jesus is that when you come to the end of your life here, you are just beginning your eternity with Jesus. So death in this life brings your eternity to life and it will never end. The only way that this will be a joyous life on the other side of the veil is if you have given your heart to Jesus in this life.

Time is only measured on Earth. Once you enter into eternity time doesn’t truly have any hold on your life from that point on. If you are a child of God and have lived a separated life from the world while following Jesus in this life then your eternity will involve many wonderful experiences. If you have not given your life to Jesus, then your eternity will be one which is endless punishment for not giving your life to Him. That is the unpardonable sin…refusing the gift of God through Jesus.

I pray that those who read this will turn away from their sinful lives and ask Jesus to be their Savior. If you have given your life to Him, wonderful! If you haven’t, what are you waiting for?

What can you do?


It is a question which is asked many times in today’s job market. In trying to figure out what sort of position you may be able to do, you will get this question. Maybe not worded the same but the answer will either get your prospective boss’s attention or they will listen to you and then tell you “I’ll call you”. Which just means, “Next?!”.

In consideration of your eternity and your salvation there is no question like this because there is nothing that you can do to “help” Jesus save you. He’s already done everything necessary to give you salvation through Him! When you feel your Spirit telling you, convicting you that you need Him, the only thing that you can do is believe in Him for your salvation or…not!

It is your decision to accept Jesus as your Savior and believe in His work on the cross which paid for your salvation and then confess Him before your church that you have done these things. Then, get baptized which shows everyone that you have put your old sinful self in a grave and you have risen to walk with Jesus in a new Life!

Becoming a Christian is not some work which you have to do day in and day out in order to earn your salvation. Jesus did all of that perfectly! So when you feel His call on your life, don’t turn away and tell Him that you don’t have time. Because you may be telling the truth…you don’t have any more time to make this decision. Your life may end for some reason today or tonight and you may not get a chance to ask Him into your heart before you really meet Him face to face. If you haven’t asked Him to be your Savior, what could possibly gain you entrance into Heaven? Answer: NOTHING

We can’t do anything in this life to earn our salvation which has already been paid for and there is no amount of money or works or charity which will do that for you either. Did Jesus really give His life for us? Yes! The disciples wouldn’t have died such horrible deaths for a lie. All but one disciple died from crucifixion or being skinned alive or by being beheaded and many other ways. John was the only disciple who died of old age.

Are you sure of your salvation? If you aren’t then read John and the book of Romans. Both of these will point you in the direction and to the Person you need to know, Jesus the Christ!

We are ambassadors for Christ


Many people who claim to be Christians are not pastors or teachers or serving overseas as missionaries. They are just members of their respective churches. But…we are called to be ambassadors for Jesus Christ wherever we may be. At work, at home, at school, at the mall or at a restaurant eating out, if someone sees you blessing your food or any other action which might identify you as a Christian, then you should represent Christ in whatever capacity you can.

When we are called by God’s Holy Spirit to repent of our old ways and follow Jesus, we are also called into His ministry. This is not optional, it’s just part of being a follower of Jesus. The disciples knew it and everyone who knew them also knew that they were His followers. It is a ministry which doesn’t have a retirement date until you meet Him upon your death.

Does Jesus require us to do this for our salvation? No, it is not a requirement because He did all that was needed for you to be saved. It is up to you to accept the gift of salvation and atonement from Him when you feel the need for giving your life to Him. The Holy Spirit convicts you of your need but it is your responsibility to accept it and ask Him to come into your heart and change you into the person that He knows you can be. His ambassador wherever you go or whatever you do. That is your calling after you have accepted Him and truly given your life over to Him.

Salvation is not a sometimes thing and it isn’t something that you can choose to use when you need a blessing from God and then turn it off. True salvation is a change in your heart and soul because you KNOW that you need Him to change you into that person that He already knew about but you didn’t want to until the Holy Spirit convicted your Spirit of it through faith and by your accepting His Grace for your new life in Him. We are not born into the family of God, we are invited to join by God’s Spirit which convicts us of our need for Him.

Eternity is waiting for each of us and there are two different places where we will spend it. Heaven for those who give their lives and their hearts to Jesus and live a life of service and grace through faith in Him. The hell of separation from God’s Presence with the demons and Satan because you refused His grace and the salvation that only He can bring into your life. When we hear a message about salvation at church or a revival meeting and we don’t know Jesus yet, it is our responsibility to either accept it as the wonderful gift that it is or to reject it and go about our life as if we have all the time in the world. But nobody has that luxury.

Jesus’ death began before the cross


Have you ever wondered about the night that Jesus was in the garden? Most of us know the story about Him going to the garden and asking the disciples to pray with Him. He was asking the Father if this cup could pass from Him and He was sweating drops of blood because of the stress and the fear that His humanity felt. He had very likely had an idea or vision of what was coming in relation to the crucifixion. But…even before His crucifixion, He was scourged.

The “cat of nine tails” was usually dipped in resin and then drug through broken glass or pottery and it had metal tips on the ends as well. This whip was about 2 ½ feet long and the Roman soldiers who wielded it did not like being in Judea nor did they like Jews. Most of Rome’s soldiers were well muscled as well so taking all of that into account, Jesus began dying from the loss of blood at least an hour before He was nailed to the cross.

By the time Simon the Cyrene began helping Him carry His cross, Jesus had lost enough blood that He was very close to losing consciousness. So, His death began much earlier than being nailed to the cross. He had felt the betrayal of one of His disciples. He had heard Peter deny knowing Him three times and even though He knew that it was going to happen, it still hurt Him emotionally. Just a few days prior to His “mock trial”, many people had hailed Him as their Savior, their Messiah, coming into Jerusalem. Yet, many of those same people had been paid to bring false accusations against Him during His “trial”.

All of these combined to bring His Spirit to a very low point, so it is not surprising that He cried “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” when He was on the cross. We think about all of the miracles that Jesus performed while He was teaching and preaching during His ministry and those are proof of Who He was as the Son of God. Most of us never consider that Jesus was born as a human baby to a human mother. His limitations and His emotions and fears and His doubts all were part of His humanity so He could identify with us in every way. He knows your depression and fear and heartache. He has felt bruised feet and hands while He was a carpenter with His human father.

He felt hunger and fatigue during His time of testing in the wilderness for forty days. He felt alone even among thousands of admirers because of His mission which was coming to an end. Jesus felt all of these things which we feel but many of us don’t consider this when we read the Bible or listen to a sermon. Because the Bible doesn’t give details about His emotions or His feelings most of the time. So why do I write this now? Because we should think about our Savior’s time as a human being. Every feeling and temptation which we feel or have felt, He experienced during His life on Earth. That is what makes Him so easy to relate to and easy to believe in simply because He lived as one of us until He went back to His throne in Heaven.

Make sure of your salvation and your belief in Him while there is still time because after the church is taken away, choosing to become a Christian will be much harder to do.

Everything that He went through on this day, He did because of His love for humanity.

Stay the course, keep watching…


Do you love Jesus? I don’t mean a little bit or as a friend, even if He really is your friend. I mean a deep, abiding love like you have for your spouse or your children!

2 Timothy 3

1 But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good, 4 traitorous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!

This is a perfect description of our world today, even the world inside some churches. People who believe in Jesus or even think that they do are in the same boat as those who are described by Paul. In today’s society even those in the church, are lovers of self much more than they are of Jesus. But, we should all be His followers and lovers of Him just as He loved all of us enough to go to the cross and pay our debt for our sins.

So, why do we choose to say that we are followers and believer’s in Jesus and yet we have no respect for Him and no real love for Him either? We are just living in the last days before the time of the Tribulation, that’s all. Why are the church and those who make up the church acting this way? Mostly it is because of the society we live in and how we have learned about our Savior. Just as it says in the Bible, “Things continue on as they always have”, we have gotten very apathetic about Jesus’ coming again.

Most of us were brought up in a church, regardless of the denomination, and we’ve heard about Jesus and all of the stories in the Bible all of our lives. So, we believe that we are Christians mostly by osmosis.

Except it doesn’t work that way. Your heart has to be convicted of your need for Jesus. Not just because you want to join the church one Sunday but because there is truly a conviction inside that you are sinful and there is no other way to fix this sinful problem except by giving your heart to Jesus and asking Him for His forgiveness for your sinful ways. The problem with this in today’s church is that there are too many people who don’t believe nor do they think that they truly need Jesus as their Savior!

Many believe that they are good enough to get into heaven even without giving their heart to Jesus and repenting of the sinful things that they think about and do on a regular, sometimes daily basis. Many have made their own version of Jesus in their minds and he doesn’t mind their sins nor does he convict them when they do or say anything that the real Jesus would not allow. This is modern idolatry. There is no statue or figure representing the “god” that they believe in because their idea of “god” is in their mind.

During this time just before the Trumpet sounds (even though we don’t know when that will be), all of us who believe in the real Jesus and have accepted Him as our Savior need to be watching for the signs and reading the Bible. Why? Because we can discern the prophetic signs in the news better if we know what is foretold to happen. God is sending out signs all over the world but if you don’t know what has been foretold, you won’t notice them.

What binds us together?


The overarching glue which holds the church together and has done so since Jesus walked among us is…love. Jesus commanded us to love one another as He had loved those who started with His ministry. God’s love has resonated throughout the Scriptures and He has demonstrated that love by giving us our provisions such as food and shelter. He has watched over us in times of trouble and in times of plenty because the fruits which we are blessed with have always come from Him.

Colossians 3:14 says: And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Even though the church has not enjoyed “perfect unity” since it began, the unity of faith in Jesus Christ and the mission which He gave to us is and always has been our guiding principle. Even if we are attacked on all sides today for the Truth which we proclaim because it upsets people and makes them uncomfortable. Jesus made the leaders of the Temple uncomfortable too because they didn’t want to lose their prestige and power. The church which has followed His example has been a catalyst for change in this world. But it didn’t do so by force or arms, although during one dark period it did use force. The Crusades were a mistake and would never have happened if Jesus was around but there were too many in the church at the time who wanted more power and more land brought under the Christian flag.

The problem with that thinking is this: a message of love cannot be forced upon anyone. Trying to force people to change from one religion or belief system to Christianity does NOT work! Nobody loves by force and you can’t learn to love by force.

The church today is bowing to the culture of today and is less of the church which Jesus Christ started than it ever has before. This is something which those of us in the church need to stand up and fight against because when we are less than Jesus’ message then we aren’t being the church at all. Why did Jesus come to mankind in the first place? He came because of His love for us, all of us! Why? Because He knew that there was no way that we could do enough to bring salvation unless He started it. Without His love for us and His sacrifice for ALL of us, we would never be allowed into Heaven.

If the church, regardless of denomination, doesn’t get back to the message which is in God’s Word then the world is lost. Because it is our responsibility as believers to tell others about our wonderful, mighty, compassionate God Who came down to give His life so that we might live in eternity with Him!

It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. 5 And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. 2 John 4: 4-6

Walk in the truth as the Father commanded so that others will see the Truth of salvation by Jesus Christ and belief in Him. This is our mission and our duty as Christians.