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.

Joy in my heart!

Working and doing any kind of work for God is a joy! Whether you are a teacher or a preacher or a blogger! Just knowing that you are telling others about your Lord and Savior even if you never meet them or even know them, God will use your words and give you the words to say so that someone will seek out Jesus as their Savior. The idea of a Savior which is planted in their mind and in their heart (soul) will take root and God will cause it to bloom in their life. It may not happen today or tomorrow but when God is behind your words and the results which come from them, it can’t help but grow.

Jesus has such a powerful love for mankind, not just the Jewish people, until He gave His life so that we could all come to know Him for our salvation. True repentance and acceptance of His sacrifice along with believing that He paid for our sins and their penalties is what is needed for salvation. It doesn’t take a tub full of water for baptism nor many years of “works” for Him to be saved. Speaking in tongues is not required and being overjoyed with the power of the Holy Spirit doesn’t make a difference in whether your salvation is true or not!

In Acts chapter sixteen, Paul and Silas are in jail because of their testimony and because they had freed a girl from demon possession. Here is the story of it:

Paul and Silas in Prison

16And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: 17The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. 18And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.

19And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers, 20And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, 21And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.

22And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. 23And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: 24Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.

The Conversion of the Jailer

25And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. 26And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed. 27And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. 28But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. 29Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 30And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

31And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. 32And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. 33And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. 34And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.

Once or daily, which really works?

The doctrine of salvation says that we are saved because of our belief in Jesus and His atonement for our sins IF we accept that as the truth of our salvation. But, what about repentance? Is that a one-time thing or is it a continual practice which we should do each day? Well, the answer to that can be tricky. If you accepted Jesus as your Savior and you truly sought forgiveness and repented of the sins which brought you to the point of knowing that you need Him as your Savior, that is at least a step in the right direction. But…Satan and his forces don’t just walk away and leave when you become a Christian.

Why would they? Before you became a Christian you were part of their “family” in a way. You weren’t saved so you didn’t belong to Jesus and you were living your life in the way that you wanted to live it, so why should they concern themselves with you? You were in control of your life or at least you thought you were.

In reality we have to repent and ask forgiveness of something each and every day. Becoming a Christian and changing your ways to follow Jesus doesn’t create in each of us a heart and soul like Christ, one that is sinless from that point on. We are still human and Satan is going to ramp up his attacks on you in order to dirty your witness toward others in their walk. He doesn’t get tired and he doesn’t have to sleep so you will be hit with tempting thoughts when you least expect it from this point until your last breath on Earth.

Study God’s Word and fill your mind with gospel songs and messages from Him and you will be able to resist the temptations which Satan throws at you or me. This is the way that we should live our lives with Jesus every day, no matter what we are doing or where you are. God’s Word will strengthen you in your daily walk through life because it is the Living Word.

The model prayer and it’s impact

Luke 11:1

1 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. 2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. 3 Give us day by day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

The prayer which Jesus gave His disciples was and is the model of prayer for all of us to use in our prayer life. So why do I say “in our prayer life”? Because we are encouraged to pray not just when we need something or want something but to live in a spirit of prayer all of the time. Some people may think this isn’t possible but it really is.

This spirit of prayer is not praying constantly but the act of being receptive to the leading of God to be prayerful in all things and at all times. Being ready to pray at any time and for anything which comes to mind or even on your phone today.

The model prayer begins with “Our Father which art in heaven…” because Jesus was trying to bring God’s love down to a more personal, intimate level. Almost as if He really is our Father and in fact He is. He is our Creator and it is His mind and His hands which knit your DNA and mine together. Remember, He has known us since before the Earth was formed so He knows exactly what your talents are and your characteristics will be long before you are born.

God, our Creator, cares for each life which is sent to be born. It is our responsibility to raise those children to know their Heavenly Father and we need to be much more intense in doing so. Because the world and its education system will teach them all sorts of information which has nothing to do with God or His Son. Your life and mine would be very different if we had not learned about Him and if we aren’t careful, the next generation may be the last generation that knows anything about God, even in what is called the Bible belt.

Is Scripture still useful?

2 Timothy 3:16-17

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Paul wrote this letter to his protege, Timothy, because he knew that he was being questioned about Scripture and its authenticity. He also used this letter to encourage Timothy because it wouldn’t be long before he, Paul, would be killed because of his faith. Thankfully we are not yet under such persecution but there are Christians in other parts of the world who are being threatened with death because of their faith in Jesus.

To answer the question, all Scripture is useful and profitable for instruction and training in God’s Truth. Whether those around you want to know it or accept it or not, but if you are a follower of Jesus then you need to know God’s Word so that you know His thoughts about different subjects which is very useful to defend your faith these days. We are called to defend our faith for the glory of Jesus and His Kingdom because we are living at the end of the church age.

What does that mean?

It means that we are very close to the prophecies of the book of Revelation. The taking away of the church and the appearance of a very charismatic leader who is the Antichrist, all of these things and more will happen the way that God has foretold it. Regardless of your lack of belief in Jesus or the veracity of Scripture, the prophecies of God’s Word is not fiction nor is it a myth. One day soon the whole world will find this out and many of them will not like it when they do.

I pray that many who read this blog and others will seek out their Savior while there is time because the only chance that you have to accept Him is while you are living and breathing on this Earth. Once you have died you will face God and you will have to tell Him why you chose not to ask Jesus into your life and believe in Him. That is a conversation that I hope that many of you can avoid having by changing your life and following Him while there is time.

Is Scripture useful for teaching and instruction? Yes, it is! Because it shows you where your life’s choices have gone wrong and it gives you a chance to change and follow Jesus. Scripture shows each of us, if we read it with an open mind and prayerfully, that God loves us and always has. He made a way for us to become His children through Jesus Christ because that is the only way! His Word tells us all of His Truth that we need to follow Jesus into eternity and all we need to do is believe in Him for our salvation so we can have that chance.

Time…

Do you ever consider the time’s in which we live? Such as, why is everything happening in such mixed up ways around the world? Most of these aren’t even reported on the news anymore but they are still happening. What am I speaking of?

Miracles.

To most people in the world the miracles that occur almost daily are not special enough to be given “media coverage” but to the people that they happen to they really are. If you are thinking that I just switched from one subject to another I really didn’t. It is a fact that where we are living in our time and the miracles which are happening are linked together. How do I know this? Because the time in which we are living is referred to as “the last days”.

At no other time in the world could you get news and video from around the world almost instantaneously but in the last few years the Internet has allowed this. It is only because of the advances in communication and the networks around the world that the Christian message can be spread to all parts of the world as well. Miracles are also happening around the world but many aren’t being reported because they aren’t newsworthy.

Most “news” today is only reported on when it fits someone’s agenda or a narrative which they want to promote. Even if it is a media organization and they claim to be impartial many of their investors are not which drives the narrative for most of their stories. Christian news or anything which points in that direction is not really considered newsworthy by the mainstream media.

But…God is still at work in this world today bringing people to a saving knowledge of Him and Jesus the Messiah in record numbers, even in places where Christianity is considered against the law. Many people who have been persecuted for their faith in Jesus are turning to Him and drawing more people to Him than ever before because of the persecution in the Middle East.

So, are we living in the last days? According to most of the predictions and prophetic words of Jesus I believe that we are and many other preachers do too. Reading the book of Daniel and Matthew chapter 24 many of the descriptions sound very much like the news which you hear today. Rumors of wars and persecutions, diseases which even modern medical science can’t cope with, unrest in parts of the world that once was peaceful, lives being lost because of people’s lack of a true moral compass. All of these are happening today and have been happening for a while although it seems to be ramping up to levels that were unheard of a decade or two in the past.

I pray that anyone who reads this will seek out Jesus as your Savior and read the prophecies in Matthew and in the book of Daniel with a prayerful heart and an open mind toward God’s plan. He will accomplish His will for this world, whether we like it or agree with it or not.

**We are at the end of the church age. I suggest if you aren’t ready then you should get ready!**

Grief is hard…

When a friend dies, it hurts. When a brother or sister dies, it hurts more and much deeper. When a parent dies, whether it is your mother or your father, the pain is deep and it stays with you for years. It is not something that you can “get over” or move on from. The pain gets a bit easier to think about over time but it does take time. Sometimes it takes a lot of time.

A person who is or has been a mentor and a friend is close enough to be family, that is who left us today. Why do I say this? Because this person worked with my grandfather and he is in heaven with Jesus today. They are remembering so many memories about their children and grandchildren. They are both worshipping Jesus and thanking Him for saving them from their mistakes and their own stupidity. Something that we all should do today.

I pray that those who read this will think about their families and their own salvation and if they aren’t saved through Jesus Christ then seek Him out while you have the chance. This life is the time for becoming a child of God through Jesus Christ so do it while you can. Don’t wait because not one of us is guaranteed tomorrow. I could die from a cardiac arrest tonight or you could die in a car accident tomorrow morning. Please don’t wait.