Category: Salvation

Many are called…


Do you know Jesus or just know about Him? It sounds like a trick of words but there is a very BIG difference. In much of the South, people know about Jesus because most of us have been in church since we wore diapers, some of us are wearing them again. What is my point with this post? It is that knowing about a Person or a process is one thing. Knowing that Person as your Savior is totally different by many factors. In the Bible it says that “many are called, but few are chosen“. What does that mean exactly? In the parable about the banquet, the invitations were sent out about a feast being held at this rich man’s house. Most turned away because of some excuse, like many of us do when we feel Jesus’ touch on our hearts for the first time. Then the rich man told his servants to go out and compel many people to come to the banquet and many did come, although not the original group who were invited. That is the difference between Israel and the Jewish people and Gentiles, us. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost of the children of Israel but He was rejected and crucified, although that was part of God’s plan.

Even today when the call has gone to all to come to the banquet, Jew and Gentile alike, there are still a very few who accept His invitation. Everyone is going about their business or their work every day, even with the pestilence of disease all around us. We are told to wear masks and distance ourselves from everyone by at least six feet. Some places are even putting together an identity system for those who have been vaccinated and those who have not. This system will be used to control much more than just your identity. You won’t be able to used services or to buy goods without it. Does it sound familiar?

We have been called by God to be light to the world around us as Christians. But if you are not reflecting the Light of the World then you aren’t shining very brightly for those in need. Have you heard His message of love and compassion and grace but have decided to ignore it for now? Have you felt that need for something or Someone that you can’t quite put your finger on? That is the Holy Spirit speaking to your heart. He is telling you that your life needs Jesus in it and your heart needs to belong to Him! Why do I write this today? Because the time of the church age, between the sixty-ninth and seventieth week from Daniel’s prophecy, is about to come to a close. Whether you believe in Jesus for your salvation or not is about to become real whether you go to church regularly or not. If you’ve only heard Bible stories from childhood but didn’t put much faith or belief in any of them, the Alpha and Omega is soon to show up and when He does, much of the world will mourn because they knew about Him and His offer of salvation and forgiveness but they never accepted His gift.

What else is coming?


Jesus tells us this much in Matthew 24:

Temple Destruction Foretold

(Mark 13:1-9; Luke 21:5-9)

1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

False Christs

5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Witnessing to All Nations

(Mark 13:10-13; Luke 21:10-19)

9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

The Abomination of Desolation

(Mark 13:14-23; Luke 21:20-24)

15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16 Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: 17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. 23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25 Behold, I have told you before.

The Return of the Son of Man

(Mark 13:24-27; Luke 21:25-28)

26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 28 For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

The lesson of the Fig Tree

(Mark 13:28-31; Luke 21:29-33)

32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Be Ready at Any Hour

(Genesis 6:1-7; Mark 13:32-37; Luke 12:35-48)

36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. 37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

42Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. 43But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. 44Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. 48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; 49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; 50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, 51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Just ask…


8 for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Matthew 7:8 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/mat.7.8.KJV

Amen

Serve the Lord…


14 If ye will fear the LORD, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the LORD your God: 15 but if ye will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall the hand of the LORD be against you, as it was against your fathers. 1 Samuel 12:14‭-‬15 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/1sa.12.14-15.KJV

God’s blessings


Amen

We are called…


according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 2 Peter 1:3 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/2pe.1.3.KJV

Amen

I’m not ashamed of the gospel!


16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/rom.1.16.KJV

Consider the dash…


On gravestones, there is something that seems out of place. Some have a favorite Bible verse plus the name and the birth date and the date of a person’s death. Some don’t have anything beyond the person’s name and the date of their birth and the date of death. The one thing that seems out of place and without much explanation is the dash. It is hardly noticed because it is placed between the years on the stone. It essentially represents our life. From birth to death this “dash” is where everything in this person’s life has happened.

They grew up as a child and went through school, got married, and had some children (maybe) and along the way, they worked at a job. They could’ve gone on a mission or to church most Sundays, but unless we knew them there is no reference to this.

The dash between the dates of your birth and your death is all that is left here on your grave to give evidence of your life. The real evidence of your life is your children and your spouse and possibly some friends that you made along the way. But what does the dash mean? It signifies your life. As Solomon said in the book of Ecclesiastes “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity”.

Anything and everything that we have done in this life is meaningless unless we have done most of our work during our life for God and His Kingdom. I don’t mean that you have to be a pastor but living your life daily as a Christian does count for something. Even if the dash doesn’t show it. So what happens on the dash? Your life! Every person’s life is different so only their family and friends would know what belongs in that space. God, of course, knows exactly what happened and why.

The dash of your life looks short and it is, just as your life is short in comparison to eternity. Even if you live to be over one hundred years old, eternity is unending. God’s Kingdom is in eternity and it had no beginning and it doesn’t have an end just as God had always been existing in that realm. That is why our lives are referred to as a wave on the sea or a puff of smoke because our life is like the snap of your fingers. Earthly life only lasts as long as God allows it to. The end of your life is known to God but thankfully not to us. 

We are not guaranteed tomorrow so seek the Lord while He can be found on this side of life because once you pass into the next life, your eternity is determined by your choice. Follow Jesus and be useful to Him in this life and in the next.

Forgive each other


13 forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. Colossians 3:13 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/col.3.13.KJV

Amen

Are you seeking Him?


Many people today seem to be seeking Him. They are asking questions about Him and the life that they would have with Jesus in their lives. But…are they seeking Him to be their Savior? Asking questions and reading books about Him from other authors and preachers who write about Him is a step in the right direction. But what are you getting from them? Second-hand information mostly. Possibly even their interpretation of Who He is. You aren’t getting the Truth or at least not all of it. 

Reading the Bible, God’s Word, on the subject of His Word which is the Savior, Jesus Christ! I know…many people say that the information on Jesus is only found in the New Testament so why should I read the Old Testament? Because every book of God’s Word has a reference to or a type of Jesus Christ in it somewhere. From Genesis, He is referred to as the Seed of the woman and the Angel of the Lord to Exodus where the type is the “bread” from Heaven, manna, or the Rock which gave its living water to the Israelites in the wilderness. Those are just two or three references to the Christ Who is to come.

Moses was a “type” of Christ, Joseph was a “type” of Christ so there are many references that allude to a Savior in the very beginning of the Bible. Actually, every book of the Bible has some reference to Him in it somewhere.

When you seek Him, don’t just read or pray about Him or what your need might be. Seek Him earnestly in His Word, pray while you are reading it, and ask Him to reveal Himself to you. When you feel Him touch your heart and you will know when it happens, you will want Him as your Savior because you will feel it in your heart. You will realize that you are a sinner who needs a Savior, otherwise, you will be going to hell.

God loves each of us but He is not pleased with our sinful lives unless we have accepted Jesus as our Savior. If we have done that then the sins that we have confessed and asked His forgiveness for are wiped away. When the Holy Spirit comes into your heart and Jesus takes your sin away, it is gone. I’m not saying that you won’t sin again, but the guilt from your previous sins is taken away. Although, Satan will bring them back to your memory later to taunt you with them. God has put them all behind Him as far away as the East is from the West.

Life with Jesus in your heart is not an easy road to travel, especially today, but He will give you the strength to get through the troubles and trials which will come. Give your life to Him because He has already given His life for yours.