Category: Salvation

Cheap copies


I’m just as guilty of this as anyone else but have you noticed in some of the large congregations that are on TV? If you look closely at them, most of those who are in the congregation don’t have a Bible in their hands. Some are reading from an iPad or a phone but there are many more who just read the Scripture reference from one of the monitors. Why? More importantly how can you understand what is being taught by reading a verse, just one or maybe two that is put up on a monitor? Granted, we don’t know these people or their situation at home or their belief in God or Jesus but reading and studying God’s Word, especially in light of what is happening in our world today, should be first on your list every day.

The faith of those who come to church without a Bible but an electronic copy of it are blessed because they are at least reading it while in church. There are many people these days who do not believe especially those younger than thirty years of age. They claim that they have no membership in any congregation or religion. Why? Are they being taught at home about Jesus and the Bible? Not likely. They certainly aren’t getting information on religion or the Bible in school.

The “cheap copies” that I’m referring to are those who claim to be Christians in our country yet they live their lives totally out of character for being a Christian. They’ll attend church services for special occasions such as a funeral or a wedding and maybe during the holidays like Easter or Thanksgiving and Christmas but then they go home until the next occasion comes up. Life is more than this and living a Christian life is more involved than this as well.

Jesus told His disciples “if anyone would follow Me, he must take up his cross daily“; but what does that mean? It means that you must crucify your old life and your old way of living every day and determine that you are going to study His Word and learn of His ways so that others will see Him living in you and through you. Being a Christian is not an easy walk toward the end of your days. It is a narrow, rock filled pathway with thorns and all kinds of tempting paths leading us astray but we should keep our eyes locked on Jesus and His example to stay on the path that leads to Life. Hopefully someone you meet along the way will notice that you have a relationship with your Savior and they will want that too.

Sometimes your walk with Him is the best witness that you have to give away and you may not know how many people have noticed it until that day in heaven when you meet them. I’m not saying that we, as Christians, can live a perfectly sinless life because the only One Who could is your Savior. But we should strive toward that goal of being a witness to those around us whether we know them or not. Let your life be your witness so that they can see Him through your words and your character.

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Even the death of the cross


What was the purpose?


Before I became a Christian many years ago I wondered why Jesus came to settle the accounts of humanity? What was the purpose? During the past decade I’ve tried my best to teach and preach from the Bible the whole counsel of God and tell those who would listen about my Savior and Lord even if they were only reading something that was published here. Sounds tedious doesn’t it? Well, not so much. Until last year when this “new” corona virus showed up and scared almost everyone out of the church, things looked pretty good actually. When the lock down began many went into hiding or at least “sheltering in place”.

The church that I had been a pastor of for nine years shut down with no idea when we might start back up again. So, I began a daily post here…sometimes more than once a day and it seemed to be what many people were looking for. I had more visitors and people looking at those posts than I had in previous years. I’m not blowing my own horn but the fact was that people needed to find some encouragement and good news and I suppose some of the words that I was given helped. Mainly because I sought God’s words just as I am still doing today and just like I sought His input for the sermons that I preached.

So truly…what is our purpose and what was the purpose for Jesus’ death and resurrection? The first is easy in a way. My purpose and yours is to accept the calling on our life when we feel the Spirit move our heart to accept Jesus as our Savior. Ignoring that call is a very dangerous thing to do because you might not have time to accept Him if you have a wreck on the way home or even if you had a heart attack tonight. When your time is up…that’s it.

The purpose for Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection was simply to be the Spotless Lamb of God to pay for ALL of the sins of mankind once and for all time. Sacrifices don’t have to be made afterward for something that you did on Friday night, Jesus paid the price so all you have to do is believe in Him for your salvation, repent of your sinful life and follow Him daily. Is it easy to follow Jesus? No, it isn’t at all easy but the reward is tremendous! If you have never given your heart to Jesus you will need someone to guide you through the early days because you likely didn’t read and study the Bible before. It will be strange to read and unless someone can help you, it can discourage you in your new life with Jesus.

That is why I have so many different translations of the Bible. Some of them are paraphrased like the Living Bible or the Message. The original translations from Greek and Aramaic to Latin and then to English are the King James Bible and the Gutenberg Bible. Today you also have the Christian Standard Bible, the New International Version, the New King James Bible, and a host of others that I won’t list here. The Living Bible or the Message are the easiest to read and get the ideas which are presented in the text, especially for a new believer. But you need to compare those ideas with the words from another version in order to get all that you can from God’s Word. Ask God to help you understand His Word and He will so don’t give up on reading it.

God inspired His prophets and others to write the words, His Word down so that we would have a complete understanding of His story and Who He is. If He had not done this, we would be clueless about His plan of salvation that began in Genesis and is shown all the way through until the book of Revelation. God doesn’t want anyone to die apart from Him but He gave us the ability to choose to follow His instructions and be redeemed or we can choose to reject His offer of salvation and be condemned…it is up to us.

Amen!


You are important!


Why do I say this in the title? Because God would not have sent His Son to redeem you or me or anyone else on Earth if He didn’t think you are important.

God has a plan for each of us. He can bring blessings into your life that you cannot imagine. I don’t mean that He is going to drop millions of dollars into your bank account, He gives you what you need when you need it. Remember, Jesus told the disciples that the hair of your head is numbered and that God even watches over the sparrows of the field and knows when one falls to the ground. If He cares for His creation enough to keep up with sparrows, don’t you think He cares for you even more?

God had a plan for each of us long before we were born, even before the foundation of the world, so that should tell you that you are important to Him. We are important enough for God to come down in the form of His Son in human flesh to redeem the sin nature that began in the Garden of Eden. He wants a relationship with you and He was willing to pay the price for it to come about.

Jesus taught His disciples for three years about the Father and His plans and what we should do with our salvation. Give it away! Others need to know the good news of Christ and the atonement that He paid for with His life and His resurrection that we celebrate this weekend. Jesus said, “I am the way, the Truth and the Life, no one can come to the Father except through Me.”

Even the thief on the cross believed in Jesus and His Kingdom and it was enough to bring salvation to His soul. Remember, no one is guaranteed another day to live. Make sure of your salvation before tonight is over because your eternity depends on it.

Be still…


and know that I am God.

May be an image of text that says 'Stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God. -Job 37:14- Û'

This likely saved me as well


May be an image of text that says 'A Grandmother's Prayer Dear Jesus, I whisper into the darkness. I feel Your Presence near. have some things to share with You. know that You will hear. I bring my cares before You, And lay them at Your feet. ー ask You, please watch over them; Each grandchild, oh so sweet. They're young and very precious. They have so much to learn. Lord Jesus, please protect them. Direct them at each turn. And when each child is fully grown, I'll bring them to You still, Asking for Your blessing, And praying for Your Will. Amen! Judy K Billing'
I don’t know what my mother and grandmother prayed when I was a teen and so crazy, but it was likely a prayer like this that saved me from killing myself back in the late seventies.

What an answer!


Jesus said, “What is it that I should do for you?” “Lord, I want to see!”

Lord, I want to see! Do you? Can you see? The work of Jesus allows us to see His work and His salvation. The blind man wanted to see and we should want to see. Physical sight is wonderful because of all of the beauty that is seen in God’s natural world all around us. He created all of it but have you ever wondered what you would see if your spiritual eyes were open as well?

The blind man, Bartimeaus, wanted to see with his eyes but when his physical eyes were healed I believe that his spiritual eyes were opened as well. He could see Who it was that had healed him. He could see that it was the Messiah, Jesus the Son of God! Few people in Jesus’ day could see that He was the Christ, the Messiah that had been foretold many hundreds of years before because they didn’t want to see Him. The priests didn’t want to see another Teacher, although He was that. They didn’t want to hear about a prophet from Nazareth or Galilee. They knew that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem but they didn’t know that He had been born there and that He was from the line of David.

Lord, I want to see! They didn’t see their Savior because of their idea of Him. He was supposed to be a conqueror and King. He was and He is but He didn’t come the first time as a King…He came as our Savior to pay the price for our souls to bring us back into a right and consecrated life through the blood of His sacrifice on the cross. He knew that it was about to happen soon because He was on the way to Jerusalem for His last Passover with His disciples before His crucifixion.

Why is it that even today people have their idea of salvation and how to obtain it? They think that somehow they have to help God to fix their life so they can be saved. Your life doesn’t need fixing but your heart needs to be remade into the image of the heart of Jesus. The Holy Spirit will come into your heart and change it so that it will reflect His image and His way of living every day afterward. We can’t do anything that will change us or clean us up enough to be ready to give our life to Jesus. When you feel that you need Him and that you are lost and going to hell without Him, that is when you can see that you are not enough without Jesus in your life.

I pray that many of you who read this will seek Him out as your Savior today because many of us don’t have tomorrow. We are not guaranteed another day of life but eternity is a very long time, make sure of your destination and that it is with the Lord.

God’s love is boundless!


Jesus paid our price. He took the sins of the entire world on Himself to bring humanity back into a right relationship with Himself and with God. Your sins and mine are the reason that Jesus went to the cross, as well as the sins of all of the people from ages past until now. Seek Him for your salvation while there is time to do so. We are living in the age of grace between the crucifixion and the time of tribulation which is coming. But we are coming to the end of that period of grace, please make sure of your salvation in Jesus Christ before that time gets here.

You are never alone


Many of us think that we are alone, even when we are in a crowd. Sometimes this feeling gets to be overwhelming and people think of suicide because the loneliness feels like it is crushing them. I’ve felt this way myself although I’ve usually prayed about it and God has given me peace enough to carry on.

Anyway, when you have accepted Jesus as your Savior you are never alone because His Holy Spirit is always there to comfort and guide you through troubled times. He never leaves you once you have truly opened your heart to Him and asked Him to come in and save you from yourself. It is your sins and your own life that is at stake after all. God knew this long before any of us were born. Jesus did all of this because of His love for us.

Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, whether you have been taught this or not, it is the Truth of Scripture. God’s Word is true in all aspects, I pray that everyone who reads this will seek Him for their salvation. This age that we have lived in for nearly 2000 years is coming to an end. There is nothing which has to happen before Jesus calls His Bride, the church, to come home except the salvation of those who have been called by the Holy Spirit. If you have felt this in your heart, please seek your Savior soon and accept Him as your Savior.

God loves you and He has paid the price for our sins through the sacrifice of His Son, the Lamb of God. Do not refuse this gift of God because it has been given to each of us. The greatest gift ever given to humanity in the Person of Jesus Christ.