Category: Salvation

God has left the building!


And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband. (Isaiah 4:21)

Is this what is happening in our culture and our country today? Is this happening in the world today? From what I have seen on the news and on the Internet, it seems to be happening. The thing is that it was prophesied to happen at this time and we are going through what is called the “falling away” or in some translations it is called the rebellion. In any event, it is the people of the church, who have attended church…some for years and yet when persecution comes or times get hard then they turn away from their faith and rebel against the teachings of the church.

These are people who I believe aren’t really Christians at all, they were just going through the motions. The did all of the “churchy” things like being teachers in Sunday school and even being Deacons in the church, some were even pastors, but they had never accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

I don’t understand how that is possible myself. How could you deceive people, and even yourself, into thinking that you are saved and even called to be a pastor, if you don’t have Jesus in your heart? “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17; isn’t this the scripture which shows exactly where your heart is and to Whom you belong? If you aren’t a new creation, then how can you possibly act like and perform as if you are, even when it isn’t genuine?

Our lives, in Christ or not, are in God’s hands and if we continue to push Him out of our lives then one day He will leave entirely. He will still be in control, but He won’t be there when you call on Him just as He did when Israel did this. There are many people today who don’t want to believe in Him or don’t want to hear about His message and that’s okay. Not what you were expecting me to write though huh?

The reason that I did write it is because I can’t convince you, all that I can do is give you scripture or some wisdom that I have gleaned from God’s Word. It is your choice to do with it what you will. Take it into your heart and learn about Him, then ask Him to come into your heart and live every day seeking more of His wisdom. That is His desire for us, at least in part.

Of course, you can ignore it and choose not to learn of Him. Deciding that He is an imaginary being from myth. Choose this road for your life and follow it carefully, watching everything along the way. Then when you die one day, and you stand before the One that you rejected maybe then you will see and understand. By that time, it will be too late to change your mind and your eternity will be before you.

“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15

How much more?


How much more is the world going to have to endure? How much more killing in the name of a dead prophet? How many more children will be murdered in the United States because they aren’t wanted? The count is over fifty million now! How will you explain to God that you killed them because you just didn’t want that child because it was inconvenient at this time?

The atrocities that we hear about on the news from the Middle East don’t even compare to our own, because we made it legal. There is a double standard in this world today that is so messed up. It is impossible to keep up with all of the things which happen and many of those we don’t hear about on our “news programs”, we get them from Facebook or somewhere else on the Internet. The lives that we have today, at least according to the pundits of the time, were supposed to be like those of the cartoon family, the Jetson’s. Very little work, money to do whatever you needed to do, technology to take care of all of your needs. By this time, we were supposed to be living the life.

It doesn’t look that way to me today. Our weeks now are taken up with updates on Facebook, tweets on Twitter, texts on our smart phones, blogs where we tell everyone our shopping habits and post our pictures of vacation spots that we would like to go to, but don’t have the money. Then, there are the folks who actually work for a living. Many of them are working sixty and seventy hours and barely have time to shut their eyes in sleep before they have to do it again.

Yes, I do keep this blog going. But I don’t post anything except the messages which I feel led to post by the Lord. I don’t care if you believe me or not, that is not my concern. My concern is that you believe in Jesus, Who died for your sins so that you can have life in Heaven. I know, I sound harsh tonight, but the point is that there are so many who discount the Bible and the Son of God. Why? If it weren’t for their love and grace toward you and me, we wouldn’t be here at all!

God loves each one of you, far more deeply than any of us truly deserve. Yet, He gave His Son on the cross to pay the penalty for all of the sins of humanity from Adam into the future until He comes again and even further than that. All that we need to do, if we want to repent of our sinful ways, is to come to Jesus in repentance and ask to be forgiven. Ask Jesus into your heart and then determine that you are going to live under His teachings from the Bible for the rest of your days. Read it, study it, pray about what you have read so that you can understand it and then tell others about your life with Him. Even if you only tell one person and they come to Jesus, all of Heaven rejoices at that!

All of this terrible stuff that we are going through right now is because of Satan and his demons. They are not in hell, they are here causing all of this. The wars, the diseases, the killings, the murders, all of the terrible, evil things that men are doing to each other is being done because of the influence of satanic powers and demons who inflame our human tendencies to a point where we don’t even act like humans anymore. All of this was foretold in the Bible and that it will get worse before the end comes. Seek out Jesus, pray that He will save you so that you can be a light in someone’s life if only for a while.

God loves you. Look to Jesus for your Salvation. Seek Him while you can.

What do you need from God?


There are many things which we need and He provides them all, even when we don’t ask for them. We need air to breathe and our health which enables us to get up every morning. Water and food are the next things on our list of needs and God has provided those for us through our ability to pay for them. Clothes and shelter are another couple of things which I would describe as needs, since we don’t want to walk around without clothes in the winter especially! Shelter is nice because we can stay warm and dry when it is cold and wet outside. These are the basic needs which everyone has that God has provided for us, even when we haven’t asked for them.

What about our life itself, didn’t God provide us with that too? God has provided for us to be alive every day that we live and He has provided a way for us to have eternal life too. In truth, we all will have an eternity since we have an immortal soul. The difference is our place of residence. Jesus said that “I am going to the Father to prepare a place for you, so that where I am you may be also.”. The dwelling place is in Heaven, which is beyond our comprehension to understand the beauty and majesty of yet.

Since God loves each of us enough to do this, why won’t many of us accept it on faith and believe in Jesus’ sacrifice for us so that we can have it one day? Looking at the Bible, God’s Word, from our stand-point, we see a book of rules and regulations and a book of historical stories which may or may not be true. Many people today see it as just that, a book written by a bunch of old men which has no real truth to it and is a work of fiction. Really?

One day soon, our world will be shaken with the Truth coming back like He said that He would. Then many who don’t want to believe will have their world turned up-side down because of their un-belief. Why do I say this? Because a book with over forty authors which spanned over two thousand years of history could not possibly point to the birth of a Messiah from beginning to end, if it was an imaginative fable written by people who made these stories up!

After His resurrection, His disciples went all over the world that they could reach and were all killed for the message that they brought except one who died of old age. During the last two thousand years there have been many thousands of people persecuted and killed in horrific ways for their belief in Jesus and this Book, the Word of God! I doubt that they would’ve died the way that many did if this had been a fantasy or a lie.

What do we really need from God? Forgiveness, which we already have through Jesus, if we will believe and accept it. Our world and many of our churches need forgiveness for perverting the gospel into something which is twisted out of Scripture and doesn’t look like any of the Wisdom contained within the Bible. Yet, today many so-called “preachers” and “evangelists” are teaching a form of godliness which is not represented in the Word of God. This was prophesied by Jesus when John wrote the book of Revelation.

It is a book of the Bible which many are afraid of and they don’t want to read it but it is relevant to our time.

Eternity and God


He is the Creator and He gives life to all things, so why is it so hard for people to believe in Him? I know, they want to believe that science and reason is capable to “making sense” of all things. In some instances it can explain chemical processes and reactions as well as mathematical formulas and their outcomes, but all of those things were brought into being by God too! The laws of our universe were created by Him and everything here follows those laws.

Eternity is another dimension, another state of being outside of time and space. One which we can’t touch or feel or understand until we are there. We can’t sample it and we don’t have a way to access it except through our belief in Jesus and His atonement for our sins or not. Our souls will inhabit eternity whether we believe in Jesus or not because they were created immortal, but the destination or the end point of our eternal journey is dependent upon our belief in Jesus or our rejection of Him.

It doesn’t matter how many people you may have killed in your lifetime or if you killed anyone. You may have just told a few lies and otherwise you may have been as good as any saint that went to church. But…if you haven’t accepted Jesus as your Savior before you die, then you will come to the Judgement seat of God and be condemned to an eternity of punishment because of your decision.

God doesn’t want you to spend eternity in hell, but it is your choice to believe or not. That is the thread which your eternity hangs by…your belief and acceptance of Jesus as your Savior or not. Which will it be for you?

What is going to happen?


That is a loaded question to which I really don’t have an answer. I can’t see the future except through the prophecies of God in the Bible and from that our future is getting darker. Why? Because of our own natural tendencies. I know, there are many people who really don’t believe in God or in anything that is contained in His Word. That’s okay. You are entitled and able to believe whatever you wish to that might give you some comfort.

We always wonder what is beyond the curve or over the hill and it is the same way we feel about the future. Most everyone wonders about what is going to happen in our life and many times we try to plan for it or make plans for those future days. The problem is that we aren’t given those days until they get here. The only day that you actually have is today, and even that is not guaranteed for the full twenty-four hours.

We are fragile and we do make mistakes, all of the time to some degree or another. Many of life’s problems come to light when we try to do something which is beyond our ability or we attempt something which our common sense is telling us not to do and we do it anyway.

I know, many people especially men think that they are invincible, particularly those in military service but the fact is that it is only modern protection which makes them able to come home. Mostly in one piece. During the wars before Vietnam, the injuries which many of our disabled Vets come home with would’ve killed them or they would’ve died en route to medical help. We look at our lives from two perspectives most of the time…right now and tomorrow.

We want gratification of our wants and desires immediately if not sooner. Sometimes we have the patience to wait until tomorrow for some things, but our country and its culture has become so focused on instant gratification until very few children know what it means to wait from Mom to cook a meal or to go to the library to read a real book.

The future isn’t fixed in stone but the outcome of the future is. God has already ordained what will happen at the end of this age and at the end of the one thousand-year reign of Christ. Those outcomes are not up for debate, whether you believe in God or not you will bow to Him one day and acknowledge that He is God and King. Wouldn’t you rather invite Him into your life and your heart now? So that your eternity will be so much better and enjoyable for you and those that you love?

I know that many will choose to go their own way and follow whatever suits them but in the end, when your life is over and you do find out the Truth, it is too late to change your mind at that point. We are only given this life as a sort of “practice run”, once this existence is over your decisions made here will have an effect on your eternal home. Your soul, that part of you that longs for purpose and meaning, is immortal and your future home depends upon the decisions which you make now, today while you have it. As I said, you aren’t guaranteed tomorrow. Seek Him while He can be found in this life, before your eternity begins.

Wolves in disguise


Many children’s tales tell of wolves in sheep’s skins and Jesus warned us in His teachings that many would come in the latter days seeking to draw people from the church or from faith by pretending to be something that they are not. Yes, it is happening today! Like it or not, we can’t ignore it and we can’t just brush it away because they are here and causing problems in the church and in society in general. Even if I knew their names, I wouldn’t tell you but the way that the “news” programs only report good “news” that looks and sounds good. They are doing exactly what the Bible says, yelling “peace and safety, all is well”, when the world around us is far from that these days.

Are people able to recognize these disguises? I don’t think so. Mainly because we have elected many of them into offices of importance in our country in the last seven years. We listen to their ideas of how the population should be receiving the wonderful news of “affordable health care”, yet very few of us can afford it or the insurance that we are required by law to get. America is not the wonderful land of opportunity that many of us grew up in anymore, it seems to be fuelled more by greed and power than doing what is right and being an example to others.

What happened?

Well, many won’t believe what I am about to say but we brought it on ourselves. Yes, many of you will believe that part but how we did it is not so easy. It was gradual at first and many of the changes started over fifty years ago, but the changes which sped up our country’s headlong fall came about after 9/11. The leaders of our government decided to use a phrase from the Bible to symbolize our resolve and our determination to rebuild. The problem with this was that the phrase and the verse that they used was a prophetic verse which predicted the type of fall that we would experience afterward, but many of them didn’t take the verse in context. They only used the portion which suited them, like many preachers do today.

Today, the “rapture” of the church is preached all over this land by many, yet one of the verses that is used is never used in context. It is only used partially, so that the effect is changed from that which was intended. 2 Thessalonians 2:2,3: “the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition:”

Your life and mine mean much more to God and His Kingdom than we will ever know until we see Him face to face. God has provided the forgiveness and the path to salvation for each of us, all that we have to do is believe in Jesus and His sacrifice and we are forgiven. For many people this is too simple and too easy, yet that is exactly what God has done for each of us…because He loves us.

Yes, the church will be “taken up in the twinkling of an eye”, but not before the man of sin is revealed and the falling away from the church happens first. Hold fast to your faith, watch and be ready therefore because the days are coming when family will be divided over religious differences and greed. Even if you have to keep a secret place for your Bible, do it. Read it, study it, pray over the words that you read and ask God for the strength to remain steadfast in your faith. He is coming back and the whole world will know it when it happens, not just a few.

 

What is going on today?


Many people are asking that question today and every day, so what would you tell them? Would you tell them that global warming was destroying our world? What about radical groups of religious zealots for Islam and Buddhism that are attacking and killing people because they don’t follow their brand of religion? Economies of governments and the budgets of nations are in dire need of help, but from where? The people in those countries don’t have enough money to put food on their table let alone enough money to pay taxes and higher fees for insurance! This world and the people in it need hope and a Savior but from where will he come?

He will come from Heaven and from Scripture into your lives and your hearts if you will choose to allow Him to do so. He is not going to bring pounds of gold to give to you nor is He going to make your problems vanish over night, but He will give you a hope for tomorrow and the strength to get through whatever it may be that is in your path today and tomorrow.

God loves each of us far more than we can know or even understand, yet we don’t seem to want to allow Him into our daily lives, why? Are we so blinded by our own ego and pride that we can’t see that we need Him in our lives? It is possible to let Him into our daily lives without His Presence interrupting our activities. Actually our activities should be in line with His plans for us, but that isn’t possible for many people.

The love that God has for us is far above anything that we can understand, but the closest that we can come to it is the love that most parents have for their children. That is how God views us, as His children. Regardless of our color or our background, He cares about us. No matter where you live or what you may be doing in your life, He is there watching and if you allow Him into your life He will guide your steps and your actions so that others will see Him through you and maybe they will seek Him out too.

In our world every day there is heartache and trouble, from drugs and shootings to violence in the home and religious zealots making statements about which religion we should be following. Some of those zealots may be Christians, but the majority that we hear on the news are from those who don’t believe in any god or those who follow Islam. Most news agencies won’t report anyone who is doing Christian work, unless it gets a headline somehow and usually in a negative way.

Satan is in control of most, if not all, of this negative press so it really shouldn’t be much of a surprise. If you have read some of the prophecies in the Word of God, you know that this is supposed to happen. God knows that it is happening and He is in control. He allows some things that Satan does but thankfully He isn’t allowing Satan free rein on Earth just yet.

Jesus is the only answer to our world’s problems and giving your heart to Him is the only way to come to the Father in Heaven. Seek Him out while you have today. We are not guaranteed tomorrow, only the day that we have and we must use it to the best of our ability. Serve Jesus and allow Him to work through you for the better and greater good of those that you come in contact with. He will grant you peace and security in the Life that you will have after this one.

Worry and fear, what should we do?


Jesus said for us not to worry although in today’s world it is hard not to. We hear of all the wars and killings, in our local cities and overseas. We read the news or hear it on the nightly news and wonder what is going on in this world and why. We are worried that our children and grandchildren will have a worse time of it than we had instead of hoping for their lives to be better like our parents did. What has happened to our world and why is all of this terrible stuff happening every day and every night?

It was foretold that this time would be this way, yet few people are paying attention because there are so few who believe the Book that contains those prophecies. Even fewer it seems, believe in the God Who gave the words to the writers of that Book or in His Son, Who came so that we would have eternal life and have a way for all of our sins to be forgiven. Why?

The reason for the unbelief that is so rampant these days is simply that very few families teach their children about God and the founding of our country as a Christian nation. The schools don’t teach it because someone might be offended and take the school to court. America was at one time, following God and seeking His counsel in politics and in everyday life. What happened?

Some would say that we became enlightened to the new “truth”. If the Truth didn’t come from or originate in and from God’s Word, IT ISN’T TRUE! It has been massaged and mangled and changed to the point of being a lie, period! Fifty years ago, when my parents got divorced, the company that my father worked for wrote him a letter and asked him why? Now, most companies could care less what their employees do in their personal lives until they get caught.

Even the sanctity of life is questioned in our lives now. People care more about some terrorist’s feelings than they do about an unborn child and his or her right to live. If you happen to be a Muslim, people are more afraid of insulting you than they are about anyone or anything in the world, why? Because of the wrath of Allah? No, Allah was the name of a moon-god, not the Creator of the universe. The place in Mecca which is so revered houses a meteorite inside, go figure.

How do I get to Heaven?


This is a question which many people seem to want the answer to, and today it seems that most think that they can get there on their own. Which is strange because I only know of One way and that is through the grace given to us through Jesus Christ by God Himself. The Bible clearly states that there is no other way except through Him, yet many religions on Earth tell many people a much different story.

Many of them say that there is no Heaven, or that you can do many good deeds for people in your lifetime and you will be granted a place there, so say that you will come back here until you get everything just right and then you will be allowed in. All of them are wrong.

You can, of course, believe what you wish to believe about life after death in this world but when that day comes then the Truth will be known. What will you be able to say when you stand before God and Jesus on that day? If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, you will bow before Him and thank Him for your salvation. If you have rejected Him during your life here, then you will be shown the things that you have done in your life, things which you would’ve been granted forgiveness for, then you will be shown the times that you had heard a message or felt a call from Him and you ignored it.

It is your actions, your decision in this life which will determine whether you go to Heaven or not, the choice is yours to make and it must be made while you yet live. It is not God’s choice to send you to hell if you choose not to accept Jesus as your Savior, it is yours. God doesn’t want people to be sent there, but if they reject the grace offered through the atonement that was bought with Jesus’ death, then He has no choice. Nothing that we are capable of doing during our life, if we are without Jesus, is good enough to get us into Heaven.

Only through accepting Jesus as your Savior and asking Him to come into your life and change you, to make you what He knows that you can be, is it even possible for you to be forgiven and get into Heaven. You can yell and scream about all of the evolutionary theories and atheistic nonsense that you want, but rejection of the grace offered by God is the only unforgivable sin. It is your choice, which will you choose?

Choices that we make


“My real problem is that I don’t want to live up to the standard that Jesus demands.” This from a university student speaking to Dr. Billy Graham in New Zealand after the 1959 crusade that he held there.

There is the problem which many people in the world today face about turning their lives and their hearts over to Jesus. They think that it is an intellectual problem of living up to the standard of Jesus Christ when in fact, it is belief in Him and faith in Him which changes you from the inside out. Once that happens, you are changed into a person who can follow Him like the disciples did. It is not a question of whether you can live up to it or not, the Holy Spirit will strengthen you and guide you into a life which will be able to serve Him.

It is still your choice whether you will believe in Jesus and follow Him, but once you truly repent and begin to seek Him and learn about Him then your character is changed from the inside. According to 2 Corinthians 5: 17: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” and from that point on every action that you do can be in service to God. Praying for those friends of yours who haven’t made the commitment to give their lives to Jesus, attending church services, reading your Bible and studying it so that you can give a defense of what you believe and why. All of this will come to you as second nature after you have accepted Jesus as your Savior.

Living life without Christ is like getting on a boat and not knowing how to swim or flying in an airplane that has problems and may not make it to your destination. We all will die one day and as violent as our world has become, it would be a wise decision to begin to follow Jesus daily. Nobody knows when they may die and our world is so violent and crazy at times, just driving to the store is hazardous. I pray that I will make it to the store and then pray on the way home to get back there too.

Yes, God is with you all of the time, but it doesn’t hurt to pray for safety and mercy in the face of a possible car jacking or having a wreck on the highway. God loves us and watches over all of us, and He does have a plan for your life and mine. Seek Him out with an open mind, don’t close your heart off to the only One Who can give you eternal life. Jesus spoke of an eternity in hell too and it is a fact that after we die, we do have an immortal soul which will inhabit one place or the other, but it is your choice in regards to which destination you will be in for eternity.