Category: Salvation

Doctrine and discipline


No one gains entrance into heaven by their doctrine or their discipline. The only way into heaven is by believing in Jesus as your Savior and submitting your life to Him as your Lord and following Him in your everyday life and your spiritual life daily not just once a week. Church services and the preaching you hear there are for your edification and your ability to learn from God’s Word and the preacher has been called to teach you and your church from that Word.

The grace of God is when He gives us good things that we don’t deserve. Mercy is when He saves us from the punishment or “bad things” that we do deserve. The blessings of God are when He is generous with both!

All of us who are Christians can only gain salvation through our belief in Jesus Christ as our Savior. There are not going to be sections of heaven where we are separated by our doctrine or “discipline”. You either believe in Jesus for your salvation or you don’t. There are many who will not like this news because some haven’t heard this in church…but it is true.

God sent His Son to make salvation available to us by our belief in Him and the atonement that was bought with His blood and His death on the cross. This is the only way to gain our eternity in the presence of God. Only with the righteousness of Christ by the blood of Jesus can we approach the throne of God. There are no denominations that will be preferred in heaven because the only pathway to Heaven is by belief in Jesus Christ and no other. Congregations split over small and inconsistent ideas and problems and this should not be happening but Satan comes into the church and causes it in order to split God’s people over little things. I pray that God will draw the true Christians back together as a church before it is too late.

The Lord goes before us


I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: My reins also instruct me in the night seasons. I have set the LORD always before me: Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: My flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; Neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Psalm 16:7‭-‬10 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.16.7-10.KJV

God through the Holy Spirit goes with us every day so we are never truly alone. Satan tries to convince us that we are alone and that our lives mean nothing. God doesn’t call someone to become a Christian and a follower of Jesus for no reason. He calls all of us to be His feet and His disciple to take His message to those who will listen. Christians are called because God knows each of us and He knows that we can take His gospel to those who need to hear it. Following Him is the best choice in this life and I pray that He will call you who read this. Have a great and wonderful holiday season.

Be thankful…


God has given us the Moon and the stars and our planet with all of the diversity to keep us wondering what He was up to. For many years scientists have been trying to figure out the universe and anything else they can find to “prove” that all of this just came from a big bang or from a pool of water but they can’t. Even their computers tell them that evolution from single-cell organisms to all of the various forms of life on Earth cannot happen in the time allowed. God created all that we can see or hear or feel in this world and we should be thankful for it. If He had not created life here then we would not be here.

Be thankful for your life and each breath that you take every day because many people have trouble breathing. Some due to diseases and some because of the way they were born. God has a purpose and a plan for everything in our world today and we should be thankful for everything that we have and everything that we can experience in life. Sometimes our experiences aren’t good ones but they are not all bad. Even our bad days can be a blessing because something good will come from that day. Maybe not today or tomorrow but if you believe in God and put your trust in Him then your days, whether good or bad, will be a blessing to you or to someone you know or love.

So many days we go about our business and take so many things for granted or we don’t notice the “little” blessings that we are given at all. Like a cool breeze on a hot day or a cloud that gives you some shade on a sunny, hot day. They may not seem like much but those are blessings that God sends our way all of the time. They are not noticed much because we are so busy. We have so many thoughts and problems running through our minds that we don’t notice when we are blessed by God with our health and our ability to enjoy the day regardless of the problems that we see in it.

Give God the glory and praise Him for your health and your family tomorrow. It is His blessings that enable you and yours to enjoy the day and the fellowship of the day. Don’t allow squabbles and family problems to destroy the day and the thanksgiving meal that goes with it. Seek Him and allow Him to guide you from the point that you wake up tomorrow until you go to sleep tomorrow night.

Put your faith in Him


I know there are many things happening today and many of us have problems, medical and otherwise, that we can’t fix. But God can. Give your cares and worries to Him and He will take care of you.

You will be blessed


God is our Rock


God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, And though the mountains are carried into the midst of the sea; Psalm 46:1‭-‬2 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.46.1-2.KJV

He is always near us when we have given our hearts to Him. Yet, there are many people who seem to be worried about today or tomorrow and what they might bring. Jesus told His disciples not to worry about their food or what they needed to wear because God would provide. The birds and other animals don’t know what “worry” is because they know God will provide for them. God gives us the air we breathe and every heartbeat for our lives…because He loves us.

Jesus came to Bethlehem as a baby but His coming was foretold nearly 800 years before He came. God even told Adam and Eve that “the Seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head” and this was a prophecy of His birth and victory on the cross a few thousand years before He came. He knew that Jesus would have to come to pay for the sins of humanity and that He was the only one that could pay that penalty.

Wood and nails


What symbolizes our Savior and the salvation that He bought with His blood? The crucifixion. Two pieces of wood and three nails or spikes depending on how you look at them. Our Savior was trained as a carpenter and He was very good at it I’d imagine. Considering that He built a bridge for us to get to Heaven with very little lumber, three nails, and His blood and His Life. This was no small sacrifice. His humanity allowed Him to die on the cross for our sins but it was His sinless life that paid the penalty for all of humanity’s sins. No mere human could do that.

God is the God of the impossible. Most people think that forgiveness for their sins isn’t possible but God forgives if you can forgive yourself and accept His grace and mercy for your sins. Sometimes, forgiving ourselves is the hardest part of accepting forgiveness. Sometimes, forgiving others is easier but not by much. Many times it takes humbling yourself and asking God to help you forgive yourself or others for the hurts and the pain that has been caused by sin. Regardless of how long ago it was or how deeply the hurt went, forgiveness has to be given before it is fully received.

God gives us grace and mercy, neither of which we deserve, but He gives them to us because He loves us. He has loved us since before creation began. I pray that all of you who read this will seek Him out to be your Savior. Your eternal home depends on your salvation and you can only get that by accepting Jesus as your Savior.

Do you worship God?


Some of us actually do worship the God Who is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe because He is God in the Bible and because He made it possible for us to be saved from hell by our belief in Jesus. But there are some people who make god in their own image and likeness. They don’t like God from the Bible. They want him to be manageable and understandable. When you do this you are worshiping your own idol. A god that you made in your mind that you can relate to and one that isn’t so “all-powerful and all-knowing”. In other words, you have placed god in a box that you can understand and call on when you want him or need him but otherwise, you can push him away and not think about him until it is necessary.

God never gave up on humanity so why should we give up on Him? If He was like us we would be in a lot of trouble. More than that, He would’ve started over many more times than He did. But…He didn’t. God loves you and me and every person on Earth but He doesn’t like our sins at all, whatever they may be. He especially doesn’t like being “made in our image” because we are bringing Him down to our level and God doesn’t share His glory with anyone especially an idol that we create to “represent Him”.

God is THE Creator and our God. Nothing should ever be above Him and there is no representation of Him because none of us knows God well enough to try to do such a thing. Worship Him, follow Him and give your heart to Him because one day you will bow to Him whether you know Him or not and it will be too late.

Where are you?


Life is full of troubles and pain and sometimes…joy! It is also filled with disappointment and other problems that we can’t fix…but God is always near us. Many times we look around and see so much pain and problems and we feel that God doesn’t care and He isn’t in our lives. If you have never given your heart to Him, He still cares about you. He loves you more than you could imagine because He sent Jesus to pay the price for your soul and for all of the sins in your life and mine. Yes, God cares for us even when we feel alone and abandoned by everyone else He is still there.

Where are you in your relationship with God? If you have only attended church occasionally or on holidays then you have heard about Him and you’ve heard about Jesus but that isn’t enough. Your eternity is still in the balance. If you don’t believe in Jesus for your salvation and choose to turn away from your old life and follow Him then your eternity is going to be with the fallen angels and Satan.

If you feel His touch in your heart and you choose to follow Him as your Savior then your eternity will be with Him. Just as the thief on the cross believed in Him and he was with Jesus in Paradise that day! We can’t do anything to determine our eternal home except to believe in Jesus for our salvation because He is the only way to Heaven! There are other religions that claim to have an eternity in store for them but only Jesus paid for your salvation and He is coming back one day to rule the Earth for one thousand years!

Make sure of your eternity while you still can because only in this life can you choose. Once you have died, the choice has been made and your destination is set. Make sure it is an eternity with Jesus.

Be of good courage…