Tag: Choose Jesus as your Savior

Salvation


What is it and how do I get it?

For one thing, salvation is not something that you just go out and get. The only time that we even realize that we need salvation is when the Holy Spirit convicts your Spirit that it is necessary. Most of us tend to go through our teen years without a care in the world. Sometimes we even get through college without feeling the need for salvation. We live our days with sins which we may not recognize as such until we feel the need for Jesus in our lives

That conviction of our spirit usually comes from a sermon or a friend who witnesses to us about their salvation and how they have gained their freedom from sin.

So, where do you go from the point of learning that you need Jesus? To the Bible and to church. Learn more about your Savior. Seek Him and learn as much as you can about Him. Here are a few verses about salvation:

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

+ 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

+ Acts 16:30-31 “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Life in eternity is what these verses are speaking of and telling you that you are welcome in God’s house. He would rather have you in Heaven than to condemn you to an eternity of punishment in hell. But unless you believe in Jesus for your salvation and turn from your sinful lifestyle, whatever it may have been.

God is in control!


There is nothing which escapes His eyes and there is no place where you can hide your deeds from Him. So why do people today believe that they can hide from God? Jonah couldn’t do it. Adam couldn’t do it. Even Satan cannot hide his treachery from God. He can see the end of time and the beginning of it too, so what could possibly be hidden from Him?

Nothing is hidden from Him.

Don’t believe the lie that night or some building can hide anything that you do or any thought that you have from the Almighty. He knows us in ways which none of us can know or even understand. I pray that any who read this will seek Him out in His Word and repent of their sins and ask for their Savior to save them from God’s punishment. Our Lord doesn’t punish or send people to eternal punishment but your decisions and your own ways send you there. Making the decision to ignore the salvation offered to you through Jesus is the unforgivable sin which will send you to hell.

Yet today there are many which tell others that there is no eternal punishment but Jesus spoke of it and it is in God’s Word. You can test this if you wish but there is no escape from this place of punishment. You receive your blessings in this life and in your daily walk with Jesus so seek His wisdom and His will for your life and then go and do that which you find. God’s will for us is contained in His Word if we will understand it and if you have trouble understanding it then ask Him for understanding and He will give it.

The salvation of all is available to all if they will receive it into their hearts and live by it. Those who rush in during a sermon and accept the prayers of the church but do not change their life or their ways have nothing to show for their “conversion” except an emotional outpouring. When your life isn’t changed after meeting Jesus then there was no conversion in your heart. You just met Him and then walked away, joyful yes but unchanged which is a sad state which you find yourself in.

Do not turn away without a change in your life because the chance to give your heart to Jesus may not come again. Seek Him in your daily walk and trust in Him for your salvation today because when you breathe your last breath here you will stand before Him. Don’t stand before Him without His Presence in your life.

You are special


When God called Jeremiah He told him this: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5 NASB

OnlyJesuscansaveYouIn truth and by His admission we are all known by God in this way. He has a plan and a purpose for each of us but it is up to us to fulfill that plan and purpose in His Kingdom. Why do I place the responsibility on each of us? Because God doesn’t bring us into this world as automatons! We have a choice! His call may touch us in our twenties but, like me, you may not actually answer that call until almost thirty years later!

Oh, you may get saved and ask Jesus into your life before you answer the call on your life but you still have a choice of doing what God wants you to do with your salvation and your life in Christ. Could Saul have chosen not to be the apostle to go to the Gentile nations around Israel? Actually, I don’t think that he could have said no to Jesus because of the way Jesus spoke to him directly. But…we can choose and many people do choose not to be what God wants them to be.

It is kinda sad though because Jesus gave all of His Life for our salvation so you would think that we could at least be thankful enough to give our lives to Him in return! But many people who do give their heart to Jesus do it and then go back to their way of living and that is wrong! It is hard to reconcile the changed heart which Jesus gives us when we truly accept Him as our Savior and then watch someone go from studying their Bible back to living in the world which they were supposed to leave behind.

Some people claim to have done just that but when you ask them if they are you saved, they will tell you they are. Even if they are living with someone or drinking and smoking and even using cuss words, they will tell you that Jesus is their Savior. It is at times like this that I just pray for them and usually I ask God to watch over them because only He knows the condition of their heart and soul. I do not.

We are not to try to judge a person’s salvation because we can’t. That is something that only God knows for sure. If their name is in the Book of Life then that is wonderful, regardless of what their life may be to everyone around them. We may be surprised one day to find many in Heaven who we didn’t think would make the cut and we will be just as surprised at those who will be told: “Depart from me for I never knew you.”

I pray that I am included in the few who will be welcomed into Heaven and hopefully those in my church family and my immediate family will be too. Please, make that choice today if you have not. My words here are not of my own choosing but come from my Spirit and I pray that you are saved and sanctified by Jesus because there are no second chances in this decision. If it isn’t done before your life ends then it is too late.

Time is ticking away…


IamtheWayWe are almost a whole month into the new year already! So what else is new you might ask? Well, our time on Earth is ticking away too. God has promised that His Son will return one day and since most of the signs which point toward that event have already happened, the only event keeping it from happening is God’s timing. He is possibly waiting for the last sinner to be saved, I don’t know which event God is waiting for.

I can guarantee that when the specific event happens, the trumpet will sound and the dead in Christ will rise to meet Him in the air and all who are alive on Earth will know when this happens! Soon after this, those of us who are alive will be changed and we will meet Him in the air to be taken to Heaven. There will be much confusion and likely many deaths because of pilots who are Christians will be gone. People driving their car or a bus or a semi-tractor rig or even a boat will all be taken up to meet Him in the air and there will not be a warning of this impending event.

Yes, time is slowly ticking away. For some of us, it is ticking quite fast, but your time and mine are moving toward this event. Whether you believe in Jesus or not, time is still moving in that direction. When He comes for those who know Him and have given their lives and their heart to Him, as the Scripture says “it will happen in the blink of an eye“. You may even be talking to a friend who is a Christian, and suddenly they are gone. Their clothes and shoes and their wedding band and watch are all on the ground or at the place where they were sitting…but they are gone!

Now what?

If you are a Christian, then you will be where they are..in Heaven. If you are not a Christian then you need to get busy seeking God, fast! Because soon things on this Earth will become very different from yesterday. If you have read the Bible-based fiction of the Left Behind series, you will know what is about to happen. If you have ever studied the book of Revelation you will know what is about to take place. Don’t discount prophecy in the Bible because God’s Word always comes true, regardless of how other “experts” interpret it.

eternityDon’t wait until that day to seek Jesus out! Will there be others who are seeking Him? Yes, but their numbers will be far fewer than you might believe. Many people who are going to seek Him out will be wondering why was I left behind? I went to church pretty regularly and I prayed and studied my Sunday school lessons at least sometimes. What went wrong?

Actually, nothing went wrong except your belief in Jesus and your acceptance of Him as your Savior. You knew about Him and you read enough to know about salvation and what was required BUT you didn’t actually believe it! You didn’t think that salvation was as easy as it was for the thief on the cross. Belief doesn’t require money or works or witnessing to others. It just takes a sincere belief in the Person of Jesus and what He did on the cross for you to be forgiven.

Think about it because another hour has gone by since I began writing and we can’t get it back. Seek Him out and know that He loves you and is waiting for you to believe in Him enough to ask Him into your heart. What more do you need to do?

Contentment


Are you content with your life? Sometimes I am but there are some months where the money and the bills don’t quite get together and I am sure that I am not the only one going through this! But, contentment with life or with your family and your Savior is another step in a totally different direction. Being content and happy with your family is an up and down ride. One day or maybe next week or an hour from now, it could all blow up in your face. That is what “walking with your family” means and just as Jesus spoke of walking with Him, your spiritual life can have ups and downs too.

There are times when you may have a day or two off from work and everything goes pretty well….then all hell breaks loose and things get sour quickly! A bill didn’t get paid on time or the dishes aren’t washed yet or someone woke up on a tack because of a dream or something. Yes, there are times where a pastor’s family life goes to hell too!

RomanRoad2SalvationThose are the days when I need a place to go to my office or even to the church and just pray and read the Bible with no phone calls or anything to interrupt the relative quiet. I say relative quiet because we have a couple of gravel pits close to us and there is always traffic going by, sometimes loudly.

Seeking God’s peace in spite of the sounds around you and the problems which will still be there is imperative for anyone, not just a pastor. You have to seek out the calming Presence in the midst of the storm because He is the only One Who can bring calm to it and give us the wisdom to get through it too. God loves each one of us, regardless of our religion or lack of faith and He loves us perfectly even when we haven’t made a decision to follow Him.

Some might wonder, “Why does God care about me?”. It is because He is our Creator, whether you believe it or not and He knows if or when you will seek Him out. He also knows the circumstances which will bring you closer to that point as well. Since God is omniscient then He also knows how to bring you into His Kingdom to do those things which He has planned for you to do.

Sometimes it takes many years to bring each of us to that point, then some of us hear His call when we decide to give our hearts to Jesus. Thankfully, God understands people being stubborn and hard-headed because He has had to deal with us from the beginning. I am not speaking about His people, the Israelites, but the entire human race. We have been rebelling against His ways for a long time and we are still doing it.

We don’t like some passages in the Bible or we don’t think we should be told what to do with our lives and we certainly don’t like His Truth to be absolute, even though it is. I pray that all of you who read this blog have given your heart to Jesus and are following Him in your life. If you are not or have not made that decision, then I suggest that you not wait too much longer. I don’t know when He will call the church home, but when that happens it will be much harder to make that decision from that point on.