Have you been…crucified?


lamb-of-god-passoverI don’t mean in the physical, torturous sense. I mean spiritually crucified to your old way of life and actually living a risen life with Christ every day! It is not a life for the faint of heart and it isn’t a life for someone who only goes to church when they feel like it. It is living a life wholly given over to the Lord in humility and obedience, sacrificing your old ways and thoughts, a “sacrifice pleasing unto the Lord”.

This is exactly what Jesus meant when He said that you would have to take up your cross daily and follow Him. It isn’t a sometimes Bible study, sometimes on Sunday, occasionally on Wednesday, maybe during a revival kind of attendance. It is a life that is following Jesus no matter when or where in all of your life’s decisions and in everyday living!

If you have not given your heart and your daily living to Jesus, then you may want to check out this site and make sure of your salvation. If you are absolutely sure of your salvation, then ignore it, but if you have any doubts about what Jesus would say to you at your home, then you may want to truly seek Him and repent of your idea of salvation so you can ask for the REAL thing!

Playing or acting like a Christian doesn’t get you in the gates of Heaven. Praying and occasionally reading the Bible doesn’t do it either. Your life should be an example of discipleship such that Jesus could come into your home and not be offended at anything in your house. I know that none of us are holy or righteous, our righteousness comes from Him and Him alone. But, we should strive toward that goal of righteousness, read God’s Word and pray about it daily, seek Him in all that you do daily. It isn’t a hard life to live, but you have to live it with the purpose of striving to be more like Jesus!

If you are trying to be like the “idea” of Jesus that you have in your mind, then you are doing it wrong. Our idea of God or Jesus is not the same as the REAL Person of God or Jesus or the Holy Spirit, yet humanity will place God in a box of their ideas which fit their comfortable view of Him and all of us have done this at one point or another. This has happened for thousands of years, even before Jesus came! People were claiming that God wouldn’t do this or that, even though it may not be written down in the Bible that way you can bet that many were thinking it!

God knew their thoughts and their ideas of how He was and how He was supposed to be, at least in their minds. We have made up ideas and images of “the Man upstairs” or “a Higher Power” for centuries, it is nothing new at all. But…it is something that is about to change soon. As I have said before, I don’t have a clue about the return of Jesus or about the church being taken up but the signs are too numerous to ignore! It will not be long before the entire world sees Him or the results of His Trumpet’s sounding, but at that point many of you will say that it was just a weird sound or something.
People will be looking for all kinds of explanations for why so many people vanished and what caused all of the cars and planes to fall or wreck with no pilot or driver in them! The answer has always been in God’s Word, most people just ignored it or called it a fable or a fairy tale. What will you call it then?

Are you sure about that?


I think many people are asking this question or they are being asked by those who are going to give them something for Christmas. Have you thought about it yourself? There are so many “deals” out there today because it is Cyber Monday and of course last Friday was Black Friday! I try not to participate in either one if I can help it. Go one step farther than just a gift at Christmas and think about a gift that has been provided for us all…and it doesn’t cost us anything!

Jesus came down from Heaven to be born as the Christ-child in a human body and from the very beginning, before the Earth was formed, He was chosen to be slain on a cross to pay for our sins! Blood from animals paid the price before He came, yet they were an imperfect payment because their sacrifice had to be performed each year, every year. His sacrifice was perfect, since He did not have a sin nature and didn’t sin during His life, yet He gave His life to the Father’s will so that we can come to the Father through belief in Jesus the Christ!

As Hebrews 7:27 says:  27 Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people; He sacrificed for sin once for all when He offered up Himself.

Jesus gave His life so that we might have eternal life with Him. It is a gift which cannot be bought by us, but it had a high price. The price of the Son of God and His life, death and resurrection to purchase our pardon if we will believe in Him. This is a story which has been told through thousands of sermons over the years since His ascension to be with God, a story which many have believed in and on for their salvation.

Today it seems that we have many who have been in the church all of their lives, hearing this message, sitting in the church week after week, who have not taken the steps to finalize being a Christian! Many believe wrongly that because they have been in the church and heard the message and read the Bible that they are saved. They may even be fine upstanding members of the church, volunteering for all kinds of selfless positions and committees in the church. But…are they saved? Are you saved?

Are you sure?

Why do I bring this up now? Because, you and I need to be absolutely sure of our salvation! Why? Because, there are no second chances! If you left the church one Sunday morning or evening and just before you get home, you had a terrible accident which took your life. How would you feel standing before God and seeing your life and your opportunities shown before you, yet you are not saved. You didn’t act when the Spirit moved you in the revival meeting or when you felt Him touch you during a service because you thought you were OK. What a terrifying feeling it will be to hear, “Depart from Me, I never knew you.”

Your eternity lies before you, but it won’t be an eternity in Heaven. It will be one where you feel the burn of loss and the frustration and anger which can only be turned upon yourself because you thought that you already had something and you really didn’t. Nothing can change that now because your decision was made before your death.

Have you decided which direction that you want to go? Most everyone you ask on the street thinks that they have been a good person and they deserve to go to Heaven. How will you feel if your righteousness is not covered by the Blood of Jesus? Is your righteousness better than that of the Pharisees or about the same?

Think about it and consider doing something about it! If you felt the call of the Spirit and didn’t act, make sure that you do…soon!