Tag: Salvation

Are you far away?


The Parable of the Prodigal Son

(Luke 15:11-32)
Then He said, “A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me now the share of the property that I will inherit.” And he divided to his substance between his two sons. And not many days after, having gathered all together, the younger son went away into a far country, and there wasted his property, living dissolutely. “Now when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he longed to fill himself from the carob pods which the swine were eating; and no one gave to him.

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father have more than enough bread, and I am perishing here with hunger. I will arise and go to my father and will say to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee. I am no longer worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants.”

“And he arose and came to his father. Now while he was yet far distant, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him repeatedly. “Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no longer worthy to be called thy son.” But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring forth quickly a robe, the best one, and put it on him; and put a ring upon his hand, and sandals on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill It, and let us eat and be merry: for this my son was dead, and is alive again, was lost and is found.” And they began to be merry.

“Now his elder son was in the field; and as he was coming and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And calling one of the servants to him, he inquired what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Thy brother has come, and thy father hath killed the fatted calf because he hath received him back safe and sound.”

“Then he was angry, and would not go in. Now his father came out and entreated him. But he answered and said to his father, ‘Behold, so many years have I served thee, and I never transgressed thy commandment; and to me, thou didst never give a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. But when this thy son, who hath squandered thy substance with harlots, came, thou didst kill for him the fatted calf.”

“Then the father said to him, ‘Son, thou art ever with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we ought to make merry and rejoice; because this thy brother was dead, and is alive again, and was lost, and is found.”

All of us have been here at one point or another in our lives but many times we don’t want to admit it. We want to live the way we want to with nobody to be accountable to but we will be accountable to God one day. He will hold you accountable for your actions and your words especially if you are living without Jesus in your heart. Even with Him in your life and you attempting to live according to His Word, you will be accountable for what you do with your grace and the knowledge which you have. What did you do with it? Did you tell others so that they can be saved? Has your life been a beacon for them to compare their life with yours and does it cause them to want what you have?

We are accountable to God whether we believe it or not or even if we want to live without Him in this life! Eternity is ahead of you regardless of whether you are saved or not. Punishment is there if you have not given your heart to Jesus and it will be eternal punishment. If you belong to Jesus and you are living your life one day at a time with Him then you will be responsible for what you did with your salvation. Life does not end when your life here is over, there is an eternity ahead of you. So, which eternity would you like to live eternity in?

You surely don’t want to live in hell because the punishment never ends and it never lets up at any point. Living in heaven is the eternity which we should all be striving toward because there will be no more pain or suffering and we will always have a place to live and Life everlasting.

What is your view?


The world and the media cloud our ideas and our view of the world around us with their own version, their own spin on what is happening and what has happened in the past. So how are we to discern the truth of what is and what will be if we don’t read the Bible? It is God’s inspired Word to mankind and since He cannot lie, it is the whole truth. Regardless of the watered down messages that some teach or try to “interpret” in a way which has nothing to do with its message at all.

God’s predictions for our world’s future, such as the saying of Jesus that “the kingdom of God will come before this generation is done”, did not mean that those living at the time would see His second coming. It did refer to the Jewish people who would still be the state of Israel at the time of His second coming. I am sure that many in that day hoped that Jesus would destroy Rome and its hold of persecution and oppression over the Jewish people but that wasn’t His job at that time.

Jesus came to end the oppression of Satan over the whole world so that people could gain their freedom from the world and its sins and the consequences in their lives. That was His message and His mission the first time. When He comes the second time, it will be as Conquerer and King and He will do it because not one comma or period will pass away before all are fulfilled.

Our world, not just America, is beginning a new year and all of us need to be seeking Jesus as our True Savior. He is the only Way to Heaven and our debts for our sins have been paid, all we have to do is believe in Him and follow Him daily, seeking to be more like Him until that day when He calls us all home. I pray that more people will learn of Him and seek Him as their Savior this year because He is coming soon.

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Immortality


It seems that there are more commercials on television about making you look young again or at least younger than you are. Why do we have such a fascination with youth? When we are young, we can’t wait to get older and when we are older we want to be young again…does that make any sense to you?

We are born needing help with everything, then we grow to a point where we think we are doing everything for everyone else, then when we get old we are back to the point of others helping us with everything all over again. It seems to be an endless circle. But honestly, I don’t want to be young again! Yes, there were many things which I could do when I was younger that I can’t do now but are those things really useful today?

Some of them may be but most of my younger days and nights were spent doing things which I would consider counter-productive today. Many of those which I thought I enjoyed way back when were sinful and dangerous. Like drinking and then driving home or smoking two and three packs of cigarettes every day. Those behaviors are thirty years or more in my past now, but some people seem to want to go back to that point.

Being young is a good thing but why can’t we look ahead of us instead of behind in our life here? Many of us see a life ahead with pain and the maladies which come with old age but I am talking about eternity…immortality with Jesus in Heaven! That life will not have the ailments and frail body which all of us have now. We will be in a body which will never die with no contacts or eyeglasses needed to see the world around us! We won’t need a cane or a wheelchair to get around in or with.

The life that believers will have in Heaven will be one of worship and praise and working in God’s Kingdom forever! There will be no night or heat or suffering or pain and anything which we associate with getting old or being old!

I know, it sounds too good to be true! But, just think about this a minute. Anyone can be saved through the name of Jesus and by His Spirit just by believing in Him and what He did for you and me. You don’t have to be a deacon or a church member for decades, just answer the call of the One Who calls you to be saved. That is all that is needed. God prepared the way for you through Jesus and all that you need to do is believe in Him and accept the atonement provided through His shed blood.

You can get baptized and become a member of a church when you accept Jesus as your Savior but the church membership isn’t a requirement for salvation. The baptism isn’t a requirement either but it is a public statement showing that you are raised to walk into a new life with Jesus. God loves you, don’t forget that bit of information. Seek Him earnestly and you will find Him.

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Which door will you be taking?


Have you ever considered whether you are on the way to Heaven or hell? There is only one way to Heaven and that is with belief in Jesus and His atonement for us which was paid for on the cross.

 

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God’s love for us came with the appearance of Jesus and His sacrifice for all of our sins. All you have to do is believe in Him and repent of your old life and your sins. Don’t take the easy way or the way that seems to be the way which everyone else is on. Follow Jesus, ask Him to become your Savior when you feel convicted of your sins, whatever they may be!

There will be many religious people on that broad road and many will be going through the big doorway. Many of them will believe that they have been Christians for years since they attend church semi-regularly, but going through the motions of going to church and giving tithes and reading your Bible isn’t enough. If Jesus isn’t in your heart and if He hasn’t changed your life then all of those things mean nothing!

If it would surprise someone to know that you even attend church then you need to seek your salvation through God’s Word and repentance before it is too late.

What is wrong with this world?


Here’s a bit of a conversation that I read earlier, let me know what you think about it: I used to think that the communist totalitarian regimes were much worse. I’m having second thoughts, not because those got better, but because the US has gotten so much worse.

Be careful of your words and how you speak, remember Jesus said this in Matthew:  “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words, you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:36–37)
Why is our world, especially the United States, become so much worse in conduct and corruption as well as in having no respect for each other or even for life itself?

whats-wrong-with-the-world-3-638Truly, it is because of the place where we are in history. It is not because of the number of countries with nuclear capability nor is it because of Communism or Democracy or some other political system, no it is because of how close we are to the second coming of Jesus!

I know there are many who don’t subscribe to this belief because they either don’t believe in God or they don’t believe in Jesus and His second coming. But, God doesn’t lie and the Scriptures have held true for all of the past four thousand years or so because scientists have proven the existence of the people in the Bible and because it was predicted that Israel would get its land back. How many other nations have done that after two thousand years? None!

The world and the people in it have gone astray from their Creator and the religion or philosophy which they are following now is not one which will bring them into His Kingdom. So what can we do to help them? Well, other than telling them about Jesus and His grace brought to them by way of His death on the cross and His resurrection three days later. But their salvation depends upon their belief in Him and their acceptance of His grace through the Holy Spirit. If they are convicted of their sins and repent of them to follow Him, then they will be saved! It doesn’t take a baptism nor does it take any amount of work or money given to any church..belief in Him and repentance and moving to follow Him every day will bring salvation to them.

The big problem today is that much of the world doesn’t want to know Jesus! They are very tied to their religions deeply. So deeply in fact that they persecute any Christians in their countries and in some places they imprison them or kill them. God honors these martyrs for His Kingdom truly but none of us really want to be a martyr but for our Lord and Savior it may be necessary one day.

All of the problems in our world today can be traced back to the Garden when one incidence of disobedience caused our separation from God and it has progressively gotten worse since then. I pray that many who may read this might use it for inspiration to lead someone to Jesus or maybe they will decide to follow Him. In either situation, you or the person who comes to know Jesus, it is a winning situation.

Have you learned much this year?


Life is hard at times. Learning about your Creator and your faith is one of the most rewarding experiences that you can have. So, exactly how do you learn about Him? Well, that is a very good question and it is what this article is all about.

Truly, God loves each of us! Not just those who claim to be Christians but every person on the Earth! Of course, that doesn’t always translate into those persons giving Him their heart and their love in return. The main part of learning about God and Jesus and their love for you is inside of a book…the Bible! God inspired writers to write down His laws and His requirements for His people, the Jewish nation of Israel.

Some might argue that those laws and requirements don’t pertain to us today because they were written over two millennia ago, some as much as three millennia in the past. How could wisdom and laws from that far back in time and written to a different people have anything to do with today?

It is because God is our Creator and His wisdom is timeless as are His laws and precepts. Yes, they were written by people far away and years in the past but God lives outside of time and He gives wisdom and love to all who will come to Him and ask. God loves all of us, which is why Jesus came to live a life unblemished by sin and then be sacrificed as the Spotless Lamb of God for our sins!

We are His Creation and when the world was still unformed and not made yet, He knew that humanity would need a Savior. Jesus came to be that Savior for all of us if we will believe in Him and the atonement that He purchased with His blood and His death on the cross and then He vanquished over death when He came out of the tomb three days later.

job-type-of-ChristWhen we are tested and tried during our lives by illness or setbacks in a job or finances, it is to make us better and closer to God. Just as Job was tested hard when all of his children and his wealth was taken by the attacks of Satan. Then his health was taken away and he still didn’t lose his faith. He questioned God’s reasons for his losses but he never lost his faith in God’s mercy and greatness! When the testing was over, God blessed him with the gift of children and twice his wealth and he lived to a ripe old age.

Here is the account of God’s grace toward Job:

God Restores Job’s Fortunes

10 The LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the LORD increased all that Job had twofold. 11 Then all his brothers and all his sisters and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house, and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversities that the LORD had brought on him. And each one gave him one piece of money, and each a ring of gold. 12 The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; he had 14,000 sheep and 6,000 camels and 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 He had seven sons and three daughters. 14 He named the first Jemimah, and the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. 15 In all the land no women were found so fair as Job’s daughters and their father gave them inheritance among their brothers. 16 After this, Job lived 140 years and saw his sons and his grandsons, four generations. 17 And Job died, an old man and full of days.

What will happen?


Today, I am writing because frankly I have nothing else to do at the moment. There has been a prediction that this weekend the rapture of the church will happen and all people who have given their hearts to Jesus will be taken to Heaven.

If God chooses to make this “prediction” come true it will happen, otherwise this is just a joke. Nobody knows when He is coming for the saved of this world and there is no way to predict it. As I stated in another post, God knows exactly the day and the hour when this will occur, not the angels in Heaven, not the demons on Earth, not Satan or even Jesus knows the timing of this event. God will tell them when it is happening and at that precise moment it will happen.

There won’t be a warning or a notice given, but it will happen. Anything else that God wants us to know is in His Word and we shouldn’t be changing words around or picking what we like or don’t like from it. The Spirit of God gave the words to those who wrote each book of the Bible. It wasn’t made up by men and it wasn’t written by old men having dreams, although some did.

God predicted many things which have come to pass long ago. Most of those prophecies have come true and the few which have not are the ones which directly affect Israel’s future. So, when will we be taken up? I haven’t the foggiest notion of that date or hour, nobody does except God and He will signal the angels to take care of it when it is time and not before.

Make sure you and your loved ones are ready because as the Bible says, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye we who are alive and remain will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and be with Him forever“.

God doesn’t want any to perish but if you haven’t given your heart to Jesus, then you will be left here and will go through the Tribulation with the rest of the world. Be sure of your salvation because today is the day of salvation. Seek Him for salvation because it can be found in no other religion.

What is the difference?


IamtheWayIt seems that there are so many different divisions of believers! Why? Aren’t we supposed to be worshipping the same Jesus and from the Bible which is God’s Word? Why do we have all of these denominations?

Mostly because of the work of Satan in the church. You didn’t think he could do that did you? If Satan can attend a meeting in Heaven and accuse Job, speaking to God about him, he can surely come into each of our churches! He may come in as a new convert to Christ or he may show up as a deacon or maybe someone who isn’t satisfied with the preacher.

I don’t mean that he has possessed them, but he plants thoughts into their minds which will take root in the congregation and even begin to fracture the family in the church. If you think about how problems arise in the church, regardless of the denomination, this will make sense. Many times after the church is either split or in some way diminished, the “new” person will leave or the person who planted the seed won’t have any recollection of the problem.

I am not writing this to accuse anyone but I am writing it to bring attention to this problem which does come up in churches all over the world, not just here in America. Paul wrote that we are at war with powers and principalities and these are just some of the forces that Satan has under his command. Thoughts of things which Christians shouldn’t think of, consideration of sinful things which we know we shouldn’t do, these are the “arrows” that our Spiritual armor should protect us from.

But, if you haven’t studied God’s Word and placed it in your mind to give you strength and power to resist these thoughts, then you may entertain them and it will become a stumbling block for you. The war for your spirit and your soul is in your mind and it is there that Satan attacks because he can see what each of us is attracted to the most and he uses it against us.

It is the same when we are having trouble in our churches, Satan and his demons and powers are attacking us, each one of us. Pulling up little things which irk us about a certain speaker or topic and making them seem far worse than they are. This is how he caused Adam and Eve to envy God in the garden and he has been doing it ever since all over the world.

Seek out the truth in God’s Word and study it. Learn from the Old and the New Testaments because they complement and interpret each other. With God’s Wisdom in your heart and in your head, Satan can’t twist it and make it say something when you know it well enough to thwart his plans. He knows scripture better than you do so you have to study it in order to know it at least as well. If you don’t, then he will make it sound like it came from the Bible even when he has changed a word or two to make it seem better or more appealing.

This is why we can’t stop learning scripture. Just because you may have read the entire Bible through last year doesn’t mean that you know it well enough to take him on. If you are like me in your reading, when you have finished reading the Bible, the next day feels empty without reading more of it. Every year I read it through but usually when I have finished it, I go back to Genesis and begin again. Each time over the last seven years I will find something or the Spirit will reveal something to me that I didn’t see or understand before!

I am about halfway through another reading of it and I feel that I should begin again. Why? I don’t know, maybe it is the Spirit prompting me to read again a part of it that I have read so that I can understand it a little better. I usually do find some insight in a passage every time that I read it which didn’t jump out at me before and it makes more sense this time.

I am not claiming to be perfect in my studies because I miss a day or two at times, when life gets in the way or maybe I’m not feeling well for a few days, but the more scripture that you put into your mind and heart the less you will be deceived by cults or by Satan.

The Exodus, the Bread and the Wine


This idea just came to me while I was reading a story about Christianity. The only explanation that I can give you for the title is that the Spirit placed the idea in my mind. I am not Jewish, although I have read a Jewish Bible complete with the New Testament. The three ideas in the title: the Exodus, the Bread and the Wine are intimately tied to the nation and people of Israel.

Bread&WineThe Exodus is their liberation from bondage as slaves in Egypt for over four hundred years. It is not unlike our own lives in that we were slaves to our life of sin and rebellion toward God. Now, for some of us this rebellion wasn’t an active rebellion and we may not have known that what we were doing was sinful in the sight of God. Why do I say it that way? Because many of us asked Jesus to become our Savior at an early age, say 8 or 12 years. I barely knew what the word “sin” meant and honestly I didn’t think that my life could’ve been classified as sinful, at that time.

During the exodus from Egypt, the Israelites were glad to be out of bondage but they didn’t know this God Who had called them out of bondage. Which is why it took forty years for them to get to the point of going into the land which had been promised to them. Even after all of the miracles and provision that God provided for them during this time, they still rebelled against Him in their Promised Land.

Sounds a bit like us actually. When we learn about God and what He asks of us, don’t we rebel a bit? I mean, we like the idea of forgiveness and eternal life but “being in a state of prayerful thought” on a daily basis is a bit much don’t you think? Not really, if you consider what this really means. The analogy that I like goes something like this: When you go to the doctor and you tell him you have had a cold and a cough for about a week, you don’t mean that you have been coughing for a whole week. Just that you have had a persistent cough which has hung around for that length of time. It is the same with praying without ceasing. It doesn’t mean that you pray 24 hours a day, but you wake with a prayerful attitude of thankfulness that you are alive today. You thank God for your health and your breakfast. You thank Him for being able to go to work or school or whatever you are doing today.

That is an attitude of prayer without ceasing.

It gets you through your exodus in this life, every day and night, all through your life! This is your “daily cross”.

The Bread is reading and prayerfully studying the Bible. Learning more about God and what He requires of His people, Israelite and Gentile. If you don’t know what is required or asked of you, how will you know what to do with your life on a daily basis? The only way to know is to read and study His Word with prayer for understanding at least a few days during the week. I don’t mean that you should read the Bible for a whole day, but a chapter or two a day for a few days at a time will get your mind washed in His Word and keep it on His ideas and wisdom.

The Wine is what you partake of through giving your heart and your life to Jesus, asking Him to come in and change you into a child of God. This is part of your walk, your life with Him and it begins your exodus from your old life, your old ways, into a life that is lived in and through Jesus! It is a daily process. Salvation, if you truly are sincere about it, comes immediately when you ask for it. Your sanctification and becoming more like Jesus is the walk, prayerfully with Him every day. Your exodus or your walking away from your old life comes when you have asked Him to come in and change you into a new creation!

Just as the trek through the desert wasn’t easy for the children of Israel, the process of becoming a Christian and becoming more like Christ won’t be easy either. There will be days or times where you will stumble and fall, but Jesus is there to help you get up. If you have studied the Bible, then you can fall onto the wisdom that you have gained through it when the times get tough.

The life of a Christian isn’t always easy or sure. There will be bumps and bruises during your walk with Jesus, but He is still there with you through it all. The wisdom that you gain from His Word, His Bread and His Wine will last you through eternity and you won’t regret any of it when you see Him in His Glory one day!

The wonder of Joy


joyIn many ways when we come to know Jesus, we are joyful in that knowledge that we have our salvation granted through Jesus our Savior. We are very much like a small child, giddy and so happy that our Savior loves us enough to grant us our salvation through His blood, His death and resurrection! So…what happens after you find that you need to learn more about Him and learn to listen to Him every day?

It seems that many people don’t experience that joyous wonder like a child. They understand that they need Him and they ask Him into their hearts. But sometimes our church or others in the church who should shepherd them toward their Savior drop the ball. Many people end up just standing in ankle-deep salvation for many years and some never get past that point.

The joy of knowing Jesus and knowing that you have been saved through His sacrifice in your place should carry you through for many months until you begin to mature as a Christian. But how do you do that? The same way you get through any learning situation, by study, prayer and by seeking His advice for your life every day. It is a daily walk with Him after all, and just as any relationship…it needs to be cultivated and nurtured.

He is your Creator and your Savior and that relationship should be one that continues all through your life, day in and day out. Sounds boring, but think about Who you are having a relationship with! He is the Creator, the Son of God, your Savior and the second Person of the Trinity! Could there be anyone in the universe who could possibly be more interesting?

If you are wondering how you could get to know Him, READ the Bible! God inspired the writers and disciples to tell you about Himself and His personality. Yes, sometimes He is demanding but it’s because He expects us to obey Him, just as we expect our children to obey when they learn the rules about being in your house! Life, as a child of God, is a learning process and it is one that takes a lifetime! You can’t get a version of it which is a digest version, it is a day by day, week by week learning process which is very much like our own lives.

The joy of knowing Jesus is like the joy of bringing home your newborn son or daughter. It or rather they are new in your life, you are new at learning how to handle your relationship with them or Him. As time goes on and you learn more about Him, the joy should grow into a deeper love and a deeper relationship…but there should always be a bit of joy in it from day-to-day!