Saturday, February 23, 2008

Jesus Said, "I AM WILLING"!

Luke; 5:12-13
(While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. "I am willing," He said. "Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy left him.)

Jesus is willing to heal you and I today. He has told us that all who come to Him, He will in no way cast out. Ours is a spiritual sickness. If we haven't come to Jesus for forgiveness of sins then we are in our sins and doomed to pay the price for sinning.
Romans;6:23
(For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.)
God is telling us that there is forgiveness, but that there is forgiveness only through Jesus Christ. If we refuse to come to Him for forgiveness, then we will die in our sins and we will pay the price ourselves.

There is hope though, because God loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for all of our sins.
John;3:16
(For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.)
We didn't deserve to have this gift from Him. We were sinners and He still loved us enough to come down and take our place and die. You may say "I have committed such horrible sins in my life, how can God love me so much that He is willing to forgive me?" That is something that we will have to ask Him when we get to heaven. All I know is that God has promised us that if we repent and ask for forgiveness, He will do it.

There is not one of us who is not a sinner, and there is not one of us who can save ourselves.
Romans; 3:22-24
(This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.)
God has given us life and this life is in Jesus. God has told us that if we don't have His Son, then we don't have eternal life.
1John; 5:11-12
(And this is the testimony; God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.)

Don't put off until another day what you know you need to do today. We are not guaranteed another breath. You can come to Jesus as long as you are still alive and receive forgiveness of sins. You never know, your next breath might be your last chance. Remember what Jesus said to the man with leprosy, "I AM WILLING." Jesus is willing to forgive you and save you today. Salvation is in no other name than Jesus.

God Bless YOU!

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Do You Really Know God?

Matthew; 7:13-14
("Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.)

The wide gate is the most popular because it offers many ways to eternal life. The wide gate says that you can work your way into heaven, or you can earn your way in by your own righteousness. There are many different religions out there that deceive people into believing this lie. The Bible is perfectly clear that there is only one way to eternal life and that is through faith in Jesus Christ.
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.)

Many people call themselves Christians and have not put their faith in Jesus Christ. They are living with a false sense of security thinking that they will be allowed into Heaven. Why? Because the world has told them that they can be good enough and be able to do enough works to earn their way in. This is the lie that satan wants everyone to believe. As long as you think your in by what you have done, then you are doomed. Pride in our lives has taught us that we don't need any help, we can do it on our own. If that were true, then Jesus would not have had to come down to earth and die in our place for sin.

How do we know if we truly know God?
1John; 2:3-5
(Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says , "I know Him," and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.)
If we belong to God we will want to be obedient to Him. Pleasing our heavenly Father will be a priority in our daily walk. We will be in the Word of God and learning what His will is for us.

If you haven't come to Jesus for Salvation, do it today. Confess that you are a sinner in need of a Savior (Jesus Christ). Repent of your sins and ask Jesus for forgiveness. Ask Him to come into your life and be Lord and Savior. Tell Him that you know He is the Son of God, that He came down and died for your sins, and that you are putting your faith in Him for eternal life
Romans; 10:8-10
(But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.)

God Bless You!

Monday, February 11, 2008

Being Able To Say No!

All of our life we have to make decisions in matters that take some thought and others that we can do on the spot. One of the biggest mistakes we can make is to say yes before we have time to think about what we are saying yes to. I have always felt that it is better to say 'no or let me think about this' than to say 'yes' and later have to try to get out of the situation that you have said yes to. Sometimes we say yes because we don't want to hurt someone's feelings only to regret it afterwards. Then things get worse when we try to remedy the situation.

The same thing can happen when we make worldly choices in life without filtering them through the word of God. One would be getting into a situation that we know we shouldn't be into and having to deal with temptation. Now you have made a bad choice and are being tempted. You can tell yourself that you just need to run out of there or you can make another bad choice and try to deal with it yourself. God always wants what is best us and for us to chose the right path, but if you have yourself in a place where you are not suppose to be, then you need to ask for help from God and take the escape path He provides. Don't be overconfident in these situations and think you won't fail.
1Corinthians; 10:12-13
(So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can bear up under it.)

Running from a tempting situation is the first step in having victory over that temptation. Don't stay there thinking you are strong enough to handle it on your own. Satan knows the weaknesses of man and he will use everything is his power to ruin your life. God tells us to flee as Joseph did from Potiphar's wife. Joseph didn't stick around thinking he was strong enough to resist, he ran as fast as he could out of the house. We are to do the same.
2Timothy; 2:22
(Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.)

Saying no, at the right time is one of the best defenses against temptation.

God Bless You!

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Tell Others The Good News About Jesus!

Have you ever had someone whom you knew you needed to talk to about Jesus. You wanted to but you just didn't know how to start the conversation about Jesus. I have had the same experience and I just prayed about it and ask God to open up the door for me to talk about Him. It always seems to work and I have had the chance to witness to that person. They may not have come to salvation at that time but the seed is planted. We are told in the Scripture to be bold and not to be afraid to witness. Actually, it is a command from Jesus to go into all of the world and make disciples of nations.
Matthew; 28:19-20
(Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.)

So we see that if we don't tell others, how will they hear about the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ? Just think, if the person who told us hadn't said anything to us about Jesus, how would we have come to saving knowledge? I know that sometimes it's hard to speak up because we are afraid of being ridiculed, but we are also told that we will be persecuted because of our faith in Christ.
Matthew; 5:11-12
("Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.)
Jesus tells us that the world hated Him and it will hate us because of Him.

To the lost we carry the good news of salvation and we are to speak out boldly for our Lord and Savior. If we aren't willing to make that first step to speak up for Jesus, they may never hear and turn to Jesus.
Romans; 10:14-15
(How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!")

So all of us are saved by grace through faith. God gives us saving faith, but people still have to hear the truth about Jesus. That is where we come in by telling others about the good news in Jesus Christ.
Romans; 10:17
(So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.)
Ask God to give you the courage to speak up the next time you have the chance to be a witness for Christ. Will you be persecuted? There is a good chance, but it is our commission as fellow believers in Jesus Christ.

God Bless You!

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

God Sees And Hears Everything!

Hebrews; 4:12
(For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.)

When we were children, we used to try to fool our friends by making them believe something that wasn't true. Oh, it was just a game then, but now that we have gotten older, do we try to play that same game on each other? You have probably heard someone say that 'it was just a little lie and no one got hurt' , but God has told us not to lie to one another. We might have fooled the person into believing the lie, but we didn't fool God.

If we say that we are a born again Christian but our actions say different, we need to take a good look at the Word of God. Are we obeying the Word of God? We can't have it both ways, we will either obey God or we will do what the world says is OK to do. The things that we might do in private are not hidden from His eyes and we will give an account someday.
Hebrews; 4:13
(And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.)

What we learn is that nothing goes on in this world that God does not see or hear. It can never be to dark or hidden that God isn't aware of what a person does. Even if we just think it in our mind, God already knows the thoughts that we have. When Jesus told the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you," the scribes at once were thinking, He blasphemed, but Jesus knew what they were thinking and confronted them.
Matthew; 9:4
(But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts"?)

We need to always remember that God knows our heart, and He is not fooled. If we say that we belong to Him, then we should be trying to live as He lived. We should be striving to be more Christ like in our daily walk. Let's live our lives so non believers will see that we belong to Jesus.

God Bless You!