You Must Believe!

John: 8:24
(Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.")

Jesus is telling them that the fatal sin is failure to believe that He is the Messiah. He is God the Son who came into the world that who ever would believe in Him would be saved. There isn't anything that we can do that will get us eternal life except to believe in Jesus. We are told over and over in the Scriptures that we must believe in order to be saved.

John; 3:16
(For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.)
John; 3:36
(He who believes in the Son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.)
Romans; 10:9
(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.)
Acts; 4:12
(Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.)

It's will be impossible for you to put your faith in Jesus if you do not believe that He is who He says He is. He has told us all through the Scriptures that He is God the Son. He told the religious leaders that he was God when He said to them "I AM".
John; 8:58
(Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.")
Here Jesus declares Himself to be Yahweh, the Lord of the Old Testament.
Exodus; 3:13-14
(Then Moses said to God, "Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?" And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.' ")

If we want eternal life, we must believe in Jesus and put our faith in Him. It all comes down to our believing in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

God Bless You!

God Gave Them Up To Uncleaness!

When we consistently abandon God, He will abandon us. If we keep telling God that we don't care what He wants and commands us to do, He will give us up to our sinful ways by removing His restraint and allowing our sin to run it's inevitable course. In other words we will pay the penalty for our sinful choices and it can be a very painful consequence, even ending in early death. There are many places in the Bible which speak of people abandoning God and in return of Him abandoning them.
Judges; 10:13
(Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods. Therefore I will deliver you no more.)
2Chronicles; 15:2
(And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: "Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.)

We are witnessing this more and more everyday in our country as well as in the world. God gave us commandments to obey, because He loved us and knew what was best for our life. He wants us to be able to enjoy life, but to do it without sinning. God knows the past, the present, and the future and He knows what happens when we disobey Him. When we decide to serve ourselves instead of the living God, He gives us up to our vile passions.
Romans; 1:24-27
(Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lust of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.)

So when we go against what God has ordained for life, we suffer the consequences for our actions. God wants what is best for us, and if we obey His commands He won't abandon us. One of the promises in the Scriptures is this:
James; 4:7
(Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.)
Submit to God, resist the devil. Seems easy enough if we will just do it. God loves us and we must never forget it.
James; 4:10
(Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.)


God Bless You!

The Gift Of Life Is From God!

I'm sure that most of us just go from day to day and never think about the gift of life. The air we breath, the water we drink, the food we eat are all given to us from the hand of God. We may work very hard and still we are given all that we have from God. Life itself is from God and He gives it and takes it away. Some of live to a very old age and some of us have a very short life here on earth. The one thing we always want to remember is that the gift of the human soul (spirit) is also from God and it is eternal. Our bodies will eventually grow old and die and return to the dust from which we were made, but our spirit will live eternal, either with God or separated from God.
Genesis: 3:19
(In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.")

The spirit (soul) that God gave us is eternal and the spirit never dies. All the living things have life, but God made man different in that he gave us a spirit that is eternal. All life will one day go to the grave but the spirit of man will live eternally. God has also given some to be wealthy and some to be poor but all of us will one day die and be forgotten. Our health is also a gift from God. It is the one thing that money can't buy. We might prolong it with medicine but the day will come when everyone of us will lose the heath that God has given us. We will all die because of sin in the world.
Romans; 6:23
(For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.)
God knows that we are all destined to die because of our sins so He sent His Son to die for those sins.

Since we know that we all will one day die and after that the judgment, how should we live this life God has given us? First we should repent of our sins to God and ask Him to forgive us. Then ask Jesus to come into our hearts and let Him be Lord and Savior of our life. Then we need to obey God and do His will for our lives.
1Peter; 4:2-3
(that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lust of men, but for the will of God. For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles-when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.)

God has given us a life to live and we are to enjoy all that God has given us, but we are not to live in sin. Ask God into your life, and then live the rest of your life to please Him. We need to remember that our life is a gift from God and be thankful to Him. Being obedient to Him is one way of saying 'thank you God' for creating me and giving me life. Remember that eternal life with Him is also a gift of God through Jesus Christ His Son.
1John; 5:11-12
(And this is the testimony: that 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.)

God Bless You!

God Will Not Be Mocked!

It seems like every day I watch some group on the news who are mocking God and His Word. They know what the Bible teaches about something and they go ahead and do it knowing that it is wrong. It's like they don't think that they will ever have to give account for the wrong doing (sin). We all will stand before God and give account.
Romans; 14:11-12
(For it is written: "As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.)

I watch everyday how perverted our society is becoming and how it is flaunted in our faces. A person would become increasingly more worried if the Bible had not said that in the last days it will be this way.
2Timothy; 3:1-4
(But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,)
I think that we are witnessing this everyday in the news.

I'm not saying that Jesus will come today or tomorrow (even though He could,) but what I'm saying is that we are to be able to discern the signs of His coming. God has told us that things will become increasing worse as the time approaches. All the dangerous movements of the false teachers will become increasingly more successful as Christ return approaches.
2Timothy; 3:13
(But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.)

One thing we need to understand is that God is a holy God, and He will not be mocked. People might think that they can get away with what ever they want to do, but the day of judgment is approaching fast.
Galatians; 6:7-8
(Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.)

If you haven't put your faith in Jesus Christ, today is the day. You may never have another chance to repent and be saved.
John; 10:9
(I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.)
John; 14:6
(Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.)

God Bless You!

'I Never Knew You'!

You've had that phone call when someone would say "hi" I'm this person or that person. You try as hard as you can to remember who they are but you just don't know them. I have had people call me by my first name and act like they knew me only to find out that they were trying to get me to give money to their organization. They want you to think that they know you when they don't have the slightest idea who you are. There are those who claim to be a Christian yet their actions speak a different story. They may be saved, only God knows their heart, but the world doesn't see any change.

The Bible tells us that we are a new creation in Christ, so we should see a change in their life at some point. They may have spoken the words but their heart wasn't right with God. You can't just say some words and go on living your life the way you want too. When you give your life to Jesus, you are telling Him that He is Lord and master of your life and you are His servant. God has told us how He wants us to live and if we aren't living that way we are in disobedience to Him. Now everyone is going to sin at times, but our goal is to be obedient to Him and become more Christ like in our daily walk. If we think that we have fire insurance by saying the words and then living as we please, we deceiving ourselves.

Jesus addresses this and tells us that not everyone who says 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew; 7:21-23
("Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me that day, 'Lord, Lord,' have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!')
Works will never save us but true faith will not fail to produce the fruit of good works. You can't call Jesus 'Lord, Lord,' if He isn't truly Lord of your life. If Jesus was truly Lord of your life, you would want to do the will of the Father who is in Heaven.

God tells us not to be just hearers of the word but to be doers also. We can hear the word, but if we don't do what it says we will not produce good works. We are told that the just will live by faith and with that faith we will do good works.
James; 1:22
(But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.)
James; 2:26
(For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.)

We want to have Jesus tell us on that day, 'Well done my good and faithful servant, enter into the kingdom of heaven.' Don't put your faith on something you've done but put it on what Jesus has done for you. Ask Jesus to come into your life and be Lord of your life. Jesus has told us that He will not cast anyone out who comes to Him.
John; 6:37
(All that the Father gives to Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.)
John; 6:40
(And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.")

God Bless You!

Are You Ready For Eternity?

Have you ever thought about the money that people spend every year trying to look younger? I have heard that it is way up in the millions of dollars. If you take the products that we can buy over the counter along with prescribed medicine and surgery, it probably is in the millions of dollars. You've heard the saying that we should chose the battles we want to fight. Well this is a battle that we will never win. No matter how much money a person spends on looking young, they will grow old and probably look that way. We know that we are going to die because God has told us that we will all die once. Avoiding death is a battle we will all lose.
Hebrews; 9:27
(And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.)
So we are all going to die once unless Jesus comes and raptures us out of this present world. Now if you do not belong to Jesus you will not be raptured with the rest of the believers. If you live long enough, you will go through the Great Tribulation Period.

This coming judgment is a term that speaks to both believers and non-believers in Jesus Christ.
The Bible speaks of both judgments.
BELIEVERS
2Corinthians; 5:10
(For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.)
This refers to the actions which happened while the believer was here on earth. This will not include judgment of sin because that was paid for by Jesus when He died on the cross. It will include what we have done for the kingdom of God which has eternal value. This judgment will be for our rewards.

The coming judgment for non-believers will be at the Great White Throne Judgment.
NON-BELIEVERS
Revelation; 20:11-15
(Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.)

Which judgment will you be at? You can be at the believers judgment if you put your faith in Jesus Christ and believe on his name. Our works will never get us into Heaven, only by the blood of Jesus can we be forgiven of our sins. No matter what the world says, Jesus is the only way to the Father and eternal life.
1John; 5:11-12
(And this is the testimony: that 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.)
Put your faith in Jesus today and we will see you in Heaven. You will be a child of God and also a heir of the kingdom.

God Bless You!

Our Citizenship Is In Heaven!

If you are a child of God, your home is in heaven, not here on earth. Isn't that a wonderful feeling to know that God has prepared a place for you in His kingdom? God who created everything has made a home for His children in heaven with Him.
John; 14:1-3
("Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.)
This is one of the passages that talk about the rapture of the saints at the end of the age.

After you have been born again, you are a foreigner here on earth. You then have citizenship in heaven with Jesus our Lord. Heaven is where God dwells and it is the believers new home. We have our names registered there also.
Luke; 10:20
(Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.)
The contrast to this is that all unbelievers names are written in the earth.
Jeremiah; 17:13
(O LORD, the hope of Israel, All who forsake You shall be ashamed. "Those who depart from Me Shall be written in the earth, Because they have forsaken the LORD, The fountain of living waters.")

We can rejoice and be thankful to Jesus Christ our Lord that we have a new home in heaven. If He hadn't set aside His Deity and became a man to die in our place, we would not have any means of forgiveness from sin. Because He was obedient even to death on the cross, He became the sacrificial lamb to die in our place. Through His death we can be reconciled to God and be at peace with our heavenly Father.
2Corinthians; 5:19
(that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.)
You might wonder how that could have happened. How could we being sinners be reconciled to God?
2Corinthians; 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.)
God sent His Son to die in our place. We can have eternal life through His sacrifice. We can have a home in heaven and our names written in the Book of Life. Come to Jesus and be saved!

God Bless You!

The Coming Day Of God!

Most of us carry insurance on our homes and cars and some of us have life insurance. We carry these to protect us against some unforeseen crisis. We carry fire insurance on our homes and cars. What ever is valuable to us we want to protect. But our soul is what really should be of importance to us?
2Peter; 3:10-12
(But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?)

God tell us that He will incinerate the universe. This refers to the physical universe as we know it. If you are a Christian, you are looking forward to that day because God will create a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. This will come after the thousand year millennium.
Psalm; 102:25-26
(Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but You will endure; Yes, they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will change them, And they will be changed.)
Our present corrupt and decaying world will be replaced with a new heaven and a new earth. Righteousness will dwell in this new world because God will be dwell with us.
Revelation; 21:1-3
(Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.)

The word "tabernacle," means place of abode. This is God's house, the place where He lives.
Leviticus; 26:11-12
(I will set My tabernacle among you, and My soul shall not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.)
We need to ready for the day that God comes and takes His people out of the present earth. We know that God has told us that He will come again to take us to be with Him. We need to give our life to Him and let Him be Lord. What seems important down here on this present earth will not matter when Jesus comes, because it will end up being destroyed. What will matter is what we have done for the kingdom of God. Have we been obedient and spread the Word of God, or have we been a light in a dark place? Have we told our children about Jesus and raised them in the ways of the Lord? Doing the will of the Father and believing on the Son of God will be what counts.
1John; 2:17
(And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.)
You can have eternal life today, All you have to do is believe on the name of Jesus and be saved.
Romans; 10:9-10
(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!

The Path To Damnation!

Why do people end up going to the Lake of Fire ? They may have been really good people and done many things to help others and they still will end up in the Lake of Fire. The reason they end up there is that they have rejected Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. They have relied on their good works and being a good person to get them to heaven.
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 any should boast.)
Being good and doing things for other's will not get you to heaven. Once you are born again and have the Holy Spirit living in you, these works will come as fruit of the Spirit, not fruit of the flesh. We can never be good enough to merit heaven.

The false religions want you to believe that there are many ways to heaven and it is up to you which way you want to go. They deny the deity of Jesus and want you to believe they have the answers to salvation. They are the false teachers that the Word of God warns us about many times in the Scriptures. They want you to believe that they have gotten a new revelation from God and that the Bible is wrong. God wrote the Bible through inspired men and God doesn't make mistakes. He told them what to write down and when He was done He gave us this warning at the end of the Bible.
A WARNING
Revelation; 22:18-19
(For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.)

The path to damnation is the path of a non-repentant heart. This person is rejecting the only path to heaven and that is the path through Jesus Christ.
John; 14:6
(Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.)
We are all sinners and in need of a Savior and our Savior is Jesus. We might say that we don't sin much but one sin is all it took to separate us form God.
Romans; 3:23
(for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,)
God knew that we needed a Savior and He sent His Son to die in our place.
John; 3:16
(For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.)

There are two paths we can take, one will lead us to eternal life in heaven and the other to eternal separation from God in hell.
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.)
Don't listen to the false teachers, trust in the Word of God and be on the narrow path. Jesus tells us that if we don't believe in Him we will die in our sins and the penalty to sin is death.
John; 8:24
(Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.)
Repent and ask Jesus to forgive you and be your Lord and Savior. He is the only way.

God Bless You!

A Country Divided Against Itself!

What has happened to our country? We used to be respected as a great country and now we are the laughing stock of the world. They look at us and see what happens to a country that is divided against itself. We have so many internal problems that we are not of any use when it comes to world problems. We have corruption in our country from the little man to the big man and I don't see it getting any better. I'm not saying that every person is corrupt, but all you have to do is read the news and you see what I'm talking about.

People are more interested in keeping the ten commandments out of public square than protecting our borders. You have those who don't believe in God telling you that you can't worship Him the way you want because they just don't like it. We have every blessing from God that we could expect to have and yet we are not satisfied. We want it our way and that's all there is to it. We have the far left, the far right, homosexual movement, illegal immigrants and the list could go on. Everybody wants America their way and they don't care what anyone else thinks. The important thing is what does God want? Maybe you don't care what God thinks or wants, but God could destroy this country in a heart beat. If you don't believe so, look at what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. God totally destroyed them with fire and brimstone from heaven.

The further away we get from God and the more we push Him out of the way, the worse it is going to get. We are a country that is divided against our self and there is no hope if we continue this way. We have all heard the saying divide and conquer, we are going to destroy ourselves from the inside out. We are not a united country!
Matthew; 12:25
(But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.)

Is there any hope for our country? YES! there is hope and that hope is in Jesus Christ.
Ezekiel; 18:30-32
("Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways," says the Lord GOD. "Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourself a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies," says the Lord GOD. "Therefore turn and live!")
All we have to do is repent of our sins and turn back to God and He will forgive us.

Our enemies have always said that we would destroy ourselves from the inside out and I see it happening every day. Maybe you can see it to. We need to be on our knees as a nation and asking God to forgive us and cleans us from the inside out. We need to be a God fearing country again an maybe then we can get back on track as a great leader in a fallen world.

God Bless You!

Will You Inherit The Kingdom Of God?

Can we say the words and then live anyway we want to live? You ask Jesus to forgive you and save you, now you've said the words and you figure you can go on with your life as it was before. The Scripture tell us that we are a new creation, so how can we continue as we were before coming to Jesus. I have talked with people who tell me they are saved and yet they continue to walk in the flesh. We are warned that if we live in the flesh, we will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
Galatians; 5:19-21
(Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.)

The key word in Paul's warning is to practice these things. All Christians will commit sins, but what is meant here is the habitual indulgence in these sins. Living this life style and being unrepentant will put you into this habitual practice. How can we live like the world and then be a witness to the world about Jesus Christ? How can we tell them that it is wrong to live like this, if we live like this? We are told what we should do to keep from fulfilling the desires of the flesh.
Galatians; 5:16-17
(I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these things are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.)
The flesh here is not just simply the physical body, but the mind, will, and emotions which are all subject to sin.

The key here is being led by the Spirit. How do we know if we are walking in the Spirit?
Galatians; 5:22-23
(But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.)
Galatians; 5:25-26
(If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.)

If we are in any habitual sin, we need to repent and confess our sin and ask God to forgive us and to help us live in the Spirit. We cannot continue to live in the flesh and do it's will and be pleasing God.
Romans; 8:5-8
(For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.)

Give your life totally to Jesus and live in the Spirit. It is the only way you will be able to please Him and do His will. You can't have it both ways, you will either walk by the Spirit or you will walk by the flesh. You know what walking in the flesh will lead to, it isn't the kingdom of God.

God Bless You!

We Plant And Water, God Causes The Growth!

You witness to someone every time you get a chance, but maybe you don't seem to be getting anywhere. That's probably far from what is happening in that persons life. They may not except Jesus at the time you are witnessing to them, but the seed has been planted. We don't always see the growth in a persons life but God is working and will continue that work.

1Corinthians; 3:6
(I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.)
It is the Lord alone who can give the faith to the spiritually ignorant and dead. Salvation is God's work of grace to whom He chooses to give it. We can't save anyone, all we can be is servants of God and spread the seed of truth. When Jesus was about to go to the Father, he gave His disciples this work to do.
Matthew; 28:19
(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.)

Never give up telling others about Jesus. We don't know when they may be enlightened and come to Jesus for salvation. I have heard that most people don't make that decision of faith the first time they are told the word. God knows the time and the place for all who will come to Him and be saved. You might plant the seed then someone else waters the seed by talking to them again about Jesus. Then someone else comes along and it might be the day of their salvation and they lead them to Christ. God might use a number of individuals to tell someone about Jesus, but God alone can save that person. The glory goes to God not us, we are nothing but an instrument to be used to fulfill His purpose.
1Corinthians; 3:7-8
(So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his labor.)

It's our flesh that wants to make us something when we are nothing, but we need to remember that it is all about Jesus who alone saves. We must never forget that He went to the cross, He died in our place for our sins, we are nothing, He is everything, He is our Lord and Savior. Thank You Jesus for saving me!

God Bless You!

Sticks And Stones And Our Words Can Hurt!

We have all heard the saying "sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never harm me." I don't know who coined that phrase but words will definitely harm you. We have all had someone say something to us that was hurtful and maybe we didn't let on like it bothered us but down deep it hurt a lot. We have probably done the same to someone else without even knowing that our words hurt them. We need to be careful with what we say to others so that we don't cause them to shy away from God because of what we have said. They could look at us and the way we talk and say "if being a Christian cause you to say the hurtful things you say," then I don't want anything to do with being a Christian.

God warns us be careful with our speech. When we become a Christian, we are a new creation in Christ and we are to do away with fleshly speech.
Ephesians; 4:31
(Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.)
As a believer in Jesus Christ, we are to have a change in our character. We have had our heart cleansed by the blood of Christ and we shouldn't have venom spewing out of our mouth. When we open our mouth it should be with graceful speech.
Ephesians; 4:29
(Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearer.)

I'm sure that all of us have spoke before we thought about what we should say. Once the words are out of our mouth, there is no taking them back. The damage is done and it will be hard to fix if it even can be fixed. Remember a kind word will stop an arguement before it can get out of control and we have said something that we wish we hadn't said.
Proverbs; 15:1
(A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.)
Sticks and stones will break bones and your words will hurt just as much. Let God help you control the mouth.

God Bless You!