Do You Know Jesus?

by edouardo

Ask yourself this question. Do you know Jesus? Stop. Think about this for a minute. Let it sink in.

I didn’t ask, “Do you know about Jesus?” or “Do you know who Jesus is?” There is a difference.

For true Christians, followers of Jesus Christ, they would know that they know that they know that they truly know Jesus. How? Have they seen Jesus face to face? Have they sat down at a table across from Jesus and had a conversation while sipping tea?

How do you know? How do they know?

This is, really, a crucial question. Because if you don’t know Jesus experientially then you’re not a Christian. Obviously, then, what is meant by experientially. Simply put, this means you’ve encountered Jesus and He’s changed your life. From there the experience comes in all forms, shapes, and sizes.

Suffice it to say that if you’ve met Jesus and have come to know Jesus, you’ve had an experience where Jesus has changed your life. For some, that means He’s freed you from addictions. Others, maybe you’ve experienced healing that goes beyond human reasoning. Maybe there was a relationship that was fractured and He brought you back together. There could be a million ways where He has touched your life. But you know one thing. Only God could have stepped in and done this thing.

It’s complicated. It’s complicated because no one person can adequately explain it. It’s a mystery.

But then again, it’s simple. It’s so simple that even a child can receive Jesus into his or her heart and know Jesus.

Is it a paradox? Or is it simply truth?

The Bible, which is God’s Word, says, “…walk by faith, not by sight.”

The Christian world is filled with seemingly complicated and contradictory statements. But to the Christian, it makes absolute sense. For example, Jesus said, “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” He also said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” At the same time, God says, “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.”

Is God a God of love or judgment? Yes. Contradictory? No.

That’s where coming to know Jesus comes in. It’s in a personal relationship with Jesus, He reveals truth to you. His truth. Jesus prayed to the Father, “…I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.” The Apostle Paul said regarding this, “…these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.” Jesus added, “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”

Do you know Jesus?

Many people know about Jesus. Many people can recite Scripture. But has the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ, changed your life?

If someone were to ask you today, “If you were to die tonight in your sleep, do you know where you would spend eternity”? For the Christian, it would be clear. Yes, with Jesus in heaven for all eternity.

But what about you? Is He some distant deity, a fairy tale, or maybe someone you learned about in Sunday school but never gave a second thought? Maybe the world is such that you have a hard time wrapping your mind around the fact that there is a God? There is, after all, so much corruption, greed, and anger to name a few that it’s difficult to believe that there is an All-Powerful God.

You may not believe it, or understand it, but you do not have to give up your sense of reason or rationalization to believe in God. It is a matter of faith, however. Scripture says, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” It’s a matter of trusting God by faith, not by things you can actually see.

Do you know Jesus?

If you do know Jesus, then there are certain things that you know to be true. You know that Jesus is the living Son of God. You know that He died on the cross for your sins. You know that you are a sinner deserving of judgment and death. You know that if it weren’t for the shed blood of Christ on the cross that you’d be damned to hell for eternity. You know that God paid the price for your sins and justified you to God the Father not by your righteousness, but by Christ’s righteousness. You know that you’re not deserving but eternally thankful that you’re forgiven. You know that Jesus gave His all for you so He demands that you give your all to Him…and you do. You repent, you ask for forgiveness, you believe, and you are saved.

“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

Do you know Jesus?

If you don’t know Jesus, then you’re lost. You’re condemned. You’re an enemy of God. You are already lost in your sins and destined to live in hell, separated from God, for all eternity. You have no hope and you have no peace. You will never experience the joy, happiness, and love that awaits God’s children.

But you don’t have to stay that way. You can change the course of your life and destiny. You can make a choice. Right here, right where you are.

Do you know Jesus?

Do you want to know love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? You can. You can know Jesus.

There is a website that explains how you can know Jesus personally. Go to CRU by following this link: http://www.cru.org/how-to-know-god/would-you-like-to-know-god-personally.html.

If you do, please let me know and I’ll pray for you. Ultimately, it’s between you and the Lord. I hope that you do know Jesus or come to know Jesus. Because He’s the most important One you’ll ever know. It really is a matter of life and death.

The Meaning of Christmas

Christmas is such a special and memorable time. I know most people will be out buying presents and getting ready for some festive celebration. Shelby and I decided years ago that we didn’t want to participate in the commercialization of Christmas, so we didn’t buy presents.

However, the more I think about what Jesus did on the cross and by giving His life for mine, I realize how significant His gift was to me. The thing is is that gifts are a great thing. But it’s the kind of gift that makes the difference. Shelby and I have everything we need. But to give our time to someone, to help someone who is sick or in need, or to share the greatest gift of all, which is Jesus, is far better than anything we could buy at Walmart or Target.

I am deeply grateful for Jesus and all that He has done for me. He has given me a beautiful and supportive wife who even helps me write these blogs. I often don’t give her enough credit because these blog posts are so much better because of her. And that goes for every area of my life. Thank you Shelby.

This post is actually meant for everyone. But as Christmas draws near, I think of my family and friends. I don’t know each person’s heart or where they stand with God. It’s my prayer that they all know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. But I know from the Bible that I can’t assume that.

I would like to be bold and ask each person what they believe. I’m just not as adept at speaking as I am at writing. These are questions that I so desperately want to ask everyone that I know. Do you know Jesus? How do you know Jesus? What does Christmas mean to you? Do you know for sure that you belong to Him?

I can’t stress the significance of these issues enough. Eternity apart from God is such a horrible thought that it’s like knowing someone is heading toward a cliff and knowing about it but doing nothing about it. No warning, no empathy, no nothing.

But to share God with someone is like caring enough for them to know of the joy, the love, and the blessings that I also know and experience. Since God loved me, He expects me to love Him and to love others. I often fall short of these goals.

It convicts me that I’m not as bold as I should be about my faith. But I do hope that many of my family and friends will read this. Because it’s that important to me and to Shelby. Thank you.

  

The Meaning of Christmas

Every year around this time it seems that this phrase, “the meaning of Christmas,” keeps popping up in conversations. You also hear, “Let’s keep Christ in Christmas." There’s little question the reason behind these phrases is due to certain people, such as atheists deeply opposed to Christianity, trying to remove God from our culture.

It’s understandable, considering the atheists point of view, why they are opposed to God. The definition of atheism, according to Merriam-Webster, is “a disbelief in the existence of deity.” It could be argued that disbelief is a belief in itself. For example, John Doe chooses to believe there is no God versus believing there is a God. The Free Dictionary says that disbelief is, “the inability or refusal to believe or to accept something as true.” Point being is that atheists, in the same vein as evolutionists, are choosing to base their argument on faith. The sad reality is that they’re betting their lives and that is going to end very badly.

What my concern is is that people are adamantly protesting taking Christ out of Christmas without understanding what Christmas means themselves. What do I mean by this? For many, my concern is that they are like those in Isaiah 29:13. Please read this very carefully.

Isaiah 29:13

The Lord says:

“These people come near to me with their mouth
    and honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
    is based on merely human rules they have been taught.

Why does this concern me? Perhaps because this rang true in my life for many years. I considered myself a Christian when I wasn’t. I had convinced myself that because I prayed for God to save me that I had essentially been saved. But there was something missing and I didn’t know it. Or maybe I did but I didn’t want to admit it.

I had stopped going to church. I continued to live my life as if it were my own. I was pursuing a sinful lifestyle and wasn’t concerned about what God thought. But I had been brought up in a family that went to church every week, was baptized as a child, confirmed as a young adult, and followed many of the traditions of Christianity.

The issue is what God says in Isaiah. I honored him with my mouth, like many do when they cry foul when someone says Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. I followed human rules such as going to church on Sunday mornings. I acknowledged that there was a God but so does the Devil and his minions. James 2:19 says, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.”

What was missing? What do so many people miss? The problem is that many people miss a very important truth. It’s not difficult to see. Consider the Pharisees. You may think that the Pharisees were bad people and that you’re nothing like them. Think again. The Pharisees were even more religious than you. They “were very zealous for the law of Moses,” according to Thorn Crown Journal, and they “had a great zeal for God.” The problem is that just as in Isaiah 29:13, they were also strict adherents to oral traditions. These were traditions of men, even very intelligent men.

Why were the traditions of men so wrong? In many ways, the traditions became more important than God’s Word. The Pharisees were rebuked by Jesus because they treated their traditions as having equal authority as God’s laws. Like Got Questions Ministries state, “we are not to allow our relationship with God to be reduced to a legalistic list of rules and rituals.”

So what is everyone missing? Why does it seem that there is a world with their hearts far from God, despite the fact they profess Him with their lips? Ironically, there are so many people who say “Lord, Lord,” but are going down the path to destruction and don’t even know it. Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

What many people are missing and what I was missing is “surrendering.” Think about it. What good is it when a person asks God to save them and continues about his or her lifestyle without any consideration of changing? But it’s not just that, it’s also a recognition that God is King, He is Lord, and He is Sovereign over our lives. So am I saying that it takes some effort on our part to get right with God? No. Surrendering is just that…surrender. Our sin caused us to be enemies of God. Just as in war, there is a supreme power that wins. When we surrender to God’s ways and lifestyle, we surrender to the Supreme Power and His authority over our lives. Isaiah 55:9 says, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

We all need to understand that we have sinned against God by living contrary to His ways. The law, otherwise known as the Mosaic laws, helps us to see what are God’s ways. Do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, and so on. Have you ever told a white lie? Have you ever taken a penny that didn’t belong to you? Have you ever in your anger say that you hated someone? If you have, then you’re a lying, thieving murderer. And by God’s standard, we all have sinned against God and have come short of His glory.

Though most everyone believes that God is love, and He is, God is also just. He cannot tolerate sin or for sin to go unpunished. That would be like having a judge in court say to a lying, thieving murderer deserving of the death sentence to say, “I love you and forgive you. I’ll give you a pass. You are free to go.” Would that be a just judge? Wouldn’t every person who witnessed such a judgment realize how wrong and inequitable that is to a civilized society? How much less would that be to a just God who is the ultimate Judge over our souls?

Many of these things were not explained to me early in my life. I thought all I needed was to pray some prayer, confess Jesus in front of others, and try to live a good life. Though that is what I believed, I didn’t even do that well. Suffice it to say, I missed it by a mile. I didn’t realize that to truly belong to God, or be considered one of His children, that I needed to surrender. I needed to make him Lord of my life. Even that statement isn’t completely accurate. Got Questions Ministries helps explain that Jesus is already Lord. It’s for us to submit to His Lordship.

Why is all of this so important to understand? It’s because too many people live a life of religion. It’s just like in Memphis or throughout the Deep South. This area is commonly referred to as the Bible Belt. However, like in the days of the Pharisees, there appears to be traditions of men that are viewed with higher priority. People are judged harshly and legalism becomes a common occurrence. As a result, there are church pews filled with people going through the motions, becoming Sunday Christians, and for the rest of the week blending in with the world.

True Christians would not want to blend in with the world. The world is antagonistic against God. 1 John 2:15-17 says that we should not love the world but love God. And to love God is to do the will of God.

1 John 2:15-17

¹⁵ Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. ¹⁶ For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷ The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

If we truly know Jesus, we would know that His desire is relationship, not religion. God doesn’t just want us to know about Him. He wants us to know Him personally. Think of your own parents. Don’t they want you to identify with them as part of the family? Don’t they want you to know them as Mom and Dad and not just know about them as some distant parental unit? Don’t they long for you to want to be with them and love them? Doesn’t God want many of the same things from His children? Hosea 6:6 says, “I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.”

So what does Christmas truly mean for the Christian? Is it about being offended by those who prefer Happy Holidays or Season’s Greetings to Merry Christmas? No. We should care about our neighbor and more importantly, their eternal destination. Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus, of course, but the miracle of the virgin birth is only the prelude to the greater event, Jesus’s ultimate sacrifice on the cross for the sins of all the world.

What Jesus did was satisfy the righteous requirements of the law and justify us before the Judge of all mankind for our sins. He took our place and bore our sins and nailed them to the cross. But while Jesus died for the sins of the world, it is still our individual responsibility to ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) We need to receive God’s gift. We need to surrender to His will.

Christmas means everything. Christmas is where Jesus humbled Himself and became like one of us. It was such a glorious event that even Linus of the cartoon strip Peanuts recognized the significance. Watch this video and see for yourself.

It is every true Christian’s prayer that all people come to know Jesus. What is the meaning of Christmas to you? I hope that for you that it means you invited Jesus into your heart and surrendered your will for His. That is the only way Christmas can be truly celebrated.

Easter

Happy Easter!  

Happy Easter. Isn't this one of the greatest ironies in life? We celebrate what Jesus did over 2000 years ago. It was the single most horrific event followed by the single most glorious event in history. And yet today most of the world treats what took place to God's own Son as either a fable or as a joke.  

What am I talking about? For one, our culture has replaced this solemn occasion as some holiday to entertain children. There's the Easter bunny and egg hunt and candy and so on and so forth. For some it's a time to get together with family. Not all these things are bad really. But they've seriously diminished the significance of the day. But again, we've done the same with Christmas, haven't we?  

I hope...no, I pray...that aside from these distractions that all my family, friends, relatives, loved ones, etc. will be able to consider Easter for what it truly represents. I have no doubt that everyone knows about the cross, what happened to Jesus, how He died and rose again 3 days later. What I'm concerned about, though, is if that event (which transformed the world in ways that are earth shattering) has actually transformed their lives in much the same way.  

Consider this. God so loved the world... What does that mean to you? Is that an emotional feeling? It's so much more than that. It's an unconditional love that is committed to action. The actual definition is:      

selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love, the highest of the four types of love in the Bible.

But what's so special about God's love is that He gave... We don't think about that much, do we? People who have done nothing but live selfishly and contrary to His laws and commands (such as stealing, lying, coveting, using God's Name inappropriately, putting family, spouse or job before God are all sins you should know) and yet God gives. But not just any gift. For the Father, the gift is His Son. For Jesus, it's Himself. Would you lay your life down for anyone? How about wicked people? How about Hitler, Stalin, or the most vile person you can think of? Would you die for them? Would you take the punishment for their sins? I mention these people known for evil. But we're guilty too. In fact, or sin is just as bad. We don't see it that way because we look at it from a human perspective. But with God, no one is righteous. We all have sinned and are deserving of death. The wages of sin is death. But guess what? The gift of God is eternal life through His Son.  

God has given us a gift. The most important and significant gift ever. But what has the world done with God's gift? The Bible says that the gift is for those that believe in Him. Him who? Jesus. In reality, not many believe. Believing doesn't merely mean you think about it and conclude it's real. It's faith moved into action. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. You hear Scripture (God's Word) and you do what He says...His way and on His terms. In a nutshell, that means surrendering your will for God's will. Sounds like slavery, doesn't it? As a matter of fact, it's a lot like that. Except that in this case it's a choice to be a bond servant. Are you willing to be that for God no matter what? Jesus said that we must consider the cost before following Him. Why would He say that...if that cost wouldn't be a big deal? It can mean losing your family, your job, or even your life. Often it places you in positions that you're not comfortable with. Dealing with and confronting your sin and sometimes others.  

Let me say this though. This doesn't mean you're earning your way into God's favor and that's how you receive His gift. No. It means you accept what Jesus has done on the cross at Calvary for your salvation knowing He was the only One who could pay your debt. It's a gift after all. What it does mean is that as a result of receiving God's gift your life will dramatically change. And it will often involve sacrifice.

So I ask again. What has the world, or more importantly...you, done with God's gift? Most ignore it. Some mock it. Some others say they accept it but don't really mean it. It feels good to them to say they love God and that God loves them. But no real change has taken place in their life. The whole idea is to surrender to God, remember? Remember that definition of love? Can you honestly say you love God that way? It will change you. Jesus called it being born again. You have an old life that you turn from (repent) and you have a new life where you live for Jesus. It sounds easy but can be the hardest thing you've ever done. That is where the rest of the world falls. They are the true believers. Which one are you? Can you honestly say there was a time in your life that you made a choice to follow Jesus and that your life changed? That you're no longer living for yourself, the world or others but that you're living for Jesus? Trust me, you would know. If you don't know, you need, and I mean NEED, to find out. Don't wait and don't procrastinate. It's that important.

Why does this matter? What's the big deal? There's a down side to not choosing to believe and follow Jesus. The Scripture says that whoever believes will not perish... Perish from what? The thing is is that sin needs to be dealt with. God would not be a just God if He didn't punish sin. You might ask, so where's God's love in that? Well, He does love the world, the people that is. But that doesn't mean He can tolerate sin and disobedience. He's also a Holy God. He can't act against His own nature. His holy nature demands that He deals with sin through judgment. Anything less would mean He is not truly holy or completely righteous. He wouldn't be God. God loves us, though, and THAT is why He has provided us a means to escape His wrath. But those who reject (and that sometimes means just not making a choice which is a choice in itself) God and His gift will be judged. That's like a person going to court defending himself on his own behalf. Instead of relying on a mediator to take his place and take the ruling meant for him, he instead decides to go on it his own. BIG mistake.  

That's why Jesus did what He did on the cross. That's why we celebrate Easter. Those who truly know what Jesus did for us are humbly and eternally grateful. God offered the gift and we accepted. We're not worthy because our sin deserves God's wrath. But Jesus took our place, our sin, our judgment for that sin, and died in our place as punishment for our sin. And in exchange? He gave us His righteousness so we can be justified before a Holy God. Again, we were not deserving but it was a gift we gladly received. And desperately needed.  

That is why Easter is so important. It's not some trivial event to be mocked or ridiculed or even to be made light of. It's truth. There is no other event more important. There is no other way to receive forgiveness and eternal life. It's all about Jesus. There is no other name under heaven, given among men, by which we must be saved.  

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.  

Contradictions

Picture by john shuford at CreatonSwap

Contradictions.  The Bible seems to be filled with them, doesn’t it?  Reading the Old Testament, you can get the sense that God is violent; He often appears to be involved in war and annihilation toward nations that would oppose Him as God of Israel.  God comes across as being a harsh, vindictive God; sometimes even with His own people.  In the New Testament, it’s almost the opposite.  There is a lot more talk about grace and mercy.  So which is it?

In understanding the Bible, which by the way is God’s Word, you have to take the Bible in its entire context.  It would be foolish, for example, to believe that polygamy is somehow condoned by God by the fact that Israel seemed to have been inundated by it.  Polygamy was not only wrong, but Jesus even nailed down the true intent of marriage when in Matthew 19 He says that, “at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

So context is definitely important, as it is when reading Romans; particularly Romans 11.  Here is what’s going on.  Paul writes this letter to the Romans.  He explains to the Jewish Christians that God has (or rather has had from the beginning) a plan to include Gentiles in His overall plan of redemption.  It’s a complex plan to be sure (from a human perspective.)  Paul explains to these Christians that God hasn’t rejected the Israelites, but is rather using them to bring about salvation to the Gentiles…that’s non-Jews for the rest of us.  Look at the progression of God’s plan:

1. God creates a nation called Israel.
2. Israel rebels (repents, rebels, repents, rebels, etc.)
3. God sends His messengers, the prophets, to warn Israel about their sin.  He tells them to either choose Him as their God and turn away from the useless idols and follow Him as their only God, or incur His wrath as judgment for their rebellion.
4. Israel, over many years and centuries, finally receive God’s judgment. 
• A remnant of Israelites is reserved for God that will still follow and serve Him by the grace of God.
5. Though the Israelites earnestly sought God, as Paul explains, God gives them a spirit of stupor, “eyes that could not see and ears that could not hear.”  This is spiritually speaking of course.  Paul also reiterates what David said years before, “their table became a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them…their eyes (were) darkened so they (could) not see, and their backs (would) be bent forever.” 
• Paul also points out that the remnant, the elect, did find God and were living their lives for Him.
6. Israel, therefore, stumbles but not beyond recovery.
7. As a result of Israel’s fall, the Gentiles were grafted into the Branch (which is Jesus Christ.)  The Gentiles obtain salvation because of the Israelites transgression.
8. The Gentiles’ salvation now becomes the envy of the Israelites.
9. Ultimately, though, Paul says that Israel is experiencing a hardening until a full number of the Gentiles are grafted in (saved by God’s grace.)
10. When the full number of Gentiles occurs, Israel will be saved.  Paul quotes Isaiah and says, ““The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.  And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”

The issue that we need to be careful not to take out of context is the Gentiles’ salvation.  The Gentiles have not been granted a higher standing than the Israelites (Jews.)  Paul makes it clear that the Gentiles are but “a wild olive shoot.”  We’ve been grafted in among the branches, but Paul says just as some of the branches were broken off, so too can the olive shoots as a result of unbelief.  Look at what Paul says:

Romans 11:11-24

11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. 12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!

13 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry 14 in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16 If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

 17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

 22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. 23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!

I often wonder how often Christians look at themselves and think, “I’m glad I’m not like the Jews and that God saved me.”   Does that even happen?  I don’t know…but I do think Christians have a tendency of thinking of themselves as superior.  The situation is similar to the Pharisee and tax collector:

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

 9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

   13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

   14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

The world has a natural tendency to think in ways that are contrary to God.  And if Christians aren’t careful, they too can be caught in this same trap.  We may think we know better, but God assures us that His ways and thoughts are far greater than ours.

Isaiah 55:9

“As the heavens are higher than the earth,

   so are my ways higher than your ways

   and my thoughts than your thoughts.

So, back to what I was saying before…it may seem that God was contradicting Himself when He disciplined the Jews and brought salvation to the Gentiles, but in the grand scheme of things, God is in absolute control and He is still in the process of formulating His plans and purposes.  How can we align ourselves to what God is doing?  First, learn from Israel’s example:  do not fall into unbelief.  Secondly, pray for Israel…because one day Jesus is returning and will deliver them!

Revelations 22:12-21

  12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

   14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

   16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

 17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

 18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.

 20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”

   Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.

Hope in Life

by Scott Foster at http://www.creationswap.com/media/6759

A recent loss in the family has taken me aback.  I find myself sad for various reasons.  I can't say I was personally close to her.  She was my cousin's wife.  But I knew her well enough to know she was hurting and had been hurting for some time.  It has stirred in me a concern for those friends and family she left behind, and in addition for others that are hurting like she was.

This world can be pretty difficult.  Just look around.  People are rising up against their governments in certain countries because of oppression or other harsh conditions.  Others are recovering from devastating losses from tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, massive fires and other such natural disasters.  And that doesn't touch on the personal losses such as close loved ones that die from cancer, heart disease or other such health related issues.

I could go on.  But the fact of the matter is is that there is a lot of pain in this world.  It shouldn't come as a complete surprise, though. We do live in a fallen world.  Sin is real and devastating.  And Satan, who is also very real, is out to kill, steal and destroy.  John 10:10  We have an enemy of our souls, but oddly enough we often do enough damage to ourselves.  We tend to add insult to injury when we are enticed by the evil desires within our own hearts.  James 1:13-15

Like I was saying, my heart goes out to hurting people.  For these folk, it seems pretty apparent that they need help.  Unfortunately, the places they often go to for help either add to their difficulty or do nothing to address the real issue(s).  It seems the world is never short of its offers of pleasure and comfort that lead to self-serving motives and/or desires.  Its promises are fleeting and do more damage than good.  God says that "there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.”  Proverbs 14:12

As much as I’m concerned for these people, I’m also concerned for my family and friends.  This statement might need some explaining.  Some of them may not believe or think that this could possibly apply to them.  And I understand that.  I understand that growing up doing good things, or going to church, getting baptized or even being religious seems like it’s doing all the things that matter.  It’s even possible that there are some that believe by going to a specific church automatically puts them in God’s good graces.  I even thought at one point in my life that if I do enough good things that outweighed the bad, then I might get to heaven.  (That, however, quickly faded when I was doing nothing but bad things and found myself headed in the wrong direction.)

At some point I realized it really wasn’t about me being good.  Or doing enough good to outweigh the bad for that matter.  I realized it had more to do with Jesus and the cross than it did me.  I prayed that God would forgive me and asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior.  However, I missed the point.  I obviously wasn’t serious about my commitment to God because for several years after that I still pursued a lifestyle very contrary to God’s ways.  For years, I had believed that I was a Christian.  But I looked back and realized that there wasn’t ever a moment in my life that I could say it really changed.  I still wanted to live life my way.  I still was not serious about submitting to God and seeking to live my life for Him.  Isn’t that what it really means if God is my Lord?

It wasn’t until much, much later after years of bad decision after bad decision that I got serious about the direction my life was headed.  Actually, it was my wife (who was my ex-wife at the time) who called me about her decision to follow Jesus and become a born-again believer that convinced me that I needed a change too.  Maybe a month or two later, I found myself at a church asking God to help me.  To help me and save me.  I wanted to turn my life around and be serious about my commitment to follow Him as Lord and Savior.  At that point, I began to notice changes in my life.  Things didn’t happen right away, but over time I began to realize that I was a “new creation” in Christ, which is the idea of being born-again.  2 Corinthians 5:17

Becoming a Christian is not that difficult.  But often people misunderstand what being a Christian really means.  Jesus says that we must be born-again in order to enter Heaven.  “Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’”  John 3:1-8  It’s a new life and a new lifestyle.  Does it always happen immediately?  No, but for a true follower and believer of Jesus Christ, there should be an indication of change over the course of his/her life.  This is often referred to as “fruit of the Spirit” in the Bible.  Galatians 5:16-25

This is really the point to this whole letter.  My concern is that there may be family and/or friends who truly don’t know if they are saved, or in other words, true believers.  There was a time that I didn’t.  Truth be told, no one really knows about you either, except for God and yourself.  It’s true that we can look at someone’s life over time and see whether or not that person’s life has been changed by God.  But sometimes I think it’s a mistake to point fingers and make accusations.  No one can see into another person’s heart but God.  It really is up to a person himself to ask the tough questions and go before God and see if they truly are a follower of Jesus Christ.

That brings me back to my cousin’s wife.  Where was she in her life?  How did she get to the point where there seemed to be no hope?  I don’t know all the answers, but I truly believe that if a person is in Christ, that person has hope.  This life doesn’t have anything to offer.  But God offers eternal life.  John 3:36  He offers Himself through His Son.  John 3:16  He offers hope.  Psalm 130

How does this work?  How can someone have this hope?  It all happens through Jesus Christ.  It’s nothing that we can do.  In fact, we’re completely helpless and incompetent to stand before God on our own because He is holy!  Look at what the apostle Paul says in the letter to the Romans:

Romans 3:9-20

No One Is Righteous

9What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written:

    "None is righteous, no, not one;

 11 no one understands;

   no one seeks for God.

12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;

   no one does good,

   not even one."

13 "Their throat is an open grave;

   they use their tongues to deceive."

"The venom of asps is under their lips."

 14 "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness."

15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood;

 16 in their paths are ruin and misery,

17 and the way of peace they have not known."

 18  "There is no fear of God before their eyes."

 19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

So what can we do?  If we’re relying on ourselves, like our own goodness, there’s nothing.  But if we put all our hope in the work of the cross that Jesus did for us at Calvary by taking our sins, accepting our punishment for those sins and dying on the cross, thereby exchanging his righteousness for our transgressions, then we have hope.  It’s the Gospel message, which is the Good News.  Paul says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”  Romans 1:16  The Gospel message is this:

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain.

 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

 That’s where it begins.  By believing that Jesus took on the form of flesh, was born of the virgin Mary, died on the cross for our sins thereby taking on the punishment that we deserved, was dead and buried for three days and rose again.  In the process, he appeared to many who were witnesses of His resurrection and then ascended into Heaven and is at the right hand of God the Father.  Did you get that?  He died for your sins and mine.  He took on God’s wrath for all the bad that we’ve done.  He died in our place.  And in the process He conquered sin, death, and hell itself.

It’s not automatic though.  There is something you need to do.  You need to admit that you’re a sinner in need of a Savior.  You need to confess your sins, repent of them and commit your life to Jesus Christ.  1 John 1:8-10  To commit your life to Him, you need to believe that He came to die in your place and give you eternal life.  John 3:16-21  It’s a life-changing, life-altering decision.    

But how do you believe?  How does that happen?  The Bible says that the emphasis of believing is putting your faith in Jesus Christ for your salvation and not on anything you’ve done yourself.  And faith in itself is also a gift from God.  “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”  Romans 10:17  If you’re truly serious about knowing God, draw near to Him by getting to know Him.  Read the Bible and allow His Words to grip your heart.  But also know, that God knows the intents of our hearts.  Hebrews 4:12  He knows whether you’re serious about your commitment to Him.

And pray.  It’s not the words themselves that save you, but it’s a heart that is truly repentant for sinning against God and believes that Jesus’ work on the cross satisfies God’s requirements for you to be saved.  You may say a prayer like this:

"Dear God, I confess that I am a sinner, and I am sorry. I need a Savior. I know I cannot save myself. I believe by faith that Jesus, your Son, died on the cross to be my Savior. I believe He arose from the grave to live as my Lord. I turn from my sin. I ask You, Lord Jesus, to forgive my sin and come into my heart. I trust you as my Savior and receive you as my Lord. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me."  The Roman Road

 If you have prayed this for real and mean it, please find a church where they teach the Bible and help you to grow in Christ.  If you still have questions, find a Christian friend or even ask me and I’ll try to help.  I may not have all the answers, but I will try to help you get the answers from someone who can.  Ultimately though, it’s my hope and prayer that no one in my family or any of my friends have any doubt in their mind about their own eternal destination.  Make no mistake, this is the most important decision you will ever make.

God bless you!