Are you there yet?

Are you there yet?
In Luke’s gospel we read,
“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable:  
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  
The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.  
I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 
“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.’ 
“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 18:9-14.
So I ask,

Are you there yet?

            Or

Are you still too proud and self-righteous?

The apostle Paul writes,

“for all have sinned

 and fall short of the glory of God,” 

                                               Romans 3:23.

That all means everyone, you, me, the pope, every priest, pastor, evangelist, political leader, every person that has ever lived. All of us have sinned. Not only that we sin and fall short of what God wants for our lives every day.
It is only when we admit this can we ever draw closer to and be effective for God.
The apostle Paul one of the greatest men in Christian history said,
“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.  
But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.”1Timothy 1:15,16.
It is only when we truly humble ourselves before God and admit that we are sinners that we can become effective for God.
In order to be effective for Christ we must realize how far we have come. We must look back as the apostle Paul did, and humbly admit to anyone who will listen we were the worst of sinners. And that, if Christ can save us, He can save anyone.
So my questions to anyone who claims to be a Christian is,

Are you confident of your own righteousness, 

someone who looks down on everybody else? 

Or

Are you humble enough to admit you are the worst of sinners?

Are you there yet?

Please think about it.

As a Saint or Sinner?

As a Saint or Sinner?
The Psalmist states,
“Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.” The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity. 
Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; 
let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. 
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. 
He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth.” Psalm 96:10-13. 
The writer of Ecclesiastes states,
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole  duty  of man. 
For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” Ecclesiastes12:13,14.
Make no mistake God will one day judge the world. One day God will judge you and me. The question is will you stand before God as Saint or Sinner?
Jesus speaking of Himself said,
“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.  
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”. John 3:16-18.
The apostle John speaking of Jesus said,
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—  children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” John 1:12,13.
Thus the question becomes, Are you a child of God or are you a sinner separated from God?
The apostle Paul wrote,
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23. 
That all means all. The apostle John making it clear
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” 1John 1:9-10
The apostle Paul backs up what John is saying when he writes,
“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”  Romans 10:9,10.
The way I see it as a believer in Christ Jesus is that the way to heaven is by confessing your sins to God. By accepting the saving grace that comes through Jesus Christ.
By doing so you will on judgement day stand before God as a saint, a child of God. 
A saint as one person rightfully told me, is simply a Sinner who has confessed his sins and accepted the Saving Grace of Christ Jesus.
Thus dear reader it is up to you. Will you confess your sins and accept the Saving Grace of Christ, today, or will you on judgement day take your chances when you stand before God?
Please think about it.

A Corner Stone

A Corner Stone
The Apostle John Warns,
“Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.  
They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. 
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.  
I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.  
Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. 1 John 2:18-22.
Here John speaking to believers, warns against what he calls “antichrists”. What he means is those who are against Christ. Men and women who are denying that Jesus is The Messiah, The Christ, God incarnate.
Peter notes,
“They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us.”
These people at least said they were believers. They apparently sat under the teaching of the disciples. However they did not believe.
Peter talking about these people, states, 
“Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son.”
You cannot be a true believer in Christ if you deny the deity of Christ. The apostle Paul writing to the Colossians about Jesus said
“In him dwells all the fullness of the God head bodily” Colossians 2:9.
The writer of Hebrews speaking of Jesus tells us,
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews 1:3.
John’s Gospel records this incident of Jesus speaking to Martha,
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;  and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
“Yes Lord” she told Him, “I believe you are the Christ the Son of God, who was to come into the world,” John 11:25,26,27. 
John at the beginning of his gospel referring to Jesus as “The Word” states,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  
He was with God in the beginning. 
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  
In him was life, and that life was the light of men....
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. ” John 1:1-4,14.
The corner stone of Christian belief is that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, God incarnate. You cannot be a Christian and not believe this.
Please think about it.

Pharisee of Tax Collector?

Pharisee or Tax collector?
The Epistle of James states,

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. 

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  

Come near to God 

and he will come near to you. 

Wash your hands, you sinners, 

and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  

Grieve, mourn and wail.

 Change your laughter to mourning 

and your joy to gloom.  

Humble yourselves before the Lord, 

and he will lift you up.” 

                                                 James 4:7-10.

If you claim to be a believer in Jesus Christ do you truly humble yourself before Him?
James uses strong words here. He tells sinners to wash their hands of their sins. To purify their hearts. He then states, Grieve, mourn, wail. Change your laughter to mourning you joy to gloom. To truly humble yourself before God.
I think we as followers in Christ Jesus are quite often too casual about our salvation. We say we are saved yet we all sin and fall short of what God wants for our lives from time to time.
It is in those times when we sin that we need to grieve and wail. We need to go to our knees and say “O Lord forgive me.”
Luke’s Gospel records,
“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable:  
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  
The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.  
I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 
“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.’ 
“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” 
Luke 18:9-14.
In this scenario who are you, the Pharisee or the Tax collector.
Please think about it.

A Libertine

A Libertine
“Thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondsman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee.” Deuteronomy 15:15.
I believe it’s at St. Mary Woolnoth  an Anglican church in the City of London, that there is a plaque with the words,
 “John Newton, clerk, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy.”
To quote R. J. Morgan
  “As a young man, Newton had been a seaman and slave trader whose mouth was a cesspool of profanity, and who liberally helped himself to the female slaves he transported.
    But he also became a deserter, flogged by the British Navy, who was reduced to being the slave of a sadistic woman, herself a slave, in Africa.
Out of all this he was saved. And he became one of England’s greatest preachers, the author of the beloved hymn Amazing Grace.”  R. J. Morgan
Over his study desk he had this verse from Deuteronomy
“Thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondsman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee.” Deuteronomy 15:15.
He reportedly told a friend later in life “My memory is nearly gone; but I remember two things, that I am a great sinner and that Christ is a Great Saviour.”
John Newton’s conversion was dramatic. He went from being a man without principles. A man without a conscience to a man of great principles.
He spoke out against the slave trade and would go on to write hundreds of hymns 280 of which he combined with 68 hymns of William Cowper to form the Olney Hymnal.
We today can look on Newton and see how bad he was and say thank God I am nowhere near as bad as him. He needed a conversion experience. I am far better than him.
Many non Christians I believe today also look at people who go to church. People who claim to be Christians and say, “I know them. I know what they do outside of Church and it isn’t very Christian. Why should I become a Christian because I am better all around than they are.”
That may be so but not everyone who goes to church is a Christian. No everyone who say’s they are Christian are.
Many people as well as Preachers and evangelist will one day stand before God and find they are not accepted into heaven. Jesus saying,
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  
Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’  
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” Matthew 7:21-23
When it comes to knowing Jesus as one’s Lord and Saviour it is up to the individual to decide. It is between the individual and God.
We should not look on those who are going to church or who claim to be Christians. Simply because many who claim to be Christians and go to church are not Christians.
Each individual needs to look within themselves and ask themselves “am I truly good enough to go to heaven?”
I believe if we are honest with ourselves the answer will be no.
No one is good enough to stand before a holy God.
C. S. Lewis comments,
“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.”  C.S. Lewis
Isaiah the prophet said,
“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”  Isaiah 64:6.
That is why Jesus came.
Another self admitted sinner the apostle Paul wrote these words,
“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.  
‘But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.”  1 Timothy 1:15,16
I firmly believe that we as individuals must search our heart of hearts and in all humility admit that there is sin in our life. Sin is falling short of God’s ideal for our life.
Then we must turn to Jesus, recognize that he is the One and only Son of God, who died for our sins and ask him to forgive our sins and come into our hearts and lives.
The apostle John telling us,
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” 
1John 1:9-10
I believe it is only through Christ that we can truly have our sins forgiven, have our lives changed and spend eternity with God.
Again the apostle John noting,
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—  children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”   John 1:12,13
It happened to John Newton. It happened to the Apostle Paul and it can happen to you.
Please think about it.

Christian Lifestyle

Christian Lifestyle
The apostle Peter wrote,
“Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.  
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” 1 Peter 2:11,12.
Dear Christian are you doing what the apostle Peter is telling you to do?
When people look at your life and lifestyle what do they see?

Do people see a life, and lifestyle Jesus would be proud of?  

OR 

Do they see at best a religious imitation of the secular word. 

OR , 

Do they see someone who is insensitive toward people of other faiths and lifstyles? 

OR 

Even worse

Do they see someone who is prejudice or even a bigot? 

What is your life, lifestyle, words and deeds telling the people around you?
Francis of Assisi said two things every Christian needs to consider. He wrote,

“Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”

And

“The deeds you do may be the only sermon some persons will hear today” 

Your actions as a professing Christian may and can have eternal consequences. By what you say and do, you will either cause people to at the very least consider comeing to know Christ as their Lord and Saviour, or push them away.
What are you doing?
Please think about it.

A Libertine

A Libertine
“Thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondsman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee.” Deuteronomy 15:15.

I believe it’s at St. Mary Woolnoth  an Anglican church in the City of London, that there is a plaque with the words,
 “John Newton, clerk, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy.”
To quote R. J. Morgan from the book 365 scriptures that changed the world (copy right Thomas Nelson Publishers 1998.)
  “As a young man, Newton had been a seaman and slave trader whose mouth was a cesspool of profanity, and who liberally helped himself to the female slaves he transported. 
   But he also became a deserter, flogged by the British Navy, who was reduced to being the slave of a sadistic woman, herself a slave, in Africa.
Out of all this he was saved. And he became one of England’s greatest preachers, the author of the beloved hymn Amazing Grace.”
Over his study desk he had this verse from Deuteronomy
“Thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondsman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee.” Deuteronomy 15:15.
He reportedly told a friend later in life “My memory is nearly gone; but I remember two things, that I am a great sinner and that Christ is a Great Savior.”
John Newton’s conversion was dramatic. He went from being a man without principles. A man without a conscience to a man of great principles and moral values.
He spoke out against the slave trade and would go on to write hundreds of hymns 280 of which he combined with 68 hymns of William Cowper to form the Olney Hymnal.
We today can look on Newton and see how bad he was and say thank God we are nowhere near as bad as him. He needed a conversion experience. I am far better than him.
Many non Christians I believe today also look at people who go to church. People who claim to be Christians and say, “I know them. I know what they do outside of Church and it isn’t very Christian. Why should I become a Christian because I am better all around than they are.”
That may be so, but not everyone who goes to church is a Christian. No everyone who say’s they are Christian are.
Many people as well as Preachers and evangelist will one day stand before God and find they are not accepted into heaven. Jesus saying,
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  
Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’  
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” 
                                                                                                              Matthew 7:21-23.
When it comes to knowing Jesus as one’s Lord and Saviour it is up to the individual to decide.
We should not look on those who are going to church or who claim to be Christians. Simply because many who claim to be Christians are not.
Each individual needs to look within themselves and ask themselves am “I truly good enough to go to heaven?”
I believe if we are honest with ourselves the answer will be no.
No one is good enough to stand before a holy God.
Isaiah the prophet said,
“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” 
                                                                                                    Isaiah 64:6.
That is why Jesus came.
Another self admitted sinner the apostle Paul wrote these words,
“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.
‘But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.”
          1 Timothy 1:15,16
I firmly believe that we as individuals must search our heart of hearts and in all humility admit that there is sin in our life.
Then we must turn to Jesus, recognize that he is the One and only Son of God, who died for our sins and ask him to forgive our sins and come into our hearts and lives.
For it is only through Christ that we can truly have our sins forgiven and have our lives changed.
It happened to John Newton. It happened to the Apostle Paul and it can happen to you.
Think about it.