Accept or Reject

Accept or Reject
The Psalmist writes,

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. 

Let Israel say: "His love endures forever." 

Let the house of Aaron say: "His love endures forever." 

Let those who fear the LORD say: "His love endures forever."

                                                                                                Psalm 118:1-4.

Gods love endures forever. His call to all humanity is,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.
Jesus tells us,
"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.” John 3:16,17.
That being said God also gave each individual freedom to do as they wish. They can accept that God loves them or they can reject Gods love.
Thus the choice is yours. Will you accept the Love of God or reject it?
Please think about it. 

Mercy

Mercy
James the half brother of Jesus said,
"Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom,  
because judgement without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgement!" James 2:12,13.
Sadly many within the church, especially the evangelical church forget this portion of scripture. They instead judge showing little mercy to those around them especially toward those of different faiths and lifestyles.
Harper Lee in her book To Kill a Mockingbird said,
"Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whisky bottle in the hand of another...” Harper Lee.
She was right. Many people have been turned away from the church by those claiming to be followers of Christians.
If you claim to be a follower of Christ Jesus. A Christian. Are you or the church congregation you attend responsible for turning people away from Christ?
Would the congregation you attend look down on a gay couple holding hands as they enter church? Would they even be welcome?
Would you or members of your congregation be willing to sit down and talk about your faith with those of a different faith?
Would you and your congregation be willing to listen to those of a different faith tell you about their faith?
I strongly feel that in order to win people for Christ we must be willing to open a dialogue between ourselves and others.
No one irrespective of their beliefs or lifestyle should ever be turned away from our churches.
No one irrespective of their beliefs or lifestyle should ever be denied service by any Christian owned business?
The way I see it no one should ever be denied being shown the Love of God in Christ Jesus. And the only way a non-believer can be shown the love of Christ is if we interact with them as equals.
Failure by anyone calling themselves Christians to show the love of Christ to anyone is to question if they are truly Christians.
Please think about it.

No right to judge

No right to judge
The Psalmist writes,
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:13-16
What this portion of scripture tells me is that God knows you intimately. God knows you right down to the DNA level. He knows exactly why you are the way you are. That is why only He can judge you. That is why Jesus tells us,
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.”  Matthew 7:1
We as mere mortals cannot judge another person especially when it comes to where they will spend eternity, simply because we do not know why a person is as the way they are.
That being said Jesus warned.
“For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Matthew 7:1,2.
The apostle Paul said,
"What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?  God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you." 1 Corinthians 5:12,13.
As Christians. As believers in Christ Jesus we have no right to judge those outside the church. Even when we judge those inside the church it should only be to tell whether or not they are presenting the gospel of Christ correctly.
Where an individual spends eternity is entirely up to God.
Tony Campolo the American Evangelist said,
“We ought to get out of the judging business. We should leave it up to God to determine who belongs in one arena or another when it comes to eternity. What we are obligated to do is to tell people about Jesus, and that's what I do.” Tony Campolo
Do you?
Please think about it.

Became flesh

Became flesh
The apostle John writes,
“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.
Here the apostle John who knew Jesus personally refers to Jesus as “The Word”. He tells us that,
“Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”
Which means John at least believes that Jesus is God the creator of the world. This was the belief of all of the apostles of Christ. It is the belief of all those who truly believe in Christ Jesus to this day.
Now either this is a fallacy or it is the truth. That however is up to you to decide. Was John and the other disciples mistaken? Or were they correct in their beliefs.
Please take some time to read the New Testament and make an educated decision for yourself.
Please think about it.

Saved

Saved
The apostle Paul wrote,
“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” Titus 3:4,5
To the Ephesians Paul wrote,
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8,9.
C. S. Lewis wrote,
"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.
From a Christian stand point we cannot live lives good enough to get to heaven. That being said, God understood this and sent Jesus Christ to save us. 
The apostle Paul wrote,
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."  Romans 3:23,24.
Paul stating,
"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.
As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."  
For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,  for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” Romans 10:9-13.
Thus my question to you the reader; do you believe this?
Please think about it.

Praise be to God

Praise be to God
The apostle Peter wrote,
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.  1Peter 1:3-5.
This is something anyone who truly believes in Christ Jesus can be thankful for. God through Jesus Christ has given us a “new birth” “a living hope” an “inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade”
No matter what the world may do to us. As believers in Christ Jesus we have the assurance of life everlasting with God when our life on this earth is over.
Do you have this assurance?
Please think about it.

Believe it or not

Believe it or not
The apostle Paul said,
“In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.  
For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:30,31.
Here is a simple to the point statement the apostle Paul made to non-believing philosophers and other learned people in Athens. It is a statement that you either believe or you do not.
God will one day judge the world. The question is how will He judge you. 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.
Are you among those who believe in Christ Jesus or are you willing to take your chance that what the New Testament says about Jesus are not true?
Please think about it.

Are You?

Are You?
The apostle Peter writes,
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light" 1 Peter 2:9.
Here the apostle Peter makes it clear that we as believers in Christ Jesus are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, belonging to God. Who’s purpose is to declare the praises of God.
Jesus said,
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20.
This is the duty of everyone who believes in Jesus. To make disciples. It’s cut and dry. To teach those new disciples all the scriptures tell us about Jesus.
 There are no gray areas about what Christians are to do. We are to present the gospel of Christ to anyone who will listen to us.
If you consider yourself a Christian, a believer in Christ Jesus are you truly declaring the praises of God to those around you?
Please think about it.

Types

Types
Jesus said,
“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.
In our world today especially here in North America there are two kinds of Christians, “true believers”.
True believers are those who love Gods word. Who do their best every day to follow Christ in word and in deed. Those who’s life is truly centred around living as Christ would have them live.
The other kind of Christians are “social Christians”. Social Christians are men and women who are Christians because it is the thing to do. They may have said the sinners prayer. They may go to church every Sunday and during the week. They may even be pastors, evangelist, and priest. But their life does not reflect that of Christ. They fail to show the love and mercy of God to those around them be they family, friends, or foe.
These are the men and women Christ is talking about in the scripture above. Thus the question becomes what kind of Christian are you?
Please think about i

Louder than words

Louder than words
The apostle John writes,
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.  
If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?  
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.1 John 3:16-18.
Deeds speak louder than words. As believers in Christ Jesus people should know we are a believer by our good works. Our deeds should tell the world that we are different. That we are truly the servant of God in this world.
So my question to anyone who considers themselves a believer in Christ Jesus is; Can the people around you tell you are a Christians by your deeds?
Please think about it.

Pursue

Pursue
The Apostle Paul wrote,
“Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” 2 Timothy 2:22.
I think these are words even non-Christians can understand. The pursuit of righteousness, faith, love, and peace are noble pursuits. If more people pursued them the world would be a better place.
That being said it I don’t think you can truly be a Christian and not pursue these things.
Please think about it.

You're a Mist

You're a mist

     James the half brother of Christ wrote,
"Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money."  
Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." James 4:13,14
The above picture was taken in 1990 by the space probe voyager I. At the time it was over four billion miles away from earth. The furthest any space craft today had gone.
It shows if you think about it the potential insignificance of mankind in the vastness of space. Carl Sagan wrote,
"Consider that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, every human being who ever was lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religious, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there- on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam....” From Carl Sagan,(1934-1996) Pale Blue Dot A Vision of the Human Future in Space.
Mr. Sagan couldn't be more right. Further more in light of eternity James is right when he said “...you are a mist that appears for a little while then vanishes” Jams 4:14b
Thus from a purely human secularists prospective, from the prospective of an Atheist, if the only reason we have for living is to perpetuate the species before we pass on to oblivion, then life has no meaning.
If on the other hand God and heaven exists we have something to look forward to beyond the grave.
Peter John Kreeft said,
“Atheism treats people cheaply. Also, it robs death of meaning, and if death has no meaning, how can life ultimately have meaning? 
And in the end, when the atheist dies and encounters God instead of nothingness he had predicted he’ll recognize that atheism was a cheap answer because it refused the only thing that’s not cheap the God of infinite value” Peter John Kreeft ph.d 
Deciding whether God exists or not is entirely up the each individual. All I would ask anyone who does not believe in God is to read the New Testament for yourself with an open mind. And even if you don’t believe in prayer, pray and ask God to show you that He truly exists.
Please think about it.