Inscribed on your heart

  Inscribed on your heart

In the book of Proverbs we read,

"Let love and faithfulness never leave you;

 bind them around your neck, 

write them on the tablet of your heart. 

Then you will win favour and a good name

 in the sight of God and man."

                                                     Proverbs 3:3,4.

Two things here God asks us to do;

Let love and faithfulness never leave us.

The results of our loving and faithfulness are;

We will win favour and a good name in the sight of God and man.

Thus my questions to you;

Are you showing unconditional love to those around you?

Are you faithful at all times to God?

Are love and faithfulness truly inscribed on your heart?

Please think about it.

To be effective soul winners

  To be effective soul winners.

In the gospel of Luke we read Jesus saying,

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.  

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." 

He also told them this parable: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?  

A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher. 

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  

How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Luke 6:37-42.

Here Jesus makes it simple we are not to judge others. That we should not look at the faults of others. Instead we should look at our own faults.

Pointing out the faults of others will not generally win us any accolades. It may even push others away from us. After all we wouldn’t want people pointing out our faults.

It is not our job to point out the faults of others. Our job is to present the salvation message to those around us, then let God do the rest.

Billy Graham the American evangelist wisely said,

“It is the Holy Spirits Job to Convict, 

God's job to judge

 and my job to love,” 

                                           Billy Graham  

To be effective soul winners for Christ we must remember the words of Jesus who said,

"So in everything, do to others

 what you would have them do to you, 

for this sums up the Law and the Prophets" 

                                                                   Matthew 7:12.

Please think about it.

Are you a new creation?

 Are you a new creation?

The apostle Paul writes,

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"  2 Corinthians 5:17.

If someone truly give their life to Christ I truly believe their life will change. The rate of change will vary from person to person but anyone who puts their trust wholly in God will inevitably change to exhibit the characteristics of God.

Those Characteristics called by the apostle Paul the fruit of the spirit being,

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”  Galatians 5:22,23.

That being said we are all human and slip from time to time.

The American evangelist, the late Billy Graham said,

“The Christian life is not a constant high. I have my moments of deep discouragement. I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes, and say, 'O God, forgive me,' or 'Help me.'” Billy Graham.

All true Christians I believe experience what Billy Graham is saying from time to time. All who truly believe in Christ Jesus will have to from time to time go to God with tears in our eyes and say ‘O God forgive me’ ‘help me.’

Upon hearing those prayers I truly believe that God will answer them and give strength and comfort to those who say them sincerely.

Thus my question to you dear reader; have you placed your trust in Christ Jesus? Are you a new creation?

Are you showing the fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control?

Please think about it.

Where is your trust?

  Where is your trust?

The Psalmist writes,

"God is our refuge and strength, 

an ever-present help in trouble" 

                                             Psalm 46:1.

When you get in trouble, when you are having problems in your life, where does your strength come from? Does it come from God or the things of this world?

Matthews gospel records this interaction between Jesus and a young man,

"Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments." 

"Which ones?" the man inquired. Jesus replied, " ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,  honour your father and mother,' and ‘love your neighbour as yourself.''" 

"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?" 

Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." 

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth." Matthew 19:16-22.

Now there’s nothing wrong with having great wealth. The problem comes when we put our trust in that wealth ahead of God. 

The apostle Paul wrote,

"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." 1 Timothy 6:10.

Notice here the apostle Paul here says “for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.”

Money in and of itself is neither good nor bad. Its what we do with it and how much value we place on it in our life that can cause problems.

Our trust must always be in the Lord God Almighty. Nothing should come before Him.

So where is your trust?

Please think about it.

Have you?

  Have you?

The Psalmist writes,

"Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long." Psalm 25:4,5.

Is this your prayer? Do you ask God to show you His ways? To guide you in His paths?

Is God truly your Saviour?

When I ask is God your Saviour I’m not asking have you prayed the sinners prayer. 

The Late evangelist Leonard Ravenhill said,

“The sinners prayer has sent more people to hell than all the bars in” America Leonard Ravenhill.

The sinners prayer can give a false sense of security. 

What I’m asking you here is; if you were to die today would God accept you into heaven? 

Are you absolutely certain that you will go to heaven?

We all have doubts from time to time as to whether we are good enough to go to heaven. We all question our faith in Christ Jesus. That can be a good thing if it spurs us on to read the Bible, pray and draw closer to God.

The apostle Paul tells us,

"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; Do you truly believe in Jesus Christ? Have you called on the name of the Lord?

Please think about it.

About Matthew 7:22

  About Matthew 7:22

Jesus said,

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” Matthew 7:12

Put this way 

in the year 2021 this means,

If you are

demonstrating against anyone. 

You are telling them 

they can demonstrate against you.

If you are 

speaking out and trying to restrict the rights of others 

given to them by the lawfully elected government.

You are telling others 

they can try to restrict your rights.

If you are 

imposing your morals however good they may be on others.

You are telling them 

they can impose their morals on you, even if they are not as good as yours.

If you are 

trying to impose your faith on others rather than presenting your faith.

You are telling others 

they can impose their faith on you.

If you are

judging others.

You are telling others 

they can judge you in the same way.

If you 

are telling the world you are a Christian

You should be telling the world 

I love you as Jesus loves you,...

unconditionally.

Please think about it.

Would you?

  Would you?

In the book of James we read,

“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.

Do you show mercy to those around you to those you disagree with be it because of their faith, their lifestyle or other things?

You should James tell us we should. He also warns,

“...judgement without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful.”

This echos the warning of Jesus who said,

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  

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.

So the question I would ask you is; When you stand before God will you be willing to let God judge you in the same way you judged others? 

Would you be willing to let God show to you the same mercy you showed towards others?

Please think about it.

Flee evil Pursue righteousness

  Flee evil, Pursue righteousness 

The apostle Paul states,

“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 Paul's word cannot be any clearer. We are to flee evil and pursue righteousness. We cannot support anything or anyone that is evil. 

We must constantly pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, calling on the Lord with a pure heart.

Question: Are you doing this?

Please think about it.

Watch out

  Watch out.

Jesus warned,

"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.  

By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?  

Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  

A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.  

Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  

Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Matthew 7:15-20.

Someone has said, 

“the devil is not destroying the church by attacking it. He is joining the church and destroying it from within.”

Jesus warned about this when he said,

"Watch out for false prophets. 

They come to you in sheep's clothing, 

but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”

                                                               Matthew 7:15.

Sadly we cannot always tell how good or bad an evangelist, pastor or others in authority in the church are. Sometimes it’s because of a code of secrecy. Sometime it’s simply because we only see them in the media and have no idea what they do other that what we see in that media.

  Still we must be on guard even in a local church congregation against those who would lead us astray. 

That’s why we must take time and study the scriptures for ourselves. We must take time to understand what we believe and why we believe it. And we can only do this by taking time to read the holy scriptures, the Bible, for ourselves, praying and asking God to guide and direct us.

We need to pray asking God to lead us to a pastor and a church that we can trust.

We need to look for a church who shows good fruit. that shows the traits the apostle Paul talked about when he said,

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  

gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”  Galatians 5:22,23.

We must see first hand these attributes Paul described because they not only show an individual is following Christ but a Church congregation, is following Christ also.

Question; Are these qualities exhibited in your church Congregation, in your Pastor, in you? 

Please think about it.

Do you truly?

  Do you truly?

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” 1Peter 1:3-4.

Do you have the new birth Peter is talking about? When I’m asking that, I mean do you truly believe and follow Jesus Christ? I don’t mean have you simply said the sinners prayer.

The sinners prayer is not in the bible. It’s origins are from outside the bible. While the prayer in itself is fine. Sadly many churches here in North America sometimes tend to use it almost as a magic coverall prayer to get people saved. That results many times in false hope. 

The late evangelist Leonard Ravenhill said.

“The sinners prayer has sent more people to hell than all the bars in America.” Leonard Ravenhill.

Many people who say the sinners prayer have the attitude that they say the prayer and it give them an automatic ticket into heaven.

To get into heaven we must have true, unadulterated faith in God in all circumstances. Our faith should spur us on to do good works.

James the half brother of Jesus wrote,

"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?  

Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  

If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 

But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.  

You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. 

You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?" James 2:14-20.

So I ask the question do you truly believe in God and the salvation He offers through His One and Only Son Jesus Christ?

Please think about it.

Depart

  Depart

The apostle Peter wrote,

"First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires" 2 Peter 3:3

In the book of Jude we read,

They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires."  

These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. 

But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.  

Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. 

Be merciful to those who doubt;  snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh" Jude 1:18-23.

The apostle Paul wrote,

"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.  

People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,  without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,  treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—  having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them." 2 Timothy 3:1-5.

What Peter, Jude, and Paul warned about is happening to one degree or another within the North American church today. Men and women who are twisting the holy scriptures to conform with their beliefs. Men and women who are only listening to what they want to hear from the Bible. Pastors and evangelist who are telling people what they want to hear.

This should not be so. There is a dire need for evangelism within the North American church in particular. 

If ever there was a need for a revival within the church of North America it is now. 

If the church does not turn around then I’m afraid many pastors, evangelist, and people sitting in the pews will fulfil what Jesus said in Matthews gospel when he said,

"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 7:22,23.

Question; When you stand before God will you hear those words, “I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers?

Please think carefully about it

My Help comes from

  My help comes from

The Psalmist writes,

"I lift up my eyes to the hills— 

where does my help come from? 

My help comes from the LORD, 

the Maker of heaven and earth." 

                                               Psalm 121:1,2.

Where does your help come from? 

In the book of gospel of Matthew we read,

“Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” 

“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.” 

“Which ones?” the man inquired. Jesus replied, “ ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,  honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’’” 

“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” 

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.” Matthew 19:16-22.

This man is an example of many in the church today. Rather than trusting wholly in God. They trust in their material possessions. 

Jesus warned,

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21

So where is your trust? Do you truly trust God to supply your needs or are you trusting in your material wealth?

Does your help come from “The LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth." or someplace else?

Please think about it.