Are you living like this?

 Are you living like this?

Writing to the Galatians Paul states,

“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

  This is what it is to be a Christian. They are signs of a true Christian. If we are truly following Christ people will see these things in our life and be drawn to God.

  The apostle Peter said,

  “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.  

  Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 

  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 2:9-12.

  The writer of Hebrews tells us,

“Make every effort to live in peace with all men 

and to be holy; 

without holiness no one will see the Lord.” 

Hebrews 12:14

 

  If you claim to be a Christian are you doing this?

  Please think about it.

No club only Love

  No club only Love

The apostle Paul writes,

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," Romans 3:23

I don’t believe for one minute God is a big old guy standing with a big club ready to hit us if we don’t do what He says.

Quite the contrary I believe what Jesus said of himself as recorded in John’s Gospel,

“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.

God loves us and only wants the best for us. That is why He has set before us some rules to live by. Basic rules that will point us to heaven.

Additionally God knew that we are far from perfect and will fail at some point in our life not to be all God wants us to be. Simply put “we sin”. The apostle Paul telling us,

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8.

The apostle John tells us,

"If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” 1John 1:8-10.

Sinning is falling short of what God’s ideals are. 

Thus God knowing that we humans with all our frailties will fall short of His ideas. Knowing that we are powerless to save our self. God showed us how much he loved us by sending His one and Only Son to die for our sins.

The apostle Paul explaining,

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:6-8.

Do you believe Christ died for your sins?

Have you accepted Christ’s offer of forgiveness?

Please think about it. 

Where does you help come from?

  Where does your help come 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.

So where does your help come from. Your wealth, or God?

The Psalmist wrote,

"Some trust in chariots and some in horses, 

but we trust in the name of the LORD our God" 

                                                                          Psalm 20:7.

Can you honestly say this?

Please think about it.

Who may ascend?

  Who may ascend?

The apostle Paul writes,

"For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.  

  If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,  his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.  

If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.  

If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. 1 Corinthians 3:11-15.

When I read this portion of scripture I think of the prosperity preachers. Men and women who say “give to God (quite often meaning their ministry) and he’ll give you back ten fold or a hundred fold” such talk is garbage.

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” 2 Timothy 3:1-4.

Those rich preachers will one day stand before God and be judged by what they did in this world. If they truly believed in Christ Jesus they will be saved, but as Paul said, 

“he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.” 

While being rich in not a sin. If we put more of an emphasis on our wealth than on God is a problem. 

Further more if someone is are knowingly taking money from others in God’s name with the intentions of making our self rich, especially if those people are poor, this is morally wrong and I believe God will punish them.

The Psalmist writes,

"Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? 

Who may stand in his holy place? 

He who has clean hands and a pure heart, 

who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. 

He will receive blessing from the LORD 

and vindication from God his Saviour. 

Such is the generation of those who seek him, 

who seek your face, O God of Jacob."

                                                            Psalm 24:3-6.

Please think about it.

Of wealth and God

  Of wealth and God

The Apostle Peter wrote,

"And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'" Acts 2:21

The Apostle Paul wrote,

"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.

Alfred North Whitehead wrote,

“Apart from God every activity is merely a passing whiff of insignificance.” Alfred North Whitehead.

Think about it. No matter how successful you are in life. No matter how much money and possessions you gain in this life. The moment you pass from this life they don’t mean a thing. 

The richest men that have ever lived may have had a magnificent funeral with an expensive casket costing thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars. Yet in the end they stand before God in the same way as the poorest person that ever lived does. 

The deciding factor as to where you will spend eternity comes down to whom you sincerely believe in while alive.

Jesus said,

"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate theone and love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money" Matthew 6:24.

Now there is nothing wrong with being rich. It is the emphasis you put on your wealth that is the important thing. Do you rely on your wealth more than you do on God. Do you trust your wealth more than you do God?

Who do you believe in?

Please think about it.  

we may ignore but cannot evade

 We may ignore but cannot evade

The Psalmist writes,

"Where can I go from your Spirit? 

Where can I flee from your presence? 

If I go up to the heavens, you are there; 

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, 

if I settle on the far side of the sea, 

even there your hand will guide me, 

your right hand will hold me fast." 

                                                                 Psalm 139:7-10

C. S. Lewis wrote,

"We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God." C. S. Lewis.

The Psalmist writes,

"The heavens declare the glory of God; 

the skies proclaim the work of his hands." 

                                                             Psalm 19:1

I am amazed at the universe around me. Everything is linked. From the smallest subatomic particle, to the flora and fauna around my house, to the most majestic galaxies I see through a telescope.

Abraham Lincoln wrote,

"I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how he could look up into the heavens and say there is no God." Abraham Lincoln.

God’s presence is all around us. In order to know God all we have to do is believe. To have faith God exists. 

The writer of Hebrews states,

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."  Hebrews 11:1

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6.

Faith especially in something we can’t see or feel is a very difficult thing for many people. Which is perhaps why God want’s it that way.

Because people who have faith in someone or something are the strongest of believers.

Please think about it.

The God Conundrum

  The God Conundrum 

The Psalmist writes,

“The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” 

                                                            Psalm 14:1.

Think about this carefully. If you believe that there is no God then you must be God. Which nullifies your belief there is no God.

In order to fully prove that there is no God you need to have been everywhere and know everything. Which are attributes of God.

In order to prove there is no God you must have gone beyond the grave. Because if you have not gone beyond the grave. God might well be there. Which I believe He is.

Making the assertion that God dose not exist means you know all things. Which is an attribute of God.

So a true Atheist must be God. Which means he is not an atheist.

Please think about it. 

An amazing thought

  An Amazing thought

In the gospel of John we read,

"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 is an amazing statement. According to the apostle John, God who created the universe and everything in it came to earth as a man. This man, Jesus.

The early disciple and followers of Jesus all believed this. Martha a friend of Jesus when asked by Jesus,

"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.

In the John 1:1-14 the apostle John make it clear that he believed Jesus to be the creator of the universe. All of the writers of the New Testament believed this. 

Think about this for a moment. If what the disciples believed is wrong. Then Christians have perpetuated perhaps the greatest lie of all time.

C. S. Lewis states,

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.

So who do you think Jesus is?

Please think about it.

He exists

 He exists

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” 

                                                                              Genesis 1:1.

The Bible because it was written to believers does not argue the existence of God. It instead makes a statement of fact. It is placed at the opening of the Bible and leaves it up to the reader to agree or disagree with it.

As for me I agree with it. God did make the heavens and the earth. I believe it because I see around me a universe, everything from the smallest subatomic particle to the largest galaxy is in perfect alignment. Nothing in the universe is out of place. 

Mathematics used correctly. Shows an ordered universe. A universe so finely tuned that it allows life as we know it to exist here on planet earth.

I cannot believe that this happened simply by chance.

I firmly believed that science done correctly will point to God. And great scientific minds seem to agree with me.

Stephen Hawking one of the greatest minds of the twentieth century said,

“It would be difficult to explain why the universe should have begun in just this way, except as the act of God who intended to create beings like us" Stephen hawking.

Lord Kelvin said,

"If you study Science deep enough and long enough, it will force you to believe in God" Lord William Kelvin Noted for his theoretical work in thermodynamics.

Louis Pasteur said,

       “A bit of science distances one from God, but much science nears one to Him... The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed by the work of the Creator” Louis Pasteur.

William Philips said, 

    “I believe in God more because of science than in spite of it" William Philips Nobel prize winning Physicis

Werner Heisenberg said, 

           “The first gulp from the glass of natural science will make you an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you" Werner Heisenberg father of Quantum Mechanics Nobel prize in physics.

So do you believe there is a God who created the heavens and the earth?

Please think about it.

Who is Jesus to you?

  Who is Jesus to you?

The writer of Hebrews states,

“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.  Hebrews 1:1,2.

In the Gospel of John we read,

"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.

I believe these two statements are true. If not close to three billion Christians are believing a lie. Further more it is the greatest lie in all of history.

The question when someone is confronted with Jesus is Just who is Jesus? 

C. S. Lewis in his book mere Christianity states,

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.

So who is Jesus to you?

What do you smell like?

  What do you smell like?

The apostle Paul writes,

“We are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?” 2 Corinthians 2:15,16.

Are you the aroma of those who are being saved or the fragrance of death to God?

Many calling themselves Christians would say they are the aroma of those who are being saved. When in fact they are not.

In the gospel of Luke we hear Jesus telling this Parable

“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.

My point here is you can go to church all your life and not be a Christian. You can say the sinners prayer and not be a Christian. 

Leonard Ravenhill said,

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

It’s easy to go to church, say the right things, do the right things and not go to heaven.

In order to go to heaven you must sincerely believe in God. Not just give intellectual consent to the existence of God and that Jesus is the Son of God, Saviour of all who would believe in Him.

Please think about it.

How will people know you?

 How will People know you

The apostle Paul wrote,

"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.

When people see you each day do they see the fruit of the spirit?

Love,

Joy,

Peace,

Patience, 

Kindness,

Goodness,

Faithfulness,

Gentleness,

Self-control,

Please think carefully about it.