The gospel on with you take your stand

 The gospel on which you take your stand

In the book of 1Corinthians the apostle Paul writes,

“Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.  

By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.  

After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.  

Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,” 1Corinthians 15:1-7.

Hear Paul makes it clear that he believed that,...

1/ That Christ died for our sins,

2/ That Christ was buried,

3/ That Christ was raised from the dead on the third day.

4/ That Christ appeared to Peter and the Twelve apostles.

5/ That Christ appeared to more than 500 believers at the same time.

Then Paul notes that most of those who saw Christ after the resurrection were still alive.

This in my mind makes it clear Paul is not making things up. Jesus did in fact died for our sins, was buried and rose from the grave.

What do you think?

Please think about it.

God's expectation

  God's expectation 

In the book of Micah we read,

"He has showed you, O man, what is good. 

And what does the LORD require of you? 

To act justly and to love mercy 

and to walk humbly with your God." 

                                                    Micah 6:8.

God could not have made things more simple than He does through the prophet Micah. Take a few moments to read that portion of scripture again.

"He has showed you, O man, what is good. 

And what does the LORD require of you? 

To act justly and to love mercy 

and to walk humbly with your God." 

                                                    Micah 6:8.

Please think about it.

About the miracles of Christ

  About the Miracles of Christ.

In the book of Luke we read,

“Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him.  

As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her.  

When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” 

Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!”  

The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. 

They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.”  

This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.” Luke 7:11-17.

I am always amazed at the miracles Christ did. I’m amazed because it proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is God incarnate.

I’ve heard that some don’t believe Jesus did miracles. My answer, “If he didn’t do them why would the writers of the Bible include them?”. Including untrue miracles would be lying and disprove the very thing they are trying to prove. For that matter why would any of Jesus’ claims be true if the miracles were false.

C. S. Lewis wrote,

"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.

Please think about it.

The world around you

 The world around you.

In proverbs we read,

“Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered.” Proverbs 21:13.

We as Christians are called to help the poor. Now I know the Talmud is not a Christian book but there is an interesting quote in the Talmud that states,

“Rabbi Akiba was asked by a Roman general, "Why does your God who loves the needy not provide for their support Himself?"  He answered, "God the Father of both the rich and poor, wants the one to help the other so as to make the world a household of love."  The Talmud.

If you consider yourself a Christian. A true follower of Christ Jesus, are you making the world around you “a household of Love?”

Please think about it.

Look after...

  Look after...

In the book of James we read,

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27.

Here James makes it simple. As Christians God expects our faith to be pure and faultless, “to look after orphans and widows”.

AND to keep ourselves “from being polluted by the world.”

In Zechariah 7:10 we read,

“...do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, let none of you devise evil against another in your heart” Zechariah 7:10.

In Deuteronomy we read,

“He (God) executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.” Deuteronomy 10:18.

These are clear scriptures telling Christians to help the less fortunate in whatever way they can.

So if you consider yourself a Christian, are you doing this?

Please think about it.

Turn from evil

 Turn from evil

The Psalmist states,

"Come, my children, listen to me; 

I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 

Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, 

keep your tongue from evil 

and your lips from speaking lies. 

Turn from evil and do good; 

seek peace and pursue it." 

                                                     Psalm 34:11-14.

Do you love life and desire many good days?

Next question. Do you keep your lips from lying?

            Do you turn from evil?

                                    Do you seek Peace and Pursue it?

Please think about it.

Remember what God has done

 Remember what God has done

In the book of Chronicles we read,

“Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done. 

Sing to Him, sing praise to Him; tell of all His wonderful acts. 

Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. 

Look to the LORD and His strength; seek His face always. 

Remember the wonders He has done, His miracles, and the judgments He pronounced,...” 1 Chronicles 16:8-12.

Do you do this?

Do you sing praises to The Lord? 

Do you tell those around you what God has done?

Do you rejoice in knowing The Lord and all He has done for you?

Do you remember wonders, miracles and judgements He has pronounced? 

Please think about it.

Do you confess and believe?

  Do you confess and believe?

The apostle Paul 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

Here is a simple question in light of what the apostle Paul wrote.

Do you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart Jesus is Lord?

Please think about.

Between God and man

 Between God and man

The apostle Paul writes

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.”  1 Timothy 2:5,6

Jesus said,

“Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  John 14:6.

This is what Christians believe. We accept these two statements by faith. It’s that simple. I know it is a radical statement, but we Christians believe it to be true.

Blaise Pascal wrote,

“Belief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that He exists.” Blaise Pascal.

That being said for most people having faith in anything especially God can be a very hard thing.

Which I believe is why the scriptures tell us,

"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.

Because those who truly believe in someone or something are the strongest believers.

So what do you believe?

Please think about it.

An Adulterous generation

 An adulterous generation

In the book of James we read,

"You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God."  James 4:4

I live in North America a part of the world where materialism is king. People are encouraged to buy the latest car, the latest smart phone, the latest designer clothing, the big beautiful house with all that goes with it and of course they are trying to get all the money they make.

Now there is nothing wrong with all of these things on their own. There’s nothing wrong with being rich and having the finer things in life.

The apostle Paul tells us,

"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.

Riches can pull us away from God. There are many preachers here in north America that say God wants you to be healthy and wealthy. If your not they say you have sin in your life. Nothing could be further from the truth. Preachers that say these things have been lured away from the true gospel message to enrich themselves with the things of this world.

But false preachers aside each person is responsible for themselves. We have to decide where our friendship lies. Is it with God or this world.

So where does your friendship lie?

Please think about it.

Who is Jesus really?

 Who is Jesus really?

"The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." 

Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.  

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.  

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.  

I and the Father are one."

Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?

"We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."  John 10:24-33

Is Jesus God incarnate? From what the apostle John records here, it seems Jesus is saying that. And that at a time when saying you are God could get you stoned to death. Which is what John records in the above passage of scripture.

I think C. S. Lewis put it best in his book Mere Christianity, when he wrote,

"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.

Thus anyone being told about Jesus must make a choice. Is he like Lewis states, a lunatic, a poached egg, a devil demon a fool, a madman or God incarnate.

The choice is yours.

Please think about it.

Faith without works

  Faith without works

The apostle John writes,

"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." 1John 3:17,18.

James elaborates on what John is saying,

"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

This says it all. If you see someone in need and don’t help him or her to the extent you can, the love of God is not in you. 

And there are many ways you can help those in need give and even volunteer at a food bank. Give a few dollars to someone begging on the street. Give to charities that help the poor.

What are you doing to help those in need?

Please think about it.