Are you a good one or a bad one?

  Are you a good one or a bad one?

The apostle Paul writes,

"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us...."  2 Corinthians 5:20a

Are you a good ambassador or a bad one?

An ambassador represents a king, or a government of a nation. It is his or her job to represent the king or government correctly. An ambassador is a diplomat that promotes international relationships between governments. One of their jobs is to promote among other things cultural relationships between their government and other nations. 

As one website noted. Ambassadors, “ keep a diplomatic demeanour, with the goal of keeping a positive relationship between the country that is hosting them and their home nation.”

As Christians. As believers in Christ Jesus we, as the apostle Paul said are Christ’s ambassadors. Therefore it is important we keep a positive relationship with those in the world around us.

Jesus and all he represents will be judged by what people see us doing. As Francis of Assisi put it,

“The deeds you do 

may be the only sermon 

some persons will hear today” 

                              Francis of Assisi.

So what are your words and deeds telling the world around you? Are you a good ambassador or a bad one?

Please think about it

Something Hard

  Something hard

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.

For many people believing in what they can’t see, feel, or hear, is difficult. Yet it’s what God requires of all who will come to Him.

Having faith however as I said can be difficult for many people. Perhaps that is why God asks us to have faith in him?

People who have faith in someone or something will quite often be willing to die for what they have faith in.

People of faith don’t waver in the face of adversity. They will endure everything from verbal abuse to physical abuse and even death, if they truly believe in something.

So here is my question are you willing to believe the words of Jesus who 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.

Please think about it.

Can you say

  Can you say

The Psalmist writes,

“How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. 

I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. 

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. 

Praise be to you, O LORD; teach me your decrees. 

With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. 

I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. 

I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. 

I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.” 

                                                                                Psalm 119:9-16.

Do you do what the Psalmist is saying here? Have you studied the word of God and hid it in your heart? Do you pray earnestly asking God to teach you His decrees? Do you take time to meditate on the scriptures? Do you delight in the decrees of God?

Can you say to God with the Psalmist “I will not neglect your word”?

Please think about it.

Our

  Our

The Psalmist writes,

“I love you, O LORD, my strength. 

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; 

my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. 

He is my shield and the horn of my salvation,

 my stronghold.”

                    Psalm 18:1,2.

The way I see it as Christians. As believers in Christ Jesus we need to put God first in our lives. We should without doubting make God...

                    our strength

                                                             our rock

                                                             our fortress

                                                             our deliverer

                                                     our shield

                                                             our stronghold

                                                             our Salvation

                                                             The One we take refuge in.

Question; if you consider yourself a Christian, a follower of Christ Jesus is God truly all of the above mentioned things to you?

Please think about it.

Who are they afraid of?

  Who are they afraid of?

In Matthews gospel we read of this incident when the Magi arrived,

"Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.  

He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."... 

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.  

And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. 

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." 

So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son." 

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.” Matthew 2:7-16

Herod feared that Jesus was the Messiah that is why he ordered the murder of the children in the vicinity of Bethlehem in an effort to kill him.

In the twenty-first century we have governments and others who say God does not exist. They say Jesus was at least just a man. If so why are they persecuting those who believe in Him?

After all this was a man who preached love thy neighbour. Who said do to others what you would have others do to you. Who's disciples said pray for the government and rulers. 

  Around the world today thousands,... tens of thousands of believers in Christ Jesus are imprisoned for believing in Jesus. For believing in God almighty. Thousands of believers are being persecuted and even put to death for what they believe.

If everything about Jesus is untrue then why persecute people who believe in a myth. 

My only conclusion can be is that everything about Jesus is true and those who oppose him believe this. 

They believe Jesus when he 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

As for me I have no doubt that everything the bible says about Jesus, about God is true and that he will one day bring all those who oppose him to justice. 

Please think about it.

My Strength and Salvation

  My Strength and Salvation

The Psalmist writes,

“The LORD is my strength and my song; 

He has become my salvation.” 

                                                     Psalm 118:14.

Question is God your strength? Is God your salvation?

Today is Sunday a good day to meditate on your relationship to God. Why not take some time today to pray, study, and meditate on the scriptures? 

Take time to as someone once said to me “review” your relationship with God. Ask yourself do you truly trust God daily? Pray and ask God to show you how you can draw closer to Him.

Please think about it.

Give Thanks

  Give thanks

"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.

If you truly believe in God. If you truly believe in Christ Jesus. Why not take some time to do as the Psalmist says. Give thanks to the LORD.

Please think about it.

Only you

  Only you

The apostle Peter writes,

"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.

Can you in all honesty say what the apostle Peter is saying here? Do you have the living hope Christ Jesus offers? Do you have an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade?

If you are not sure of your relationship with God, with Jesus here is what the apostle Paul states.

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.

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.

Knowing if you are saved and going to heaven is as simple as believing in your heart that Jesus is Lord. 

Your relationship with God is a sacred thing. Only you know for sure if you have accepted the salvation God offers through His one and Only Son Jesus Christ.

So my question to you is; do you truly believe Jesus is Lord?

Please think about it.

There is One

  There is One

The apostle Paul wrote,

“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...”

                                                        1Timothy 2:5,6a.

What the apostle Paul says here is a core belief of all Christians. There is only one mediator between God and man Christ Jesus. Jesus himself said this when he spoke to his apostles saying,

"I am the way and the truth and the life. 

No one comes to the Father except through me.”

                                                                        John 14:6.

If you consider yourself a true believer in Christ Jesus you cannot shy away from the fact that Jesus claimed to be the way to heaven. The only way to heaven.

If Christians are wrong with this then no one has any reason to worry. If however we who believe in Christ Jesus are right those who do not believe as we do have at the least a lot to think about.

Please think about it.

Two Simple Statements

  Two simple statements 

The Psalmist writes,

“May my cry come before you, O LORD; 

give me understanding according to your word.” 

                                                                  Psalm 119:169.

Quoted above is a prayer that we all should consider praying.

May we all cry out to The Lord to give us a full understanding of His word. 

May all who call themselves followers of the Lord Jesus Christ seek to follow the advice of the apostle Paul who wrote,

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” 2Timothy 2:15.

Thus my question to you; Are you following the advice of the apostle Paul?

Please think about it.

Kindness and Love of God

  Kindness and Love of God

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.

Here the apostle Paul points out the love of God. He notes we are saved not because of the righteous things we did. Not because of the good we did but because of Gods mercy toward us.

Paul writing to the Corinthians states,

"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.

Our getting into heaven is entirely due to Gods mercy. Gods Grace. We enter heaven because of our faith in God and in Christ Jesus who died for our sins.

The apostle Paul telling us,

"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 this?

Please think about it.

Your Choice

  Your Choice

The apostle John speaking of Jesus writes,

"Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.  

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  

He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." 1 John 5:10-12.

In John’s gospel he records Jesus speaking of himself saying,

“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 choice is yours. Do you believe Jesus is the one and Only Son of God, The Saviour of mankind or not?

I believe upon your answer lies your eternal resting place.

Thus the choice is yours.

Please think about it.