So many upheavals and chaotic things are occurring in the world today that many are perplexed and do not know the way out. The only answer is the peace our Lord Jesus Christ will bring about when He returns after the 7 year Tribulation and sets up His Millennial Kingdom..... and for eternity after that.
Jesus is the Prince of peace.
Luke 21:25 informs us, "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring."
Luke 21, Matthew 24, and Mark 13 all tell us about signs of the end times and I urge you to read those chapters.
Following is a 10 minute video from prophecyinthenews.com featuring author and evangelist Dan Goodwin. He discusses current events and the nuclear threat. Something he said about Russia recently testing an EMP device was news to me.
Now is the time to make sure you are right with the good Lord and that you are born again from above. Now is the time to be ready for the soon to occur Rapture of the true believers.
Jesus loves you and does not wish for any to perish.
"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." - 2 Peter 3:9
Confess any sins and pray for forgiveness. Repent, and turn completely away from a life of sin.
Believe that Jesus is the Savior and only His shed blood at Calvary can save a person and wash away sins. Believe also in His resurrection.
Romans 10:9,10,13 tells us, (9) "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
"Because faith is never perfect, belief and unbelief are often mixed" (so says one commentary.) I think all of us can relate to that fact. Let us go to the context of that statement above, "I believe; help thou mine unbelief."
A father brought his demon possessed son to Jesus to be healed, and Jesus told the father, "......If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." - Mark 9:23
In Mark 9:24 the desperate father replied, ".....and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief."
Notice how the upset father made a direct prayer to Jesus asking the Lord to help him with his unbelief (or weak faith). Jesus did not rebuke him, but instead cast the demon out of his son and thereby healed the boy. The father was not deliberately and stubbornly doubting the Lord; he recognized his weak faith and prayed for Jesus' help in that regard. The father was sincere and asked - in prayer - for help with his doubting and unbelief.
Even weak faith, if a person has the proper attitude, the Lord will honor when we have a good and submitting and surrendered heart and we pray for help and forgiveness.
One commentator has said, "No man is quite a stranger to the Lord, or an utter unbeliever, who with tears entreats Christ to put away his unbelief."
The help for unbelief is much prayer and strong belief in the Savior. The condition of Jesus answering prayer and gaining His favor is to have FAITH and BELIEF. Jesus was very merciful to this father and his son by honoring what little faith the father exhibited and by honoring the father's sincerity in praying for help with his unbelief or weak faith.
"But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." - Hebrews 11:6
Charles Spurgeon said, "Unbelief is an alarming and criminal thing, for it doubts - in fact, unbelief robs God of His glory in every way, and therefore it cannot receive a blessing from the Lord."
We are now talking about deliberate and willful doubt - refusing to believe in the Lord and in what the Bible has to say. This type of doubt is sinful. As a sin, unbelief grieves the Spirit; but as a weakness mourned and confessed, it secures His help. Weakness of faith is no sin when it is confessed and help for stronger faith is prayed for.
Jesus Himself is the remedy for unbelief.
I am thinking now about Abraham, who had a strong faith in the LORD.... so much so that he was called the friend of God:
"And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God." - James 2:23
I am also reminded of Zacharias, the elderly priest who was the father of John the baptist. An angel appeared to him to tell him that he would have a son in his old age, but Zacharias did not believe it. The angel then said to the elderly priest: "...... I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. And behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season." - Luke 1:19-20
Following is an 8 minute video sermon by Andrew Murray on the evil heart of unbelief.
"Unbelief is the worst sin of all," says Charles Spurgeon in the following video. He also says, "If you don't have something besides your own goodness, you will never get to heaven." This video by Spurgeon is 58 minutes in length, but I pray that you take the time to listen to it. It is full of wisdom and insight.
In one of Charles Spurgeon's devotions, he has also stated: "The angels never doubted Him, nor the devils either: we alone, out of all the beings that God has fashioned, dishonor Him by unbelief, and tarnish His honor by mistrust. Shame upon us for this! .....May we henceforth wage constant war against doubts of our God - enemies to our peace and to His honor; and with an unstaggering faith believe that what He has promised He will also perform. "Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief."
"But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul." - Hebrews 10:39
"Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." - Jesus at Mark 11:24
Mark 16:16 tells us: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."
If you are not a believer, not a follower of Jesus Christ, then you need to turn your life over to the good Lord. Turn away from a life of sin - repent - and ask in prayer for forgiveness and believe in Jesus as the Savior with all of your very being.
We are living in the end times - the last hour of the last days - and time is short and running out. You do not want to suffer the horrors and terrible wrath of God during the 7 year tribulation period.....nor spend eternity in hell. Turn to the Lord NOW.
Romans 10: 9,10, 13 tells us: (9) That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
Jesus loves you, and will welcome you with open arms of forgiveness.
Jesus will wipe the slate clean and give you a new life and eternal life as well.
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." - John 14:6
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." - John 3:16
Many of you have heard results of the USA midterm elections, but I promise you that you have not heard it from a biblical perspective such as Amir Tsarfati gives in his update today which video follows. It is only about 24 minutes in length, and fascinating to listen to his account. He is a Messianic Jew who lives in Israel but travels all over the world preaching about Jesus and the end times.
Here is that video:
Please watch. We live in exciting times. Jesus could return at any moment ! Bible prophecy is happening right before our eyes - or at least the precursors to those prophecies. We are living in the last days!
Hurry, Lord Jesus !
Stay tuned as I am currently working on a weekend blog post
"For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." - 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
We live in a world of selfies, self-centeredness , selfishness, and people are generally only thinking of their own wants, desires, and interests. Self-absorbed . Plain and simple.
This should never be true of Christians. The word Christian is not used much by me, because so many people call themselves Christians when in reality they are worldly and carnal and not truly born again from above. "Christ-followers" or "true believers" are better descriptions of those born again and who are endeavoring to live a holy life, one pleasing to the good Lord.
"And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." - Luke 9:23
So we see from Luke that following Jesus requires self-denial. We do this by obeying the Lord and being completely dedicated to Him, and following in His footsteps and renouncing all notions of vainglory and any form of pride. We also do not get involved with the sinful pleasures and fleshly delights like the people of the world do.
Put God first.
Put other people next (helping them and sharing the Gospel).
And last of all, consider yourself.
Consider the example of Christ. What a true demonstration of self-denial was His Passion and Death.
"For even Christ pleased not Himself..... " - Romans 15:3 a
One of the most convicting sermons I have ever heard was today on You Tube. It was concerning the denial of self and it was a 25 minute reading of the written words of Andrew Murray. Please listen and benefit from this video which is below:
In Luke 9:23 Jesus also told us to "take up our cross daily." What exactly does that mean?
It means "Dying to self" or in being willing to die in order to follow Jesus. It means absolute surrender to the Lord. It may also mean being shunned or persecuted. In some parts of the world today, true believers are being murdered because of their faith in Jesus.
Jesus told us at Luke 9:24,25 : "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?"
The last thing Jesus said in Luke 9:23 was to "follow Him." When we are born again, we are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1,2), and we make a radical change in our lives by the help of the Holy Spirit. We think on things above, and our main desire is to please the good Lord and to draw ever closer to Him. By doing all this and by obeying Him and loving Him with all of our heart, mind, strength and soul (Mark 12:30) - by all of these things we are following Jesus. We endeavor to imitate Christ as best we can in these ways.
All this is possible when you read your Bible and get to know the Lord and His attributes. His Word is like Him speaking to you and guiding you. You also follow Jesus when you are often in prayer. Jesus was perfect and sinless, yet He felt the need and the desire to pray to His Father frequently. How much more should we imperfect mortals pray without ceasing! (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
God wants to fellowship with you. What He desires is a close, personal, intimate love relationship with you through Jesus Christ. A person gets to know someone by communicating with him often. We do that with the Lord by being on our knees in prayer often.
Here is a beautiful song by Jamie Cortez titled "Take Up Your Cross:"
To any unbelievers who are reading this, you need Jesus! We are living in the end times..... the last "hour" of the end times. We know this by many Bible prophecies converging right now all at once (or beginning to happen; precursors). Israel is God's prophetic time clock. Watch Middle East events closely. One prophecy that could occur at any time now is the destruction of Damascus as foretold at Isaiah 17:1. Another prophecy about to happen is Ezekiel 38 and 39 ..... the war of Gog and Magog. Russia, Turkey, and Iran are all "friends" now and they and other nations will soon come against Israel, as prophesied in Ezekiel 38 and 39.
I say all of that to let you know the time is short. Jesus will return soon at the Rapture of the Church, and only true believers will be taken to heaven to escape the horror and destruction to take place after the Rapture and during the 7 year Tribulation.
Turn to Jesus before it is too late!
He will welcome you with love and forgiveness !
Sincerely repent and pray to the Lord for forgiveness. You must believe that Jesus is the Savior, whose shed blood at Calvary can wash away your sins..... wipe the slate clean; if you have faith in Jesus and surrender all to Him.
Romans 10: 9, 10, 13 explains: (9) "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
("For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) - 2 Corinthians 6:2
"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." - John 3:36
"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?" - John 11: 25,26
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16
My previous post concerned itself with the darkness of a pagan holiday. This weekend let us consider what is good, and pure, and holy; what can bring happiness and give one a sense of peace.
"Then spake Jesus unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." - John 8:12 (KJV)
Christ is truly and aptly compared to and most fittingly represented by light. One commentator has said, "The great end and errand of Christ's coming into the world, was to give light unto poor souls that sat in darkness."
All true believers remember how they were in darkness and sin and misery before they came to a saving faith in Jesus. To know Jesus loves us and how He died a sacrificial death out of love for mankind, and that our sins are forgiven once we come to faith and belief in Him as our Savior who can wash away all of our sins, then... and only then... can we find true happiness now and can look forward to an eternity of living in bliss with the good Lord.
No true disciple shall walk in the darkness. Instead, he shall have as his own the Light of Life. Light implies knowledge, guidance, safety, and holy purity. So those who closely, humbly and steadily follow Christ shall have the Divine Light continually shining upon them. Remember also, when you become a true follower of Jesus Christ and you are born again, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). The Holy Spirit will guide you and keep you on the right path... the path of righteousness.
"And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." - John 14:16, 17
It takes faith in Jesus to be saved, to be born again from above. Charles Spurgeon had it correct when he said, "Would you be comfortable and happy? Would you enjoy religion? Would you have the religion of cheerfulness and not that of gloom? Then have faith in God. If you love darkness and are satisfied to dwell in gloom and misery, then be content with little faith; but if you love the sunshine, and would sing songs of rejoicing, covet earnestly this best gift, Great faith."
"In Him was life; and the life was the light of men." - John 1:4
God is declared to be Life or the Living God because He is the source or fountain of life. This is also true of Jesus Christ, of course. The Messiah was predicted as the Light of the world: Isaiah 9:2, Isaiah 60:1.
Psalm 89:15 tells us, "Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of Thy countenance."
One commentator explains Psalm 89:15 by saying, "Being blessed with the light of truth, and being enabled to walk therein, they shall live under the comfortable influences of Thy love and favor."
"For Thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness." - Psalm 18:28
"For with Thee is the fountain of life: in Thy light shall we see Light." - Psalm 36:9
Be happy !
Be blessed !
But what if you are an unbeliever?
Can you see from all the above quoted Scriptures how much the good Lord loves you?! That He longs to welcome you to the family of God as one of His beloved children?
Turn from sin and darkness ! Be free from the devil's evil plot to keep you in his grasp which suffocates you and renders you helpless to be free and full of joy. Turn to the good Lord in faith and belief and break free from the devil's hold on you.
Jesus is waiting with open arms, ready to embrace you in love and forgiveness.
If you have not been born again, turn to Him in true repentance and pray for forgiveness. Believe Jesus is the Savior whose shed blood at Calvary can wash your sins away, if you have faith in Him. Also, the Scriptures tell us to believe in Christ's resurrection.
Romans 10:9,10,13 tells us : (9) "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.(10)For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." - John 14:6
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16
The devil is described as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). I have no photographs of any lions, so I used these handsome cheetahs instead. The point is still made, however, as cheetahs also seek prey to devour.
The devil can be sly and deceitful, and he can use the world and its celebrations to capture unwise believers into celebrating his holiday, Halloween. Think about it: Halloween celebrates death and ghosts and everything which reeks of darkness and evil and is rooted in pagan rites of the ancient world. Halloween celebrations are older than Christianity. Following is a 21 minute video about the history of Halloween.
It really breaks my heart to see parents encourage their innocent children to have part in such an evil celebration......the children dress up as witches, vampires, ghosts, etc. - all darkness and wickedness prevails on this holiday. Please watch the above video and be warned.
It is also disturbing that most churches today participate in some sort of Halloween celebration; whether it be a party at the church or some other sort of acceptance of all this darkness.
The Bible speaks a lot about darkness and light. Darkness refers to the evil and wickedness, whereas the light refers to the good and to God and Jesus.
"I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me should not abide in darkness." - Jesus speaking, John 12:46
1 Thessalonians 5:22 tells us "Abstain from all appearance of evil."
Why would a true born again believer want to have anything to do with darkness or anything that appears evil?
I have written previously, two years ago as of this date, about Halloween and you can find that article here . At that link there is also another video about not celebrating Halloween.
I ran across a 5 minute sermon by Charles Spurgeon about entertainment in the church. Some churches recall to mind rock concerts and worldly entertainment. I feel like this Spurgeon video applies here because churches use holiday entertainment - such as Halloween parties for adults as well as children, when they should be preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and saving souls - not encouraging them to participate in the devil's holiday. Here is Spurgeon's video titled "Feeding Sheep Or Amusing Goats" :
"The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light." - Romans 13:12
There are many verses in the Bible that tell us what God requires of us, or expects from us. I will touch on a few that are known to many believers; but other believers seldom, if ever, read their Bibles so this article is also for them - as well as for unbelievers.
First of all, we need to believe with all of our heart that Jesus is the Savior, and to put all of our hope and faith in Him in order to be saved.
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16
Faith and belief in Jesus is all that is required to be saved and to gain eternal life. However, God also expects us to obey Him and to live godly lives and to bear much fruit. (John 15:8).
All true believers are already fully aware of all the information that I wrote above. Let us consider Micah 6:8 which follows:
"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"
To "do justly" is to be righteous; to act or being in conformity with what is morally upright or good. To "love mercy" .... a high obligation. Mercy is a beautiful quality. The spirit of mercy and forgiveness proceeds from the Father and the Son. We should do likewise with forbearance and gentleness.
The Lord also requires man to "walk humbly with Him." We can be humble when we contemplate how God took us out of the pits of darkness and brought us into His life-saving light; how we did not deserve His love and mercy, and that we should humbly acknowledge that we can do nothing without Him (John 15:5). Focus on the Lord and consider His powerful works and His majesty; live in awe and reverential fear of His power and realize that He is the Sovereign of the universe and we are but "specks of dust". If we have a strong, intimate, and personal love relationship with God through Jesus Christ, we will be humble.
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." - Ecclesiastes 12:13
The root of religion is fear of God reigning in the heart. You will also have a reverence of His majesty, and submit to His authority. And because you love Him, you will dread to grieve Him by sinful thoughts and actions. You will have a respect for all of His commandments and you will take care to keep them. This also applies to Jesus, of course. Love for Christ will compel you to live your life in a Christ-like manner. Follow closely in His footsteps.
Another requirement of the Lord is found at Mark 12:30-31 which follows:
(30) And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. (31) And the second is like, namely this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."
To love God with all your heart is to love Him with all of your powers, and with perfect sincerity.
The soul contains the affections, passions, and desires of the man under the rule of the will and conscience. To love God with all thy soul is to love Him with the utmost fervor.
To love God with all your mind, is to first of all fill your mind with the Word of God and dwell on things above (Colossians 3:1-2). That way you will have an enlightened mind in which to better exercise true love of God.
To love God with all of your strength is to love Him with all the energy of your being. That covers the first commandment.
Now concerning the second commandment, to love your neighbor as yourself..... The Jews regarded only fellow Jews and full proselytes as their neighbors, but Jesus taught that a neighbor is anyone with whom we have any dealings whatsoever. "Neighbor" in Greek literally means "one nearby." If we are filled with the Holy Spirit and have the love of God within us, we will naturally want to help our neighbor and will love him and treat him kindly.
Don't forget the Great Commission ! After His resurrection, Jesus commanded His disciples (which includes you and me) the following:
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." - Matthew 28:19-20
Love of God and love of neighbor - and wanting to obey the Lord - will fill us with the desire to share the Gospel with everyone we possibly can. We are on this earth to love and serve God, and to love and serve our neighbor.
These requirements of the good Lord are all familiar to true believers, but it is good to be reminded of things from time to time.
For unbelievers, you need to get right with the Lord and surrender your life to Him. Time is short ! We all need to be ready for the return of Christ at the soon to occur Rapture of the Church.
Don't be left behind !
Pray for forgiveness and believe with all of your being that Jesus Christ is the Savior, and that His blood shed at Calvary can wash your sins away if you but have faith in Him, and believe in His resurrection.
It is a simple faith that can save you. You must repent of your sins and renounce them and never go back to a life of sin. God will help you because once you are truly saved you will be sealed with the Holy Spirit Who will help you resist temptations and will help you to live a godly life. (Ephesians 1:13).
Choose life everlasting in heaven !
Choose Jesus !
Romans 10:9,10,13 tells us (9) "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." - John 14:6
"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." - John 3:36
As we enjoy this beautiful weekend, let us examine ourselves - our hearts - to see if we meet the good Lord's requirements. Let us put Him first in our lives.
