This Is Who Jesus Christ Is to Me – An Easter Reflection for All Year

What is it like to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? 

I’m not talking about merely knowing a lot facts about Jesus.

The point of this article is WHO Jesus is to Me, not merely what.

The HOW of Jesus is the Gospel story, but the WHO is the untold reward.

Greater than the gift is the love that gave the gift, but the Giver is greater still.

You can know Jesus, and He abides IN the hearts of all who put their trust in Him.

I will fail to tell all that Jesus is.

But I will make an attempt to share ,as best I can, just who Jesus is to me.

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Jesus Christ is my best thought, my most cherished possession, He is God and man, Savior and Creator, and to know Him more is my greatest ambition.

Oh the height, depth, and breadth of all that Jesus is!

He is the only way , the only truth, the meaning and purpose of life, and the only hope for eternity.

He is the author of the language of the information of life we call DNA, and the undesigned-Designer, eternal and ever-existing, who orchestrated the fine-tuned Big Bang so that our universe could sustain life.

He is the wonder in nature and science, each reflecting His infinite beauty, order, and intelligibility.

His courage to face a grievous death and torture was driven by a boundless love for everyone.
He endured rejection so we could be accepted.

He has borne our shame and by His stripes we are healed.

He died so we could live.

He defeated death for us and rose from the grave victorious.

He hears our most distant thoughts and our most earnest prayers.

He longs for us to know and love Him with all our heart, mind, and strength and all that is in us.

Christ’s love is stronger than sin and death, and mightier than any bonds known to ensnare the hearts and minds of mankind.

Only Christ’s Spirit and love can evoke love so strong in the hearts of sinners that it burns away all other passions.

Jesus is hope when all else is hopeless.  He is love when all around us is hate.  He is the reason to live when faith in all else is gone.

Nothing can drive Him away from any who truly trust Him.
He will never leave us or forsake us.

No desire, temptation, or affection can compare to knowing Christ; and anyone who truly knows Him would never choose to leave His presence – for nothing else compares to knowing Jesus Christ who is God and who is Love.

Though I walk through the Valley Of The Shadow Of Death I will fear no evil, for He is with me.

He so loved us that He came down from His glorious throne and became one of us.
He left majesty to live in humility.

 He humbly worked as one of us with the same hands that formed the universe,

all to save us, even before we knew Him.

He is all powerful, yet for the joy before Him, He endured death on a cross for those who loved Him and those who hated Him.

After three days He opened the tomb they laid Him in and rose from death.
Even now He opens His arms to beckon to all who labor and are heavy laden to give us life and rest.

My heart is bound and accountable to Christ’s heart who gave His blood to cleanse my soul of sin.

Duty as motivation is not worthy of comparison to the intimate resolve to love Christ.
Christ’s love, when realized, goes beyond motivation, discipline, and dedication.

Christ’s love is limitless and the one who knows such love is confident in trials and courageous in tribulation.

The human mind may seek in vain to grasp the full scope of God’s love, but we should continually endeavor to do so.

Jesus Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, and everything in between.

His promises are sure and are anchored in His great love, which He publicly demonstrated on the cross for you and me.

And, believe me, when I say this; words can’t even begin to express to others this inexpressible love Christ is in the hearts of those who know Him.

Jesus is the Most Sacred Flame, the Light of the World, inextinguishable and inexhaustible, burning in the hearts of all who trust Him as Savior.

The totality of who Jesus is to all who know Him cannot be fully expressed because He transcends measure, time, and space.

He alone is worthy of our eternal praise.

 

“And War Broke Out in Heaven” – The Lasting Implications for Mankind

Did you know there was a war in Heaven?
It’s true, and some of the details of this incredible event are revealed to us in the Bible and have lasting implications for mankind.

“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven,”
“Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death”.
“Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” 
(Rev 12:7-12 NKJV)

Lucifer was said to be the angel who reflected God’s glory. He wanted to be God and tried to overthrow God. One third of the angels followed him in this revolt. It is recorded in the Bible in Isaiah 14.

 “How you are fallen from heaven, 
O Lucifer, son of the morning! 
How you are cut down to the ground, 
You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: 
‘I will ascend into heaven, 
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; 
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation 
On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, 
I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, 
To the lowest depths of the Pit. “Those who see you will gaze at you, 
And consider you, saying: 
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, 
Who shook kingdoms, Who made the world as a wilderness 
And destroyed its cities, 
Who did not open the house of his prisoners?’ 
(Is 14:12-17 NKJV)

The implications for mankind from this event have lead to the fall of mankind from relationship with God and the change from an innocent nature in mankind to a moral consciousness of right and wrong.
That also means we have become responsible for our actions, impure, and unable to know our Holy perfect God in our current state.

This happened in the Garden of Eden when the disobedience of first man and woman occurred after Satan tempted the woman saying, “You will be like God,”, the same prideful ambition Satan succumbed to.

And to bolster these claims we also know that the oldest book of the Bible, the book of Job, also portrays Satan as our accuser as he is referenced here, “the accuser of our brethren”, and the unseen reason for many of mankind’s sorrows and trials.

Satan appears to be desperately appealing to every possible scenario to prove that he has been unjustly judged by God as he awaits his sentence to be carried out.

But we have an advocate with Father God who is Jesus Christ His Son. He came from God to be one of us. He alone lived a perfect sinless life. He willfully died a cruel death to pay for our sins. He rose from the dead to defeat death and offer life to all who believe.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believes on him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” 
(John 3:16-18 KJV)

Jesus said;
“In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. ” (John 16:33)

Trust Him as your Savior today.
Rest in Him for all your tomorrows.

God’s Love is Unconditional but A Relationship with God is Conditional – All Close Relationships Come With Conditions

We are saved by Grace. We know this as God’s unconditional  and unmerited love.

Some very wise people question, “How can God’s love be unconditional if I will be sent to Hell for all eternity if I reject Christ as my Savior.”

The answer is found in the realization of understanding the difference between God’s unconditional love to us,

(God so loved the World)

Christ’s having satisfied those conditions for us,

(That He gave His only  Son)

and our having met the only condition for the restoration of a relationship with God.

(that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.)

 ^“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.” (John 3:16)

God personally settled the condition for us to be restored to a relationship to Him.

He took responsibility for our debt on Himself.

All He asks is that we freely receive His offer.

He will also allow us to reject Him, 

But we must then accept responsibility for that decision

ourselves.

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The following link is to a half hour audio on this subject.

I gave it my own title because the audio actually covers a lot of theological ground , but covered this subject well here.

God’s Love is Unconditional but A Relationship with God is Conditional – All Close Relationships Come With Conditions.

“WHAT ANSWER FOR THE WICKED HUMAN HEART, PART 1 OF 2”

In this audio, the speaker reveals how he is often invited to speak with some of the world’s richest and most influential people.

On one occasion, the speaker was invited to go on a private yacht owned by a very wealthy man who had recently come to Christ through attending an event.

 Before the speaking event, this man told the speaker that he only came to fulfill a promise to his own wife that he would be there.

Ravi then told the man that having fulfilled his promise to be there, he could leave at any time while he is speaking if he chooses, and that would be okay.

Instead, the man accepted Christ as his Savior at the event.

This man then invited many of his own friends, and the speaker, to a private yacht cruise along the coast of Sicily.(perhaps in hope they would find new life in Christ as well).

This audio tells of a man on that cruise who also became a Christian when he finally understood true love and relationships all have conditions for them to exist.

Yacht (Photo credit: WaterpoloSam)

Christianity and Islam – The Basic Fundamentals of Different Fundamentalisms

Map showing the relative proportion of Christianity (red) and Islam (green) in each country. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The essence of any religion is the fundamental truths it is founded upon.

That would comprise a religion’s Fundamentalism.

A “Fundamentalist”,is one who attempts to strictly adhere to a religion’s fundamentals.

The word fundamental can mean something  good or bad, depending on a religion’s core truths.

The Supreme Doctrines of Christianity and Islam are polar opposites.

“Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

^” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  (Matthew 22:34-40)

“Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21

God wants us to love Him, and has provided the ultimate reason to desire to love Him by loving and giving His one and only Son, Jesus Christ as a sacrifice, the just for the unjust, on the cross. God WINS our love and trust.

“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.”(John 3:16)

In contrast to that, Islam means,”Submit to Allah”, and force is the means Allah’s word, the Koran, imposes.

Free will is forcefully denied by this fundamental belief of Islam.

(Read the following quotes from the Koran)

Qur’an:8:39 “Fight them [who do not believe] until all opposition ends and all submit to Allah.”

Ishaq:324 “He said, ‘Fight them so that there is no more rebellion, and religion, all of it, is for Allah only. Allah must have no rivals.'”

Qur’an:8:65 “O Prophet, urge the faithful to fight. If there are twenty among you with determination they will vanquish two hundred; if there are a hundred then they will slaughter a thousand unbelievers, for the infidels are a people devoid of understanding.”

Qur’an:9:5 “Fight and kill the disbelievers wherever you find them, take them captive, harass them, lie in wait and ambush them using every stratagem of war.”

Qur’an:9:29 “Fight those who do not believe until they all surrender, paying the protective tax in submission.”

Qur’an:47:4 “When you clash with the unbelieving Infidels in
battle (fighting Jihad in Allah’s Cause), smite their necks until you overpower them, killing and wounding many of them. At length, when you have thoroughly subdued them, bind them firmly, making (them)captives. Thereafter either generosity or ransom (them based upon what benefits Islam) until the war lays down its burdens. Thus are you commanded by Allah to continue carrying out Jihad against the unbelieving infidels until they submit to Islam.”

Free World listen!! It is clear! Democracy was born out of Christinity’s “Unalienable rights” and the belief that “all men are CREATED equal”. 

Allah demands we all SUBMIT to him. Or die.
Islam is fundamentally tyrannical.

God’s desire is for us is to LOVE Him, and He personally came down to us to die for our sins and defeat death for us.

What more could He do ?

“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.” (John 3:16)

God did this to set is free from sin and death. Christianity is fundamentally liberaiting.

“If the Son of Man sets you free you shall be Free indeed.”

Different core beliefs, different fundamentals, different fundamentalists.

Additional verses and links

Qur’an Sura 4:34, “Men have authority over women because [Allah] has made the one superior to the other… Good women are obedient… As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them. Then if they obey you, take no further action against them…”

http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php

 

Jesus is The Way – “Romans Road” To Eternal Life – Take The One Way Trip!

Striding on the Roman Road (Photo credit: Bods)

“For whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

                                                    – Romans 10:13

Romans 3:10 tells us, “as it is written, THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;” (Romans 3:10 NASB) As the Scriptures say: “There is no one who always does what is right, not even one.” (Romans 3:10 NCV)

The requirement of God is a perfect life. A sinless selfless life. Who has not sinned?

And Romans 3:23 adds, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us,” (Romans 3:23 MSG)

Why does man sin and where did sin come from?

Romans 5:12 states that sin started with Adam, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned– “(Romans 5:12 NASB) Sin came into the world because of what one man did, and with sin came death. This is why everyone must die — because everyone sinned.

(Romans 5:12 NCV) What happens to those who sin?

Romans 6:23 tells us, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23 NASB) When people sin, they earn what sin pays — death. But God gives us a free gift — life forever in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Romans 6:23 NCV)

If all have sinned and the penalty for sin is death, what can a person do? How can anyone be saved?

Romans 5:8 tells us how we can be saved from our sin and its penalty, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 NASB)

1But God shows his great love for us in this way: Christ died for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8 NCV)

If Jesus did die for me and was raised from the dead, how does that save me from sin and its penalty?

Romans 10:9-10 is clear, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10 NASB)

If you use your mouth to say, “Jesus is Lord,” and if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved. We believe with our hearts, and so we are made right with God. And we use our mouths to say that we believe, and so we are saved. (Romans 10:9-10 NCV)

Any one who realizes he can never live a perfect life can be saved.

Romans 10:13, for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.” (Romans 10:13 NASB) For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. [Joel 2:32.] (Romans 10:13 AMP)

Salvation is a free gift.

You may be ruled by desires for things contrary to God now. Don’t worry about that, Let Jesus come into your heart and change you. He has the power to change your desires.

Your good works cannot save you. That is why Jesus died for us. Your good works are the result of genuine salvation, not a condition for you to be saved.

Ask Jesus to come into your heart, save you ,and make you His. He is waiting.

Come to Jesus and Obtain the Fullness of Love and of Grace

“The best way to come to Christ is to come meaning to get everything, and to obtain all the plenitude of grace, which he has laid up in store, and promised freely to give. Some poor souls who come to Jesus Christ seem as if they wanted a little relief from fear, a hope that they may just get saved, and a fair chance of going to heaven when they die. Pray do not come in that way, my dear friend. Come intending to obtain the fullness of love, the uttermost of grace.” C.H.Spurgeon

Ephesians 1:13,14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”

Greater Love Has No Man Than This

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13

“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.” John 3:16

To all who live with the burden of the horrors of wartime, and to those who grieve the loss of loved ones to battle, thank you for your sacrifice.

May you find a measure of comfort in knowing that because of His great love for you,God also knows the pain of sacrifice. Amen

” I believe it is without exaggeration to say that the cross, and the passion of God that is bound up with it, are more immense and profound than anything we have ever imagined them to be.” David Bolton

Christ-Centered Christianity

[Listen to post here.]

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Have you ever woken up from a vivid nightmare in a cold sweat, your heart beating out of your chest, and your mind and emotions reeling from the intensity of the ordeal you just “lived” through?  I have, and it is one of the worst experiences in life.

For some people who have lived through real traumatic life experiences, this can happen somewhat regularly.  The nightmares they tend to have, however, relate not to some subconscious fantasy but to what they have actually lived and suffered through.  This is especially traumatic as they emotionally and mentally “relive” actual events they had previously endured.  How powerful dreams can be in creating and recreating experiences, and to bring us into genuine emotional and mental engagement with them as though they were real.

Memories also work this way, though often they are not quite so…

View original post 1,861 more words

God’s Breath of Life – The Ultimate Reunion

“Our lifelong nostalgia, our longing to be reunited with something in the universe from which we now feel cut off, to be on the inside of some door which we have always seen from the outside is no mere neurotic fancy, but the truest index of our real situation.” C.S.Lewis

When God created man He gave man life by His own breath. The importance of this is that the life of mankind had a personal link to The Maker.Perhaps this is in part what it means to be created in His image.

” And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7 )

It’s interesting to find parallels between the old and new testaments of the Bible. There are tons of them.

Now consider the second time God gave mankind the Breath of life.

“Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20:20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 20:21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 20:22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:19) 

The Breath of life is restored to mankind at salvation and we become a new creation.

” Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (II Corinthians 5:17)

Was mankind created to have God’s Spirit inside us as this would indicate?
Is the absence of God’s Spirit the cause of man’s universal longing?

C..S.Lewis said;
“Our lifelong nostalgia, our longing to be reunited with something in the universe from which we now feel cut off, to be on the inside of some door which we have always seen from the outside is no mere neurotic fancy, but the truest index of our real situation.”

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63)

“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:13,14)

This much is clear, if you believe in Christ as your Savior, He will come into your heart as a seal and a promise that cannot be broken,(because God can’t lie),WHO will Himself personally by the deposit of His Spirit IN you, guarantee your salvation, your inheritance until God comes for you or you go to Him.

Friends, what are you waiting for?

Believe and receive God’s breath of life!

Our First Love -God – Whom We All Remember Though We Never Knew Him

“I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.”

Bono-U2

“Our longing to be reunited with something in the universe from which we now feel cut off , to be on the inside of some door which we have always seen from the outside, is no mere neurotic fancy, but the truest index of our real situation.”

“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”

C.S.Lewis

God-Our First Love.

Mankind was created by God for fellowship with Him and only a relationship with God will complete us.

We were created in the image of God, and we have a part of us that remains un-satiated by anything but God.

Our problem was that God’s perfection is called Holiness, and His Holiness requires holiness from us as a condition to be in His presence.

But all men were imperfect and none could save us, until God came down and inhabited flesh and bone to live a perfect life and be our Savior.

So God came to personally came to make a way for us back to Him, through His sacrifice for our sins.

And three days after allowing His crucifixion , Christ rose from the died and defeated death to show that He can give life to as many as receive Him.

Our ultimate hope can be fulfilled in a promise that cannot be broken , lost or taken away ;God.

God initiated this event because He loved us.

God offers eternal life as a gift because we could not be the perfect sacrifice.

You need only receive it by faith, just ask with your heart and believe.

 “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)

Christians and seekers take note at what God’s word says,“believe in your heart,” and , ‘It is with your heart that you believe and are justified.”

It all starts with the heart.

But don’t make the mistake that after that the honeymoon is over.

The fact is that you can know God’s love in an ever-increasing way for the rest of your life.

He is our first love who reunited us to himself by the single most incredible sacrifice in all of history; One man died for all the world.

The God who became fully man while remaining fully God ,(Nothing is too hard for God).

God’s has always love us and desired for us to know Him. 

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”(Deuteronomy 6:4,5)

Then God gave us the ultimate reason to love Him with all our heart, mind and strength.

He became one of us and sacrificed Himself for us, releasing us from eternal death and separation from Him.

 “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.” John 3:16

You can know Him, Just pray to Him to save you and to live in your heart as the scripture says, “with the heart you believe and are justified.”

Christ is our first love.

We really were made for each other.

The Key to Loving God With All Your Heart

God is love, and He created us for a relationship with Him.
He also made us the reason for the greatest expression of love that has or will ever take place.
God came down from heaven in the personage of Jesus Christ to save us Himself from eternal separation from Him and eternal suffering in Hell.

It all began when Satan tried to over throw God and take His throne for himself.
God banished Satan to Earth from heaven and created Hell as a place of eternal suffering for Satan and the legions of angels that he led away with him in his rebellion to God. Isaiah 14:12-17

Then , perhaps to try to get back at God, Satan tempted Eve in the garden of Eden to do what God had forbidden.
Satan used the same thing against mankind that was his own weakness, Pride!

“For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened,and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”Genesis 3:5
Satan wanted to be ,”like God”, and he temped Eve to sin with the notion that she could be ,”like God”.

God could no longer dwell with His creation. Mankind was banished from the paradise that was Eden and the presence of God.
God also promised that He would restore mankind to Himself and gave a clue as to how He would accomplish our redemption.

“He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:15

When Christ, the promised Messiah came to save us, he suffered, died , was buried and rose again to defeat death.

He died our death and then defeated death in order to give life to all who believe in Him as Lord and Savior.
Satan was defeated and eternal death was defeated.

Now Jesus offers eternal life to all who believe in Him as savior and ask Him to come into their heart.

For with the mouth confession is made and with the heart man believes and is saved.”Romans10:9-10

He loved us before we ever knew Him. John 4:10,14

His love is infinite and as we experience His presence in us, our hearts will expand and grow to become more like Christ and less about ourselves.

No matter how much we currently love God, we can always grow to love Him more.

Jesus revealed what is probably the best way to set a direction for continuous growth in love for Him when He told this story to a dinner host. The story is found in Luke 7:40-47.

The story has three characters.

A master and two people who both owed the master more than they could pay.

One owed slightly more than he could pay.

The other owed the master a great deal more than he could pay.

Jesus said the master forgave each his debt.

“Which do you suppose loved the master more?”

The dinner host responded, “The one whom was forgiveness the greater debt.”

“Rightly so.”, answered Jesus.

He continues to tell His host that those who have been forgiven much love much and,”He who has been forgiven Little loves little.”

We know the characters in the story represent the dinner host, the former prostitute who washed Jesus’s feet with her tears and wiped then with her hair, and Jesus himself.

But the key truth contained in this story that Jesus wants us all to get is the one that sets our hearts on fire and burns away all competing passions.

This happens when we realize that no one could pay what was owed and all faced the same fate, and the Master’s grace was all that made the difference.

We are also in this story by application. We all owe to God what we can’t pay and Jesus paid it for us.
Only believe He did that for you and receive His gift of eternal life.

One perceived his indebtedness more, the other one perceived his sin less, and they loved in proportion to their perception of themselves. But God is the standard of true perfection.

Here is the answer;”There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:22-23

Whether by little or much, we are all imperfect.
None of us are worthy to dwell with our Perfect Creator God after we leave this life unless we receive the sacrifice of Jesus the Perfect One as our own and we put our faith in Him as our Savior.

When we realize He died for all our sin, not just some of our sin, we will be free to love God with all our heart, not just some of our heart.

He that has been forgiven much loves much.

We all owe everything to God.

Our perceived need is little or much , but the reality is there is no difference.
All fall short.

But this needs to be said also,
We don’t all believe Once Saved Always Saved.

If you currently think you have to maintain a certain measure of works to feel secure in your salvation, you may not be fully trusting Christ’s sacrifice alone as the means to pay for your sins.

You have been forgiven little, and no matter how much you love God, you will always be able to love Him more if you trust Him for all of what He did for you that you were unworthy to do for yourself.

When you FULLY believe and know Jesus paid ALL your sin debt, then you can begin to love God with ALL your heart.

And when you trust God with ALL your life, then you will have tapped into the source of all faith.

Whether little or much, He alone is worthy to settle our debt.

Remember, there is no difference, we all fall short.

All have been forgiven much, and all can love God much.

Life After Death – We Can Know Our Final Destination

 

One day our journey will end.
Our life as we know it will end.

But we can know where we are going after this life is over.

“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” 1 John 5:13

What are we saved from?

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” romans 3:23

God is perfect, we are not. Therefore we cannot live with him when our journey is over unless He makes us perfect.
He promises to change us into perfection and give us eternal life with Him if we let Him save us from our current path.

The following Bible references have helped me to know my final destination beyond any doubt.
The rest and assurance that results from knowing and no longer fearing death is that I now love Him more than my own life.

“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession–to the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:13,14

If then God puts His Spirit in those who believe, these next verses are also true.

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” 1 John 4:16

God is love. He warms the hearts of those who truly know Him, and we feel His presence in us.

“We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.” 1 John 4:13

“The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” Romans 8:16

Do you know Him…? You can know Him, and you can know your final destination for certain and forever.

“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

Heaven is my final destination.
I hope to see you there!

Saved and Sealed for Eternity – God Cannot Lie

God keeps His promises.

“… it is impossible for God to lie…” (Hebrews 6:18).

God made a promise to all of us who believe and have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. This particular promise is found in Ephesians 1:13-14.

“And you were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of His glory.”

For those who believe The Good News of Christ, there is a “promise” that cannot be broken and a “seal” that cannot be taken away.
This ‘promise” and ‘seal’ is not a ‘what’, but a ‘who’ as stated in verse 14, God Himself in the believer.

He is the ultimate fulfillment of the greatest longing of every soul. To feel His presence in your heart, is to be changed forever. None who experience His presence can find fulfillment to this degree in anything else that can be desired.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time, He has also set eternity in the hearts of men;” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

We are created by Him to have a relationship with Him. We are ‘hardwired’ to know God and once you do, if you really do, you would never want to leave Him….ever!

God Himself is the deposit who guarantees our inheritance.
We, who placed our faith in Christ, The Gospel of our salvation, are now “God’s possession”. He bought our lives with the life He gave in the personage of Jesus Christ on the cross, His life for ours. When you trust Him to save you owe Him everything.
You are God’s possession. And no one can take us from God. Nor would any who experience Him want to leave.

“They went out from us, but they did not belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.” (1 John 2:19)

The arms of God hold us in an embrace that possesses our deepest longing. Our free will chooses God because He made us for Himself.

God cannot lie.

His promise cannot be broken.

His Spirit in us is the seal that cannot be taken away.

None who ever genuinely know Him would ever want to leave Him.

Jesus Did All The Heavy Lifting

“Come to Me all you who are burdened and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and you shall find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11: 28-30

Jesus fully paid our debt to God by His suffering and death on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins.

He was buried and rose from the tomb three days later to defeat death for us.

He gives salvation as a gift all who ask Him and believe.

He gives us His righteousness.

He then comes into the heart of the believer to stay.

He makes us a new creation, the old is gone and everything is made new.

He gave us His Word to live by.

He then teaches us by His indwelling Spirit.

He then empowers the believer for service and personal victory.

He also went to prepare a place for all who believe so we can be with Him.

He promised to come back for us to take us to the place He prepared for us.

No wonder He said, My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

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• Take My Yoke Upon You (revdrotimi.wordpress.com)

 

What Must We Do To Do The Works God Requires ?

Resurrection. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jesus’ followers once asked Him this question,

“What must we do to do the works God requires ?” John 6:28

“Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one He has sent.” John 6:29

Someone in that crowd had the courage and honesty to admit they did not have the will and desire to do the works God requires of them.

Jesus’s answer is clear, that until we believe in Him, whom God sent to die for the sins of the world, we cannot even think about anything else.

Salvation must come first because our good works are the result of genuine salvation, not a condition for our salvation.

Only Jesus Christ works of sacrifice for you and I on the cross can save us because only He was perfect and Holy and without sin.

And as if Jesus’ sacrifice for us was not enough, God then does something wonderful, He comes into our hearts to live there forever.

Philippians 2:13 states, “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”

They asked “What must we do to do…?”

God answered, “Believe,…”

Then God , who is love ,and His Spirit that He places in you is love, will begin to win over our desires because nothing in the universe is more desirable, more beautiful, more majestic, more wonderful and beyond description than Him.

As we grow we will trade more and more of our selfish desires for more and more of Him because we realize those things come between our relationship to each other.

“Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Romans 5:5

If you know you need Christ’s salvation just come to Him in prayer now, without regard for the current state of your heart or the things you know are not right in your life.

Jesus will win over your desires.

He is the Hope that does not disappoint.

Simply pray to Him,
“Save me, come into my heart ! “, and He will abide with you forever.

“That if you confess with your mouth and believe with your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
“For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10: 9,10

Then tell someone, anyone, that you have trusted Jesus as your savior.

“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him will I confess before My father in heaven.” Matthew 10:32

Until we believe in Christ Jesus as our savior, nothing else matters.

“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” Mark 8:36

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Galatia in an effort to correct a similar misconception.
“Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” Galatians 3:3

Both before and after salvation, our work is to believe, and then take action based on that hope alone, with faith in Christ Spirit in us alone.

^” because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever:” 1 John 1:2

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He Will Be Called Mighty God , Everlasting Father

Isaiah 9:6 ” For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Isaiah 9:6 was written about 700 years before God came down in the personage of Jesus Christ.

The verse foretells the birth of a child whom Christianity celebrates at Christmas time every year. The child’s birth is hailed as the coming of a savior who would save mankind from the curse of sin and death.

Our sin nature had taken us far from God. He came to us. He became one of us. He lived like one of us. He suffered and died in our place. Then Christ rose from death to prove He is the author and creator of life and offers life to all who choose to receive Him as Lord and Savior. He will not force us, He made a way for us and beckons us to receive Him.

At Christmas time we celebrate the ultimate act of love and humility performed by God for us. May we all remember the gift of eternal life was bought with pain and suffering, shame and rejection, and Christ’s own blood that He gave to pay our debt. God personally paid the debt we owed Him. He did not send another to do His work for him.

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For it is by grace you are saved, through faith – and that not from yourselves , it is the gift of God – not by works , so that no one can boast.”

To receive God’s gift of Eternal Life you need only to ask God to save you and receive Him as your Savior and God.

We were created for fellowship with our Creator God. Our fulfillment is met only through a relationship with God through the personage of Jesus Christ our Savior.

He promises to live in you and to never leave you or forsake you. His Spirit living in the believer will grow our love for Him and for His desires in place of our own.

Remember, Christ is also part of this gift. He is our , “Wonderful Counselor”, and He is love. We are created for a relationship with Him, therefore He alone can fulfill mankind’s greatest desire.

He is love. And it is by His indwelling Spirit of love that we are changed.
So don’t worry about old habits. If you really mean it when you ask Him into your heart, He will live in you forever and will never leave you.

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God Came Down

 

Jesus stated that He came down from the Father.

In this chapter Jesus repeats seven times that He came down from Heaven , and that He came to give us life as our Bread of Life.              

(John 6:33,38,41,42,48,50,51,58,62) 

Jesus uses the illustration of eating to explain faith and also bread to explain that He is the one who gives life saving nourishment to our starving souls for all who believe in Him as Savior.

Jesus also again shows us that he lived in eternity before His time on Earth when He states that He came down from Heaven.

” For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.” (John 6:38)

They Will Call Him, “Immanuel “, Meaning,”God With Us.”

 

 

This is a prophecy about Jesus was written about 700 years before His birth. Jesus would be called,”Immanuel”, meaning,”God with us.”

” Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”Isaiah 7:14 

This verse is repeated and explained in Matthew’s Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 ” The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him, “Immanuel”,( which means, “God with us”). Matthew 1:23