Friday, February 28, 2014

the Lord's Amazing Hydration



Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. The water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.  John 4: 14

The meeting at Jacob's well is fascinating on many many levels. First, it represents the
longest conversation involving Jesus in the New Testament. It is also amazing just based
on the fact that Jesus has spoken to someone who would ordinarily be shunned by a
Hebrew man. His knowledge of this woman is amazing along with His statements 
regarding who He is.

But the whole water motif is amazingly important and "refreshing!"  This water
symbol is found throughout the Bible  from the creation in Genesis to Revelation, as
the river of life.

The River of Life - And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. Rev 22

Even on the cross, as Christ Jesus is pierced, there comes a flow of both blood and water
from His body. There are suggestions that this is a result of shock or the flogging He endured, but the idea of baptismal cleansing and sacrificial blood flow are certainly worth
considering from a symbolic sense. 

I'm not smart enough to pinpoint what all these water references mean, but I believe
that one can accurately say that Jesus is the one, and only one, who sustains us in life
and in our own resurrection. He is sufficient in our lives and for our lives; He is truly
all that we need. Because He is omniscient, omnipotent and sovereign, He is fully
capable of our dependence on Him for all everything we need. 

Water is both necessary and sustaining in our lives. It is precious and not to be
wasted. When we bow down to Jesus and bring Him into prominence in our lives,
He becomes the shepherd taking care of the flock, each member of the flock. He
refuses to allow harm to each of us when we accept Him as Lord and Savior in
our lives. 

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Matthew 11: 28-39

His arms are ope n and He beckons all to come to Him. What a wonderful request!
What an important decision, one that truly has everlasting implications!

Praise Jesus, our redeemer!


Wednesday, February 26, 2014

A Relatively dumb position!

See now that I, even I, am he,
and there is no god beside me;
I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal;
and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
(Deuteronomy 32:39)

My God is the God of ______. Fill in the blank if you are a proponent of relativism. It
is the idea that one belief, one set of truths, one set of morals, indeed anything, is no
better than another. No absolute truth, here! Nothing 'written in stone,' nothing to 'take
to the bank,' no standards to guide us. 

I can, under this type of philosophy, establish for myself what God is to be for me and
my life. In a sense, I, the created, will create or re-create God to fit into what I believe
He should be. The reason is that someone else's concept or belief in what God ought to
be is not better, at the end of the day, than is mine. I suppose that ought to be somehow
comforting...but it is NOT!

Scripture suggests that God is not really too thrilled when man, Job as an example, attempts
to define or limit Him. The Holiness of God makes Him different and unique from all
of His creation. For anyone to limit His qualities or abilities or power to do what is His
will is barking up the wrong tree. (This blog is full of cliche!)

God, through His word, revealed Himself to mankind in ways that he, man, could
begin to understand. I think it would be prideful to believe that we really can
understand Him...we have to take what he has revealed and try to learn as much
about Him as, basically, he has allowed us to learn. This does not suggest that we can
define Him, only that he has gracefully granted us a look at who He is.

The attributes of God are found in the scriptures. The glory of God is apparent in
His creation. He is many things: Holy, sovereign, majestic, omnipresent. omniscient,
loving... the list goes on. None of these is available for giving more weight than
another; we cannot choose one and define God as being that one characteristic.

I am not interested in making God what I would want Him to be. He already is
everything I want Him to be. He is my Lord and my God and it is my job to
glorify Him in what I do.

I'm just blessed that he reaches out to His creation and wishes to be in relationship
to it. 

Praise Him!

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

You can run, but.......

Proverbs 15:3 - The eyes of the LORD [are] in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

I have read that the definition that a sociopath is a person who does not know the difference between right and wrong, good and evil. I am not buying that definition! We, all of us, are born in the image of God. This implies the existence of at least a rudimentary conscience that does know the difference, even from childhood, of right and wrong.

So, and I am talking here about myself, too, we can try to sweep our sinful nature under
the rug, we can hide it in the closet, we can camouflage it with good deeds, we can even
try to convince our sinful selves that something isn't a sin....yet, if God counts the hairs
on our heads, knows our every tear, understands what we want and need even before
we seek it...how can we REALLY think that He doesn't see our sin before it rears its
ugly head?

That creates a big dilemma! The fact is that we will continue to sin even after becoming
one who loves Jesus and asks for His grace and salvation. That's a real kick in the pants!
Try as we might, and I believe we honestly do want to please and honor Jesus, sin just
refuses to go away. Blame it on Eve, on the devil, on temptation....it's always a battle to
avoid that fight it.

So what can be done?

Well, the Holy Spirit helps us by convicting us when we sin. You have felt it...it's more than
guilt. You give in and 'wham!' you immediately know that you have lost a battle, disappointed yourself and added another sin to the back of Jesus as He hangs on that
tree. Nasty stuff, that!

We can immediately repent and ask God, who already knows about the sin, to forgive
us as we try to turn away from the sinful act, idea, thought... the list goes on! Giving our
direct plea for forgiveness is what we are told we must do as fist step in sin removal.

Just the knowledge that God has, from before the beginning of time, prepared a
way for us to escape His wrath by substituting Jesus, a perfect lamb, for us through
His sacrifice upon the cross, has to give us confidence that we can strive to be thankful
by challenging our sin as a way of thanking God's grace.

Even the apostle of the gentiles, Paul, admitted that he fought the fight and still came
up short. The key is that he fought, battled and strove to eliminate as much sin as
possible with the help of God.

Praise to God always and forever! May we live each day battling the sin that corrupts
us!

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Just be careful about the size of the mountain!

Mark 11:23-24 ESV / 


Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.  

I read with some degree of horror, this week, about a pastor who had been in the news
before for having live snakes in his church in an attempt to prove faith.

Mark 16:17-18 records, “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will … pick up snakes with their hands.” 

Turns out that there is some debate about not only what is being said, here, but also about
whether these particular verses were part of the original bible texts. For whatever the reason, this pastor and I am sure there are others, risk life and limb in an attempt to
prove faith in God. 

The Bible is the word of God; it is truth; yet, there are parts that, quite honestly, are written with symbolism and cannot, in my opinion, be taken absolutely literally. There is no
question that God did and does provide unbelievably miraculous outcomes. The
outcomes are the result of God's ability to do anything He chooses to do. This does not
encourage me to rush out and jump into a den of lions. Now I have a house-cat named
Samantha that presents some degree of danger due to her unpredictability and a set
of unforgiving claws, but she is not a lioness. I, also, am not Daniel!

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, also I am not. I don't even cook on the stove without

gloves and pot holders at the ready. Again, God is not limited in any way.

But we have to be careful not to assume that all language and statements in the Bible are
literal. I don't know about you, but I am having difficulty imagining my ability to stand
before a mountain of any size, pray fervently that it can be moved, and watching it
change locations. Not even a molehill!

I can show my faith by works that provide proof that my heart is set on doing the work
of God and bring glory to Him. I, being human and pretty old, am limited by those
factors and feel no need to attempt to preform any amazing fetes designed to prove
faith; I just need to live a life that shines with the light of Jesus, as best I can.

I will leave the cool stuff to God. He isn't limited by the size of the mountain!
Praise God!

Friday, February 21, 2014

You, me and Saul of Tarsus on the Damascus Road

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” Acts 9: 3-6

He was the pharisees' pharisee! A man absolutely determined to arrest and
persecute all those who believed in the new Way, men or women. He was
relentless, intelligent, resolute in his desire to wipe out these who were not
abiding by the Law. He was travelling with papers signed by priests giving him
the right to take prisoners to Jerusalem. He had been taught by Gamaliel, a
tanna, rich in the teaching of the Jewish Law.

You know the story... a BRIGHT light sent Saul to the ground followed by
a direct communication from the Lord Jesus, himself. After regaining his
sight on three days, and spending some days with the disciples in Damascus,
he was found preaching the gospel naming Jesus as the Son of God and the
only path to salvation and God.

Talk about a turn-around! Jewish leaders were astounded and, naturally,
angered and sought to have him killed. 

So what is up with the title of this blog? I am suggesting that all who are
called by God, who respond and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior are
changed. There probably will not be a blinding flash of light followed by
audible words from Jesus, Himself, but changes will come and be noticed
as the walk begins and continues. Isn't it amazing that God chose and chooses people like Paul, who one would think would have been the last choice to bring the gospel to the gentiles, to further His kingdom and do His work. Before any of us came to be Christians, we were dead to sin and separated from God.
Through His grace, we have come to be alive in Christ to do the work of
bringing glory to God and sharing the precious gospel of Jesus Christ.

How wonderful to be transformed! Praise God!

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

How could they NOT have known?

He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
    and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and afflicted,
    yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
    and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression[a] and judgment he was taken away.  Isaiah 53

It has been said that Hebrew people were adept at memorizing the Hebrew bible; that
it was a certainty that young men, like Jesus, had memorized large portions of the bible
in their educational training. 

With that in mind, it seems amazingly ridiculous that Jesus was not recognized as the
Messiah when there were numerous Old Testament verses that clearly prophesied
both his coming and His death.

The disciples seemed, at times, confused and unclear as to who this Jesus was. Simon
Peter responded to the question by stating that "Thou art the Christ, the son of the
living God." Matt 16: 16 Yet they continued to seem dazed at events and His words.
It's true that the Hebrew people were, and still are, waiting for a messiah who would
come in power to save the nation Israel and overthrow the Roman government. Obviously,
Jesus arrived unspectacular and was characterized more for compassion and
servitude. He was carrying a powerful message in a humble way.

So what are we to make of this inability of those present to recognize who Jesus was?
He minced no words in directly claiming to be the Son of God; yet, they ended up calling
for His death.  Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” John 8: 58

I believe that the answer must surely be that God was working for His good plan by
making it impossible for the Jewish leadership to recognize what they most clearly
sought, the Messiah. There were just too many signs that this was the Son of God; yet,
He was destined to live out His purpose by being crucified and raised in victory over
Satan and death. It was God's plan, and like everything else that God does, it was good!

Praise our God!


Monday, February 17, 2014

Hard to forgive AND forget!

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matt 6: 14-15

One of the certainties of life, it seems to me, is that within our time span we will hurt others
and be hurt by others. So the issue of forgiveness comes to the fore; what or how can we
forgive others when they have done things that are very difficult to forgive? After all,
there are trespasses and there are TRESPASSES. 

 And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.  Matt 6: 9

We are to pray that God will forgive our trespasses on the grounds that we have forgiven 
those who have wronged us. Scripture, then, clearly expects that we will understand what God has done in forgiving our sinfulness and with this understanding forgive others out
of appreciation for the forgiveness He has shown us through His grace.

Well, I am going to state that this is no easy task! The question becomes whether or not
human beings are capable of true forgiveness. 

Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. Luke 23: 34


Obviously one true human, in what has to be the most amazing example of forgiveness,
asks the Father to forgive those who have tortured, abused and killed Him upon a
cross. Need I say it, we are not Jesus.

So here's my blog take:  It is important to make every attempt to forgive what others
have done that has hurt us. Selfishly, it's better to forgive from the standpoint that it
clears our anger, to an extent, and we are not holding things inside. But I believe that
we always must strive to do what God has clearly mandated. He wants and expects
us to forgive even the most difficult things and has called upon us to do so.

But... I really think that there are cases where we may be able to forgive but
probably not be able to forget. I believe that we will still hold onto the memories of
what took place and the anguish they may have caused.  I'm not sure if that is
okay in the eyes of God. I guess one would have to pray that strength through the
Holy Spirit might help us accomplish both. 

Forgive as best you can because God has asked us to do so. Love others who
say and do things against you, as Jesus clearly mandated. Forgive.... still not easy
because we are humans!

Praise God!


Friday, February 14, 2014

Well Marcus Welby...Father Knows Best!

And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Matt 23: 9    

You know you are getting older when you reference TV shows that aren't even played
anymore on the 'Old TV' Cable Networks! I thought of Robert Young and the rolls he
played, especially pertaining to the idea that 'father knows best.'

You remember, don't you, when your parent angered you by answering the universal
child question.."Why?" with, "Because I told you so!" Debates with parents, especially
when a child is young, are really meaningless and probably cause this type of
parental response. Obviously, there are a myriad of things that older folks know
in terms of what is best for their children. I am going to suggest that God, our
Father, knows at all times what is best for His children...us!

He knows, for example, the difference between 'What we want,' and 'What we need!'
What an important distinction. Because the Father is sovereign and in control, He may
very well choose to 'give" us something that we didn't ask for or something 'instead of'
what we asked for. Most of us would readily admit that we really don't know what is best
for us a lot of the time. How fortunate we are to have a Father who knows all things.

He knows all that we think, say and do. Not gonna sneak an obtuse, unkind or sinful
thought past this Parent, He is aware. This becomes especially important in our
daily battle against our sinful nature. We can 'use' His complete knowledge of our
nature to lean on when we feel that temptation begin to overtake us. It's a lot like
using our human parents as an excuse..."My dad will tan my hide if he catches me
doing that!" ( I know, I just dated myself, again!)

I think it's probably a natural condition to want to please our parents. We don't
want them to be upset or disappointed in us if at all possible. Well that becomes
magnified when it comes to our Heavenly Father. It's our job to glorify Him by
our actions and behavior... a full time job for sure!

So Father really does know best, and that, it seems to me, is comforting and reassuring!
We LOVE you Father God! Praise be to You, always!



Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Pascal's Wager: You are going to have to have FAITH!!!

  1. "God is, or He is not"
  2. A Game is being played... where heads or tails will turn up.
  3. According to reason, you can defend neither of the propositions.
  4. You must wager. (It's not optional.)
  5. Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is. Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing.
  6. Wager, then, without hesitation that He is. (...) There is here an infinity of an infinitely happy life to gain, a chance of gain against a finite number of chances of loss, and what you stake is finite. And so our proposition is of infinite force, when there is the finite to stake in a game where there are equal risks of gain and of loss, and the infinite to gain.
Well, I am going back on my word to stop at 100 blog entries, but this just bothers me! I
don't know how many of you are familiar with this "Wager" by Blaise Pascal, a 17th
century French philosopher, and I am not totally sure of its intent, but I do not like it!

All of us tend to lean toward proof; it is a human trait to want to prove that something
exists before we grant belief. Unfortunately, for people who need this type of proof, God
as an entity does not provide proof of His existence outside of belief and faith. If you
were to read R. C Sproul or listen to one of his many tapes, you would associate the
Latin term Sola Fide with this theologian. We are saved by faith alone and by grace
alone. 

Somewhere in the walk of a Christian, he or she simply must have and declare FAITH
in God and Jesus Christ. You have to be willing to allow yourself to jump off that
diving board into the water. We have the Bible, God's word spoken through the Holy
Spirit, and we have His creation which shouts His existence. But we will reach a point
where we simply have to believe and have the faith that He exists, is sovereign and
alive forever. 

Leaning on a wager, it seems to me, is not having faith; instead, it is playing things
safe. 'Well, I might as well cast my vote for God because, if I lose the wager, I have
really lost nothing!' But careful now. Playing a wager on the existence of God surely
does not translate into allowing Him into ones life, depending upon His grace
and loving-kindness. And what about Jesus' sacrifice upon the cross? Where does
a wager put ones appreciation for the atonement earned at the foot of the cross?

Don't wager on the future existence of your soul! Don't wager on your ability to
fend off the Devil by allowing yourself to make a wager on your eternal soul! 

Faith is the key. In your walk, this faith will increase and you will reach a point where
this type of philosophy seems both rediculous and very very dangerous!

Praise our God!





Monday, February 10, 2014

So... what do YOU need?

Matthew 11:28-30

New International Version (NIV)
 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

We all have needs. Being human, many of these needs are similar and, being human, we
also have needs that are individual in nature and different, possibly, from those around
us. So... what are YOUR needs?

Do you need to be loved unconditionally? Because of your human nature, a lot of love
between humans is conditional. Whether or not unconditional love is even possible between
humans is probably debatable.

Do you need to be less afraid, worried and stressed? Our lives can fill up with anxiety
over things that we cannot control, even if we wish to.

Do you need to feel purpose in your life... REAL purpose? It's a fact that we can be
financially stable, secure in our workplace, have families that seem to be doing well
and STILL not feel an overlying purpose to our lives.

Do you need to be less reactive toward others? Do you find that you have issues with
jealousy, envy, anger, covetous thoughts... the list can go on and on. Being our own
regulators of these emotions is often not enough to bring real change.

Do you need to harness sin in your life. Do you find yourself constantly promising that
you will not allow temptation to sway your  behavior, only to find that you repeat the same
sinfulness over and over again?

Do you need to hand over the controls to your life to someone else? Is being the one
in control who can "get by" and "fix things" becoming an obvious illusion? Would you
want to let someone else be in control of things?

Well....I could go on and on. There are lots of needs, and they are varied and
serious... YET...there is one common solution! JESUS! He is ALL you need today
and forever. He is fully capable to caring for you, loving you and being the center
of your life. He is LORD, KING, SAVIOR, SHEPHERD... you get the picture..HE
IS ALL WE NEED!


Praise God! 


Sunday, February 9, 2014

So... what are the odds?

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

I have heard that a lot of money was lost on this year's Super Bowl! I guess I have to
state that it wouldn't have been me betting on a sporting event, but I am aware that
many folks do so. What if we examined the "odds" of some other things, unrelated to
the world of sports....

What are the odds that we crawled out of some primordial ooze millions of years ago
and slowly developed into humans as they exist today? I believe that is called evolution, and
believe it or not, it is taught in the majority of public schools across this nation. I
will tell you that, in my opinion, the odds are 0..that's a zero! There has never been
any proof that cross-specie evolution has EVER happened. Worms do not evolve into
chimpanzees. But wait...

What if an alien spacecraft deposited some sort of genetic material and eventually
caused the human being to arrive? Show me an alien spacecraft and I still am calling this
a zero!

What are the odds that this world, this universe just happened...just suddenly became
out of nothing. No creator. Happenstance. Coincidence. NOPE! Ever do any studying of the
human brain? The human cell? The specific necessities that make this planet we live on
even inhabitable? Chance? I think not! ZERO!

What are the odds that any of us could stand before a Holy God and be considered
worthy of salvation? That any of us, on our own merit, would be seen as Holy, as justified,
as sinless? You got it! ZERO chance. That's what the good news of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ is all about. Saved by grace alone, by faith alone. Nothing we have done or could
do would put us in good standing with the God of this universe without the atoning
sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross as our Savior, our High Priest our Redeemer.

I like the odds promised by the Bible that state that we have been adopted into the
family of God by the work of Jesus on that cross, that we will be seen as Christ's
righteousness at the Day of Judgement, that we have eternal life through The Lamb
of God... there's where I will put my confidence. Won't you join me?



Saturday, February 8, 2014

Secrets we do NOT need to know!

“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law." Deuteronomy 29: 29


It seems that the more we learn and know about God and His miraculous nature and
creation, the more we long to know even more. Maybe it's a human nature thing; we are
inquisitive and seek to broaden our knowledge. Yet, it seems to me that many of God's
secrets ought to remain His, alone. It is possible that we aren't capable or able
to comprehend a lot of those things we seek answers to. Somewhere along the way we
need to accept the fact that all questions will be or may not need to be answered when
we fall asleep and our souls are in Heaven.

So, what are some of the unanswered questions that you would like to know when you
arrive? I have some.....

How come God chose folks that weren't exactly perfect to be major players in His plan?
You know, King David, Moses, Abraham...  Well, that answer is almost self-evident. No one,
not even these great Biblical characters is/was perfect, except, of course, the Son of God.

What about election and predestination? Why are some chosen and others apparently not?
Since God alone can bring salvation, how did He make these decisions?

What about time, as it applies to God? is time just a human dimension? If God can see
all of time laid out before Him, can he go back and make changes?

Could Jesus have sinned? We knew that he was tempted in the same way humans are
tempted and we know that He lived a perfect, Holy life, but could He have?

Why did God give humans the possibility of redemption and not the angels? 

What will the new earth and the new heaven be like? What about those new, perfect
resurrected bodies? 

Will we see loved ones in Heaven? Will we recognize them and have similar relationships
with them?

Well, I could certainly go on. While it is fun to ponder some of these issues, there is
plenty that has been revealed to us in God's word and creation. Obviously, we haven't
been given all the details... maybe they are to come and maybe we just won't
really care.

I am looking forward to the future. Come, Jesus! We are certainly ready to take
to our knees and exalt You!!



Tuesday, February 4, 2014

The Most Terrible and Necessary Separation

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Matt 27: 46

John 19:30
... he said, "It is finished!" 

It's painful, isn't it, to read about the last hours of our beloved Savior, Jesus. I still
haven't gathered the nerve to watch Mel Gibson's film, "The Passion of Christ."
There were so many things about those moments on the cross the scream 'horrible!'
Yet, the single most gruesome fact of it all was the separation of Jesus, God's son, from
the father, a relationship that had existed before creation.

I believe that, being God, Jesus was well aware of the aspects He faced as he knelt
and prayed in the garden. He had spoken to His disciples, plainly, about the things that
must happen to Him when he was handed over. Despite their difficulty in understanding
the ramifications of those things, Jesus knew clearly what he was to face. This
foreknowledge focuses our understanding that this God/man was the only one who
could possibly have come to these moments with the potential of carrying out the
fullness of His earthly mission: atonement, fulfillment of the law and prophecy,
the final and complete sacrifice necessary for salvation and the ability to withstand
the full brunt of sin and this separation from the Father.

In the things I have read and heard from teachers, many suggest that it was this
separation which was the most devastating to withstand. God turned His back upon
His beloved son, unable to look upon the fullness of sin heaped upon His son. The light
of the relationship, like the sky over Golgotha, turned to darkness. That which meant
the most to Jesus, the acceptance and love of His Father, was withdrawn for what must
have seemed an interminable time. 

Yet, in the end, Jesus became aware that His reason for becoming flesh on this earth
had been completed. The debt had been fully paid. Sin had been defeated forever..
no more sacrifices that could not fulfill their purpose. Take a moment and think
about these accomplishments and the price He paid for achieving them... then speak
to Him and praise and glorify Him for what He has done for us.

Our savior. Our Lord. Our King. Our shepherd... Our reason for living...Christ Jesus.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Is your name written in the Lamb's Book of Life?

And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. 
Rev 20: 15    

I will start by writing that I hope it is! There is a book that the Bible suggests was in
existence before the beginning of creation, and in that book, belonging to the Lamb of
God, is a listing of names. First of all, the name that was given to you by your birth or
adopted parents will not be there. Your name will be the one assigned by, and known only to,
God Himself, your real name, and it will be read out loud and immediately recognized
by you as your name of salvation. A glorious name that belongs only to you, one given
by the Almighty God.

It would not be relevant to get into a discussion, here, on election or predestination, but
as the Bible is the word of God, some names are apparently in the book and some names are not. That's a daunting scenario, isn't it? 

So I will repeat the title's question...Is your name in that book? 

I am going to suggest that your desiring that your name be there is a sign that the name
most probably is in the book. Those who reject that idea of Christ Jesus as their
absolutely necessary savior probably do not care if such a name exists. Secondly, God
is the one that calls souls to Himself. While we cannot initiate this transaction, the desire
to be a part of the flock of Jesus most probably means that God has initiated an interest
and love of Jesus within a person.

Let's look at the worst possible scenario. What if your name isn't among those linked
forever to Jesus? Now I, being just a simple-minded blogger, have no ability to
put God's possible actions and reactions in some sort of box! So, let's try a possibility.
Since the Bible also suggests that God desires not to lose even one soul, what would
be a reason why a name could not be added if that soul took to its knees, opened its
heart and fervently asked forgiveness for sins, repented and sought with all its
being, a relationship with God and with Jesus  Christ? There are simply no
limitations to God's ability to do His will. 

Well, there it is. I am going to state that I know without question that my name
is in that book, and I wish anyone reading this to have that same sort of faith OR
to begin the life-changing possible course of action that will bring his soul into
the care and love of the Sovereign Lord of the Universe. Do not wait another moment!

Praise our God!!!!