Jesus, What’s the Point?

Okay, so… say you have no religion. You have no idea what Christianity is all about. Got it. My question is geez, how do you deal? I was suicidal before I met Him, and it’s no surprise that it’s unfortunately a leading cause of death in young guns.

So I ask you to keep your mind open for a moment. Good and Evil, lets start there. There’s no doubt there is good in the world and the evil is the world is stinkingly obvious. The bible says “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows,” 1 Chronicles 16:11-12. That’s love, joy, healing, provision, and Life abundantly as Jesus said, ¹⁰ “The thief (Satan) cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” in the book of John chapter 10 verse 10. Also that death is not the will of God. the book of 2nd Peter chapter 3 verse 9 says what God feels towards us about that.”The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” So these verses in themselves tell us that God wants the very best for us. Stick with me here…..

That means alternativley that NOTHING BAD comes from God. And what comes from Evil? Who is Satan, is described in John, chapter 8 verse 44 by Jesus, ⁴⁴ “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” So the devil is a murderer and a liar. I have a few choice words for that scum myself, but that’s up to God.

So taken together, what does this mean? Why does the bad stuff happen? I REALLY hate the bad stuff. Because every human has free will, that’s why. You can choose to make poor choices, you can choose not to. You can choose to stick it out, you can choose to be impatient and suffer the consequences. So what about the babies…that’s usually a question. Too many kids get caught up in the hateful choices of a corrupt adult. Was that the child’s fault? No, but it was certainly the horrific choice of someone else. What about disease? I’d go so far as to say it was the fault of Adam, who turned over the running of the planet to Satan while in the Garden of Eden. That part of the effect was the killing of innocent people through disease.

In a nutshell, for the non-christian who is kind enough to give me an ear, in the beginning, in Genesis Chapter 1 verse 26, when humans were created, ‘Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Satan, the rebellious cherub (a very powerful type of angel) spoke to Eve who then spoke to Adam, convincing them that they could be like God without God. Now remember, Satan is the father of lies, and what did he do to them? He LIED. He said is Genesis 3 verse 5 “ For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”

So the effect of their really bad choice, was getting kicked out of the Garden. They violated God’s one request, not to eat of that infamous tree, and suffered the consequences immediately. No longer did they live in a state of peace, fulfillment, in God’s presence and have free access to Him. Hoo-boy, serious trouble now.

So to get back to the title. What’s the point? The point is to get “back to the garden”. To get back to life the way God meant us to have. The only way for that to happen was for God to come down in human flesh as JESUS, His son. He is the only one who was qualified to cancel the works of Satan as being holy enough to annihilate Satan and human enough to make amends for the human part of the equation all in one shot! Awesome.

We see the signs happening before our eyes, the things the bible predicted as occurring before the end of the world as we know it right before our eyes. Time is winding down.

When you confess (out Loud) that you repent of your sins and declare Jesus Your Lord and Saviour (the prayer to do so is at the end), you are restored to God. You can have access to Him to HEAR YOUR PRAYERS, because at that point, Jesus makes the way back to God for you through His voluntary standing-in on the cross in your place, to cancel the work of Satan in your life.

And what takes place then? Check it out! in Luke chapter 10 verse 19 Jesus says, “¹⁹ I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” Our dominion is back!

Wow! Snakes and scorpions are interpreted as satanic forces and their effects. You may now speak the word of God aloud for healing!. Just say and believe ” by His stripes I was healed and made whole” (Isaiah 53 verse )

You can speak in the name of Jesus, as Jesus himself told us in Matthew chapter 10 verse 8 “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.” And that’s how we drive Satan out of our lives and the lives of others and bring God back into our lives. That’s how and why we are reunited with God. AND THAT’S THE POINT.

If you have decided enough is enough and you would like to be restored to God then please speak this prayer:

Dear Lord Jesus, I’m asking you into my heart and my life.  I know I am a sinner. I ask your forgiveness for every sin I’ve ever committed.  I believe you died on the cross for my sins, that you stood in my place and took all the punishment that was due to me when you were there. I believe that you rose from the dead and are alive. I thank you for forgiving me and cleansing me of sin with your blood. Thank you for making me right with our heavenly Father. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen and thank You!

If you would like to see what God is doing through today’s REAL Christians, I recommend taking a look at http://www.Sidroth.org and click on the top right bar that says “It’s Supernatural”. It’s a running video channel of miracles, signs and wonders that are happening to this day. GOD STILL HEALS TODAY!

Not good enough for Jesus?

I am often woken up at night and pretty much feel not allowed to go back to sleep, hanging on the edge of drifting off, only to be jerked back awake again…”READ”….then I finally say okay and open my bible to somewhere. Usually it’s something to write about for someone who needs to see it.

This time a familiar scripture caught my eye…jumped out at me. This is often how God talks to me.  I think those out there who think they aren’t “worthy” to even talk to Jesus will be encouraged by this.

In the book of Luke chapter 5 verse 8. Peter, considered the top apostle by some, had just witnessed a miracle of provision by Jesus.

Go back a bit…..Jesus had asked to borrow his boat to speak to the crowd that had gathered on the shore. (This makes a nifty natural ampitheater by the way) When Jesus had finished teaching, he suggested that Peter go out into the lake (Sea of Galilee) to go fishing even though it was bright daytime….fish usually go deep then to stay cool. He objected at first but did as requested. So here comes a miracle. The net was so loaded down with fish that the net began to break and he had to call his friends to help out.

So that’s the backstory. Peter was well aware that Jesus was something different and very special.  His reaction on receiving this massive catch was really interesting. It wasn’t Awesome! Thanks!  It was “But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

Jesus response was more interesting to me. Luke 5 verse 10 he says, “…Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” (Simon was Peter’s name before Jesus gave him a new name) But Jesus wanted him anyway and had a stupendous plan for Peter.

The point being, Peter freaked out, because he was well aware of what his heart was really like. I think if we’re truthful, most of us know that none of us aren’t such great shakes.

Another example of a person that felt unworthy is from a story that Jesus himself told about a respected teacher versus a tax collector at the temple. There was a Pharisee (very admired Jewish scholar) who went to the temple to pray and quite boldly said to God thank you that I’m not like the lowlifes and that I do everything right.  He was justifying himself. Not impressive folks. I don’t know of many self righteous braggers who are well received by anyone, let alone God, who certainly knows us inside and out.

A tax collector, historically Jewish turncoats who had sold out to the occupying Romans and cashed in, a hated tax collector was at the temple and here is what Jesus said about him….in Luke Chapter 18 verse 13-14, But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

So what does this say? The ones who are feeling this way about themselves are the ones who are actually realizing how far they fall short of what they’re own hearts are saying they should be. Do you know that you are very close to God when you feel this way? You’ve actually opened a door by feeling such guilt.

In the Old testament, Psalm 51 verse 17 says this and it refers directly to this condition: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” That’s the good news!

And this is proven in Jesus response to Simon/Peter back in Luke Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.”

Jesus knew about Peter, he knows about the backstabbing tax collector, he knew about the Roman soldiers murdering him (the Son of God no less) who he forgave from the cross. Luke  chapter 23 verse 34 “Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” …

Now what could possibly be stopping you? Please don’t waste the moment and ask Jesus for His help.

Jesus is the way. He saved me, he cleaned me up, he changed me for the better, and I’m SO blessed!  I just want to reach out to you with an ear to ear grin on my face and say come on in!  The water’s so fine!

But I’ll let Jesus and his wonderful Holy Spirit do that.  So here you go!

If you would like to invite Jesus into your life, say these words out loud:

Dear Lord Jesus, I’m asking you into my heart and my life.  I know I am a sinner. I ask your forgiveness for every sin I’ve ever committed.  I believe you died on the cross for my sins, that you stood in my place and took all the punishment that was due to me when you were there. I believe that you rose from the dead and are alive. I thank you for forgiving me and cleansing me of sin with your blood. Thank you for making me right with our heavenly Father. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen and thank You!

 

No Place for Pride in the Kingdom

Hello again!

I was struck a little while ago by a minister who claimed he would be at the pearly gates saying “I told you so!!!” to those who would not inherit the kingdom. (ie: end up in hell) It wasn’t the first time I’d heard such a thought either.

I was appalled to say the least. and I believe Jesus himself would be pretty unhappy with such an attitude.

Let’s start with the first thing. NOBODY’S perfect. Not one human, not one. The only one who was, was Jesus.

Ask yourself, why did Jesus come in the flesh to save us? “Because God so LOVED the world.” according to John Chapter 3 verse 16. Also remember this in 2nd Peter chapter 3 verse 9: The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” And thank God for his patience! He’s giving us every chance in the book…um as it were.

It makes me want to cry when I hear people say such things. I think perhaps that sometimes when someone has become spiritually successful, it’s easy to begin to feel prideful. Healings, salvations, and increased ministries, finances, these are wonderful blessings, but remember, these are blessings from God, not by your own hand. If a leader is getting off track, I would kindly suggest it’s  time to review your motivations and perhaps get back to your roots. Why did you get into ministry? I’m hoping it’s because you’re unequivocally in love with God. I’m hoping it’s because it breaks your heart to see the untold thousands that will never know Christ or even outright reject him. That you became a minister because you love your fellow human and want the best for them, this is the heart of the Father.

Accepting the sacrifice Jesus made from the LOVE of God is the only reason that any of us will be in heaven. God expects us to feel the same way. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians says, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.” (Corinthians verse chapter 13 verse 1)

Here are some other verses about having a right heart towards others:

Ephesians 2:8-9

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Philippians 2:3

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

1 Corinthians 13:4

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant

Paul in fact boasted in one thing…..

Galatians 6:14

But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

I guess the message is to remember where you came from…the same messy pool as the rest of the human race.  So…ready to repent of that attitude? In First John chapter 1 verse 9 John writes “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Repent to God, ask Him to forgive you of your sins ask Jesus to wash you clean in His blood.

 

God’s “cruelty”

Yeppers….I once thought that God was frankly pretty mean. Considering the lacking baptist church I was brought up in, holier than thou preachers, and just plain incorrect and erroneous teaching, and knowing I’m not the only one, I came across an old testament story that inspired me to write again about this.  So I know someone out there needs to see it.

This is especially regarding the old testament. The history I came across was about a time when King David wanted to bring the Ark of The Covenant to Jerusalem.  Now if you don’t know, King David was very close to God. He was inspired to write a large chunk of the Psalms and was even prophetic about Jesus in some of them! God told the prophet when he anointed the young David to be king of Israel was that he was “a man after God’s own heart.” That’s found in 1 Samuel 13 verse 14 when Saul was dropped as King

^“14 But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee.”

So one would think based on this that King David’s in really good with God….well, yes and no. Let’s take a look at what happened during the transportation of the ark:

In 2 Samuel chapter 6 verse 6 through 8 says. “6When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen had stumbled. 7And the anger of the LORD burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down on the spot for his irreverence, and he died there beside the ark of God. 8Then David became angry because the LORD had burst forth against Uzzah; so he named that place Perez-uzzah, as it is called to this day.…

It seems to me that Uzzah cared! It seems he was doing what he could to protect it! Yes and yes.  He did what anyone who respects the ark, which held the Presence of God would do.

Here’s what really happened. Remember what Jesus said to Peter when he was heading for crucifixion! Check out this scripture in the new testament from Matthew 16 verse 22 and 23: “…22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. “Far be it from You, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to You!” 23But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

This means that while Peter was thinking what seemed obvious to everyday thinking (man’s thinking) it was not in keeping for what God had in mind. So keeping this instance in mind, what was happening with Uzzah?

In both these instances these people really believed they were doing their very best to do the right thing. Basically protecting who they love.

Okay, GOD IS HOLY.  He’s not like us…he’s almost nothing like us (except that we are created in His image). Because of this, we can’t handle being in His presence without going through a lot of steps of very specific instructions for OUR PROTECTION. He said this Himself in Exodus chapter 33 verses 20 through 22, when Moses asked to see God’s face….

²⁰ But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” ²¹ And the Lord said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. ²² So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by.

He wanted to be with Moses, but could only do so in a roundabout way. Though it may be difficult to accept, God is too perfect for us. It will kill us. There is one way to be close to God. In the old testament, only the the Levite priests were allowed to come near the ark and only after specific cleansing rituals and sacrifices had been performed. Even then, they had to carry it on poles.

In the new testament, Jesus willingly became the one-time sacrifice for all humanity to pave the way back to God. That is how we can pray directly to God and receive healing and answers to prayer.

Remember Peter in earlier in the article? He was actually trying to prevent the sacrifice of Jesus from happening and thereby preventing access to God for all humanity.  He was thinking as men think.

Don’t forget….in 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 9 Peter reminds us” The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

So God certainly didn’t want Uzzah to die. God wishes everyone of us to come to Him! God wants us with Him! But it has to be done, with respect and humility, in recognition of our impurity compared to His holiness.

We can approach Him now whenever we like through Jesus.

Make it official. This is what to do to declare Jesus as your savior and be saved. And speak with God and Know you are heard.

If you would like to invite Jesus into your life, say these words out loud:

Dear Lord Jesus, I’m asking you into my heart and my life.  I know I am a sinner. I ask your forgiveness for every sin I’ve ever committed.  I believe you died on the cross for my sins, that you stood in my place and took all the punishment that was due to me when you were there. I believe that you rose from the dead and are alive. I thank you for forgiving me and cleansing me of sin with your blood. Thank you for making me right with our heavenly Father. Please come and live within me and fill me with your Holy Spirit as You promised. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen!

May God richly bless you!

 

What’s the big deal about sin?

I wasn’t to sure how to start this one….the definitions of sin, which is pretty dry judgmental stuff, why we shouldn’t, the effects or why it matters. I guess it’s a pretty big subject…so big that God allowed His own son to die on the cross in our place (Jesus did this willingly by the way, fully knowing what He was doing) so that we could be restored to real connection with God who made us. That’s pretty big.

Allright, well, I guess I’ll just start talking about it and let Holy spirit take care of this.  I guess firstly, what’s so bad about it?

Sin has a spiritual effect in the unseen world.  It causes us to make us feel less and less worthy of God the worse it is… and even “smaller” sins will snowball into big guilt.  It creates a spiritual fence if you will, that keeps God out.  God is holy. He is pure perfect love.  If we even look at him , the bible says….um in a nutshell, we wouldn’t survive the trip.

We weren’t created originally to have any sin at all. How do I know that? Take a look at the Garden of Eden in the first book of the bible…that’s where the first sin took place and where we can see it’s immediate effects. There was a tree of the knowledge of good and evil….in a sinless state, there is NO EVIL AT ALL.  They had NO KNOWLEDGE of evil…pretty nice way to be. It was when Satan, in the form of a serpent (the snake by the way apparently had arms and legs, or maybe wings, was suddenly cursed to crawl on it’s belly for ever and pretty much everyone would hate it…talk about a comeuppance!) tempted Eve to EAT THE FRUIT of the the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  It’s important to note that when the bible refers to the fruit of an action….the fruits of your lips, of labor or whatever…it means the end result.  So Eve went for the end result of the knowledge of good and evil…and took a bite of it…internalizing it.  Then Adam did too.  I believe it was so overwhelming to them that suddenly their eyes were opened (they were not aware of evil before) and were so inundated with evil/sin that they bounced right out of their holy state of grace which was given to them by God.  What happened next?

They lost their covering of grace and saw they were naked. Some experts believe the original pair were clothed in light (http://www.jtsa.edu/the-garments-of-adam-and-eve) or another form of it, glory. The Glory of God is often seen as a cloud of light. So God, in effect, made the very first sacrifice when he clothed them with animal skins when they were no longer able to stay in the garden. An animal had to die to make that happen. Keep it in mind for a moment.

Here are three passages from the scriptures that spell out the consequence of sin.

Psalm 66 verse 18: If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear;…in other words, if I keep focusing intently on what sins I’d prefer to be up to, God can not hear me.

Isaiah Chapter 59 verse 2 the great prophet says that God says “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.” This suggests an actual barrier between a person who is not right before God.

in Jeremiah Chapter 14 verse 10 this prophet says, “Thus says the LORD to this people, “Even so they have loved to wander; they have not kept their feet in check Therefore the LORD does not accept them; now He will remember their iniquity and call their sins to account.””  Fair warning.

There are more passages from where I got these: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Unanswered-Prayer.

Conversely, Proverbs chapter 15 verse 29 says, “The LORD is far from the wicked, But He hears the prayer of the righteous.” and Psalm 34 verse 15 also says “The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous And His ears are open to their cry.”

James, the brother of Jesus also says in James chapter 5 verse 16 says, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

Okay so what’s the point here? And as I said, I’m letting the Holy Spirit guide me, as there are so many things to be said about sin.  I must admit, rarely do I stay so on target when writing, so I know for sure the Holy Spirit, who is the essence of God Himself, is working here. The point is that God LOVES you. I’m saying it again…God LOVES you.  One more time…God LOVES you. Wow, doesn’t that feel good to hear? And he wants close relationship with YOU. Yes, YOU! This is what He wants YOU to know.

So if we’ve been sinning, and we can’t get anywhere near Him, what’s the remedy?  God went way out of His way on this one. He allowed Jesus to be born and show us what God is really like. And then, allowed this perfect, holy man, the Son of God, without any sin to die in our place to “cover us” with His own blood. Remember the covering that Adam and Eve received?  Well this is the sacrifice that can cover the whole world if we let Him.

Here’s the scripture to back it up.  Ephesians 2:13 says, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” So the blood of Jesus brings us NEAR to God.  And then in the book of John chapter 1 verse 7really sums it up: “but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

So how does one get hold of this? Say out loud….it’s important to say this out loud….if for some reason you’re physically unable to speak then write it down and hold it up to God to see. Dear Lord Jesus, I’m asking you into my heart and my life.  I know I am a sinner. I ask your forgiveness for every sin I’ve ever committed.  I believe you died on the cross for my sins, that you stood in my place and took all the punishment that was due to me when you were there. I believe that you rose from the dead and are alive. I thank you for forgiving me and cleansing me of sin with your blood. Thank you for making me right with our heavenly Father. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen!

Now you’re on your way!  Get ready to draw near to God like we read earlier! Read the bible…online is okay if you don’t own one.  Start with the new testament! That’s the part that tells all about Jesus and His followers and the people who were close to Him. If you have some trouble understanding, then ask God to help you understand….He’s so good.

 

God Bless You! Catherine