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THE LOVE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD

This time I want to point out to you how wonderful God’s Love and Righteousness are!

God’s Word, the Bible, has many verses referring to God’s love. Below are only five of them, but I think you’ll get the picture.

1 John 4:8 – “Whoever does not love, does not know God, because God is love.”

Jude 1:21 – “Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.”

Jonah 2:8 – “Those who cling to worthless idols, turn away from God’s love for them.”

Psalm 136:26 – “Give thanks to the God of Heaven. His love endures forever.”

Romans 8:38-39 – “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels or demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

God can’t help but love us, not because we deserve His love, but because His very nature IS love! God is love! What a loving and mighty God we serve.

The reason God the Father sent His Son, Jesus, to earth to die on the cross and then rise again, was because of His great love for mankind. He wanted us to spend all of Eternity with Him and that is not possible to do without being righteous (perfect) in God’s sight through the forgiveness of our sins through Jesus paying for our sin penalties for us. In order for our penalties to be paid, the person paying for them had to be Perfect. A sinner could not have paid for them because their sins also needed to be paid for. Only a Perfect Person could provide the sacrificial payment for our sins on that cross. That leads me into God’s Righteousness.

God the Father, God the Son, Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit are completely Righteous. They are the One True God (in 3 Persons). God has never sinned. Sinning is the one and only thing God can’t do and will never do. Below are five verses about God’s Righteousness.

Psalm 71:19 – “Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens, You, who have done great things. Who is like You, God?”

Philippians 3:8c-9 – “…That I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the (keeping of the) law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the Righteousness that comes from God on the basis of FAITH.”

Isaiah 5:16 – “But the Lord of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows Himself Holy in Righteousness.”

Matthew 6:31-33 – “So do not worry saying, ‘What shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear? ³² For the pagans run after all these things and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Psalm 111:3 – “Full of splendor and majesty is His work, and His Righteousness endures forever.”

Ephesians 4:23-24 – “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true Righteousness and Holiness.”

God is a Perfect God. He cannot be anything else. He is perfectly Loving and perfectly Righteous. – Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God, Almighty!!! – who WAS in the past, who IS in the present and who WILL BE in the future! He has ALWAYS EXISTED AND WILL NEVER NOT EXIST and has always and will be Perfect! And we think we’re more impressive and important than Him? Hmmm…I think not!

We’re His created beings. He sent a part of Himself (His Son, Jesus) to earth to become our sins’ penalty payment by shedding His blood and dying on the cross and then rising again to conquer death and provide us with Eternal Life in Heaven with Him. What a Perfect Gift to us, IF, we humble ourselves and confess our sins to Him and then repent of those sins (change our minds about those sins and stop doing them) and then put our trust by FAITH in what He did on the cross for us. What Mercy and Grace God desires to give us! I’m so glad I’ve made that decision for myself. How about you? Have you made this decision, yet? If not, why not?

If you want more information about this, please leave a comment with your name and email below. I would be happy to help you!

Sharon

WHO MAKES YOUR PRESENT AND FUTURE DECISIONS FOR YOU?

Who makes the decisions about your life? Do you, or do you ask God what His Will is for you?

Such as:

— Your daily schedule including activities you desire

— Your living location, present or future

— The friends you choose

The Book of James, chapter 4, verses 13-17 in the New Testament, talks about this. It says:

“13Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. 17If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”

Are the decisions that you make for your own benefit and pleasure?

James is not saying we shouldn’t be good planners. He’s saying we should not plan without asking God what His Will is for our lives. If you are a believer in Jesus, you can ask Him and He will affirm or deny what His Will is for you. You must be reading God’s Word and be active in prayer to hear His desire for you. God is sovereign over us and our lives. Many times, we act as though God doesn’t exist.

We don’t know what our future holds for us. Such as:

— When we are going to die, even though we can’t imagine that ever happening to us

— If, and when, we will get sick

— If our job is stable or not

— What will happen in our loved ones’ lives and how that will affect our own lives

We can’t act like we are our own God. That is so arrogant. That is a sin of commission.

If we don’t ask God what His plan is for our present and future and go and do whatever we want, or if we do ask Him and He tells us, but we ignore what He says because we like our plans better, it is SIN!

Knowing what is right to do but not doing it is a sin of omission. How many of us are guilty of doing that? A few examples of sins of omission are:

— If you’ve wronged someone but refuse to apologize to them

— If you know something that would help a person, but say nothing

— If you refuse to forgive someone who has wronged you

What other things do you do, or not do, that indicate that you think you are the god of your life?

I think we all need to assess how we are living our lives – for ourselves or for God. God’s way is always the right way!

Sharon

WHAT DO WORKS HAVE TO DO WITH IT? WITH WHAT YOU ASK?

In the Book of James in the New Testament of the Bible, James clears things up as to what is required for salvation from a person’s sins. There are a few different views from the religious community on this topic, but only one Truth. Is salvation by:

1. Faith alone?

2. Works alone?

3. Faith plus works?

In Ephesians 2:8-10, it is pretty clear what is required. The Apostle Paul says in Romans 3:28:

“For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” James says in James 2:24: “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.”

Now, is James contradicting Paul? NO, he’s not. Paul is emphasizing the root of salvation and James is emphasizing the fruit of salvation, which is good works. What Paul means by justified is what God does at salvation when He confirms the believing sinner to be righteous through faith in Jesus, even though, the new believer is still a sinner in this life.

What James means by justified is that our faith is proven by our works. He’s saying that true faith that causes salvation, will always produce good works (spiritual fruit) in your life. If your faith does not cause your life to change, there is no evidence that you are saved from your sins and you are still headed for hell when you die. You have a dead faith! James is warning us that faith without works is dead!

James 2:18-19 says that Satan and his demons have faith in God’s existence. They also believe that Jesus is God and believe in a hell which means eternal punishment and they shudder. They have a true knowledge of God. However, they are still demons!

Humans can have an impressive knowledge of God’s Word, the Bible, but are no better than the demons. Knowledge of the Bible does not save you.

James asks us – If we are truly saved from our sins, then why doesn’t our life show it? Is your faith from the heart of you or only something in your mind? If it is from the heart, you will have a desire to serve God with your life. If it’s not from your heart, you won’t have that desire and will live your life for yourself. You may even go to church every week because that’s what you are supposed to do. If your faith is from the heart, go to prayer and ask God how He wants you to serve Him. The Bible does give examples of how to serve and please Him. Such as:

— obedience to God’s Word. Read God’s Word to discover God’s ways.

— take action to help people who need help. James 2:14-18 says: 14What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

18But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.”

Our true salvation-faith does not include works. Works are a result of true, alive faith.

Is there evidence of your faith being alive? Your life should SHOW that it is, from the heart of you.

Sharon

HOW DOES GOD DESCRIBE HELL IN THE BIBLE?

This blog post is not a continual encouragement like my last one about Heaven. This one, I hope, will make sense to you as to why you need Jesus to be the Savior of your sins and their penalties and the Lord of your life here on earth.

First, of all, Hell is the exact opposite of Heaven. It is:

— A place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 25:30) In Jesus’ parable, Jesus is saying that the unfaithful will be thrown out into the darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (as in Hell).

— A place of outer darkness. (Matthew 22:13) Again, in another parable of Jesus, those who are not prepared / dressed for the wedding feast will not be allowed to enter and will be sent to a place of outer darkness where there is again weeping and gnashing of teeth (as in Hell).

— A place of torments. (Luke 16:23) The rich man was sent to Hades where he was in agony.

— A place of sorrows. (2 Samuel 22:5-7) David discovered that living without God is like death and destruction and like snares of death like Hell will be.

–A place of everlasting destruction. (2 Thessalonians 1:9) Those who reject Jesus will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from God’s presence and glory, into Hell.

— A place of where people are tormented with fire and brimstone. (Revelation 21:8) This is for the unbelievers in Jesus.

— A place of worms that don’t die. (Mark 9:48)

— A place where fire is not quenched. (Mark 9:43, 48)

— A place where there is no rest (Revelation 14:11) No rest day or night for those who worshipped the Beast (during the Tribulation period) and its image or who received the Mark of the Beast. They will be forever in Hell.

— A place that will ultimately be a lake of fire. (Revelation 20:14) Those whose name is not written in the Book of Like will be thrown in the lake of fire.

— A place of hopelessness and unsatisfied desires. (Luke 16:24) As the rich man was sent into Hades (the lake of fire) and was in agony.

— A furnace of fire (Matthew 13:40-42, 50)

— A place of separation (Matthew 13:49) The wicked will be separated from the righteous.

— A place filled with the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolators and all liars. (Revelation 21:8) They will be sent to the fiery lake of burning sulfur, the second death, unless they repent and believe in Jesus by faith before Jesus returns to earth at the end of the seven years of Great Tribulation.

— A place shut out from the presence of the Lord and the majesty of His power. (2 Thessalonians 1:9) It is a place without God!

— A place where the fallen angels that followed Lucifer (eventually called Satan) out of Heaven at Lucifer’s great rebellion against God because he wanted to be God, will eventually dwell. (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:16)

— A place where Satan (who is the devil and great deceiver) will be thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the Beast and False Prophet will be thrown. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever. (Revelation 20:10)

— A place where death and Hades will be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20: 14) The lake of fire is the second death and it is an eternal death.

— How can anything be more opposite from Heaven! It is the place of a human person whose name was NOT written in the Book of Life and will be thrown in the lake of fire. They will be judged according to what they had done on earth which are recorded in other books—anything good or bad—that will never save them from Hell. (Revelation 20:12) Doing good deeds do not save a person. Good deeds only count if they are done after a person believes in Jesus by faith and are done in service to God.

The only thing that could have saved them was confessing and repenting of their sins and putting their faith in what Jesus did on the cross by shedding His blood and dying on the cross to pay for their sins and their sins’ penalties and believing in Jesus’ resurrection that conquered death to give them eternal life.

If you think you can avoid Hell without doing that—truly putting your faith in Jesus—which will also change your life here on earth by causing you to want to serve God and follow His will for your life, you will NEVER experience Heaven for all of eternity. God the Father, sent Jesus, His Son to earth to die for you so you don’t have to experience the second death in Hell.

What are you waiting for??? Are you that full of yourself and deceived by Satan? Really? WOW! THEN, YOU ARE YOUR OWN GOD!!! Good luck with that!!!!!!! However, there is no luck involved!

If you’re wondering how a God of Love could create such a place like Hell to punish people, you’re forgetting that God is giving you a choice! Choose sincere humility before God, confess and repent of your sins and put your faith in His Son, Jesus, and His shed blood and death on the cross and His resurrection, to save you from your sins so you can go to Heaven for all of eternity. Or…well you just read about your other choice…reject Jesus and end up in Hell. It seems to me the best choice is obvious! Do YOU think so?

Do you know that if Jesus had not risen from the dead, His death on the cross would not and could not save you from your sins or provide eternal life in Heaven? It would not be possible. Jesus had to conquer death in order for Him to offer us eternal life and save us from Hell, which is the second death. There is no way out of Hell. It really is forever, just like Heaven, a total paradise, is forever.

I’ve chosen Jesus and His gift of salvation and now all my sins, past, present and future, are forever forgiven and I have the promise of going to Heaven forever when I die.

“Thank you so much Heavenly Father for sending Your Son, Jesus, to earth to die for my sins and their penalties and then to rise again so I can spend all of eternity in Heaven with You. You are both a God of Love and a Just God. Because You are a Just God, You had to send Jesus to earth to die and rise again to provide righteousness for me so I can live in a perfect Heaven forever. Thank You also for Your Holy Spirit to live inside of me to help me to grow in my faith and to worship and serve You. Thank You SO MUCH!!!”

I pray that you, too, will chose God’s plan of salvation for your life and, also, choose to live God’s plan for your life here on earth. He’ll lead you to find whatever He has for you to do for Him.

Sharon

HOW DOES GOD DESCRIBE HEAVEN IN THE BIBLE?

If you read my last blog post, you really need to know what Heaven is like. . .how God, Himself, describes it. God wants us to know! We’ll learn some things that exist there.

— A throne of God. (Psalm 11:4; Isaiah 66:1)

— A place where God will reward His people. (Matthew 5:12)

— There is safety from theft and destruction. (Matthew 6:20)

— It is a place of rejoicing. (Luke 15:7) This is the story of the lost sheep. The shepherd was herding 100 sheep. He noticed that one of his sheep had wandered off and was lost. The shepherd found the lost sheep and was rejoicing and asked his friends and neighbors to rejoice with him. This is an illustration of how God reacts when one lost sinner comes to Him and repents and puts their faith in His Son, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross by dying for mankind’s sins and their sins’ penalties. He rejoices and invites all of Heaven to rejoice with Him.

— It is a place where there will be no marriage. (Matthew 22:29-30) We will have a different life in Heaven from that on earth. We will be more like the angels. Marriage will be obsolete.

— It is a house with many rooms. (John 14:2) Jesus says that He is preparing a place for each of His true believing children. True believers are considered children of God or children of the King.

— It is a house of righteousness. (2 Peter 3:13) After God destroys the current Heaven and Earth, He will make a new Heaven and Earth where righteousness lives.

— It is a garden paradise. (Revelation 2:7) In the Garden of Eden there was a tree with fruit from which Adam and Eve were not allowed. In the new Heaven, the tree of life will be available to all believers.

— It is a place where there is no hunger, thirst, tears, hot sun or scorching heat. (Revelation 7:16-17) Even though, here, John is referring to people who come to Christ during the Great Tribulation and are given white robes to wear because of the blood of the Lamb (Jesus), God stresses here how the people will no longer experience these things in Heaven that they so often experienced on Earth in the last days. All true believers will no longer experience these difficult things, as well.

— It is a place of victory and playing harps (Revelation 15:2) Again, this is about those who had rejected the beast and its image in the last days. God gives them harps to play and they also will sing the song of Moses and of Jesus, the Lamb of God. Personally, I am hoping there are also pianos in Heaven and God will enable me to play perfectly for Him!

— It is a city where God dwells with us (Revelation 21:2-3) This is the New Jerusalem that God places on the New Earth that He creates and then dwells in. God puts Heaven on earth so He can dwell with us–His new perfect children. He will be our God!

— It is a place with no sadness, tears, death, mourning or pain, (Revelation 21:4). All of those things will have passed away.

— It is a place that is brilliant with precious jewels, stones, pure gold and pearls (Revelation 21:11 and 18-21). It has 12 foundations–each is a precious stone. The street is pure gold and each of the 12 gates is a single pearl.

— Its light is the Glory of God. (Revelation 21:23)

— There is no night. (Revelation 21:25)

— It is a place where no impurity exists. (No sin!) (Revelation 21:27) Only those whose name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will live there. There will be nothing shameful or deceitful there.

— It is a place of life and healing (Revelation 22:1-3) There will never be death or sickness again. It will be totally opposite from when we were on this earth. We will not only be healed physically, but also spiritually. There will never be sin in Heaven. We will be eternally healed from that. The Tree of Life will be there and will not only have fruit, but also leaves that nourish us. It will be a restoration of Eden!

— It is a place where God reigns forever (Revelation 22:5) And it says we will reign with Him!

— If you’re thinking that Heaven isn’t going to be any fun for you because you enjoy things on this earth and want them to continue, remember that your sinful soul will now be sinless, and you will long to worship and serve God. God will have designated things He’s chosen for each of us to do. We will worship Him by singing and by our service to Him.

I know this is not a complete list of things that we will see and experience, but it’s a good start.

— Two more things I want to mention and I think they are very important to each true child of God.

1. Every person that you knew on earth that is also a child of God, will be there for you to fellowship with and enjoy. We will recognize each other even though we will all have new, sinless bodies. Also, those that you witnessed to on the former earth that put their faith in Jesus, will be there and most likely thank you for telling them about Jesus and salvation. We will also see family members and friends again, who are true children, who had gone to Heaven before us. Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing my mom, dad, brother, aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents, great grandparents, and some I never met on earth, etc.

2. Now, this, I believe, is the MOST important fact about Heaven! This is what I’m most excited about!!! We will see Jesus!!!!!!! To look at Jesus face to face and see the nail scars in His hands and feet as part of what He endured for us to pay for our sins and their penalties, so we don’t have to pay for our own sins in eternal Hell. Jesus also endured terrible beatings and shed his blood and died on the cross for us and then rose again. I don’t know about you, but when I see Jesus, I’m going to bow on my knees (that will be by then, healed) or maybe even lie prostrate at His feet and worship Him. I also want to give Him the biggest HUG possible. What an unbelievable experience that will be. Even though there won’t be tears in Heaven, I’m hoping God will allow tears of Joy! Seeing Jesus, to me, will bring overwhelming praise to my lips. HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is the Lord God Almighty! Hallelujah to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and so much more!!!

The next blog post will be totally opposite from this one. It is going to be about Hell. That is where those who rejected Jesus will go for all of eternity because their sins were never forgiven by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. What an eternal loss!

Sharon

THE FUTURE JUDGMENTS OF MANKIND AND THE FUTURE OF THIS WORLD

The Bible does not give any prophetic events that must happen before true believers in Jesus will be taken up to meet Jesus in the clouds (called the Rapture) and then taken to the current Heaven. Then, at that time, God will judge the works of true Christians that they had done after they had put their faith in Jesus and reward them. This is a good judgment.

On the earth below, 7 years of Tribulation will begin. It will begin when a man that people become very impressed with, whom the Bible calls the Antichrist, who is indwelt by Satan, signs a 7-year treaty with Israel. Yes, that will happen! He will become a one-world ruler. The first 3 ½ years he will be a peacemaker, but then, the Antichrist will eventually show himself to be evil. He will expect people to have the Mark of the Beast put on their hand or forehead. If they don’t have that they will not be able to buy or sell anything, including food. At the beginning of the second 3 ½ years, the Antichrist will have a huge statue of himself made and put in the new Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and demand that people worship him by worshipping that statue. If they don’t, they will be killed, even beheaded. So many even more horrible things (none like this world has ever experienced before…earthquakes, pestilences, wars, etc.) will happen during that time because God is tired of the sin in this world. They will be horrible. It will all culminate with the war at Armageddon. The Antichrist will be leading it. It is a war of the armies of the world, Satan, and God. God ultimately wins because Christ will return to earth with His Heavenly armies. He will defeat evil. Christ will then reign a thousand years on earth.

He will bind Satan in chains and throw him into the Abyss and lock and seal it for the thousand years, called the Millennium. Revelation 20:7-10, says:

“When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. 9They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Just so you know, the beast and the false prophet are the Antichrist’s helpers.

Those who have rejected Jesus and His salvation will be judged at the Great White Throne judgment. God will open the Book of Life and when God does not find their name listed, they will be sentenced to eternal hell. No one in this judgment will escape hell because they rejected Jesus. They will be judged according to what they had done on earth and different grades of punishments will be given, but they will still be forever and ever very hot in hell. This is called the second death.

God will create a new Heaven and a new Earth because the first Heaven and earth had passed away. Then God will send down to the new Earth, a New Jerusalem where God will dwell among His true believers. This will be the new Heaven that will be now on the new Earth. There will no longer be any sin or death, or tears, or pain or mourning. God will make all things new!

So, are you thinking that this sounds very far-fetched? Well, the Bible says it is true and it has come from God, Himself. If I were you, I would take Jesus Christ’s offer of salvation through faith in what He did on the cross by shedding His blood and dying for your sins, very seriously, and in humility, confess your sins to Jesus and repent of them (stop doing them) and put your faith in Jesus Christ.

We don’t know when the Rapture of the true Christians (the Church, as God calls them) will happen and if it happens soon, you might be left behind and have to experience the Tribulation. Now, you will have an opportunity to put your faith in Jesus during that time, but that time will be a very difficult time and since all the true Christians will be up in Heaven that means the Holy Spirit will not be on earth, either, as He indwelt the true Christians. He also worked as somewhat of a restrainer of evil. Now evil will be on the rampage. Don’t wait. Make your decision to follow Jesus today.

Please make a comment to me if you want more information about true salvation. Click on the word comment that is at the top on the left. Thank you.

Sharon

WHY DO PEOPLE REJECT JESUS CHRIST’S SALVATION and DO YOU BELIEVE IN GOD AT ALL?

When you put your faith in what Jesus did for you on the cross by shedding His blood and dying on the cross for your sins and their penalties and in His resurrection to conquer death so He can give you eternal life, you must also confess your sins to God in humility and repent of them. Jesus said that without repentance, there is no salvation. Doing these things gives you forgiveness of past, present and future sins in your life and an eternity in Heaven with Jesus/God. It also gives you a better life here on earth. God has a wonderful plan for your life.

Does that intimidate you? Does the humility part and repentance scare you? Do you not want to live out God’s plan for your life? Do you have your own plan for your life that you look forward to living out?

Let me ask you this question. Do you struggle with praising God because you, yourself, want to be praised verbally and by applause and you only want to focus on you? Do you want to be your own god?

There’s a beautiful song called “I’d Rather Have Jesus.” Read the words below.

I’D RATHER HAVE JESUS

I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold
I’d rather be His than have riches untold
I’d rather have Jesus than houses or land
I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand

(Chorus)

Than to be the king of a vast domain
And be held in sin’s dread sway
I’d rather have Jesus than anything
This world affords today

I’d rather have Jesus than worldly applause
I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause
I’d rather have Jesus than worldwide fame
Yes, I’d rather be true to His holy name

(Repeat Chorus)

Songwriters: Rhea Miller / George Beverly Shea

Mankind has a problem with wanting their own way and all the world’s riches and other men’s applause. They want to be god in their own lives. No one is going to tell them what to do. But without Jesus, they have NO way of getting to Heaven, but instead will go straight to hell when they die a physical death. Their decision to reject Jesus is foolishness and eternal.

The Bible says that the only sin that cannot be forgiven by Jesus’ salvation is the rejection of His salvation. That’s a pretty serious sin, as well as, foolish!

DO YOU BELIEVE IN GOD AT ALL?

There’s one other thing that people have trouble with – believing in God at all.

God holds everyone accountable for His existence according to Romans 1:18-21, 25. See below.

“18 The wrath of God is being revealed from Heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,

19 since what may be known about God is plain to them because God has made it plain to them.

20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—Who is forever praised. Amen.”

I encourage you to follow Jesus’ way of Salvation because it is the ONLY way. One other thing — Good works do NOT help you get saved. Good works do not count for anything in God’s eyes unless you put your faith in Jesus first. God will then be pleased with your good works.

Like I said before, Jesus will also have a plan for your life. He wants you to serve Him with your life. He will make it known to you how. Not everyone serves God the same way, but we are all supposed to tell others about Jesus and salvation. Every true Christian is supposed to do that!

I hope and pray you will take some time to think about all of this and make the right decision for Jesus versus the foolish decision.

If you would like to send me a message/comment, you can do that on my blog. It’s all private. Click on “comment” in the upper right corner and leave me your thoughts. If you have questions about salvation or about anything related to this devotional message, please leave me your questions. I will get back to you. Thank you.

Sharon

WHERE DO YOU STAND WITH JESUS? TIME IS GETTING SHORT!

The Bible says that as we approach and during the End Times, people will lose interest in Jesus. We are at the edge of the beginning of the End Times. Bible prophecies have been and are being fulfilled. 2 Corinthians 6:2 says, “… behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Time is getting short!

If you believe you have put your faith in what Jesus did for you on the cross and His resurrection, have confessed and repented of your sins, with true humility, and have made Jesus Lord of your life, you have salvation.

Now, there’s still a possibility that today, you have fallen away from your faith. Do you have a love and hunger for the Word of God? Do you have a desire to serve God? If your answer is NO, then you have fallen away because you are not allowing God to be God in your life. You are not growing in your faith. You are back to running your own life. I pray you will confess and repent of this sin and recommit your life to Jesus and begin growing in your faith. By the way, you’ve never lost your salvation because of this sin, but your relationship with God has become distant. It needs to be restored.

If you’ve never confessed and repented of your sins (Jesus said, “… I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Luke 13:5) and if you’ve never put your faith in what Jesus did for you on the cross and resurrection to receive eternal life, you don’t know Jesus! You don’t have salvation! You are in big trouble because if you don’t come to Jesus in belief/faith in what He did for you, you will go directly to Hell when you die. Is that what you want? Believing in Jesus is your only opportunity to avoid Hell and experience a life of paradise in Heaven with Jesus/God. It’s the only opportunity to be forgiven and free from sin and its penalties.

When a person gets to Heaven, there will be no possibility of sinning because God is a perfect God and there will be no sin in His Heaven. That’s why God sent Jesus to earth—to give mankind the opportunity to be forgiven of their sins and made right with God forever. You will be given a new, indestructible body and have NO ability to sin in Heaven. What an incredible relief!

If you’ve never paid any attention to Jesus, I suggest you start doing so NOW!!! Jesus said in John 14:6 in the Bible, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” God the Father is in Heaven.

Where do you stand with Jesus? In any of these situations, make the right decision! Put your faith in Jesus or recommit your life to Jesus. You’ll be so glad you did!

*If anyone has questions about this information, please leave a comment on this blog, below. Thank you. I am praying for you!

Sharon

RETIREMENT

As a follow-up to my former blog, let’s talk about retirement. Many people who retire, believe their lives are over. They have put so much of themselves into their jobs that when those jobs come to an end, they don’t know who they are anymore.

As a believer in Jesus, you need to retire TO something instead of FROM something. What was your job? Maybe you could volunteer at your church to help in that same capacity. If you want to stay as far away from doing something similar to your job or if your job was not anything that could be helpful at your church, God still has a plan for the rest of your life. Ask God, through prayer, and tell Him you are willing to do whatever He wants you to do until the day you die. He revealed mine to me through a Christian magazine ad. I’ve been doing it ever since.

Please ask God now what you can do for Him. Do make sure that what you choose is for God and not just for you!

Sharon

IF YOU’RE NOT DEAD YOU’RE NOT DONE

The title is a quote from Pastor David Groves in Wisconsin. When he retired from being the Chief of Police in a town in Wisconsin, as a believer in Jesus, he knew God must have something else for him to do.

David and his wife prayed and thought seriously about Proverbs 16:9, “The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” He wondered if all the skills he had learned as he administered the police department such as good management, strategic planning, leadership and managing a budget, among other things, might be helpful to him on a church staff. He kept praying about and pursuing God’s plan for him. The more he did, the more opportunities became apparent.

Today he is an Executive Pastor of a church in Wisconsin. Just because he retired from a police department, didn’t mean his life was over. Police usually retire younger than others, which he did.

The reason I’m telling you about David Groves is because if you’re a believer, by FAITH, in Jesus as your Lord and Savior of your sins and their penalties, God has a plan and purpose for your life, no matter what your age.

God gave me experiences, as He has you, to help mature me as a person and in my faith. Some have been difficult experiences.

I would never have guessed that God would have me writing a devotional blog or being an online missionary. I enjoy both of them. I say this only to let you know that God does have a purpose for you, too.

If you truly know Jesus by FAITH as your Savior and Lord, are you serving Him, no matter what age you are? Jesus said that His children are to spread His good news of salvation to others. That is his MAIN purpose for you! Unfortunately, we get caught up in other less important things that distract us, mostly worldly things.

Have you asked God what He wants you to do for Him? If not, why not? What are you afraid of? He loves you!!! He created you a certain way to serve Him a certain way. That’s a good thing. That’s an amazing thing!

Ask Jesus, through prayer, how you can serve Him.

Sharon