Eternal Life or Wrath of God…it's our choice!

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. John 3:36 

Faith in Christ yields eternal life. However, faith without works is dead. We cannot have true faith if we do also OBEY His Word. The wrath of God is not something we should want anyone to ever face. God's wrath is holy and necessary to show how Awesome He is. Everyone who rejects Him, His Love, His salvation and chooses to continually/willfully sin will receive the wrath of God instead of eternal life.

The truth of eternal life and the truth of the wrath of God are things we must be open to teach and share. We should not do this in order to "scare" people out of hell and into heaven, but because we serve a perfect, holy and just God who cannot look upon sin. We need to teach of putting off of the old self and its sinful desires. None of us should desire to continue to willfully live in sin or abide in separation from God when we can abide in Him and His love.

Father God, let us boldly proclaim Your Word to all of the Nations. Let us preach and teach the message of salvation to all who will listen. Help us share Your Love Story of everlasting life and joy with everyone you put in our path. Help us also boldly proclaim your message for all those who choose not to believe with compassion and mercy, so that we may persuade them to follow You. Help is teach of your love and mercy and judgement. Help us teach of the effects of sin in this life and the life to come. In your Name I ask these things, always.

Jesus Knows Us

"But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man."  John 2:24-25 ESV

God truly knows all men. Since Jesus is fully man and fully God, He knew the true inward thoughts of the people. He knew His true followers and their true character. He knows who is truly His, the upright, the weak, the meek, the lowly; and He also knows the wayward, the self-righteous, those easily led astray. He knew the "inconstancy" and "fickleness" of the multitude surrounding him. He knew how easily they might be turned against Him by the Jewish leaders, and how His ministry could be cut short too soon. Even though the crowd acted as though they wanted to believe and follow Him, He did not/could not "entrust" or take these people totally under His wings as true believers and commune with them because He "KNEW" them and the true state of their hearts - how sad.

We look at the outward appearance of man to make decisions. Sometimes we can look at the fruit others bear to make character judgements. Christ truly knows all of us. He looks at the inward parts; at the true intentions of the heart. We need to be cautious of being like the Pharisees or others with dead faith. We need to make sure we are aligned with Christ; that our true intentions are Christ-like. We need to bear good fruit. When Christ examines us, as He "knows what is in man" what does He see?

Lord, please help me examine and test my ways as Lamentations tells us to do, and if any are out of alignment, help me to return to You. Convict me of any errors or sins in my life so that when you see me, you will want to call me your own and draw me into your inner circle. Thank You for walking the path you chose so freely during Holy Week for all sinners everywhere. Thank You for your Triumphal Entry, as you looked over that Holy City that would reject You, as we still do today, I can't imagine the heartache, as you knew the hearts of man, but I am eternally grateful that you chose to do so. Thank you for your willing sacrifice as Your Holy and Perfect Father turned His back on You for ME! I love You, Jesus. I plead the blood!

God’s children have been tested and fought on every side

But there is one sure weapon when we face the enemy

It’s still the blood of Jesus that brings our victory

I plead the blood, I plead the blood

That was shed on Calvary, bringing hope for you and me

I plead the blood, I plead the blood

Over all the power of hell, Satan you cannot prevail

I plead the blood

For our lost and dying loved ones, the blood still saves today

And when we cry for healing, the blood is ours to claim

The blood is still the answer for every battle of the mind

There is no greater power, demons tremble when we cry.

I plead the blood

Let Your Light Shine

 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  John 1:5

The theme of John’s Gospel is that Jesus is the long-awaited, promised Messiah and the Only Son of God, who gives eternal life to all who choose to believe. As for the verse I chose to write about today, the LIGHT, the TRUE LIGHT, shines and the darkness has not overcome it. The darkness does not comprehend it. Darkness, in the Bible, commonly denotes ignorance, guilt, or misery. When it is said that "the light shines in darkness," it means that the Lord Jesus came to teach an ignorant, wicked, sinful world. This has always been the case. It was so when He sent His prophets; it was so during the time of the Judges, during His own ministry, and in every age since. His efforts to enlighten and save men He has been like light struggling to penetrate a thick, dense, dark rain cloud; and though a few rays may pierce the gloom, the great mass is still impenetrable. 

I really like to watch the sky after a storm when the clouds are dark and the sun is trying to pierce through...I can never get a good photo of the beauty to do it justice, but this is what I envision when I read this part of scripture. Perhaps we have been given over to our reprobate minds. Darkness, sin, cannot comprehended the LIGHT until the Holy Spirt softens the density of the darkness. The darkness did not "receive" or "admit" the rays of light; the shades were so thick that the light could not penetrate them; men were so ignorant, so guilty, so debased, that they did not appreciate the value of His LIGHT, His instructions, His salvation; they despised and rejected Him. And so, it is still. Humanity, sick in sin, to this day, will not receive His teachings, and be enlightened, saved by Him. Sin always blinds the mind to the beauty and warmth of the LIGHT of the Lord Jesus.

We need to realize our LIGHT needs to always shine into the darkness around us. However, we need to be realistic and understand, that just as in the days of old, we may only have "rays of light" that penetrate due to the dense darkness of the world of sin around us. Do not let this discourage us as we let our LIGHT shine. John 16:33 tells us: 

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

LIGHT always outshines darkness! It is so much easier to walk toward light, even if it is a small glimmer or flickering, than to walk toward darkness! Shine on, my friends, shine on! 

Let us pray without ceasing, that our eyes may be opened to behold The TRUE LIGHT, that we may walk in it; and be made more wise in His Word. That through faith in Jesus Christ we may press on toward the mark, letting our LIGHT shine into darkness always, without regret!