Bible Prophecy and Inspiration

As believers we look forward to an eternity with our loving Lord.  How did we learn of such things?

We learned of them because of others obedience to the commission that Christ gave to the church, which is to go out and spread the Good News.

Mark 16:15-16 –¹⁵ He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

What happens when someone dies without forgiveness in their sins?

They are separated from our Lord and go to hell for eternity.  Now if someone hears the message that you have been trying to share, then you have done your best.  If you believe faith is a personal thing just for oneself, then the commission of going out and sharing the Good News is not being fulfilled.

Matthew 5:13-16 –  ¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.  ¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

We are to exalt the King.  Shout it from the mountain tops.  Jesus Christ is Lord and He died for us so that we do not have to pay the penalty of an eternal destiny in a place for those who have rejected the free gift of grace.

If you had friends in a burning building, would you try to warn them to get out? 

You see it’s not just that Heaven is a place for those who love God and made Him Lord, but Hell is exactly that, hell.  It’s not a lonely bar.  It’s not a place where you get your feelings hurt.  It’s a place of torment that was created by God for Satan and those who have rebelled against Him.

What are people guilty of that will have them end up in Hell?  Buying what the devil was selling.  You can eat of that tree and you will be like god.  You will be the god of your own life and you can live it any way you want with no one to answer to.  Pride.  It’s a lower level for some than others, but nevertheless pride.

God wants us to freely choose Him.  He wants lovingly obedient, humble, and grateful children.

If you do your best to reach those doomed for destruction, then you’ve tried.  God can’t make others love Him.  But if you didn’t, then how do we know if they would have accepted Him or not?

We know the Lord, because of those who loved the Lord enough to obey Him.  Reaching others for God is a job that is expected from all those who love Him.  Praying, witnessing, loving, caring, and sharing God’s love and Word.

Not only have large earthquakes been in the news, but now it there is a lot of talk that the Japan earthquake last year has put a lot of pressure on Mount Fuji.  They are concerned that it could become active.  Mount Fuji is a large mountain.  It’s just 2,000 feet smaller than Mt. Rainier.  To see the stories you can just Google Mount Fuji and push in the last 24 hours under the tools.  More birth pangs.

Proverbs 28:11 – ¹¹ A rich man may be wise in his own eyes,
but a poor man who has discernment sees through him.

I’ve seen this.  I’ve seen people get so wrapped up into believing in themselves that truth is what they have made it out to be in their own eyes.  It’s a certain pride that builds.  It’s that philosophy that you just have to believe in yourself to be successful.

The man who seeks God and is on the sidelines gets to see things more clearly.  He believes God’s Word.  Knows that man is fallen and is full of pride and sin.  Greed, self, hunger for power, all lead to falls.  Yet the one in the trap is in the dark room and can’t see out.  The Holy Spirit is the One who shines the Light of the Lord and makes people see.

I apologize for not being able to post.  I can’t get my computer at home to connect with my blog homepage.  I’m not sure what the problem is but I’m trying to figure it out.  In the mean time, I’ll work on just email my posts to work and copy and paste them once I get there.

Say a prayer for me and to help get this problem fixed soon.

The Pharisees in Mark 8:11-13 were asking for a sign from Jesus.

Mark 8:11-13- ¹¹ The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. ¹² He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it.” ¹³ Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side.

Do miraculous signs and wonders automatically change the people who see them?  No.

Look at the Israelites who came out of Egypt.  They were constantly belly aching and no one has seen the wonders and miraculous things they saw.

Back to the Pharisees.  The Lord didn’t give them a sign.  Why?

First I believe it’s because they were never looking for Jesus to be the Christ or the Messiah.  In fact later on when Lazarus was raised from the dead the spiritual leaders wanted to kill Jesus and Lazarus.

John 12:9-11 –  ⁹ Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰ So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, ¹¹ for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.

Because some people believed in Jesus and some of them because he did raise Lazarus, the Chief Priests wanted to kill them.  That doesn’t sound like people who just need a miraculous sign to be saved.  In fact these are supposed to be the highest Godly people in Israel plotting to do this.

Man’s heart isn’t changed by miracles.  It’s changed by realizing that there is a God who made Him.  It becomes changed when he realizes that he doesn’t think correctly and that there is something terribly wrong with not only himself, but everyone around him.  He wants to know the truth and to find that relationship with the God who created him.

That’s where it starts.  Those who seek God for only what He can do for them, quickly fade away.  One needs to seek the Truth.  If one earnestly seeks the Truth, they will find it.    

Miraculous signs on their own do not change hearts.  Everybody thinks that if Jesus just came and did a miracle that everyone would turn and believe.  It’s never worked that way.  That’s why there will be no excuses.  We have all the proof, miracles, and resources, right near us every day today.  It’s all about the heart.

Ironically the antichrist will come and do signs and wonders and him they will believe.  Those who do believe him won’t have a changed heart.  They won’t have a loving relationship with the antichrist that our Lords seeks.

It’s our freewill to choose what we will look for and whom we will serve.

The old cliche it’s not what you are on the outside but what you are on the inside that counts?  That never holds one hundred percent true with any human.  It should, it’s a very true statement. 

I say that because we have other attractions we see in people that isn’t just based on what they do out of love and good. 

However, God does see the heart.  It is what counts to Him.

Proverbs 21:2- ² All a man’s ways seem right to him,
   but the LORD weighs the heart.

1 Samuel 16:7 – ⁷ But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

It counted to Paul over time also, when it came to the earthly distinguished gentlemen that were trying to preach the word.

Galatians 2:6 – ⁶ As for those who seemed to be important—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not judge by external appearance—those men added nothing to my message.

Everyone is on an equal ground with God.  What are you going to do with your heart?  To whom or what will you give it to?

Romans 8:31-39 – ³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:  “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

 ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor 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.

Continuing on with this series we are now on verse 5.

Romans 8:35 – ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

If we truly love the Lord and accept Him as Lord, nobody will separate us from the love of Christ.

That brings us to the things in the second sentence of this scripture.  Shall trouble or hardship bring us further away from Christ?  Only if one lets it, but those things usually push the believer to rely more on Christ and God.  Persecution is usually coming at someone, because they are taking a stand or are characterized by something.  When Christians are being persecuted, it is because they continue to take a stand for the Lord.  That certainly won’t separate us from the love of Christ. 

Will famine, nakedness, physical dangers or death separate us from the Lord?  On the contrary as a believer, it’s in these times that we realize the only sure thing we have is our Lord.

No one, no thing, no circumstance, no trouble, can separate us from the Love of Christ.  He is right there, in good and bad.  However, when things are going good we have more of a tendency to drift.

We always here people struggle with why bad things happen to good people.  God knows how important eternity is with Him, or without Him, even if we can’t seem to get it.  If some life changing uncomfortable encounters are what it takes to bring more people towards Him, it needs to happen.  Sadly enough some people will never turn towards God, good, bad, or whatever happens in their life.

If you make the decision that He is your Lord and look towards Him, nothing can separate you from Christ.  He conquered the grave, so we could be more than conquerors.  We can be the bride of our loving Lord and Savior.  How cool is that?  People look at the church and don’t think a whole lot about it, but those who choose Christ in the church age get to be part of the bride of Christ.

When one has concluded their time on this earth, it will sink in just how important this is.  So if we can fathom this now, we need to live like it now.  We need to live for Him now, not ourselves.  More than conquerors.  He conquered and we need to choose Him.

“If our government and courts tried as hard to balance the budget as they do in kicking God out of everything, we would have a surplus.”
Patrick Boruff

Season’s Greetings
Happy Holidays

Give me a break!

Merry CHRIST-MAS!  May Jesus be your passion.  Celebrate the King’s birth with joy and don’t ever let anyone take it from you.