HOW TO ABIDE IN CHRIST

How to Abide in Christ

How to abide in Jesus Christ

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How do we know if we are abiding in Jesus Christ? In John 15 the whole chapter is devoted to this subject. As Christians we want to make sure we are abiding in Jesus Christ because our relationship with Him determines if we are walking with our Lord the right way. John 15:1 says “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.” Here we see that Jesus represents the vine. A vine that is on a tree is big and strong. The branches that grow out of the vine are not strong. We are the branches and Jesus is the vine. We need to embrace Jesus Christ because He is strong and we are not. John 15:2 says “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring more fruit.” Every Christian who is not bearing fruit for Jesus just gets pushed aside and thrown out because it has no eternal value. When we bear fruit for Jesus our Lord purgeth it so we can bring forth more fruit. Bearing fruit for God is doing something of worth for the kingdom of God with the right motive. If we do what we are doing for the right reasons we will be glorifying and serving Jesus Christ to minister to other people in one capacity or another. We serve a God of abundance. He wants us to bring forth much fruit so He may be glorified as He observes us living in obedience to Him. When we are bearing fruit God will add so much more (multiply) so it will be well pleasing to Him. John 15:4 says “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye. except ye abide in me.” Jesus is telling us that if you are not in Him (Vine) you can not produce fruit because you are not connected to Him in fellowship. The Apostle Pauls' favorite term was, "In Christ." We need to stay close to Jesus because we are just branches and they are weak. When you go outside how many branches do you see on the ground? Verses 5 and 6 in John chapter 15 say if we are not abiding in Jesus Christ we can do nothing for God. Everybody does something but it won't be for the kingdom of God if we have no fellowship with Jesus Christ which includes loving people. Christians can not do anything on their own and expect to be blessed because apart from Jesus Christ it is just a matter of good works on our own. This is not acceptable to our Lord and just like verse 2 says the branch will be taken away. I often think of Jesus Christ as my God who measures perfect. Everything we do is seen for what it is and it is either thrown out or purged which can be painful but we don't grow without hurt in our lives. John chapter 15 verses 7 and 8 talk about the words of Jesus Christ abiding in us. If we are walking with the Son of God we can petition the Lord our needs. If it is in His will Jesus grants this for us and the Father will be glorified. God does hear the requests of His children and He answers but in His timing. John 15:9-10, “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue in my love: if ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” At this point in the chapter Jesus is getting into the meat of His word. He gives us the commandments of love. First to love God with all our heart and the second is to love our neighbor. Look at the order. We can not love our neighbor unless we love God. “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” 1st John 4:8. In verse 10 of John chapter 15 obeying God is connected to abiding in the love of Jesus Christ. Our Lord then explains that this is the relationship He has with His Father and as a result Jesus is abiding in the love of Him. Not to repeat myself but this is what we are to be doing with Jesus Christ.  When we continue in the love of God we can expect, “And the peace of God which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7. In John chapter 15:11-14 these verses are saying if we keep the commandments of God our joy will be full and reminds us that He was going to die for our sins. This is the ultimate sacrifice especially in the way Jesus died for us (crucifixion). Jesus explains even deeper that no man has greater love than this so remember my sacrifice as you obey me. Jesus calls us friends if ye do whatsoever I command you. Once again the issue of obedience is raised so Jesus is repeating Himself with multiple purposes in mind. We serve a great God and is full of love. He wants to impart this to us but it is through our obedience to Him. This is where the connection is made with God.  In John chapter 15:16 the Bible says, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, He may give it to you.” God in His foreknowledge knew who would come to Him because He is God and knows everything. We have a saying in our house, "There is not one thing that God does not know." The Holy Spirit mentions both predestination and free will in the Bible and I teach both but just because I can not reconcile the two together as one does not mean that I am not called to believe the Bible. God gives us the choice in our will to choose because He will never force anybody to come to Him. I am called to believe these two subjects on earth that on the surface seem to be a paradox (A seeming contradiction) but the reconciliation comes in heaven. Contrary to popular belief we were never told to understand these two opposing subjects as one as we walk through life.  God desires our fruits to remain because we can drift away and lose our reward. When we have needs or desires we can go to the Father and ask Him. If it is in the will of God He will give it to us by praying the request in Jesus name. In John chapter 15:17-19 these verses give us the great command that we love one another. He tells us that we are not of the world because He has chosen us out of this world; therefore, some people may hate you because you are not one of their own or recognizable in the kingdom of darkness. Jesus Christ was hated by the world and makes it clear that we may also get the same treatment. In John chapter 15:20-22 Jesus tells us that because they have persecuted Him we also will be persecuted and go through many trials. Notice Jesus says these things after a long lengthy discourse on obedience to Him. The world system hates Jesus Christ and is doing everything they can to destroy Christianity. True believers in Jesus Christ are being slaughtered by the thousands all over world. We need to pray for these people. In John chapter 15:23-25 these verses in the most basic sense say if a person hates Jesus then he or she hates the Father. Many people believe in the Father but deny the deity of Jesus Christ. The Bible does not teach this because it is taught in many verses but John 14:6 is one of the most popular. I am sorry I can not quote many of these verses but due to space I am limited. I need to go over this whole subject and Jesus has much to say in John chapter 15. If we are abiding in Jesus Christ we will love one another and it is inevitable that we will have a devotion to God with all our heart. Jesus Christ is love. This is what He expects because He died on the Cross for us and paid the ultimate price for our sins. He did not have to do this but He loved us so much that He made the supreme sacrifice so we can abide in Him. If you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord come to Him today because this is how much God loves you through His Son Jesus Christ. Why not follow Jesus Christ and abide in Him? It is sometimes hard to love the Son of God especially in a world like this but we do this in obedience to Him. God loves you and has plans for your life and eternity through His Son Jesus Christ. We should strive to be holy. “ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Romans 12:1. God does not make it difficult for us to abide in Jesus Christ. The main theme in the whole chapter is love through our obedience in Jesus Christ. The more time we spend with our Savior and Lord to have a relationship with Him the more Jesus Christ Himself will draw close to us and our love for brothers and sisters in Christ will grow. Jesus is waiting but the real question is are we willing to abide in Him?  God Bless,  Bob D.

NEW WEEK INSPIRATION

New W eek Inspiration

God's Timing

The vision that God has given
And the things that He has planned,
May not happen right away
Or in ways that we understand

For often God's preparing us
For when that day arrives
When we will see the outworking
Of God's vision in our lives

Though it tarries, wait for it,
For it will surely come
God's timing never comes too late,
He'll accomplish what He's begun

God is never slow to act;
He will surely bring it to pass
We need not be anxious and despair,
But have peace within our hearts

For when it comes, we'll be released
Into what the Lord's prepared,
So we will fulfil all that He's planned
As we are being gently led.
© By M.S.Lowndes

Habakkuk 2:3King James Version (KJV)
3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

Psalm 27:14King James Version (KJV)
14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Philippians 4:6King James Version (KJV)
6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Proverbs 3:5King James Version (KJV)
5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

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Our guide for life

Our guide for life

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"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
" Psalm 119:105. If we read the Bible everyday with the
 motive and purpose of receiving fresh manna from heaven
 then and only then will this verse apply to our lives.

If the Bible is a lamp unto our feet then we will know how
 to walk through our lives and what to do but with the right
motive. One of the number one questions Christians ask
is, "What do I do?" or, "What is the will of God for my life?"
I have beat myself up so many times over this issue but
 I just had to grow up a little because it was never
meant to be hard.

Ninety percent of what we have to do before God is
 walking with Jesus Christ and perhaps the other ten
 percent is a mystery. It is kind of interesting that we
 focus on the ten percent more than the ninety percent.
 What if God does not give me the answer to the ten
 percent? O.K then we have to be fine with that outcome.

The mystery is for our faith. That may cut the ten percent
down to five percent. I was the man that was OCD with
the ten percent but this was just a confession that I had
 very little faith in God. Now I am far more concerned
with the ninety percent. If God wants to give me some
of the ten percent fine but if He does not then I can live
 with that even if there is pain.

What am I saying? We should feed on what we do know
 as opposed to what we don't know.The second part of this
 verse says..."And a light unto my path." If our manner of
 life is right we will see the light as opposed to darkness
and just maybe some of those mysteries will become
  more clear. The ten percent is usually what we ring our
 hands with but don't ever do that at the expense of the
 ninety percent.

If you want your life to fall apart then ring your hands
 over the ten percent and forget about the ninety percent
. Besides the Bible says," I will instruct thee and teach
 thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee
with mine eye." Psalm 32:8.

Nobody said those hardships and suffering is not painfu
l but if we keep moving forward in faith with Jesus Christ
 through His word with our conversation of life then God
 says He will honor that approach which is obedience to
Him. We worry about what will happen but God says
He is not going to give us more than we can handle in
life. Jesus Christ just desires us to have active belief in Him.

This ninety -- ten percent principle sounds like our sins.
  By the way I am not saying it is exactly ninety percent
but you understand the principle. How many times did
you hear a person get saved through Jesus Christ then
sometimes he or she will say," God took this sin out of
 my life that I was struggling with for 20 years."

They also usually say but strange as this sounds He did
not take this sin out of my life. On the one hand Jesus
 Christ is showing us His grace but on the other hand
God is testing our faith. In like manner we know what
 to do in life but on the other hand we do not and
it weighs very heavy on our heart.

This will come in our obedience to Him but we cannot
 put the cart before the horse. The horse guides the
 cart and in like manner we must allow Jesus Christ
to guide our life through His word for the known and the unknown.

The Bible is our guide for life but manna that is even
one day old is stale. I tend to be very busy in life with
work and what God has called me to do but I have to
 tell you this next verse that I am going to share with
 you is a forgotten verse in the body of Christ.
 "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not
sin against thee." Psalm 119:11.

Some people might say it is to simple but it is in
 the Bible. If you are really confused and don't know
 where to start just memorize a verse in Scripture.
It is a new beginning with Jesus Christ.

Nobody said we have to set the world on fire and
memorize 10,000 Bible verses but don't you think
 some would help in our walk with Jesus Christ?

Of course it will because the word of God won't
return to us void unless we are reading or memorizing
 with the wrong motive.

Two verses back the Bible says, "Wherewithal shall
a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto
 according to thy word." Psalm 119:11. Do you feel dirty
with sin? As a Christian I can't even number the times
 that I have fallen before God and just felt so unclean.
 I stumbled, I transgressed before God but this verse
is saying our way can be cleansed by taking heed or
obeying His word.

That really should be our motive because I can assure
you that a dirty Bible is a clean heart. I know that if I
read the Bible with the purpose of God working through
me He will cleanse my heart. God might even bring up
a sin in our heart and ask that we confess to Him.

We don't just want to say the sinners prayer because
our main calling after that is to become a disciple of
 Jesus Christ." (31)Then said Jesus to those Jews
which believed on Him, if ye continue in my word,
then are ye my disciples indeed; (32) And ye shall
 know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
John 8: 31-32.

If I am sincere, honest and authentic before God
I will make some time before Him reading the Bible
 with an open heart. If my spirit is not open to the
 truth of His word then I will pray that the Holy Spirit
opens up my heart through the Bible. If verse 32
is saying ..."And ye shall know the truth"... we
need to ask ourselves, "Who is the truth?"
Jesus Christ. " Jesus saith unto him, I am the way,
 the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father,
 but by Me." John 14:6.

The Scriptures lays out our plan to know Jesus Christ
. To read or memorize the Bible with an open heart
 (but I would not do one at the exclusion of the other)
transparent before God so He can reveal Himself to
us in His timing. We don't shape truth, truth shapes
us so if we want to be free then just remember this principle.

We need to read the Bible for what it says not for
what we want it to say because that is reading into
Scripture. If we try shaping truth it becomes a lie.
Jesus Christ will only set us free if we read the Bible
 for what it really says and if you call that honesty
 then simple discernment is in your spirit. You are on
 the narrow path to eternal life through Jesus Christ. 

Then we will be able to say, "Thy testimonies also
 are my delight and my counselors." Psalm 119:24.
 Think about this verse in light of what I wrote in this
 article. These Christians are not just reading the Bible
 but are delighting in the word of God because the chief
 counselor Jesus Christ is being revealed for who He is
 and that should be our primary reason for reading
 Scripture.

Look at the word delight in Psalm 119:24. God wants
to bring us to this level because, "The steps of a good
 man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his
 way." Psalm 37:23. God wants us to go through our trials
 (even though there might not be earthy closure) and have
 joy, delight and then I believe Jesus Christ has us exactly
 where He wants us because our focus is on Him.

For the worldly problems the Bible says, "He restoreth
my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness
 for His name's sake." Psalm 23:3. If we are delighting '
and being restored by Jesus Christ He is going to lead
us and our problems will become smaller and smaller.
We will know how to deal with hardships because God'
 is in control of our lives through our faith and obediencein
 Him.

If we apply these biblical principles we can all be brought
 to the point where the Bible says, "And thine ears shall
hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk
 ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn
 to the left." Isaiah 30:21. If God chooses to remain silent
on a matter we need to respect that but when we are
walking with Jesus Christ we are certain to get more
 direction for our lives.

If you are an unbeliever in Jesus Christ invite Him into
your heart today/tonight so you can get solid direction for
 your life. It is comforting that the Bible says," This book
 of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt
meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe
to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou
 shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have
good success." Joshua 1:8. True direction and success
is having Jesus Christ in your life and obeying Him by faith.

I realize that I am talking to a vast audience around the
world and some people may not have access to a Bible.
If you are limited in the portion of the word of God that
 you can get your hands on then you would want to
concentrate more on Bible memory. Remember the
 Bible says, "Pray without ceasing" 1 Thessalonians 5:17
 so wherever you go take Jesus with you because our minds
 are very much like computers. We can do more than one]
 thing at a time. In the computer world this is called multitasking.
 We need to have a journey with Jesus Christ everyday. I hope
 I encouraged people reading this article to walk on this path
in their life because our focus should be on Jesus Christ.

God Bless,

Bob D

Darkness is coming!.

Darkness is coming! Darkness is covering the whole earth. Darkness is coming from Rome to the USA. Darkness is shadowing the whole world. Darkness is a blight on people everywhere. Darkness is covering us like a blanket. What are we to do?

It is like a thirst that cannot be quenched. You can drink and drink, and still you remain thirsty. What is to be done? People everywhere are dying of thirst, but cannot find a drink of water anywhere.

John 4:13 Jesus said, Come to me you who are thirsty, and I will give you water to drink. The water I give will not leave you thirsty for more.

What about the darkness, you ask? Jesus said, "I am the Light of the world. In me is no darkness."

We murder millions of babies every year. Think of that! Millions of children who will not grow up. Millions of children who will not know the love of a Mother or Father! Millions of children who will not know the love of Grandparents. That is so sad!

We murder each other at an alarming rate. Young people who will never know the forgiveness of their Heavenly Father! Condemned to hell for all eternity. Older people who will lose the love of their family. Family who will mourn for them. Mourn for them because they don't know Jesus!

Darkness covers them like a blanket, and they seek drugs to help them! They are blind to the drug lords that are getting wealthy on their backs. The drug lords are living a high life-style while the users are just getting high! The users will probably die while getting one last high! All because they didn't know or care about the one who can really get them high, Jesus!

What are we to do? As Christians we are the light that shines in the darkness! We are to let our light shine as never before. We need to let our light shine, not under a basket! We need to let our light shine as never before. Do you know that a candle that shines in complete darkness lights up the whole darkness as never before? That candle shines like there is no darkness. You can shine like there is no darkness! Your little candle can shine if only you will let it. If you witness to one person a week, no matter what you say to that person, God can use that word of encouragement to light a person's life!!

Don't you want to save at least one person from an eternity in hell? All you need to do is let your light shine! Let it shine like it's never shone before. Life is short! Eternity is forever! I can use all kinds of clever phrases, and still words can have little meaning. If you use that mouth of yours to encourage someone, to let them know how much Jesus really loves them and doesn't want them to go to hell to become condemned forever, then let your light shine.

We will all stand before God in judgement for all we said or did. It's called the Judgement Seat of Christ. Our name is found in the Lambs Book of Life, so we will not be condemned. We will be judged on whether we were faithful or not. Whether we used the talents He gave us properly! Don't be like the foolish one who went and buried it!

"This little light of mine, I'm gonna' let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine." Mat 5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. 

Thursday Inspiration.

20 hrs · 

Thursday’s Inspiration

Desert Times

There are times in our lives,
The Lord may lead us through
A lifeless, barren desert,
A time of testing too

But desert times can be
A place of special growth,
Where God can do a work
And let His healing flow

I know that in these times,
We don't feel God is there,
We feel so very distant
And lost without His care

But God is there beside you
To bring you to a place
Of cool, refreshing waters
Flowing with His grace

But for the present moment,
You maybe in a drought,
Don't give up on your faith
And don't you start to doubt

God is always faithful
And He will walk with you,
Through the darkest moments,
He'll be leading you.
© By M.S.Lowndes

Psalm 66:10King James Version (KJV)
10 For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.

James 1:2-3King James Version (KJV)
2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

Psalm 18:30King James Version (KJV)
30 As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.

Deuteronomy 7:9King James Version (KJV)
9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

ARE YOU CONDEMNED

Are you feeling condemned? This is not hard to sense in a world that is filled with sin and bad news. We probably feel guilty if we sinned before God. I learned the hard way in life to avoid sin and talk to God about my transgressions.

I confess my known and unknown sins before God on a regular basis because I want to be clean before God. " There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit." Romans 8:1. Did you ever notice that people seem to be harder on other people in these last and final seconds before the rapture of the Church?

The reason for this is because the world understands condemnation and knows how to use it against people. " In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." 2 Corinthians 4:4.

The devil is the god of this world and according to verse 4 it would only be logical that the average person would adopt the ways of the devil. Many people don't know Jesus Christ in their hearts and want to condemn but those that truly believe on Jesus Christ in their hearts are under no condemnation because this is what the Bible teaches. I just wrote an article on eternity and then the Lord impressed on my heart to write, "No condemnation in Jesus Christ."

The word believeth is very important in the most popular verse in the Bible ... " Whoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16. The next verse says," (17) For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world: but that the world through Him might be saved." The word believeth is not just an intellectual understanding such as, "Well I believe." It is in the present tense and is a continual belief in Jesus Christ. God is looking at our heart. That is why if you don't know Jesus Christ it is important to invite Him into your heart by accepting Him as your very own Savior and Lord through the repentance of your sins.

How could God be more clear but the next verse is most intriguing. "(18) He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." Do I really have to give a commentary on this verse? I observe people that did not accept Jesus Christ into their hearts and am amazed that they think everything is alright.

I can't help but think about 2 Corinthians 4:4 which says ..." The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not." If they are blind obviously they can not see ... " The light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."

" (19) And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (20) For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. (21) But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." John 3:19-21.

If we are truly repentant before God through His Son Jesus Christ, "(10) He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. (12) As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgression from us. Psalm 103:10,12.

God has so much mercy for a sinner that is truly sorry for his or her sins." For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." Hebrews 8:12. The Bible is very clear that we need to forsake our wicked ways and our unrighteous thoughts.

To truly repent means to turn away from our sins or forsake." Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Isaiah 55:7.

God blots out our sins because of our repentance to Him through His Son Jesus Christ." I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins." Isaiah 43:25.

As a Christian I feel it is right and biblical to sincerely confess my sins everyday. My hearts bent desire is to be perfect before God but I am not always that man. God knows our heart.

If you have never accepted Jesus Christ into your heart then I encourage you to make that decision today/tonight by repenting of all your sins and asking Jesus Christ to come into your heart. I know I gave the invitation twice but there is a prod inside me. This is an eternal decision that you will not regret; however, there is nothing but sorrow if one chooses to just walk away. If you have problems understanding eternity please read my article called, "Eternity." Jesus Christ loves us more than we could ever imagine. There is nothing more important then getting right with God through His Son Jesus Christ. This is an eternal decision that will last forever.

LOVE
BOB D

Wednesday Inspiration

Wednesday's Inspiration

My Closest Friend

I place my hope in you,
For you alone are Lord
There could never be another,
I could ever love more

There's no one that comes closer
To you in my life,
For you are my closest friend,
In whom I can confide

And share my deepest longings,
My hurts and my fears,
Knowing you will understand
And wipe away my tears

Knowing I can come to you,
Morning, noon and night,
You will never turn me away,
But give ear to my plight

And you will not condemn me,
Nor judge what I say,
For you are full of constant love
And listen when I pray

Your love was such that you died,
My soul, you came to save
From certain eternal misery
Awaiting beyond the grave

But now, in you, I can be sure
Of eternity with you,
Freed from pain and misery
With eternal joy too.
© By M.S.Lowndes

Proverbs 18:24King James Version (KJV)
24 A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

Proverbs 18:24King James Version (KJV)
24 A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

John 6:37King James Version (KJV)
37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

John 3:16King James Version (KJV)
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

ETERNITY

Eternity

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Eternity is forever. If I were to ask if three hundred trillion years is a lot of time you would probably answer yes. That would be a correct answer. Let me ask you a follow up question. Is three hundred trillion years a lot of time in light of eternity? The answer is no because forever will just be beginning at that future point.

 

I talk to people about their eternity all the time and the most common response I receive is avoidance. I ask myself, "Why would something this big be so small in their minds and hearts?"

 

They would say there are so many other priorities and that would be pretty low on the pecking order. Do you know how many people are in hell right now because the subject of the afterlife was placed very low on the "Things to be concerned list?" Perhaps billions.

 

I heard many stories about the afterlife. One man was a minister and thought he was right with God. He died and ended up in hell and was resuscitated back to life. He then traveled around the world preaching the real gospel with passion. He did not truly love God the first time around.

 

Jesus Christ gave him a second chance because He truly does not want anyone to be eternally separated from Him. Before he departed back to earth with his new commission he was shown that out of two thousand people that died when he passed on only 50 made it to heaven.

 

Well Matthew chapter seven does say,"(14) Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Matthew 7:14. When he came back to earth he won many souls for Jesus Christ.

 

One solder opened up and said he almost died five times in battle. He was not right with the Lord. Who do you think spared his life? God. He is now so grateful and very effective for Jesus Christ. God does not want us to go to hell.

 

Another man thought he was right with the Lord and even received visions but when found dead he did not make it to heaven. He was resuscitated back to life. He confessed he really did not love the Lord. He is now on fire for Jesus Christ and very effective for God.

 

One man was saved and truly loved and served Jesus Christ. He went to heaven. The moment he arrived in this beautiful place he knew instantly that his life could not have merited this on his own and understood that he was only there because of the grace of God.

 

If any of us were to die today/tonight whoever has possession of us will come and get us and bring us to our ultimate destination. One place is filled with love and the other place is filled with hate. Jesus Christ can do anything except get you out of hell if this is where a person has been consigned to for all eternity. If this is the case it will unfortunately be built in them that it is eternal. There is no hope in the forever torments of hell.

 

God must really be trying to get the attention of the world because I have never seen so many testimonies about heaven and hell. I heard a couple when I was young but nothing to this extent. It is like God is saying we are in the final seconds of world history as we know it in this way of life.

 

I remember working at my job and the conditions were bad. I just in a casual way said sometimes I think this place is like hell and a man responded to me, "Oh I know how bad that place is because I went." I was engrossed in my work and that just sort of went over my head. Nobody ever said I was the brightest bulb in the room. Five minutes later I went back to him and asked, "Did you just say what I think you said?"

 

He said yes and I started asking questions. He told me he saw different levels of torment but even the lower levels were horrible. He told me what terrible things happened there but wanted to spare me of what he saw in the more intense levels. He just did not want to talk about it to me at that point.

 

I was a little naïve to the subject so I asked him if demons were capable of mercy. He just looked at me with wide eyes and refused to answer my question. I have to tell you his silence spoke more volumes to me as opposed to him answering the question. I never forgot that response.

 

I am talking a lot about hell because I wrote an article on heaven. I remember talking about the love in heaven but every report I listen to regarding hell when they were there was all about fear and hatred with torment.

 

There are only two ways a person can go to hell and come back to tell the story. The first would be to die and be resuscitated back to life. The second would be if Jesus Christ Himself decides to take a person's spirit out of their body and send him or her to this horrible place for a select time period.

 

When I hear people say somehow I will make it to heaven but I'm going to just live my life. What these people don't understand is Jesus Christ is our advocate to the Father. He can't just go to His Father and say this person did nothing but can you still let Him into heaven? The answer will be no. Jesus Christ has nothing to present for redemption purposes through His shed blood for his or her salvation to the Father. (1) " My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." 1 John 2:1. 

 

In one case Jesus let one cousin see his cousin in hell. He witnessed to him many times on earth but the issue was extremely low on the pecking order. His cousin was a nice man. He was shot and unfortunately died. There is a lot of that going around in this country. I live in America.

 

I don't know how much longer God is going to put up with this disregard for life over here in the United States. He was in extreme pain in hell and I am not getting the impression that he was in the more severe sections of hell.

 

He really was not a bad guy at all but the other cousin asked why he did not say the sinners pray when he was dying. He did not have an answer to that question but I do. If Jesus Christ was so low on the priority list why would he even think about that even on his death bed? Jesus Christ should be first in our life.

 

I have heard of cases when a person was dying and people around him or her would hear the gospel message but they could not respond because their heart was so hardened. They said no to Jesus Christ so many times in their life.

 

It is not that they did not want to come to the foot of the cross and accept the Lord into their life but they could not because their heart was cold to Jesus Christ. They wanted to but they could not so people need to realize that you can only say no to Jesus Christ so many times. The spirit of unbelief will overtake your heart if this is the case in your life.

 

Another point I would like to make is when observers looked at the unredeemed sinners in hell they never seemed to get used to the pain. Their senses seemed to be amplified so for example if they were feeling 300 degrees it might feel like 400 degrees. I just threw a couple of numbers out there to make my point.

 

We have to watch what we put out in the media in one form or another because if we mislead somebody or a group of people then we are going to be responsible and accountable to Jesus Christ for that deception.

 

Billy Graham was explaining that he gave the gospel message and one person said," I will put it off for later and died the next day. This is why the Bible teaches, "(For He saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the day of salvation.) 2 Corinthians 6:2.

 

Everybody likes hope but there is no hope in hell. There is torture but I am very sorry to say this but there is also dehydration, starvation and sleep depravation. I did not even mention demons can abuse sinners whenever they want to because they have possession of the people in hell.

 

Every once in a while I will hear a Christian say," That person deserves hell" but this is a statement that reveals a lack of understanding. Everybody deserves hell. I know people that probably went that were a whole lot better than me but God chose to bestow His mercy on my life through His Son Jesus Christ.

 

I always say, "That should be me burning in hell because that is what I deserve" but the mercy of God was shed in my heart through the grace of God in His Son Jesus Christ.

 

Maybe I can explain it this way. Somebody has to pay the bill for sin. Either Jesus Christ pays the price because we accepted Him into our hearts through the repentance of our sins or we pay the price because we did not accept Jesus Christ into our hearts. Somebody has got to pay the tab so we might as well do it God's way so we can have eternal life in heaven.

 

"(16) For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16. Perish is hell but everlasting life is heaven. I think the answer is pretty obvious. Choose Jesus Christ and accept Him into your heart today/tonight. This will be an eternal decision you will never regret.

 

WE WILL BE AWAY FROM THE POST FOR ABOUT TWO WEEKS NOW. WE HAVE PUBLISHED MANY ARTICLES STACKING THEM TO THE BRIM IN ORDER THAN YOU MIGHT HAVE A LITTLE SOMETHING ALMOST DALY. WHILE WE ARE GONE WE REQUEST YOUR PRAYERS AND WE WILL BE PRAYING FOR YOU. ALWAY REMEMBER
GOD EYE IS ON THE SPARROW AND HE IS WATCHING OVER YOU.
AGAPE
ZELMA

Blessing

Zelma Marie shared Beneath The Shadow Of Thy Wings's photo.

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Beneath The Shadow Of Thy Wings

18 hrs · 

Saturday’s Inspiration

I Fall Short

It's really hard for me to express,
For so long it's been concealed,
But I really need to confess to you
Exactly how I feel

When I think of what I lack
In becoming more Christ-like
And think of the person I should be,
It can tear me up inside

I often wonder if I'd ever be
What you desire, O Lord,
When I compare myself to you,
There's no doubt — I fall short

It seems so overwhelming, Lord,
With many things to overcome,
Just to have your godly qualities
And the victory of your Son

It often seems beyond me, Lord,
And I fail every day,
It hurts so much when I fall short
And stumble along the way

Hear my heart crying out to you,
O Lord, please lift me up
Give me strength to carry on
When I have had enough

Fill me with your Holy Spirit
Afresh today, my Lord,
Guide me, teach me, and equip me
For what you've called me for

I pray that even in my weakness,
I'll be of use to you,
So others will see you in my life
And want to know you too

It's at these times, I need you more
When I feel I cannot face
Another day where I fail you,
O Lord, I need your grace.
© By M.S.Lowndes

Romans 3:23King James Version (KJV)
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Isaiah 41:13King James Version (KJV)
13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

Psalm 34:17King James Version (KJV)
17 The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

Psalm 25:4-5King James Version (KJV)
4 Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.
5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.