Hated For The LIGHT

I felt I needed to break my long silence. I've dropped off of the blogosphere for a while now and haven't really gotten the chance to write down the lessons that the good Lord is allowing me to see.

Tonight is going to be different because I strongly believe it is time for me to get back to writing. I've been hiding in the dark for a long time now and I don't like it. It made me feel sick that I've only placed the Light of Christ in the cupboard of my life this past year.

I haven't finished my series on Mary as the mother of God, but I will have to do that some other day. Tonight, I am compelled to write about the way the world deals with the Light of Christ that is in every redeemed believer.

The Bible tells us in John chapter 3 verses 19-21 the following:

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

When God sent His only begotten Son, Christ Jesus, He brought LIGHT into this dark and fallen world. That light paves the way to the narrow path that leads to life everlasting. However, we know clearly that ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 8:28) and this is why the world LOVED DARKNESS rather than light. The world's deeds are evil and the Light of Christ exposes just that.

One of the lingering questions I have from some of my Christian sisters is the question why a certain person in their life continues to hate them no matter what they do. It doesn't really matter if they show grace for every moment, or try to live peaceful lives, there are certain people in their lives that writhe at the idea of having them around! It's quite disturbing even in some of their marriages where the husband is a professing christian and remains just that--"professing."

It's never easy for a bible-believing, God-fearing woman to live with a man who isn't really saved, and continually finds fault in her. I've seen my female Christian friends brokenhearted for YEARS because of the fact that their husbands act more like an enemy than a spouse.

It's the way the world acts around believers. Just as Jesus Christ explained that the world WILL hate His followers, you see those who are of the world feel all the anger and turbulent emotions inside that are simply bitterness and hatred toward Christians. Why such hostility? Because, the Light of Christ could actually HURT them. 


Have you ever noticed that when you stay inside a very dark room and your eyes have accommodated to the darkness long enough that when someone flicks a bright light ON it will make you quickly squint? It's because the brightness will hurt our eyes once we are too accustomed to the dark.

When direct or reflected light, like sunlight reflecting off of snow, gets to a certain intensity (4,000lumens or so), our eyes cannot absorb all of the light. We squint because the glare causes actual discomfort!

That's basically what happens in the spiritual realm when the Light of Christ shines brightly from the life of a believer. Those who belong to the darkness of this world, who are very accustomed to the ways of darkness and sin, will find the brightness of Christ offensive. They simply love darkness and will hate you for bringing the light of Christ with you!

Every sin is usually done in darkness... done in hiding, and the world loves it that way. John chapter 3 tells us that those who love sin REFUSE to come to the Light! They simply refuse to get themselves accustomed to brightness and they refuse to learn to LOVE the Light. 

That, dear friends, simply amazes me, because by nature we are all sinners and love every dark nook and cranny of this world. We love sin and we hate the light and could NEVER naturally come to that Light by our own will. It is but the GRACE of God that one gets drawn to that Light of Christ.

I love how verse 21 of John chapter 3 said that those that "doeth truth cometh to the light." "DOETH" in this particular verse is ποιέω (poieō) which means to perform, to do, to act. And "TRUTH" is ἀλήθεια (alētheia) which means what is true in any matter of consideration. This same word matches that of the Truth spoken of by Jesus in John 17:17 when He prayed to the Father...

"Santify them through thy TRUTH: THY WORD IS TRUTH."

 When Jesus prayed this prayer for His disciples and the rest of the people who will come to Trust His Name for salvation, He was asking the Father to set apart a people using God's Word which He himself established as (the) Truth. It is that which is TRUE in ANY MATTER OF CONSIDERATION!

Those in darkness who will receive the Grace of God will eventually be set apart from the rest of the world of darkness. Only then can one person learn to love the Light of Christ Jesus. Only then will His light become MAGNIFICENT instead of appalling. 

One thing that is clear to me, though, is the fact that God has made available the TOOL for anyone to find that Grace. That tool is God's WORD which is the ultimate source of Truth in this life. 

Anyone in the dark who will open up God's Word and soak upon it WILL FIND THAT GRACE THAT WILL LEAD THEM FROM DARKNESS TO CHRIST'S LIGHT!

Anyone who does not love God's Word will find Christ's light in every believer disturbing. They will squint, they will squirm, they will complain because they do to want to be subjected to that brightness. 

Got someone you know who loves the darkness and finds Christ's light in you offensive? Pray for them and share God's Word. It is only through that tool that a mind that loves darkness be cleansed and renewed to move toward the Light the shines on the narrow path that leads to eternal life.

Be encouraged, beloved! God bless your journey with strength and perseverance for His glory!

Heart Talk: Stubborn & Rebellious Know-It-Alls

The know-it-all

I bet you that you've already encountered one of the most annoying difficult personalities in the world in Mr. or Ms. "know-it-all." These are the individuals who seem to really know it all, and I mean ALL, no matter what you try to converse them with. They are full of their opinions and could never hold a decent conversation unless they say the last word and make the strongest point.

These are those with hearts that are already full of their own ways. 

You can't really tell them anything, suggest to them something nor teach them new things because they live their lives convinced that they already have the answer for everything!

They are resistant to change and the opinions of others, as well as are very adamant about putting their defenses down. These are hearts that are closed and hearts that are hard. And because of that, they have a haughty spirit that goes with it. 

Fools despise instruction

Although resistance to change is a good character trait to have in life (so as not to be gullible in many ways), it is important for us to understand that it has to be had in MODERATION. Anyone who puts their guards up for anything that might lead them to folly and downfall is commendable. BUT, anyone who puts their guards up EVEN IF THEY ARE BEING PRESENTED with TRUTH and WISDOM is to be considered A FOOL! 

Anyone who despise the instructions of God is a TOTAL fool!

Don't look at me as though I label people. It is the Bible that speaks of those who hate knowledge as "Fools." You see, the world may contribute to one individual's quest for knowledge about things, yes, but one can NEVER grasp the entirety of the world's knowledge with the finite mind. Most importantly, there is a kind of knowledge that is based on the ways WE PERCEIVE things and may never really be in-line with pure Wisdom and Knowledge from above.

"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, 

but the end thereof are the ways of death." 

(Proverbs 14:12, KJB)

The know-it-alls will always be convinced that THEY are ALWAYS right... That their thoughts about matters of life and their opinions on just about everything is the only way to go. A website even puts it this way: Their opinions are gospel and yours is lower than dirt! Sigh... Their motto is usually "My way or the highway." 

The danger to knowing it all is the fact that there is a way which SEEMS right to us, but the end thereof are the ways of death. We may THINK we KNOW IT ALL but the things we hold as true in our heads may not be the RIGHT things in the end.

What kind of wisdom and knowledge should we pursue and what should we test OUR ways against with? Whose voice should we HEARKEN most importantly?

Everything should be tested against the TRUTH in God. And we SHOULD (not an option) really hear what GOD has to say about everything!

God's words and his commandments

God GIVES wisdom and understanding. And He gives the kind of wisdom and knowledge that leads to life. Proverbs 2:6 tells us that the LORD giveth wisdom... and that OUT OF HIS MOUTH comes knowledge and understanding.

If what God has spoken (out of His mouth) gives us knowledge and understanding, then there is a need for us to SEEK EARNESTLY TO HEAR HIS WORDS in order to gain the wisdom that comes from Him. What gain is there for us to run after the wisdom of this world, when we stand to be NOTHING before the throne of God at the END of it all?!

God's WORD is where we receive knowledge and pure wisdom. It is a GUIDE to us, just as the Psalmist said "It is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." 

Look at how God puts everything in perspective in His Word for us. His ways lead to LIFE and life abundant with Grace and is everlasting...

My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;

2So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;

3Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;

4If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;

5Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, 

and find the knowledge of God.

6For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

7He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.

8He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.

9Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; 

yea, every good path.

10When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;

11Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:

12To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, 

from the man that speaketh froward things;

13Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;

14Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;

15Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:

16To deliver thee from the strange woman, 

even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;

17Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.

(Proverbs 2:1-17, KJB)

Many people today do not care about God's Word. In fact, just recently, this article was published regarding a GREAT falling away of people in trusting in the Word of God. Many simply are abandoning the Bible and go their own way thinking, believing and convincing themselves that THEIR WAY is the best way!

I've seen people who are blessed by God to be in power and to receive so much from above, but never really acknowledge whom it was that their bounties and graces are coming from. These hearts believe in their own capabilities and trust in their own selves. 

The WARNING we all must take heed

Unfortunately, though, there is a GRAVE thing written about stubborn, know-it-all hearts in Scriptures. Those who REFUSE... and I mean, really REFUSE to hear God's voice in His Word has an END to their stories.

God, who uttered the guiding principles and cues above, also uttered these words for those who forsake His wisdom and instructions:

11But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.

12So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels.

(Psalm 81:11-12)

21Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools...

(Romans 1:21-22)

28And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 29Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

(Romans 1:28-32)

God's way is the ONLY WAY we should consider in our lives. And His VOICE is the voice we MUST allow to speak in our lives. HIS KNOWLEDGE should be the only wisdom and knowledge we pursue and RETAIN in our minds. 

There is a grave danger of being given over to our own stubborn and rebellious know-it-all ways. We may end up really getting what we wish for... and that end is not something we want to find ourselves in, as we will already be given over to reprobate mindedness which views evil as good and good as evil. 

We will become too drunk with the wine of our OWN counsel that though we know the judgment of God, and that those who commit such evil things will fall under His wrath, we will no longer be sensitive to any of it and will LOSE THE FEAR OF THE LORD WHICH IS THE BEGINNING OF KNOWLEDGE. We will be given over to a mind which finds pleasure in doing the very things that God detests!

Will YOU take a look at your life and see if you are seeking God's Wisdom and Knowledge, beloved? 

Will YOU take a moment out of your busy life and ponder upon whose counsel you are listening to? YOU might have been listening to YOUR OWN VOICE FOR A LONG TIME NOW...

There is no time waste, dear one...
It is NOW time to be turned back to God... 

"Turn us again, O God, and cause THY FACE to shine; and we shall be saved. Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause THY FACE to shine; and we shall be saved." 

(Psalm 80:3,7)

New Year's Recipe to SUCCESS!

New Year Resolutions
Aaah... it's a new year again. 2012 has gone by in a flash and we're now starting fresh with 2013. But then again, are we really?

Studies have found out that people set a LOT of goals around the New Year's celebration and many still stick to the practice of making a New Year's resolution. In fact, a study shows that 40 to 45 percent of American adults make one or more resolutions each year. 

Well, it's no wonder that notes to self for the fresh year will (again) be posted up on a wall or the fridge. We all get excited as we set out anew with our personal goals. The list can range from diet and exercise, to financial strategies, to keeping life simple and resolutions to a happier lifestyle.

Made to be broken
Whatever it is that we put in our list, New Year resolutions will always affect the way we live in the first couple of months of the year. Yep! You read that right. Just the first couple months. You see, studies also show that just like many promises, most of these resolutions are actually made to be broken. We all start strong but pretty much wane along the way. Research has it that people spend six to eight weeks on average before giving up on their resolutions!

I've come across an article that tried to explain why we fail greatly at keeping with our New Year's resolutions. Interestingly, the writer presents the evidence to be this:

This is the scientific explanation for why most people who make New Year's resolutions don't succeed, in a nutshell: the brain wasn't designed to do so. Apparently, we are hard-wired to resist change; it is built into our human nature. The harsh truth is that everything inside you will fight improvement; that is our physical, biological make-up.

So, with all that scientific reasoning of why we fail to keep our resolutions, what was the article author's final conclusion? He said, 

So why are we so bad at keeping New Year's resolutions? Part of it is human nature, but I'm convinced that the other part of it is that we experience resolutions as a kind of wishing. We have a daydream of what we desire to be in the future, and we hope, rather than will, that we get there. The difference is that the former requires a genie; the other requires that we stop looking for a magic carpet, find a map, and start walking to our destination.

Ingredients: A will and a roadmap!
I agree with the article's author. Most of us remain daydreamers of the good life and are merely wishful thinkers of the better life we all wanted to achieve. We simply lack the WILL to "get there."

Now, don't get me wrong. There are a LOT of people out there who are very good at keeping their goals and achieving what they want to have and be in life. A closer look in their lives, though, would reveal that they are successful because of the two ingredients mentioned--WILL and some sort of MAP!

Let's take a closer look into those main ingredients to success, shall we?

The BEST roadmap to life

If we really would sit and ponder about our resolutions we'd soon realize that each of them has something to do with improving the life we have HERE ON EARTH. We all want the better and happier life while on THIS SIDE of eternity. Yet, we all know that our pursuit of happiness and success here on earth is spiced up with all matters of troubles and tribulations. So, is there any hope for us at all to really attain that happiness we all constantly pursue? 

Well, let me share to you the BEST map for it all...

"1My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:

2For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.

3Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; 

write them upon the table of thine heart:

4So shalt thou find favour and good understanding 

in the sight of God and man.

5Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; 

and lean not unto thine own understanding.

6In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

7Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

8It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

9Honour the LORD with thy substance, 

and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:

10So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

(Proverbs 3:1-10, KJV)

It doesn't take a scientist to figure that out. God's Words are simple and easy to understand. They are very easy to follow, too... BUT, (let's put the but here...) there's the second ingredient that is a requirement for success. The WILL to follow the roadmap laid out before us.

The WILL of the matter...

The question then boils down to this:

Are YOU willing to SUBMIT to God and do things HIS WAY 

when it comes to the pursuit of happiness and success?

The result will depend on your honest answer to that question. The roadmap is there, and all you need is your UTMOST WILLINGNESS to submit to His ways. Are YOU up for it? Remember, it ain't that easy because you aren't really WIRED for change and submission to authority.

Want some helpful hints for this new year's road to success? Here they are:

"The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." (Romans 8:7)

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. " (1 Corinthians 2:14)

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." (John 3:6)

"Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." (John 3:7)

And here are some helpful hints that will make the success go beyond this short-lived life on earth... here's to make it last for ALL ETERNITY...

"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3)

" If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me." 

(Matthew 19:21)

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." 

(Matthew 6:19-21)

Want to get to where you want to be this New Year 2013 and beyond? 
God's Word gives us the roadmap! Do you have the WILL to follow Him?

 

Joy to the World: A Savior was Given

An evil, lost and dying world

It doesn't take a scientist to see what kind of world we all live in. There's too much evil around us that it can't be denied there is something wrong with all of us. We always get in each other's way and there seems to always be evil thoughts in a man's heart.

Tragedy strikes humanity every so often and today was not an exemption. The massacre of 27 people, 18 of which are small children in Sandy Hook Elementary School of Newtown, Connecticut, leaves us bewildered of the evil that is among us. How can a person be so heartless? How can a person be so cruel? So depraved? 

Oftentimes, we look at tragic situations like this and condemn the acts of violence that lead to the loss of precious lives. Yet, we fail greatly to acknowledge that every single day, humanity showcases this heartlessness and cruelty and depravity in many other tragic areas. 

This same depravity rules in the lives of those who perform abortions; those who wreck havoc in families through divorce; those who disrespect another's heart by lusting and fornicating with them; those who abuse themselves with substances; those who gossip and destroy others by words; those who abuse others physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually; those who lie and cheat their way to the top; those who selfishly indulge their greed with unnecessary shopping sprees while others in the world starve to death; and the list can go on and on. 

These are realities that we deliberately ignore, as if they are not a problem to our society. This is our DEPRAVITY. We have all been living in this delusion of grandeur where we think of ourselves highly as we look down on those labeled as "criminals." We have this distorted reality of sin which makes us think there are lesser and/or greater degrees of sin in this life.

Our problem lies in the grass-root level of it all... and that is our sinful, carnal way of life. The Bible tells us in Jeremiah 17:9 (KJV) that:

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"

Our hearts are DESPERATELY WICKED! 

The word desperate is defined as extreme, awful, and beyond hope! That defines our REALITY. God's Word speaks a great amount of Truth in Romans 3:10 when it tells us that, "THERE IS NONE righteous. No, NOT ONE!" God could not find a single heart, a single individual, a single human being who isn't depraved! 

ALL OF US, in the eyes of the Holy God, are sinners and as we live with hearts that are desperately wicked, there isn't really anything in us that seeks after God. How amazingly accurate God's Word describe humanity to be. His word saith in Romans chapter 3:

10As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

11There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

12They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; 

there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

13Their throat is an open sepulchre; 

with their tongues they have used deceit; 

the poison of asps is under their lips:

14Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:

15Their feet are swift to shed blood:

16Destruction and misery are in their ways:

17And the way of peace have they not known:

18There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Isn't this the reality of humanity? There is NO FEAR OF GOD before our eyes. We all have the audacity to live our lives in our own way, thinking that our way is right! We come up with depraved thoughts to try to convince ourselves that our choices lead to life. Oh, but God's Word just couldn't stop EXPOSING THE REAL DEAL with us!

"There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, 

but the end thereof are the ways of death." (Proverbs 16:25)

"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" (Romans 3:23)

"All we like sheep have gone astray; 

we have turned every one to his own way..." (Isaiah 53:6)

"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; 

and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." (Isaiah 64:6)

Still think you are a "good" person? We won't even come close to PASSING the test if God's Law (the 10 commandments) are used to test us. Have we lied? Have we stolen anything (no matter how small it was)? Have we looked at another with lust? (That's the same as adultery in God's standard!) Have we dishonored our parents by disobeying them? Where do we stand when God uses HIS laws to see if we really can be considered "GOOD" in His eyes?

Reality is, WE DON'T STAND A CHANCE! God is a Holy God and He doesn't fool around like we do. When He demands holiness and righteousness, it is the perfect holiness and righteousness that is of Him! Unfortunately for us, there isn't anything we could ever do to attain THAT! No amount of religious practices, or practical prayers, or mystical experiences could wash us clean from the filth of our sins! No degree of piety nor amount of penance could clear our record before God. Remember Isaiah 64:6? Our righteousness are as FILTHY RAGS!!! We are enslaved to our sins and chained to death! What else can we do? Where do we go?

We need something else other than ourselves! 

We need... a Savior...

Joy to the World: A Savior was given

It is critical for each one of us to understand AND accept our depravity. This depravity places us in a tight situation with God because our depravity calls for His righteous judgment to fall upon us. 

The Bible is clear that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). We deserve an end to this depraved, sinful life and that is death. We all became destined for an eternal separation with God in hell (the second death, Revelation 20:14), because none of our filth, unrighteousness and depravity can come near the holy throne of God in heaven!

Our verdict? GUILTY. Our case? HOPELESS... 

But not UNTIL...

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son..." (John 3:16)

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6)

"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21)

"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)

"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)

"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." (John 3:36)

"And this is the witness, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." (1 John 5:11)

God's Word tells us that because He does not want any to perish but for all of us to come to repentace, He sent His only begotten Son to save us from our sins! His precious Son because the sin-offering that we drastically needed in order to be saved. His precious Son, Jesus Christ, died a sinner's death (though He did not sin) in order to rise from the dead and bring us into new life for eternity!

What MUST WE DO TO BE SAVED? Well, it should begin by acknowledging our NEED for a Savior. We cannot fully embrace the work of Jesus and the gift of salvation which He offers us UNTIL WE COME FACE TO FACE WITH OUR DEPRAVITY! 

JESUS finished the work of salvation! He completed what God had demanded as payment for our sins! 

"These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: 2As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. 3And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. 4I have glorified thee on the earth:

I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." (John 17:1-4)

"When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: 

and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost." (John 19:30)

When something is FINISHED, it means it is DONE and whatever work that is that needed to be finished, it is finally OVER. Jesus paid the FULL price for sin when He died on that cross. He took the punishment for sin, or the wage of sin which is death! BUT, because He is the only begotten Son of God, WHO IS GOD Himself, He was buried for 3 days and on the third day ROSE FROM THE DEAD because death could not hold Him!!! Hallelujah!!!

THAT is His promise of eternal life. All that we have to do is to TRUST HIM and TAKE HIS WORD FOR IT that He has paid the price in FULL! What does God's Word say?

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." (Romans 10:9)

Seems to be too simple, right? Unfortunately, though, that is the stumbling block of many people. So many want to give themselves that feeling of accomplishment and doing something for the sake of their own salvation so they get the "reward". 

The guilt of SIN in our lives is so heavy that many deceived hearts tend to want to do things ON THEIR OWN to really feel that they became good enough to appease God's righteous judgment. UNFORTUNATELY, though, GOD ONLY ACCEPTS THE ONE and ONLY WAY HE HIMSELF HAS GIVEN TO US! His only begotten Son died an undeserved death on the cross to save us from our sins and to save us from death... it's THE ONLY WAY. Jesus proclaimed that clearly! HE IS THE WAY...

This is why we need a good does of REALITY and a face to face session with our depravity and sin in order for us to realize WE NEED JESUS and WE CRITICALLY NEED WHAT HE ALONE HAD and CAN OFFER! Our sinfulness, filth and most of all our SELF-RELIANCE ought to bring us to our knees in Repentance to God as we grow that Godly sorrow that will plant the FEAR OF GOD in our lives!

Let's break it down to get to the bottom...

• CONFESS--meaning, "acknowledge something to be TRUE"...
• THE LORD--meaning, "one with considerable power and authority"...
• JESUS--meaning, "who saves us from our sins"...

We must BELIEVE and FULLY ACKNOWLEDGE that GOD'S ONLY BEGOTTEN SON indeed SAVES US FROM OUR SINS by His CONSIDERABLE POWER and AUTHORITY!

• BELIEVE--meaning, "to accept something as TRUE"
• THAT GOD--meaning, "the supreme, ultimate reality Being who is perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness worshipped as creator and ruler of the universe."
• RAISED --meaning, "moved above"
• HIM --pertaining to JESUS CHRIST
• FROM THE DEAD --meaning, "from having lost life; Not having the capacity to live."

We MUST accept the FACT that God supplied His only begotten Son to powerfully save us from sin and death by MOVING FROM THE STATE OF HAVING LOST ETERNAL LIFE, to MOVING ABOVE THAT BY LIVING FOREVER!

My question is simple... Since JESUS FINISHED THE WORK OF SALVATION for mankind, 

do YOU really believe in HIM as the One who SAVES YOU from sin and death? Do you COMPLETELY ACCEPT THAT WHAT HE'S DONE BRINGS YOU ETERNAL LIFE? Do YOU really BELIEVE all THAT HE IS BEING THE ONLY WAY TO RECONCILE WITH GOD?

You must, beloved... for that is the ONLY TIME when you will achieve and understand the JOY that came when the Savior was given...