Q&A: The Truth About…

How can I be happy in Heaven when unsaved loved ones will be in hell?

Don Gerrity Q&A: The Truth About...
How can I be happy in Heaven when unsaved loved ones will be in hell?

Here I am again..up at 3:37am. Restless. Why? This keeps me up at night. Only Jesus can call and bring a person to the truth about how wretched a sinner each of us is. Only the Father God can reveal who Jesus really is and why He died on the cross.

What keeps me up then? Unredeemed and unsaved loved ones is what. It consumes me. I pray for their salvation through Christ but am actually quite helpless in having them saved.

And then I think.. How can I be happy in Heaven knowing loved ones will be in hell? I am talking about people that care for others.  Help others.  Good people from our human perspective.

I found this article and thought to share it.


By  Jackson, Wayne. “Can I Be Happy in Heaven with Loved Ones in Hell?”

https://www.christiancourier.com/articles/704-can-i-be-happy-in-heaven-with-loved-ones-in-hell

What Does The Bible Mean By Repentance?

Don Gerrity Q&A: Repentance, Q&A: Salvation, Q&A: The Truth About...
What Does The Bible Mean By Repentance?

It is something that every Christian has done. If you have not done this one thing then you may not a Christian but only think you are. Repentance. The Scriptures are clear and Jesus tells us that to be saved one needs to repent.

“From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17 KJV)

“But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?” (Matthew 9:12-14 KJV)

“I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:5 KJV)

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” (Acts 3:19)

It is well established that Jesus states very clearly that we must repent from Sin. However, there seems to be much confusion about what the Bible means when it tells us to Repent. Does that mean that we just stop all sins and then we can be saved? Does that mean we must do penance for our sins? Does it mean we need to turn from our sins to retain Salvation? Does it just mean we feel sorry for our sins?

John says, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” (1 John 1:10). And John was addressing believers here, not those who do not believe. So if he told believers with faith in Christ and the atonement for sins He provided on the cross, then we can also conclude that to ‘repent‘ is not to stop sinning. That is not to say we should try to not sin. However, the word ‘repent’ obviously does not mean to ‘not ever sin’ again.

Is ‘repenting‘ something that we must do after we accept faith in Christ? Is repenting something that we must do over and over again after our moment of belief in accepting Christ as our Lord and Savior? That is when we sin, do we have to do something to have the sins after our initial point of Salvation or risk losing our Salvation?

Clearing The Confusion Over Repentance

The confusion over what ‘repentance’ actually means is due to a misunderstanding over the Biblical verse the modern day definition of the English word repent. The modern day dictionaries do not define the word ‘repent’ in the same way that the Bible defines the word. The definition of the word has changed over time and no longer is defined to mean what it meant in the time that Jesus walked on the Earth 2000 years ago.

Dictionary defines the word ‘repent’ as “to feel such sorrow for sin or fault as to be disposed to change one’s life for the better; be penitent. “ If this were the definition for ‘repent’ in the Bible then the entire Gospel and Salvation in Christ becomes a false Gospel based on works and our human effort.

God repents many times in Scripture (Genesis 6:6, Exodus 32:14, Judges 2:18, 1 Samuel 15:35, Amos 7:3, etc.). I ask you, does God need to ‘turn from His sins’? NO! That makes no sense right? God is Holy and has NO SIN. The Father has NO SIN. Jesus has NO SIN. The Holy Spirit has NO SIN. Therefore, ‘turning from sin’ is not the Biblical definition of the English translated word ‘repent’ in the Bible.

A read through the book of Galatians shows that the word repent is not defined in the Bible as ‘turn from sin‘.

“Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:3-8 KJV)

A review of the Gospel of Christ that Paul taught shows clearly that Salvation is not of human works or effort but that Salvation is a free gift from God. Salvation is not something we work towards receiving. It is a gift that we receive. If someone gives you a gift, do they expect you to work or they will take back the gift? If so, it is not a gift right?

Apparently there were some Jews who wanted to add works of the law as a requirement to be saved. (We see this happening today as well!) This is opposite to the Gospel of Christ. In fact, it is like telling Christ that His sacrifice in blood for remission of our sins was not enough and not sufficient. God forbid a person act like that toward such a loving God! It is such a seriously wrong belief that Paul says,

“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:8 KJV)

The True Biblical Meaning of Repentance

The word ‘repent’ in the Bible has a completely different meaning than today’s modern dictionary. Once you see the true Biblical meaning of ‘repentance’ you can see how good the good news of the Gospel of Christ really is!

The New Testament was originally written in the Greek. This is important information for interpreting the Scriptures to find the true meaning of passages used in context.

The Greek word for the English word ‘repent’ is ‘metanoia’ and is defined as “…a change of mind, change in the inner man”.

You can see clearly now that the Biblical meaning of ‘repent‘ is nothing like the dictionary definition (change one’s life for the better; be penitent. ) True repentance is not a work that WE DO to gain God’s acceptance and favor. God reached out to us first and provided a way for us sinners to be forgiven completely, but it is NOT from our own efforts. God gives Salvation to us as a free gift to be received. The Bible tells us that BEFORE God created the Earth He established the one and only way for us to be forgiven our sins and that way is by faith in the act of atonement provided by Jesus The Christ, God in the flesh, on the cross.

Repentance is changing our mind and thinking about how to be saved. We are NOT saved by our works, which is what the every religion in the world teaches. Even many ‘Christian organized religions’ are teaching falsely and misusing the word ‘repent’ and they add works as a requirement of Salvation. But that is NOT Biblical teaching. We need to change our thinking about how we are saved to the true way of Salvation. It is 100% the Grace Of God, through faith in Jesus Christ and the atonement He provided by His shed blood. By believing this we have repented and turned towards God while He is already reaching out to us!

You see this world system/world view is not God’s view and He wants us to turn from the world’s way of dealing with sin and instead accept His way of dealing with our sin. To repent is the first step to Salvation in Christ. Repentance does not save a person, but it leads to Salvation as you change your mind about God and your sin debt against Him.

“ Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.” (2 Corinthians 7:9 KJV)

There are Scriptures where it may seem like it is saying that to Repent is to turn away from and stop sinning but those are talking about the process of our sanctification and fellowship with God. It is not about turning from sin as a requirement of our justification in Salvation. However, the Bible is very clear that Salvation is not of works or human effort. Salvation comes by believing the Gospel, not by not sinning. And if you really think about it; if you change your mind (repent) about God and how to have your sins forgiven, you may very well change and stop a particular sin you practiced in your life before Salvation.

But the repenting is the change in your mind from the world’s way of dealing with sin and changing to God’s way of dealing with sin which is believing on Christ for Salvation apart from works of any kind (Ephesians 2:8-9). Stopping the practice of a particular sin is a result of repenting and changing your mind. That is, it is not the repenting itself.

The Main Books Of Salvation Proves This!

The book of John is all about how to be saved. Do you know that the word ‘repent’ nor ‘repentance’ does not even appear once! But the word ‘believe’ on Christ is seen all over the book many times!

The book of Galatians. This is the book fighting against the false Gospel based on works for Salvation right? Again, the word ‘repent’ is not found once in this book contending for the true Gospel! However the word ‘faith’ in Jesus Christ is found all through the book!

The book of Romans. Paul tells us again and again that Salvation is NOT OF WORKS IN ANY MANNER! And where the word ‘repent’ is found, it is not the same Greek word. It does not mean ‘turning from your sin’.

The Christian religions need to stop using the dictionary definition of the word ‘repent’ and start using the Bible definition.

Using The Biblical Definition

Understanding the Bible definition of the word REPENT as simply ‘change your mind’ we can replace the word with ‘change your mind‘ and then reread the passage and the context becomes more clear.

Example: Acts 3:

“19 REPENT ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” (Acts 3:19 KJV)

 

“19 CHANGE YOUR MIND ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” (Acts 3:19 KJV)

Acts 3 is about a Change of mind about how to eradicate sin. Not by the Law of Moses, but through Christ in faith.

What About Turning From Our Sin Then?

To be clear…I AM NOT SAYING BELIEVERS SHOULD NOT TURN FROM SIN. If someone has repented… they have basically turned to God in belief and confess that they are a sinful person with a sin nature. In remorse, they ask Christ to forgive them and have mercy on them because they realize that they cannot stop sinning perfectly. They see the Ten Commandments and realize they have broken many if not most of them. They TURN TO GOD for mercy.

Turning from sin alone does not save anyone. Turning to God in belief on Christ Crucified for the payment of our sins does.

Now, after Salvation, our mind begins to renew by the Word Of God (our sanctification – see John 17) and we start to change. We fight sinning. It is a REAL struggle! (Romans 7)

We turn from sinning because that is what our New Spirit wants. I believe strongly in turning from our sins to the best of our ability. But I recognise that with this sin nature still in us… I will fail and sin as well. When I do, guilt hits from the Holy Spirit and I tell God I am sorry and ask God to help me do better.

The point is turning from sin is not a requirement of our justification but we try not to sin after Salvation knowing that when we blow it… Jesus already paid for the sins committed. We still have consequences for the acts of sin – but loss of Salvation is not a consequence because Salvation is eternal and God keeps us saved by His grace.

World’s way of dealing with sin…

(a) There is no God.

(b) If I do good deeds it will make up for my sins and I will be in right standing with God. Or, I am full of sin and so I will run away from anything to do with God so my sin will not be revealed.

(c) I will make myself look like I am good on the outside and go to church everyday. I will assist in the church committees, I will be outstanding in religious things and these good deeds will make me walk in right standing with God.

God’s way of dealing with sin…

(a) God is Holy and He must punish someone that sins. The punishment for sinning is ETERNAL DEATH. (Romans 6:23)

(b) Everyone has sinned, regardless of how good they think they are and no good deeds can every make up for past sins committed.

(c) Jesus, the only Son of God, was born of the Virgin Mary (not born into sin as we are), lived a sinless life and freely gave His life on the cross to take the punishment for the sins that we commit and takes our place in punishment so we can be free from the punishment of sin.

(d) As a sinner you and I acknowledge that we have sinned against God. And we ask Jesus to forgive us all our sins (past,present and future) and accept the free gift of salvation from our debt of sin against God. You see the world’s way to God is through works. But the real way to God is by God’s grace through faith:

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8 KJV)

This is what true repentance is. We turn from working away our sin debt, or out right ignoring it, (the World’s way) to accepting His love and forgiveness (God’s way). Jesus, the only son of God who existed before the universe was even created, of His own free will died on the cross and took our place and punishment for sin’s we have committed. On that cross He freed us from our sin debt and gave us God’s very righteousness, in Christ. Once you accept this gift from God through Jesus’ atonement on the cross you are now what the Bible calls “Righteous”. Not because of our works nor our sinless life, but because Christ bore the punishment for all of our sins. It is God who first loved us and reached out to us. Christ will return and set up His eternal Kingdom on Earth in the future. This is the Gospel message.

God is love and waits for you to return to a relationship with Him. This is the “Good News” of the Gospel. So when Jesus tells us that we need to repent it means we need to believe the Gospel message and to believe in God’s world view in how to deal with he sin debt we all have against a Perfectly Holy and Just God.

“Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15 KJV)

“Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14: 5-6 KJV)

Jesus did not tell Thomas that no one comes to the Father except he stops sinning. Jesus said “except through ME”. When a person asks for the forgiveness provided through Christ. When a person invites Jesus to take control of their life. When a person asks Jesus for forgiveness and invites God through the forgiveness provided, then that person become a new creature in the spirit. A new created being. They have repented by doing so. They believed on Christ for Salvation. In fact, God lives within every believer as Jesus said,

“Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. (John 14:19-20 KJV)

I can attest to this truth from my own personal experience in life. He makes it so clear to me in every circumstance in ways that I will know that it must be Him, within me and with me. And He does work through me as well, probably more than I know!

And after many years now I know, that I know, that Christ is with me through the Holy Spirit. It is a mystery – no doubt about it! But it is simply the truth. God gave us the free gift of Eternal life through Jesus, the Christ. And all we have to do is believe, feel sorry about our sin and ask for His forgiveness and He will forgive us, justify us and set us free. After the moment of a person’s Salvation in Christ the Holy Spirit comes and dwells within a believer. And over time the Holy Spirit will make Himself known to you and will teach you all things.

“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” (John 14:26 KJV)

The Parable of the Lost Son – Are You One?

“ And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:

And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.” (Luke 15:11-24 KJV)

If you have never had a change of mind about the truth that God exists…

…that the Bible is true with proof no other religious writing have,
…that He is perfect in every way,
…that He is Perfectly Holy and Perfectly Just,
…that He never changes,
…that He must punish sin (eternal death)
…and that the only way back to God is to admit you are a sinner
…and that the ONLY way back to the one true God of the universe is through the sacrificial atonement of Jesus Christ, the Son Of God, for the remission of your sin,

THEN I SAY TO YOU… Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand!

Today can be the day of your Salvation. Your Salvation is NOT of works. It is a pardon gift for your sins (past/present/future) TODAY. Come as you are – full of sin and regrets and hangups, guilty before God. God is waiting for you to accept His free GIFT OF SALVATION. It is a HOLY PARDON that is free to you but that Christ paid a heavy price in His blood to obtain for you eternal life with God through your Salvation. He longs to forgive you COMPLETELY for ALL the sins in your life.

What Is The Fullness Of God’s Gift To Believers?

Don Gerrity Q&A: The Truth About...
What Is The Fullness Of God’s Gift To Believers?

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV)

So, does this describe you? If you have accepted Jesus as your personal savior than the answer is YES, whether you feel it yet or not. As new believers, we are said to be “born again”. And so, we are at that time born as babies in regard to our spiritual birth. A baby needs time to learn and so do we! So if you are a new believer, I am telling you something right now, beforehand… you WILL one day feel and know that you are a new creation in Jesus and old things have passed, behold all things are new!

It is only a matter of time because the Holy Spirit will start to teach you, teach your most inner self, way down in your spirit and slowly it will widen out towards every part of your life. God said it.. and it WILL! I have been a believer since I was in grade 7. And at the time I did not know squat! But here I am, now 42 years old and I can testify to the fact, I know that I know. With everything that I am.. I know that 2 Corinthians 5:17 is 100% true!

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV)

Many people know and will tell you that Jesus died and that His death paid the penalty for our sins so that we could be forgiven. Well, yes that is true. Many people and organized churches will tell you this but will add something like, “but you must be a good person now and you must do good works to keep being forgiven”. I am telling you.. that is a lie!

If you hear someone tell you they are a believer in Jesus do not assume they have accepted the Gospel if they say that. That is NOT what the gospel of Jesus says at all. Instead it says that not only did Jesus take on our punishment so that we would not be judged for our sins but that He also made us the very righteousness of God in Him! Not that we made ourselves righteous.. God made us righteous through Jesus.

It may surprise you that if you are a born again believer, that God the Father does not even remember our sin when He looks at us. Instead He sees us filtered through the blood that Christ shed for us and He sees Jesus in us. So much so, that God loves the born again as much as He loves Jesus and God made us to be as He is. In fact, I am now a Son of God and Brother with Christ. I am not declaring this of myself.. God declares this and has bestowed this on me as a born again believer! How incredible is that?

I know that some of you who read this will say “How dare you compare yourself with Jesus! Who do you think you are?”   Well, I think that I am a born again, Bible believing, Holy Spirit filled child of God – that is who. To such a person I say… do not believe what a man has told you or a woman has told you. Do not believe blindly ever word that a priest or pastor or friend or evangelist tells you!

READ YOUR BIBLE TO KNOW WHAT CHRIST REALLY DID FOR YOU AND TO KNOW WHO YOU HAVE BECOME AND BELIEVE IT!

I can say this with boldness and confidence!

Think that I am wrong? It is VERY Biblical !

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be MADE the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV)

“Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4 KJV)

“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.” (1 John 4:16-17 KJV)

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2 KJV)

“For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.” (Matthew 12:50 KJV)

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” (Romans 8: 14-17 KJV)

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.“ (Romans 8: 28-30 KJV)

This last one is powerful stuff is it not? Notice He also glorified (past tense).

Before God ever created me. Before I was born into this world in my mother’s womb, God knew me! And He predestined me to conform to the image of Jesus! Jesus was the firstborn, the first raised from the dead and glorified by God and here it says the firstborn of “many brethren”. That is ME! And if you have believe Jesus is God in the flesh and have accepted His great gift of salvation.. that is YOU TOO!

This is powerful stuff and it is right there in your Holy Bible. The Word Of God Himself. And God is not a man that He should lie! If it is in the Bible .. it is the truth. I wonder how many of you who read this article have heard any of this taught in your local church? By your priest? You pastor? I am sure there are still some teaching the Word Of God properly. There are still some teaching the Gospel Of Grace which Jesus paid such a high price for you and me and He gave us everything! But what about you? Believe God’s word. Read the Bible. Let the Bible be right and everyone else a liar! The Apostle Paul said,

“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:8-9 KJV)

and then Paul goes on to say,

“But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 1: 11-12 KJV)

It’s All About The Grace Of God

The Gospel is all about how God sent to us His Grace! Not that we were seeking God. God came to us. He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus, to die on a cross and take upon Himself the punishment of sins that we deserved so that we could be forgiven all of our sins. He made us heaven bound, without sin, and now we are made righteous. In fact, He made us the very righteousness of God in Christ!

God is almighty and powerful but we can go boldly to His throne and we can talk with God calling Him our “Father”. God gave us all things!

Believe it! Claim it! And.. so be it!

The Holy Angelic Host Of God

Don Gerrity Q&A: The Truth About...

Some believe that when a person dies they become angels. Many believe that Angels are male and female. In fact, judging by statues of angels and children’s books it is likely that most believe that Angels are mostly female.

What does the Bible tell us about God’s angels?

According to the Bible, angels are a separate creation of God. God created the angels and humans as two different races of beings. Angels are immortal and live forever. Angels do not marry or have the ability to procreate and so they do not really have a gender (Matthew 22:30). God’s Angels have the ability to take on human form (Hebrews 13:2, Genesis 18) and when they do the Bible seems to indicate it is as a man, not a women. There is not one incident in the Bible describing an angel as a female. They may actually be neither gender but when they do appear it has been of a male looking being.

There are literally millions and millions of angels that God calls His Holy Host of Angels. The Angelic Host also has a hierarchy, with each rank of angel set to perform specific tasks. Jesus Christ, as the Son Of God and equal to God, is the commander of the angelic host of angels (Joshua 5:14). The Arch Angel Michael contends with Satan (Jude 9). Michael is the angel that fought with Satan at the angelic rebellion and cast him out of Heaven.

The Bible indicates that there are many different types of angels. There are the Cherubim and Seraphim that protect God’s throne and worship him day and night (Ezekiel 1:5-14). Satan is a Cherubim angel that rebelled against God and was cast out of Heaven and God’s throne. If our eyes were opened to see the invisible realm of angels we would be shocked to see just how many are around us all day and all night long. And that includes the evil fallen angels.

Throughout the Bible and all of human history Angels have worked in helping connect the unsaved with believers so that they might believe and be saved and redeemed. Jesus said that “…there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10). This is not their only task though. The Bible shows us much about the Angelic race of eternal beings.

God’s Holy Angels Are Messengers Of God

There are numerous incidents in the Bible showing us that angels are messengers of God to humankind. God sends us many messages for different events in our lives. Angels are a very busy race of beings helping millions and billions of people here on Earth throughout time. Angels travel between Heaven and Earth constantly in a steady stream of the work God assigns them.

“And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.” (Genesis 28:12 KJV)

God Sends His Angels To Fulfill His plan For Humankind

Satan and his angels are fighting these plans and trying to thwart them. Satan has one third of the angels under his command. God has the other 2/3 of angels. And remember that Satan is not an anti-god, that is he is not all knowing and all powerful like God. God created Lucifer and Satan is just a powerful angel. When Satan and his fallen angels, known also as demons, manipulates the circumstances around a person’s life it is always to discourage us and defeat the purposes of God. However, God makes “…all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.“ (Romans 8:28 KJV).

God uses His Angelic creation to accomplish His will for our lives. The Bible shows us that angels are used to take us out of dangers that we do not even know are right before us. In the events of Sodom and Gomorrah Angels visited Lot and we see that ” When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.” (Genesis 19:15). God used His Angels to prevent the destruction of those who were faithful to God in the doomed city. To remove them from the city before the judgement of God that was about to occur. I wonder how many times the angels have averted trouble for you and me? I believe that one day, at the Rapture, we will be able to look back with full knowledge of our lives and will be astonished how much angels have prevented disasters Satan and the fallen angels had setup for us to fall into. These ‘wiles of the devil’ and how to thwart their efforts are described in Ephesians 6 starting at verse 10.

The Angels Are Destroying The Enemies Of The Redeemed

During the Exodus from Egypt the Pharaoh refused numerous times to let the Hebrew slaves go free from their 400 years of slavery. Each time Moses and Aaron would tell the Pharaoh and he refused to free them, God sent another destructive force to hit Egypt until he agreed to let the Hebrew slaves go free. God sent swarms of locust, frogs everywhere and all the waterways turned to blood, undrinkable, etc. In all of these destructive forces, God had sent angels to accomplish the plagues and destruction.

“He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them.” (Psalm 78:49 KJV)

Angels Provide Ongoing Comfort And Encouragement

God uses Angels to provide ongoing support for the believer in faith. There is great comfort in this and God also sends His angels to comfort us in times of trouble.

“For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” (Psalms 91:11 KJV)

“Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.” (Psalm 103:20 KJV)

Angels even ministered to Jesus when He was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days. After Jesus dismissed Satan’s temptations,

“Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.” (Matthew 4:11 KJV)

Even at our death as a believer in Christ, at our physical demise, when your spirit looks down at your physical body, an Angel will comfort you and take you to Heaven,

“And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom:…” (Luke 16:22 KJV)

When everything thing in your world seems to have fallen apart and all is out of control, God is still in full control and He sends you angels to help encourage you. They will direct you to listen to something on a Christian radio program, in a book, on a blog (maybe this one?). To help ease your mind, angels will direct other people to “just show up” at the right time and in your time of need. And sometimes Jesus Christ Himself will speak to your heart, or more directly as He did to Hagar when she was put out from Abraham and Sarah.

“And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.  And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bow shot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept. And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.” (Genesis 21:14-18 KJV)

Angels Watch Over Our Children

I often wonder after seeing my kids in their very early years sitting on the floor in their diapers but appearing to be looking and laughing at something as if there was a person in front of them doing something. Were their angels communicating with my children? Are they imaginary friends? Speculation on my part but it is very possible that there were angels because in the Bible it tells us that angels do watch over our children.

“Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 18:10 KJV) 

This verse is showing us that we all have guardian angels, assigned to each individual person on Earth.  

Angels Help Us In Times Of Stressful Situations

When Mary (a virgin) conceived, even though Joseph and her had not yet consummated their marriage, Joseph was very confused but also did not want any harm to come to Mary because he loved her. Joseph undoubtedly must have been wondering who she slept with in adultery, an offense punishable by stoning to death at that time. He was very troubled and stressed out about this as you can imagine.

“But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.”
(Matthew 1:20-21 KJV)

Angels Are Found Throughout The Bible!
They are everywhere!

They are numerous and doing many things with humankind for fulfilling God’s promises and plan for us. An angel of God came to the aid of Peter who was imprisoned. The angel broke the chains, open the doors, and guided Peter to escape the prison (Acts 12:7-11)! An angel helped the Apostle Paul on numerous occasions. Angels appeared at Christ’s birth and ascension and they will be present at the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ.  

Angels Are Watchers of God’s Super Abundant Love

Angels are learning something not experienced before. Satan committed the first sin of pride in Heaven, and it has spread to the human race.  Angels are partakers in the redemptive power of God’s love on an evil world. They are seeing God’s plan roll out with front row seats.

“For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.” (1 Corinthians 4:9 KJV)

We Are Not To Worship Angels

Angels are so beautiful and powerful that when humans see them, some bow to their knees. We seen this when angels appeared to the shepherds during the birth story of Jesus. But the angels told the Shepherds to not worship them but only God. This is good advice not only because it is true but there are also evil fallen angels that can come and appear beautiful too. Before the fall the devil’s name was Lucifer and the name literally means ‘the shining one’! Since his fall, satan’s whole goal in the rebellion was to become like God so that all humans and angels would bow to him. We don’t want to bow to Satan in error!  Apostle Paul instructed the Galatians,

“But though we, OR AN ANGEL FROM HEAVEN, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:8 KJV)

If an angel were to appear to us, we still need to discern if what they say is not against the true Gospel of Christ or the Bible. If so, our response should be ‘The Lord Rebuke You!’

Praying For The Help Of Angels

We should not pray to angels directly as if they are the same as God the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit but we can pray to God, in Jesus’ Name, to send us His angels to protect us and help us in times of trouble and throughout the span of our lives. God hears your prayers and He will answer your prayers. The Father may use His Holy Angels To Accomplish the answers to your prayers.

The Real Story Of Noah

Don Gerrity Q&A: The Truth About...
The Real Story Of Noah

“And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah FOUND GRACE in the eyes of the Lord.”
(Genesis 6:1-8 KJV)

There seems to be much confusion regarding the story of Noah and the destruction of the world by God in his time. There are all kinds of crazy ways people think about this Biblical account. With the most recent movie called “Noah” in theaters, telling the story in an unbiblical way we can see that the confusion of the truth, (or perversion of the truth in this regard) , will spread even further.

But even before the latest Hollywood movies hit the screens, there were lots of untruthful ideas in the story told among people, and in our schools. Why is this so when the Bible is very clear? The reason is simple. Now in the last days generation in which we live, humankind has turned from God more and more until we now have a generation of people who have lost touch with the truth of the Bible. As parents turned away so does the children and over a few generations the entire world has really backsliden from God’s truth. So much so that today a vast majority of Christians and believers rely on only what their pastor or priest tell them what is truth – without reading the Bible and learning the truth themselves.

Without believers/Christians reading the Bible themselves there is no checks and balances in what is being taught in the pulpits. This has led to so much confusion and distrust in organized religions and many people are leaving organized religions completely.

Jesus taught plainly, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32 KJV)

But if the truth is what you heard from a Pastor or Priest and they have not understood or took the passage out of it’s context, they could be leading you astray! And if you get your information from a Hollywood movie, even more so you could be led astray! No, we do not need truth from man. What we need is God’s truth from the Bible, God’s word. Now do not misunderstand what I am saying. I am not saying that all organized religion is bad. Or that all church leaders of such organizations are bad. What I am saying is that leaders sometimes need a “nudge” here and there and some “checks and balances” in place, to keep in line with Scriptures when they teach. Also, the congregations (you and me!) need to be able to discern the Biblical truth from what they are saying. And that comes from doing your own study of the Bible.

We have so many tools today to learn about the Bible and God and His plan for us ; yet hardly anyone is using the highly available and free tools. This needs to change and believers of Christ need to do so more now then ever before as we are living in the days when Christ will return – the end times. We of all generations need to study the Bible and have a desire to know God! The Bride of Christ, all Christians and believers in Christ’s act of atonement at the cross, need to KNOW the truth and in doing so, be filled with the Holy Spirit who will teach us all truth (John 16:13).

Let’s do a quick study of the story of Noah from the BIBLE – not from Hollywood, or children’s stories in school. Let’s learn the real reason WHY God destroyed the Earth with a flood and why it was done out of mercy for all of humankind. If you have never actually read the Biblical account of Genesis 6, nor compared other Scriptures about Noah’s flood, then this should be a real eye opener for you. And it is right here in the Holy Bible!

The Fall In The Garden Of Eden

As with everything written in the Bible, you must take into account the context of Scripture. Anyone can take a one line verse from the Bible, and tell others a meaning that is totally untrue because the whole passage context was not taken into account. So, let’s start our study hundreds of years before the flood. In fact, let’s go right back to just after Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. You can read about this story fully yourself but for this article I am just giving a general overview for the points to make regarding Noah and the flood. After Adam and Eve sinned, humankind fell and there was a divide between God and humankind – called sin, or the sin nature. Out of His eternal love and mercy, God immediately started a plan to redeem all of humankind. Because the garden contained the Tree Of Life that gives life everlasting, God kicked Adam and Eve out of the Garden. Because He was angered? The Bible says it was because, otherwise, they would remain in the state of sin forever. Then the results of sin began in the world. Now you must remember that satan, the enemy of God and humankind, tempted and deceived Adam and Eve into sinning. And so God went to satan and this is what He told him:

“And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
(Genesis 3:14-15 KJV)

God told Satan straight out that enmity (strong hostility) will exist between satan and the woman. It also says between “thy seed and her seed”- that is two opposing seed lines. The “her seed” is obviously the offspring of Eve; that is Cain and Abel, later Seth, and well all of the blood line right up and until Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ’s death and Resurrection is imperative to the salvation and redemption of humankind and to a right relationship with God. Old Testament saints looked toward the cross event, in faith, for salvation and we look back at the cross event today, in faith, for salvation from our sins and to retain the Righteousness God demands. Now Satan has been told there will be a hatred of the woman’s seed. You must remember that Satan is a fallen Angel and he is NOT omnipotent as God is. That is satan cannot tell the future as God knows it. And so, satan started his own plan to destroy the blood line to the Messiah and by doing so he thought that he could stop the salvation of humankind. Adam and Eve had Cain and Abel as we see in Genesis 4:

“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

 And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.” (Genesis 4:1-8 KJV)

Before Christ had come and died on that cross the Old Testament believers were to slay an animal without blemish and sacrifice with blood to God for the remission of their sins. This was what happen at the first passover in Egypt. We know it was a foreshadowing of the final sacrifice for humankind in God plan of redemption, Jesus the Christ shedding His blood for the remission of our sins. We see in the above passage that Abel sacrificed an animal to God but Cain sacrificed “the fruit of the ground unto the Lord”. God gave respect to Abel’s offering but not to Cains. Now remember, there is no doubt that Satan was watching these two brothers to see if he can figure out who God will use for the bloodline to Christ – our savior, so he can stop the bloodline. Also, satan had no idea how long it would be until the Messiah was born. It could have been very soon! So, Satan sees that Abel’s offer was accepted and Cain’s was not. So what does he do? Chances are great that Satan started putting thoughts and ideas into Cain’s mind. One of anger and hatred towards his brother Abel who Satan thought was the blood line to Christ. And the Bible says that “Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.” But God is not so easily fooled. Satan convinced Cain to kill Abel but God planned for another, yet unborn son to be the seed of the woman – for the blood line to Jesus Christ. (Seth) Not to get off topic of the story of Noah’s Ark, but the above information is something to understand before understanding why there was a flood. Satan’s goal from the very beginning of humankind was to stop the bloodline to the Messiah and that is paramount to everything he has done in the past. Stop the bloodline to the Messiah to come. Once Jesus came and redeemed us on the cross, Satan was defeated in his goal. Since that time, Satan has changed his plan to preventing the truth of Christ’s salvation from reaching the hearts of humankind by deception and half truths. This is something Satan is doing especially to us here in the end times because he knows his time is short and that Jesus is coming again soon. And that means his ultimate demise is going to happen soon now. Now between the incident of Cain killing his brother, Satan came up with another stage in his plan to stop the seed and blood line to Christ. A more bold and devastating plan. We see this starting in Genesis 6. Now let’s move on to the story of Noah and the flood.

“And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.7 And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” (Genesis 6:1-8 KJV)

We see here that since Seth’s and Cain’s bloodlines the world really started to populate. God protects the bloodline to Christ and now with so many on the Earth Satan needs to find a way to stop the bloodline to Christ. So he sends some of the fallen angels (sons of God;that is they were created directly by God. That is why Adam was called a son of God but his offspring were not)) that rebelled with him against God to start mating with the human women. Some ask how could fallen angels do this physically; how is that possible. Well, the Bible gives an answer for that as well when it states “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” (Hebrews 13:2). So angels have the ability to take the form of a man. It is also interesting to note that contrary to many people’s belief, all angels mentioned in the Bible have been mentioned as being male and not female. That said, it may not have been an actual sexual act that made this possible. It could be a genetic manipulation. If we today can manipulate genes as we do, could not have God’s angels? We do not know exactly how it occurred but the Bible said that it happened and so, it did!

We can see now that angels genetically intermingled with human women and the offspring were called the “Nephilim“, giants and people of great stature, size and height. Apparently, they were also bent on doing evil continually and propagating violence as it says “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” .

These were hybrid offspring of angels and humans and an abomination to God. In the creation, God ordered life so that one kind mates with it’s own kind. (Example: Cat’s mate with cat’s, lions with lions, humans with humans.) This is such a trespass of this law of God that God later decides to judge these fallen angels before all other fallen angels (to be judged in the future) as we see Peter acknowledged these fallen angels who mated with women in 2Peter 2:4. Now between when this happened and the flood hundreds of years have passed and so they continued to populate the Earth until the only true humans left were Noah and his family. We know this because it states clearly that “.. These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.“ (Genesis 6:9 KJV)

The meaning of the phrase “perfect in his generations” is clear. His generation bloodline remained clean from the corrupt angel seed line and Noah and his family were the only true humans left alive! But didn’t God care about the hybrids that were born? Well yes he did. So much so Noah preached (2 Peter 2:5) to the people at that time in order that they may be saved but they failed to accept God’s grace of salvation through faith. It says Noah was a “just” man. A righteous man. But in the Bible when the words “just” and “righteous” are used in such context of a person, it does not mean he always did the right thing, or was a good person. Being justified by God for the forgiveness of sins through the sacrificial lamb of God is what made him just and righteous by faith. It is through faith that God would forgive his sins that made him a just man. This is what he preached to the people. The news of this guy building an ark most certainly would have spread throughout the communities – such a spectacle. As it had been 800 or 900 years from Adam and Eve in the garden until Noah’s Flood, there would have been a massive population of these hybrids on the Earth at that time. God said to Noah,

“But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.” (Genesis 6:18 KJV)

Here we can see now that the ark was a foreshadowing of Jesus’s act of atonement. It is the covenant of salvation. This also is a picture of the soon coming rapture or gathering of the church to protection in Heaven before the tribulation of the book of Revelation begins on Earth. God will protect believers from the hour of His wrath just as he protected Noah and his family. Why? Because of faith in Christ’s act of atonement where through which we are forgiven our sins.

The righteous in Christ will be protected and taken to a place of safety! The rest of the story we all know; God sent Noah two of every kind of animal to enter the ark, then God shut the door of the ark. God shut the door and sealed them in to a place of safety and provision just as Christ paid the penalty for our sins and said “It is finished!”. All the angel/human hybrids were wiped off the face of the Earth and God once again thwarted Satan’s attempt to destroy the bloodline of the Messiah; Jesus Christ. However, Genesis 6 also mentions a second attempt from Satan to do the same thing as we see it says,

“There were giants in the earth in those days; AND ALSO AFTER THAT, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.” (Genesis 6:4 KJV)

The “also after that” is after the flood. So why did God destroy the world in a flood? Was it because he is an angry mean God? NO! It is out of His mercy and love for humankind and His desire that they be redeemed to Him! To thwart the efforts of satan to stop Jesus the Christ and Messiah from coming to save all humankind from our sin nature and sin debt. To make sure that God would redeem the world and human kind. And to destroy the corrupted non-human beings that He never planned to create.

In This Life, You Will Have Trouble – Jesus Christ

Don Gerrity Q&A: The Truth About...
In This Life, You Will Have Trouble – Jesus Christ

We Have Victory Through Christ Jesus

Jesus tells the Apostles and to each of us plainly and truthfully,  “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 KJV)

We all have ups and downs in life and no one lives a completely trouble free life. We all have good times and bad times. Of course, we all like the song that sings, “Let the good times roll!”.

You can be sure, and I mean very sure, that trouble will eventually strike your life. Now each of us will have different degrees of trouble but we all will experience it. Such times will test our faith. That is, we will see how much faith we truly have and just how much we need to rely on God. You may look at some people and think that they have it made; they do not have the problems I am facing, right? The truth is everyone has obstacles and troubles that only God knows they are dealing with. It is true that some may be experiencing more severe troubles than another person’s troubles. But many times you don’t even know the hard time they may be going through. It could be a physical ailment. It could be severe depression. Whatever it is, God will allow troubles into a person’s life and it is for a purpose. But the end result will be for your own good, even if it does not ‘feel’ like it. I emphasize the word “feel” because we need to realize that emotions can be deceptive. We should not go just by our emotions; what we need is the facts and the truth regarding bad times and bad situations we find ourselves in.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28 KJV)

Why the trouble then?

You should know that whatever God purposes is always good. But good for who you may ask? I mean we don’t like the trials and bad times. Let’s face it, they are no fun at all. However, if God allows it in your life, there is a purpose He has for it and it is to:  

1. Build Your Confidence And Faith In God.

As you look at your past you will see how God was with you through your trials and bad times in life.Sometimes, as you do, you will realize and see His purpose for it. Your trust in God will increase with each trial – whether you passed or failed, you have learned.

2. God Is Good. God Loves You.

What ever happens know and trust this as a fact. God gave His own Son to take on the punishment for our sins. And it was done in a very horrific way. Jesus actually became our sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). The Father turned away from Jesus and Christ felt God’s presence leave.

In utter anguish Jesus, “…cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46 KJV)

Notice here that Jesus now says “My God” and not “My Father”. During His ministry He always called God, His “Father”, an endearing name, showing an intimate bond, but here Jesus calls out to “My God”. The intimate Father/Son bond was temporarily severed. All the physical pain and suffering was bad enough but then Jesus, who always had the presence of God for all eternity past, was found to be alone as his human side took on the punishment for our sins.

There is no doubt of God’s love because “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32 KJV)

You see, God must also be true to His own never changing character. You see, God never changes.

“For I am the Lord, I change not…”
(Malachi 3:6 KJV)

“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.”
(Hebrews 13:8 KJV)

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17 KJV)

To put this in proper perspective;  God must punish the sinner to meet His character of 100% Justice. Yet God loves us 100% and is 100% full of mercy. In order to meet the demands of His Holy perfect never ending character He became human (Jesus the Christ), lived a sinless life and Jesus took the punishment for our sin so that God’s justice would be paid.

Then in His perfect mercy, we are provided a way to accept this pardon and have a restored relationship with God. Bad things can sometimes be because God has a plan and it is for the good of you, your loved ones, or even strangers. And we may not get the answer to the question “why” all the time. Many times we find out later “why” as we look back. Other times, we will not know the full reasons until we reach Heaven.

3. If Jesus had trouble, why should we be any different?

The ultimate example is Jesus the Christ Himself. As God, He allowed Himself to become human and a little lower than the angels in rank (Psalm 8:5). Jesus became human and humbled Himself in a spectacular way. He was misunderstood.

“…He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him.” (Isaiah 53:5 KJV).

He was spit on, and mocked, as “They they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands, saying, “Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?” (Matthew 26:67-69). Jesus was whipped to the point of being bodily no longer familiar. He was nailed to a cross, stabbed in the side. Horrible stuff! The evening before all this took place Jesus, knowing what was about to happen to Him was deeply distressed.

Jesus “…Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Matthew 26:36-39  KJV)

Three words, “but as You will” is key to how we should look at the bad times in our life. It is okay to pray to God if there is another way..some other way, a different way where I am not going through this time of trouble, please do so. But also keep in mind what God’s plan may be and that you add “Your will be done.” Because ultimately.. that is the RIGHT WAY TO GO! God has a purpose in allowing this trouble into your life. And remember that on the third day after His death, Jesus rose from the dead and has now redeemed humankind through all that pain and trouble. Jesus cried out on the cross in a loud voice, “It Is Finished!”. What was finished? God’s purpose for His suffering and pain, that is what. God’s perfect purpose. Jesus defeated the efforts of Satan and Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father in power. He will return, take over the world wide government and rule on the Earth forever. And if Jesus had trouble as the Son of God, can we expect any different in our lives? Jesus told us ,

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.” (John 13:16 KJV)

Besides, how can you truly help a person in need if you do not understand what it is really like to be in their shoes. God can use the negative experiences in your life for the good of others. It is one thing to tell someone about something but until they experience it for themselves a person cannot really understand it. For example, before I had children I heard stories about what it is like to be a parent. But until I had children of my own, I really didn’t get the whole truth and understanding about being a parent. Then I heard and generally understood but now I know that I know, that I fully Know! I am living that experience first hand. It is easy to help another new parent with their first baby or encourage them now because I really “get it” when their kid is screaming in a restaurant – while all people without kids are being judgmental about the event. I tend to encourage them “we all been there, don’t worry about it-it’s normal.” A small word and encouraging smile goes a long way! People without kids don’t truly understand it because they do not yet have children of their own.

Is It Okay To Ask God The Question ‘Why’?

It is the troubled times in our lives, some very serious or even life threatening, that we tend to ask God, the question ‘WHY’? Why did you allow this bad situation in my life? Why..Why..why?? Does God get mad at us when we do this? Let’s look at Jesus’ life again. Days before the death of Lazarus a messenger was sent to Jesus to inform Him that his close friend Lazarus was dying. You would expect Christ to go to him immediately and heal him as he did for so many others. Instead Jesus delayed on purpose,

“Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode TWO DAYS STILL in the same place where he was.  Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again.” (John 11:1-7 KJV)

Jesus stayed where He was for TWO MORE DAYS and then made the trip back to Judea where Lazarus and his sisters lived. We can see that Jesus had a special friendship and bond with this family so why the delay? Jesus did state the reasons why when He said “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” You can see here that God has a purpose that is about to be revealed through this painful experience the family and friends of Lazarus are going through. When Jesus arrived He was met by Martha, the sister of Lazarus.

“Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already. Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off: And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house. Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.“ (John 11:17-22 KJV)

So Jesus shows up at the families home but Lazarus had already died by the time Jesus arrives and was in the tomb four days. The Jewish custom of that day is that after four days, the person’s spirit went on and left the body. A “no turning back” point. In other words, Lazarus was 100% dead. Martha knew Jesus was the Son of God, yet her heart was so grieved she just blurted it out to Jesus “…if you had been here”. She is asking the question “why were you not here to save Lazarus your close friend?” And then she used her faith in Jesus saying “but whatever you ask God I know you can perform it!”

“Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.” (John 11:23-27 KJV)

We can see that Martha has faith in Christ as she states she knows Lazarus will rise again at the resurrection in the future. Now God reveals His purpose for Lazarus’ death. Jesus is using this to show everyone that He is the Messiah. Yes Jesus did rise others from death. But never someone dead for four whole days! Something else to note here is where Jesus talked about the resurrection. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” At first glance it seems Jesus is repeating Himself but reality is He is not. He is describing two separate groups of believers resurrected..the dead in Christ and those alive and remaining at the rapture event.

“Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.” (John 11:38-44 KJV)

It was a horrible event to Lazarus, his sisters Martha and Mary and to Jesus as Lazarus was a close friend. Yet it was purposed by God to reveal to everyone that Jesus is sent from God, to show the love and resurrection power of God, and their sadness did a 180 degrees… To complete joy. And this is the event that led to the cross because after this the religious leaders sought to kill Jesus because they knew the people would start following Christ instead of them. They would start to lose their power.

It’s God’s Way In His Good Time

We must learn that God will not do everything the way you expect, or when you expect it. But you can have complete trust that the ultimate outcome will build your character, help you help others, bless you or those around you, and still meet God’s perfect Holy character while fulfilling His plan for humankind. And sometimes, we can’t see any good coming from such a horrible life event. Some end in death even. But God will use it for good. He said so.. And so it will be so. Let God be good and every man a liar. God is good! And it is alright to pour out our hearts to God and ask, or cry out, ‘WHY?!?!‘. Martha did and Jesus did not rebuke her but encouraged her faith in Him. King David did (Psalm 62:8) and he tells us to” pour out heart to God”. God called David a man after his own heart. Above all, being truthful to God and running to God will result in Him holding you, strengthening you and helping you throughout the situation. In fact, for me, it is in the midst of these life trials that I feel God’s presence with me the strongest. God tells us that when we are weak, God is strong with us.

“He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.” (Isaiah 40:29 KJV)

If you are in the midst of a small or humongous trial believe that God has not abandoned you. He is with you. He has a plan. Trust in Him. We will lack in faith in this at times (honestly I blew it just before writing this article. I let my emotions get too involved in my trial…that is why I wrote this!) but always come back after the emotions of it and believe what God tells us:

“The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.” (Psalm 9:9 KJV)

“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” (Hebrews 13:5 KJV)

The Blood Of Christ And The Passover

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The Blood Of Christ And The Passover

“And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.”
(Exodus 12:13 KJV)

This scripture is from the time of the Exodus when Moses led the enslaved Hebrew people out of Egypt. God told Moses to tell the Hebrew people to sacrifice a Lamb or Goat, without blemish.

“And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.”
(Exodus 12:6-7 KJV)

What was the reason or purpose for this? God continues,

“And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord‘s passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.”
(Exodus 12: 11-13 KJV)

If you think about this for a moment, why did God have to see the blood of the door posts to pass over them? As God, He knew full well where all the Hebrews were located to pass over them, right? Again, this Scripture gives us the answer to this when it states, “Now the blood shall be a sign for ‘you’. Notice it was not a sign for God to know where the Hebrews were located! It was a sign for YOU, is what it says. That is by doing this and placing the blood on the doors as instructed they showed that they have faith and believe that God will save them. How? By pure FAITH! It was a declaration by those that believed in God to any of the Hebrews (and Egyptians) that did not believe in God at that time.

Remember, the Hebrews were enslaved to hard labor in Egypt for 400 years! That is a long time. Do you think that some of the millions of Hebrews in Egypt gave up on God’s promise to free them? It may well be that some of the Hebrews did not believe in God anymore. So the blood on the doors was a sign for all the Hebrews (YOU), those that by faith believe God is going to save them and pass them over for the judgement of God. Any Hebrew or Egyptian household with a first born that did not place the blood as told, surely had their first born die. Those Hebrews that did not believe may have repented after this happened and as such were saved and freed, the hard way; that is they first seen the judgment of God and many who did not place the blood on the doors, may have turned to God as well.

If this is the case, which does seem reasonable, it may be a foreshadowing of our times in that God, through Christians witnessing about salvation, are telling all of the unrepentant sinners to accept the gift of salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ and be saved from the coming judgements of God. Yet many will not believe and will go through the Great Tribulation period in the future where they will see for themselves the result of our sins. Many of who will then turn back to God for salvation.

The Bible does indicate that during the Tribulation period on Earth that the most people in history will turn to God and accept salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is like doubting Thomas who did not believe that Christ was risen until he could see and touch Him. And when he seen and touched the risen Lord, THEN he truly believed.

The Hebrews were told by God, through Moses, to place some blood of the sacrifice on the top of the door, and to each side of the door. If you have not figured that out yet, that make the cross in blood. The animal sacrifice of a Lamb or Goat without blemish is a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ, (referred to many times in the Bible as the Lamb of God) the only innocent and sinless human being (without blemish) sacrificed in blood on the cross for our sins. The act of doing what was told and actually placing that blood on the outside of their doors was an act of belief and faith in God that they would be saved from the death judgement that was coming to all the first born of Egypt because of Pharaoh’s refusal to let God’s enslaved people go free.

Notice that God did not tell them to go do good deeds and thus be saved. No, it is God alone that would save them. And when you realize that the Lord and God of the Old Testament was Jesus Christ incarnate, (John 5:46) (that is Christ prior to His human birth) this is even more significant!

In the same way, it is the belief and faith a Christian has in Jesus Christ on the cross taking the punishment for our sins, even though He was innocent and sinless, that covers us from the Wrath to come on all the unrepentant. Either the wrath at the Great Tribulation period in our near future (here is an overview article on what the Tribulation period is from gotquestions.org), or saving us from the everlasting punishment of the wicked and unbelieving at the Great White Throne Judgement after the 1000 years of peace on Earth with Christ ruling.

Side Note: The Great White Throne Judgement is where all the unrepentant and what the Bible calls ‘The Wicked’, will be judged according to their works and will be cast into a place the Bible calls the Lake Of Fire which was prepared for Satan and the fallen angels in everlasting punishment. (Revelation 20:11-15)

The point of this article is that it was their faith in God alone that saved them at the Exodus and it is by faith alone, without works that a person’s sins are completely forgiven. When God looks at a repentant sinner, one who accepted God’s free gift of forgiveness through Christ’s Act of Atonement, He does not see the sins. Instead He sees the perfect righteousness of Christ. Did you know that when you became a believer in Christ that you became the righteousness of God in Him? Some Christians are shocked and even upset when I tell them this but it is very Scriptural. Believers are the righteousness of God in Christ! (whether they like it or feel it or not).

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.“ (2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV)

“And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Jeremiah 31:34 KJV)

“For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.” (Psalms 103:11-13 KJV)

Jesus became the final, once and for all, true Passover for all humankind. The sacrificial Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the whole world for all who believe (John 1:29).

Do you need to have the door posts of your life brushed with the blood of Christ to forgive your sins and avoid being part of the judgement of God Almighty?

We ALL do!

Do Born Again Christians Sin?

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Do Born Again Christians Sin?

“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”
(1 Corinthians 6:9-10 KJV)

There are some who use this verse and say it is talking about believers in Christ and those that are redeemed by the atonement of our sin through Christ on the cross. That if you became saved through faith in Jesus and still commit sin that you are not saved and will not end up in heaven. But is this really the truth?

It is interesting that the people professing this leave out the very next verse  is,

“And such were some of you: but ye are WASHED, but ye are SANCTIFIED, but ye are JUSTIFIED in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11 KJV)

So you see the focus of this Scripture is talking about the unredeemed of Christ. Unbelievers. Those who basically not only sin but those that enjoy it and profess it openly. It is speaking about those who willingly refuse to accept Jesus as their justification and salvation through faith.

“And such were some of you”

Isn’t that a key pivotal point to this Scripture? Yes indeed! WE ALL HAVE SINNED! We all have such evil thoughts and intentions. Just a quick read of the Ten Commandments should be a mirror into your sinfulness. Jesus said that even looking at a woman in lust, we have broken a commandment. Not the act of having sex with her.. just lust looking at her. That goes for basically ever type of sin then. It is our sinful nature that is the object and why we need salvation through Christ.

Yes, we all have varying degrees of sin, some greater than others. But it is the sin nature within and even one sin is enough to disqualify a person from heaven. That is, outside of accepting the pardon for our sin through Jesus Christ’s act of atonement, whereby He became our sinful selves and took upon Himself the punishment for the sins of the world, we are lost and pat of the group the Bible calls the UNREDEEMED.

“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good. God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” (Psalm 53-1-3 KJV)

This is the state of every human being born from the age of accountability UNTIL a person accepts the atonement of Jesus Christ, the ONLY way back to a right relationship with God.

John tells us like this,

“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.” (John 3:18 KJV)

Jesus said it as clearly as possible when He said,

“…I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, BUT BY ME.” (John 14:6 KJV)

Do we sin after accepting Christ? Is it possible to never sin again from that point on? If you sin after salvation, are you no longer saved?

John tells us very clearly and simply,

” If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:10 KJV)

So do not listen to anyone that tells you, you have to be perfectly sinless after salvation to keep your salvation. No, that is totally incorrect.

Should we avoid sinning? Yes! However, know that Salvation is the work of God. It is not something we can EARN by good works. Look at these Scriptures on this topic and that is VERY evident!

 

“For by grace you have been saved THROUGH FAITH, and that NOT of yourselves; it is the GIFT of God, NOT OF WORKS, lest anyone should boast. (Ephesians 2:8 KJV)

 

“Now to the one who works, his wage is NOT reckoned on the basis of grace, but as WHAT IS DUE. But to the one who DOES NOT WORK, BUT BELIEVES IN HIM (Jesus) WHO JUSTIFIES the ungodly, his faith is reckoned AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (Romans 4:4-5 KJV)

 

“So they asked Him, `What can we do in order to do what God wants us to do ? Jesus answered, `What God wants you to do is to BELIEVE in the one He sent.” (John 6:28-29 KJV)

Even Paul, the writer of 2/3 of the New Testament, the once Christian persecutor, who accepted Christ on the road to Damascus. Paul, the person that gave us the road map of salvation through faith and not works. Paul, who rebuked even Peter for allowing works into the salvation equation. Paul, Known as one of the greatest of the Apostles. What does the Apostle Paul have to say about this?

“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” (1 Timothy 1:15 KJV)

Notice Paul did not say “of whom I ONCE was chief”. NO! “of whom I AM CHIEF”.

We are not to boast about how good we are as believers. We are not to look down upon the unredeemed as if you did something to be saved and you are better than they are as a person. NO! NO! NO!

The redeemed are SINNERS with a savior, Jesus the Christ. We were REDEEMED at a great cost to God! Jesus died for us, as us. He became our sins and took upon Himself the sins of the world and paid the price for our sins. Just as in court a debtor must pay his debts, we as sinners must pay our debt of sin which is eternal death in hell. But thanks be to our God that He sent His only Son, Jesus The Christ to pay our debt HIMSELF to redeem us. The sinless God-man, the perfect Sacrafice, Jesus, paid that debt on the cross. And whosoever believes this, receives a full pardon and now that the debt has been fully paid, we cannot be convicted of that debt ever again!

That is why Jesus cried out with a loud voice on the cross, “It is finished!” which in the Greek literally means PAID IN FULL.

Remember context when reading Scriptures. We are here discussing 1 Corinthians 6. But go to 2 Corinthians 5 and see that is reads,

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, NOT IMPUTING THEIR TRESPASSES UNTO THEM; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might BE MADE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)

Am I Saying To Keep On Sinning? God forbid!

Absolutely not! As the Holy Spirit guides you into the truth, after your salvation, and as the Holy Spirit sanctifies you and renews your mind through the word of God, your world view will start changing. Your belief will change. Your very heart will change.

Good works will follow (but they are not what saves you… keep a humble attitude). Yes, try not to sin. But when you do fall into a sin or a sinful practice, the Holy Spirit will, not in conviction, show you your sinful way and help you correct it. Turn to God and ask for help and forgiveness. Boast to God about your weaknesses and boast in Christ instead.

 

“If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:10 KJV)

 

“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: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.” (1 John 2:1-3 KJV)

 

“But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “NEITHER DO I CONDEMN YOU; GO AND SIN NO MORE.” (John 8:1-11 KJV)

Our attitude as believers is to “Go and sin no more.” KNOWING that Christ no longer condemns you – you have been purchased and redeemed. Not that we will not still sin. It is an ongoing struggle to do what is right out of an attitude of gratitude for what Christ went through to redeem us with His blood.

Now, “go and sin no more” knowing that when we fail and sin, Christ is right there ready to catch us and help us overcome our failures. Look to Jesus for everything. He is EVERYTHING!

God Says: Haughty, is Naughty.

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God Says: Haughty, is Naughty.

I speak to fellow believers, true Bible based Christians. We see today those who point their noses down on others who do wrong, who sin. As if, as a believer, we are any better than they when it comes to sinning?

Our commission, given by Jesus the Christ, is to preach the good news of the Gospel. To inform others the good news that the penalty for our sins was paid for in full by the Lord Jesus Christ. Not in a wishy washy way are our sins forgiven – Jesus paid for our freedom and forgiveness with HIS BLOOD, IN ANGUISH!

So great in love and mercy is our Lord towards us!

We Are Not To Be Judges Against Sins Of Others, Nor To Look Down Upon Such A Person Sinning.

“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:1-5 KJV)

“You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgement do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgement against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgement on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgement? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance? (Romans 2:1-4 KJV)

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” (Luke 6:37)

Please brothers and sisters in Christ, know this; God hates a haughty spirit. God hates the sin of pride.

“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18 KJV)

“Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” (Philippians 2:3 KJV)

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20 KJV)

But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.”
(James 4:6 KJV)

“Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him.” (Proverbs 26:12 KJV)

 

The list of such Scriptures trying to get this into our thick skulls as believers goes on and on and on.

God Hates A Judgmental Haughty Spirit

We all are sinners deserving of eternal punishment. NO ONE can match up to the Holiness of God Almighty. We are saved only by the grace of God, through the hardship Jesus went through when He paid for our sins, so that we may be saved for all eternity. We are saved by God’s GRACE ALONE, through FAITH and BELIEF ALONE, in the atonement for our sins provided by the Son of God, Jesus Christ, on the cross ALONE. It is not by our being sinless or trying to be a better and good person than others. Yes,be a good witness and share the Gospel of our salvation. But do not judge other people’s sinning. Provide them with the truth in a loving manner. Everyone must choose fro themselves. It is between God and them and you witnessing is God working through you. But understand and be humble, and make no mistake about it, a persons salvation is all the work of God. We should be amazed He wants to even use us.

Think about That when you see others sinning.
Then in love act accordingly.