Be Diligent

I saw this posted on a blog and it reminded me at how easily we can "drift away"

 spent many summers on Kentucky Lake. Peepaw had a boat and Jet Ski.  Numerous memories were made on the water.  We would take the boat out almost daily. My job was to tie the boat to a tree whenever we returned.

It was a small job, but important. If the boast was not tied down it would drift away.  It would hardly be noticeable really. Given enough time though and the boat would drift out of sight.

Drifting away is used by the writer of Hebrews. This imagery of a boat drifting into the sea was to remind Christians of what can happen when we are not diligent.

For this reason we must pay careful attention to what we have heard, unless we drift away (Hebrews 2:1).

Notice it is not willful sin. It is not stubborn rebellion. Instead it is a lack of urgency and diligence. The point is we must be intentional about our faith. Going through the motions is disastrous. You drift, drift, and drift until you cannot see the shore. Today decide to be diligent.  Decide to be urgent.  Decide to pay attention to what you have learned.  Decide to pay careful attention.

Who is guiding your life?

I often struggle in giving up control of different areas in my life to the Lord; it is so scary. But when I do, I am continually amazed at why I resisted for so long.

We often have a high regard for ourselves. Our dependence on ourselves or our possessions often leads to a prideful heart. 1 Corinthians 10:12       However, we see in John 15:5 ...apart from Christ, we can do nothing.    We are called to live our lives in TOTAL dependence upon Christ. Philippians 4:13 "I can do EVERYTHING through him who gives me strength."


It is important that we not trust ourselves; Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?"    We need to surrender our lives and follow God's revealed plan for us. God gives us specific instructions (Bible) on how to live our lives.

Who is guiding your life? You or God?

No God?

If there is no God, then there is no TRUE standard of right and wrong..........only preferences.

An illustration

A while ago, I read an illustration that is similar to this; I thought it was a cool thing to visualize. 

Picture an unbeliever or professing Christian (person who says they are Christian but are not living their life for Him) walking down the path of life without a care in the world, worry free, high on life. It is pitch dark, but they been on this path their whole lives so their is no reason for concern in their minds as they continue their walk. 

When a person accepts Christ in their lives, it is like a light has been turned on during their walk. They then see that they are and have been surrounded by lions ready to devour them. They were walking straight into the lions den and did not even realize it. The light that Christ has shown allowed them to see that they needed someone to save them, they needed a Savior. 

We need Christ to save us. 

Beach

My wife had a conference in Palos Verdes for work. We spent the weekend at a hotel on the beach. I was able to fit in a round of golf with my sons, Mikey and Tyler, while she was at the conference. The hotel and golf course was overlooking the ocean. The views were amazing.  

I was just awestruck at God's creation. It really made me realize how little we are and how big God is.  I am thankful that God has allowed me to see His creation and to be humbled by its magnificence.  May God be glorified in every way.

Ephesians 4:17-24

Recently I was reading through my wife's favorite book of the Bible; Ephesians.  As I was reading through chapter 4, verses 17-24 really stood out to me.

Paul is urging the believers in Ephesus to no longer to live like the Gentiles(unbelievers).  How do unbelievers live?  As we look at the text, we see that, in the futility of their minds they are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of their ignorance due to the hardness of their hearts. They have become callous, given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

Paul then goes on to tell the believers that they did not learn those things from Christ. Paul tells them that they are to lay aside the old self that was corrupted with deceit. He further says that they are renewed and  are to put on the new self which is in the likeness of God created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

Have you put aside your old self?  Can people around you see the new self, which is in the likeness of God.

If you are having difficulty putting aside your old self, continue to pray that  the Lord will change the hardness of your heart, and then surrender to His will.

New Question

Many people say that they BELIEVE Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior, or that their FAITH is in Jesus.

My question is, What does BELIEVE/FAITH look like in our lives. How is it shown?

Eternal Life

Eternal life = Getting to Heaven

John 17:3 "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom You have sent".

MercyMe

About 7 or 8 years ago, when "I Can Only Imagine" by MercyMe first came out, it was on the mainstream radio and I immediately fell in love with it.  (If you haven't heard it, I recommend you listen to it, the words really get you thinking.) I remember a time back then when my daughter Alyssa and I were pulling up in the driveway, probably coming home from softball or soccer practice, and this song came on. We sat in the car and sang it together. I will never forget that moment.    

I am not sure if she remembers that moment or not, but last week for my birthday she and Tyler bought my wife Kathy and I tickets to see them in concert.  I thought it was interesting how that came around in full circle.

The concert was last night, and they were awesome. We will definitely be looking for them again when they come around.

Romans 12:1

Paul, in Romans 12:1, urges us as believers in Christ, "to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God"

Paul's reference to sacrifice here is that we give ourselves COMPLETELY to the Lord. In the Old Testament, they killed and sacrificed animals to God. 

 Many in the church today go to church services on Sundays for 2 hours and feel they have GIVEN their time. That is their weekly duty, then they go about their week feeling good about themselves.  These people usually go to church because it make them feel good, it gives them a sense of peace. 

Now their is nothing wrong with feeling good and encouraged after attending church services. But when your purpose is to go to church to feel good and feel encouraged your are RECEIVING spiritual nourishment. 

Paul is exhorting us to sacrifice, to GIVE COMPLETELY, our bodies to Christ. In the Old Testament, they did not just offer up a leg or a thigh from the animals. 

We are to worship the Lord on Sundays and once we receive the spiritual nourishment. We are to go out the rest of week and be servants for God. 

Yes, we are commanded to go to church on Sundays. But if that is where your obedience to God ends, I think that you need to re-examine your heart. 

In Luke 9:23 Jesus says "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. "

Jesus Draw Me Ever Nearer

We sang this song in church today, that really got the tears flowing in me. The timing of this song really has coincided with some emotional times that are going on in my life right now.



I am reminded of James 1:2-3 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

As believers, we can have confidence that God brings or allows trials into our lives to build us up or to strengthen our faith. Make no mistake, God tests our faith to prove and to increase the strength and the quality of our faith.  It gives us an opportunity to show that our faith is genuine.

God is going to bring trials into our lives in order to increase our faith.  If we, as believers, are able to submit to the trials that we encounter and endure the trials with a Godly peace knowing that He is in control;  then we can be assured that the promise of James 1:12 will be awaiting us.  "Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him"

It is comforting to know that as I experience trials in my life, I can rely on the assurance that God is in control.

Stirred Again to Value Jesus

A post from one on my favorite blogs.




Stirred Again to Value Jesus

MY REPENTANCE

In the scriptures, we are commanded to examine ourselves  (2 Corinthians 13:5) As I continually examine myself, I find myself convicted of how awful a sinner that I am.  As most of you know and have seen, I often tend to share the passion the I have for the Lord. I can sit and speak for hours on the what the Lord is doing in my life. One would think that is a good thing, right?  However, many times, I start out with sharing my passion out of love for others, but then it often turns into an issue of pride. My initial intention is to follow the commands of the Word of God. (2 Corinthians 5:20) However, often without realizing it, my fleshly pride comes into play usually when what I am saying is resisted or scoffed at.    So what starts out as love often turns into the sinfulness of pride.  

  I am thankful that God is patient with me. As I continue to grow and mature in the faith, I am determined to let the Lord work  in me in a way that is pleasing to Him. I am not only going to stumble at times, but I am going to fall and fall hard. It is only by the blood of Christ, that I can continue to move forward in my walk.

I have been aware (and often reminded) of 1 Corinthians 13:2....If I have.....all knowledge; and if I have all faith , so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 

Until recently, I have truly believed that the conversations that I have with my Dad were out of love and a strong desire for him to know Christ. I am now aware that even though that these conversations started out with that intent, they deteriorated into me trying to make a point. (my pride)  This deterioration and the way I responded to others has caused some family members pain and sorrow and for that I am truly sorry.  I ask for your forgiveness here, and I will do so also in person when I see you. 

I am thankful to the Lord Jesus Christ who continues to mold me into the person that He wants me to be. I am also thankful for my wife, Kathy, who patiently allows me to struggle through these issues, while at the same time lovingly prods me in the right direction. I am also thankful to my brothers in Christ whose wise counsel has encouraged me to be more Christ-like. 

As I mentioned above, I have been aware of 1 Corinthians 13:2.  As we continue to read, v 13: 4-7, these verses explain what love looks like......That is where I have been lacking. The Lord convicted me of that truth recently. This is where I struggle. This is where the Lord is working on me at the moment. 

As I move forward in my walk,  I am reminded of Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be  served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Bible

I found this website that I thought could be useful. From what I understand, the ESV is a very good translation. I like the audio section especially for pronunciation of some of the tougher names and words.

esvonline.org

Judgment without Mercy

James 2:12-13 (New International Version)

¹²Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, ¹³because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

This verse was discussed at a recent lunch I had with a very dear friend who is an encouraging believer. We have many freedoms in Christ, such as the music we listen to, the books we read, the beverages we drink. Yet we are commanded in the bible to lead a life that is Christ-like. Jesus was more often than not a compassionate and merciful teacher. I certainly know that I can be judgmental, but shudder to think if I don't show mercy- then God will show me no mercy on my judgment day. It's good to know God's word tells us that mercy triumphs over judgment.

Question

A question to think about.........

In Exodus 34:6-7 it reads The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet He does not leave the guilty go unpunished..........

 God, who FORGIVES wickedness, rebellion and sin.....yet promises that the guilty will not go unpunished.

So the question is, How are those apparent contradictory statements resolved?

Our Way

I saw a quote from a church blog the other day, that I really liked.

It read "We (society) tend to want a relationship with God our way, the problem is "our way" is sin -- which by definition is the lack of conformity to God's way. God and His holy standard are what they are. Wishing or wanting it to be the way We'd prefer it wont change the reality of God and His revealed standard."

We often try to justify our standards by comparing ourselves to other people or what is considered the moral values of our time. The problem with that is the standards set by man change with time and circumstances. God's standard does not change.

Take the time and get to know God's standard, then you will know how depraved we truly are and why we  need Jesus in our lives.    Do not be mislead into thinking that you are a good person based on  society's standard, read what God says.

True Faith?

One of the obstacles in the church today, is that people profess to be Christians with their mouths but not with the lives. Many would argue that all you have to do is "believe" in Jesus and you will be saved. They often even use scripture to back up that claim. John 6:47 says "he who believes has everlasting life. However, when people use verses like that (meaning like that is the end of the story) they tend leave VITAL parts of the story.

Example. A transcript of announcers at Chicago Bears vs Green Bay Packers game in overtime.
....field goal try to win the game. There's the snap, it up and it's GOOD!!! BEARS WIN!!! BEARS WIN!!
If someone (especially a bear fan) was browsing through that transcript and read BEARS WIN they would often conclude that the Bears won. However, if they kept reading, and in fact read the whole transcript, they would realize that the Bears right tackle jumped offsides, they were backed up 5 yards, and missed the next field goal attempt.   Green Bay took over, drove it down the field, and won the game.

Some may be saying, "Come on Mike we have heard for years, all you have to do is believe in Jesus. We go to church, we have been baptized, etc. etc. How can you say that is not enough?"

Well, as always, we have to go to God's word. Read Acts 8: 9-24 the story of Simon the Sorcerer. We see that Simon was man that was highly regarded because of his magic arts. in Samaria, he attracted big crowds from all different segments of society from the smallest to the greatest. They even claimed that he was the power of God. Then Phillip came to Samaria preaching the word, healing the sick, and casting out demons. And the people heard Phillip and were being baptized, men and women alike.

Then we see that even Simon the Sorcerer BELIEVED and was BAPTIZED. He started following Phillip and was amazed at what Phillip was doing.

We then see that the apostles came to pray for and were laying hands on the people and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. When Simon saw this, he wanted this power that the apostles had. He offered to pay for this power.  We see Peter's response to him in verse 20 "May your silver PERISH WITH YOU, because you thought that you could obtain the gift of God with money. Peter goes on to say that your heart is not right before God.

Peter tells him to repent, and says that Simon is still stuck in bondage to sin. Instead of doing what Peter instructs him, Simon tells Peter to pray for him.   Simon was unwilling to to do what is necessary to be approved by God.

So we see that Simon BELIEVED was BAPTIZED and even followed Phillip for a while.   However, he did not want give up his previous life and truly follow Christ as Christ said in 10:39 "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."  Even though Simon believed, he did not want to give up his previous sinful life and because of this he will perish as Peter said.

Do not be deceived into thinking that you are saved only because you believe in Jesus. We not only have to accept Christ as our Savior but also accept Christ as Lord of our lives. He is what we live for.    Until next time.

Welcome Facebook Friends

Welcome facebook friends. I hope that this works.   I started this blog a few months ago, feel free to take a look at it from the beginning.

Facebook

Well, for the most part, I started this blog as a way to share what the Lord is doing in my life with family and close friends. I have been reluctant to get involved in the facebook frenzy due to some of the downside possibilities that are associated with being exposed to the world.

However, there are some upsides also. After some deep thought, I realized that trusting God is not just something that we say. If we are truly committed to being obedient to God's word, then the challenges that come with that are to be welcomed. For as Jesus said in Matthew 16:24 If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

It is my desire to do God's will, and when I start to worry about this earthly tent, then I am not trusting in God as I should.  As I step out in faith, my prayer is that God would be glorified in this new experience.

Challenge continued

As we continue our search of what a true believer in Christ looks like, we are reminded that we are to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. 2 Corinthians 13:5.

However, when we examine ourselves, we need to measure ourselves with what God says in the Bible and not what the world says. That goes back to the false assumption that "good people go to Heaven"

After that examination, what did you find?  Im sure for most of us, what we found was not very appealing. When we went to Kansas a couple of weeks ago, there was a quote from Brennan Manning in the back of the church. It stated "The single greatest cause of atheism in the world is today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, and then walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyles. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."

Jesus said this in Matthew 10:33 "But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven."

In the first part of Matthew 7:21 Jesus says "Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven.

What is IMPORTANT to understand from that verse, (and in fact from the whole Bible) is that God does not guarantee heaven to everyone who "says" they  have faith in Christ.

So, after the examination of ourselves, did we find that we are only confessing our faith in Christ with our lips?........If so, be assured just as Jesus said, you will NOT be going to heaven.

When we look at the second part of Matthew 7:21, we see what is required of us to get into heaven........"but he who DOES the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter."

Do not be fooled, you cannot be a true believer by just professing your faith in Christ; your lifestyle has to show it.  Does EVERYONE: family, current friends, older friends, co-workers, etc. KNOW that you are a follower of Christ?   If not, be moving toward making Him known.    Until next time.

what is #1 in your life?

As most of you know that Kathy's grandma passed away on April 12th, and we went back to Kansas for the services.  Tami and Kim's grandma passed away on April 10th, and they went back to Pennsylvania for  her services. With the death of someone that is related to you, it is often a time to truly reflect on what is important in life.

Many of us are focused on our jobs and trying to acquire wealth. But the Bible is clear in Matthew 6:19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth.......v 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven.

Many of us are focused on school, gaining knowledge and wisdom from the world. But the Bible is clear in 1 Corinthians 1:20 (NIV) Where is the wise man? where is the scholar? where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world.

Many of us are focused on our status among people, what car we drive, how big our house is, clothes we wear, etc in an effort to "show off what we have". But the Bible is clear in 1 John 2:15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world , the love of the Father is not in him.

Many of us are focused on our families. But the Bible is clear in Matthew 12:48-50  Jesus replied to them, Who is my mother and who are my brothers? Pointing to his disciples, He said, here are my mother and brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.

Now don't misinterpret this, there is nothing wrong with any of these. But when they become the focal point of our lives instead of Christ, that is where the problem enters. We need to focus our lives on Jesus, once this is realized, then all the other things will fall into place.

I read a book in high school called I am Third. It basically relayed the message of the Lord is first, my friends(family) is second, and I am Third.

With the death of loved ones close to us and even the death of ourselves coming at anytime the question that should be asked of ourselves, Is the Lord first in your lives?

Until next time.

A New Challenge

The posts up until now have been sort of basic in the beliefs of Christianity.  Now I am going to go into an area that is going to challenge us. It is going to challenge in a way that we often are not comfortable with. It is going to challenge the status quo in our lives. It is my desire and hope that as we explore this area that we are able to do so with an open heart so we can grow in knowledge and mature in our walk with the Lord.

The area we are going explore, I am going to put in the form of a question. What does believing in Jesus look like?

I think that generally people today have a false sense of assurance that they are going to Heaven. Some may say how can you make such a sweeping, broad brush statement like that.  I am not making this statement based on my own opinion, it is God making this statement in the Bible.

To the unbelievers who say God loves us and good people will go to heaven. Jesus tells us otherwise in Matthew 7:14 But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a FEW will find it.

To the people who think they are Christian because they prayed a certain prayer, or go to church, or read the Bible,  etc.   Jesus says to them in Matthew 7:21 Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven.

John also responds to these type of people in 1 John 2:4 The man who says I know him, but does not do what He commands is a liar and the truth is not in him.

The Bible gives many examples of people who "SAY" they are a Christian; however,  God says that they are deceived.

When judgement day comes, we don't want to be the ones that we think we are going to Heaven and God says to us (Matthew 7:23) I NEVER KNEW YOU; DEPART FROM ME.  We want to be the ones on judgement day where God says to us (Matthew 25:21) WELL DONE, GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT!!

How can we be assured that we are true and genuine believers in Christ?

First...2 Corinthians 13:5 Test yourselves  to see if you are in the faith: examine yourselves. Also we see in 2 Peter 1:10 Be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you. And again in 1 Corinthians 11:28  But a man must examine himself.

So the first thing that we need to do is examine ourselves. We need to ask the Lord to help cause a true, authentic, and honest look at ourselves and give us a strong desire to correct the changes in our lives that are needed.

Until next time

Christ Died Today

It is interesting how we often make big deals about birthdays, wedding anniverseries, etc; however, we don't really pay too much attention to the day that Jesus died for us. Today a little less than 2000 years ago, as followers of Christ, we are reminded and humbled, that Jesus our King died for us.

ACCEPTING CHRIST

We have now seen that we can receive the gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ alone.  So the next step is for us to actually receive the gift of eternal life..... Let me clarify what this involves.  

First, we must transfer our trust from ourselves(ex. going to church, being a good neighbor, living by the Golden Rule etc.) to what Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross.  He takes our sin and we receive His righteousness.

 The next thing is to receive Christ as our Savior. This means that we are trusting in Jesus alone for salvation(getting to heaven)

The next thing is that we receive Christ as Lord of our life. This means to yield our lives to His control(very important, we will start to go into this next post)

And the last thing is to repent of our sins and follow Him. This means that we are willing to turn (U-TURN, not simply veer off) from the things that we have been doing that is not pleasing to God. We need to follow Him as He reveals His will to you in His Word(Bible)

I hope that the above explains what is involved when receiving the gift of salvation. Once we have sincerely decided to accept Christ into our lives we are to communicate it to God through prayer.

Simply tell God that you are willing to commit your life to Him and accept Him into your heart.

I pray that each and every one of you will make this commitment and that it is genuine and from the heart.

If you have made this commitment, be assured because Jesus says in John 6:47 .... Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes HAS eternal life.        Key word there is HAS, not might have, not could have, Jesus said HAS.  What a great feeling knowing that heaven is your destination.  Until next time. 

To get into heaven, we must transfer our trust from ourselves onto Jesus and what He has done for us. I hope this video helps illustrate that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2Vl9zaH8eQ

FAITH

As mentioned in the youtube video, we receive the gift of God by faith. The Bible says that faith is the key that opens the door to heaven. You could have a key ring with several keys on it, they all may look similar, but if you go to the front door of your home, you could try all the keys on the key ring except the right one and they will not open the door....The right key to heaven is called faith, saving faith. That will open the door to heaven. Nothing else in the world will open that door.

So we now know that faith is the key to heaven, but what IS faith. First we will look at what it is NOT. It is not just knowledge about historical facts of Jesus. Some people believe in Jesus like George Washington. They believe He actually lived. He was a real person in history, but they are not trusting in Him to do anything for them now. Most people say that they believe in God, but that belief/faith is not what the Bible means by saving faith......In James 2:19 You believe in One God, good! Even the demons believe that and shudder. And in the first part of Matthew 8:29 the demons said, What do you want with us Son of God. So we see even the demons believe in God and  we know they don't go to heaven. So believing in God is not what the Bible means by saving faith.

Another area that many people mistake for saving faith is like temporary faith in emergencies.  Like praying to God that their children will get better when they are sick. Or when people travel the pray to God for safe travel. Or say you had a big decision you prayed to God for wisdom in making that decision.....All these things are good to do, but they are only temporary situations that has to do with OUR lives. Many people trust in the Lord for all these temporary matters. But saving faith is trusting Christ to save you....save you eternally.

  I know before I accepted Christ into my life,  I was trusting MYSELF for getting into heaven. I tried to live a good life, I tried to go to church, I tried to live by the Golden Rule. etc. but the problem with those things is that it was all about "I".

Saving faith is trusting in Jesus Christ ALONE for our salvation. It is relying on Christ alone and what "HE" has done rather on what I have done to get me into heaven.   In Acts 16:31 it says Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.    

The Great Transaction

I had trouble uploading this video, so I went through Youtube. Click the link to view it. I hope this works, let me know if it does.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bThGzyqd1ZE

Problem solved

I tried to post a video for this but, I could not get it to upload. So I will have to write it.......So God solved this problem in the person of Jesus Christ......Who is Jesus? The Bible says that Jesus is God. In John 1:1, it says that In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. it continues in v 14 And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, we have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only, who came from the Father full of grace and truth.

Now what did Jesus do? Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead to pay the penalty for our sins and purchase a place in heaven which He offers as as a free gift.

Jesus is God. He lived a perfect and spotless life, and when He came to the end of His life, we see the reason that he came into the world, the great transaction.

Last post mentions God's standard to get into heaven is to be perfect. Matthew 5:48 says Therefore, be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect......We know that we cannot earn our way into heaven because Ephesians 2:8-9 says For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is gift from God, NOT BY WORKS, so that no one can boast. ....... Now on to this posts subject..............God is merciful; therefore, he does not want to punish us. 1 John 4:8 says that God is love. Often we here all about God's love for us and yes this is true. The first part of Jeremiah 31:3 says that God has an everlasting love for us.... We should be truly grateful. But, many people have a false concept of God by only focusing on his love for us. We have heard many times God wouldn't send good people to hell or God wouldn't do that, "MY" God wouldn't punish, etc........the last one where the person says "MY God" would probably be right.... "HER OR HIS" god wouldn't do that, but the problem with that is, their god doesn't exist except in their own mind. That person has CREATED a god with their own imagination, according to their own liking. This is considered idolatry(worshiping a false god). 2nd of the 10 Commandments........So when people say God would never do that!!! We should say what god would not do that? The God of the Bible?

Yes the Bible says that God is merciful and loving, but the same Bible also says that God is just, therefore he MUST punish sin. In Exodus 34:7b it states that the guilty will not go unpunished. Ezekiel 18:4b the soul who sins will die. In Habakkuk 1:13 it says of God....your eyes are too pure to approve evil. Now, there appears to be a problem here. God is merciful and loving, etc. however, God is just and MUST punish sin. God solved this problem in the person of JESUS CHRIST.......until next time

So in the comments sections of the February 20th post, I was saying that the bible teaches that heaven is a free gift and that it is not earned or deserved. (Ephesians 2:8-9) Often we all have a hard time grasping the we don't deserve to go to heaven concept; usually it is due to the fact that we compare ourselves with other people we either know or hear about in the news like murderers, child molesters, rapists, etc. On the surface, it would seem that when we compare ourselves with other people we "should" go to heaven. However, that is exactly where we start to get into trouble, when we rely on our own thinking, our own standard as opposed to what the bible teaches.......God's standard.

The bible teaches that man is a sinner. In Romans 3:23 it states...... for ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. I know that this may sound simple, but what exactly is sin? Often we only think of the big ones like murder, adultery, stealing, but the bible teaches that sin is anything that doesn't please God such as things that we say or think. Things that we say like lying, cussing, etc. or things we think such as lust, pride, and hate.

Many times we think that sin is something that everybody is doing so it must not be so bad. Some of you may have heard this example before about how we often think we are not so bad...............Say one was a REALLY!!!! good person and only sinned 3 times a day. That is over 1000 sins a year and say the average lifetime is 70 years, that is over 70,000 sins in our lifetime. So our standard of a REALLY!!! good person who "should" get into heaven has 70,000 sins...............God's standard to get into heaven is..........PERFECTION. Something to think about until next time.

Bibliology-002 from Cornerstone Church on Vimeo.

Bibliology-001 from Cornerstone Church on Vimeo.

Holy Spirit

Well, we went to Adult Sunday School yesterday, and one of the things I like is that I almost always learn something new when I am with other believers. I don't proclaim to know it all, and I hope I never come across that way. Even tho I was raised in a Christian family, and went to church schools and all that- I have learned that being a Christian is a "process", not a final destination. So for those who feel like they just don't know enough about the bible or religion to chime in- take heart, it's OK. Everyone started from the beginning (not knowing anything) and we are all in different stages of progress. I certainly hope this blog is not a place for anyone to make someone else feel inadequate, or be ridiculed for what they do not know. :) and why do I feel that way? Because it wouldn't be very "Christian" of anyone to do that. To be a Christian is to be imitating Christ- and when you read about his life in the New Testament- that's a tall order. But God gives us some help in that area- the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit being the form of God/Jesus that lives within us. The Holy Spirit is 1/3 of the trinity- which is a difficult concept to fully understand, and I'm not a seminary school graduate, so I don't want to and can't get too deep. But it relates to our sunday school lesson so thought I'd share....

The topic of sunday school was "how do I know I am a Christian and that I'm saved?"- and people had all kinds of answers like I prayed a prayer, or I was baptized, or I hate sin, or I love Jesus- and while those are all good things- they are things WE do, and being saved isn't about what WE do- it's about what Christ did for us. So- the Holy Spirit is like a down payment on our eternal life- God gives it to us (we accept it) and the Spirit guides us. The Holy Spirit lives in us to help lead us, by peace, wisdom and the Word of God. He speaks in a still small voice in our hearts. And when we let him guide us, our lives produce "fruit" of the Spirit. (Some are listed in Galatians 5:22-25)- you can look it up :) But when we don't live by the Spirit, we live for the flesh. Galatians chapter 5 has some great verses about the cravings of the flesh (human nature without God) being opposed to living in the Spirit. It doesn't mean we are perfect- but we need to listen and obey the Spirit's leading to find peace and contentment in our daily lives. And when we have the Holy Spirit in us we want to be obedient to God. And that takes practice, which is moving forward each day, walking with the Spirit, sometimes sinning and asking for forgiveness.. So I guess the bottom line is- do I have the Holy Spirit in me, and am I in step with Him, listening to Him? Do I have any fruit?

Motive

Well, I know that we as a family often have strong opinions about different issues. There are those of us (ME) that tend to verbalize, or sometimes dominate the conversation over those who tend to be less vocal or those who are aware that someone's feelings may be hurt, so avoid the conversation. The purpose of this blog is to open an honest and (for me non-judgemental) dialogue about, what I hope everybody wants for our family, How do WE get to Heaven and what do WE need to do to get there. It is my hope that we are able to evaluate ourselves and make the changes in our lives so that in the end, we will see all of us in Heaven.

I will start off this journey with saying that the Bible needs to be our "source" to the answers to our questions. We all have our own opinions on "Christians" or "Getting to Heaven" but usually it is based on pre-conceived notions that we have heard from others and not on what the Bible actually teaches. I look forward to hearing from all, young and old.