As every year comes to an end and another begins; man starts his evaluation of the previous year. In the year gone by many things happened. Losses occurred of life and limb; relationships ended, assets disappeared, etc. On the flip side, gains also occurred, relationships began, etc. Each year takes people up, but also brings them down. Every year has tales of much given and tales of much taken away. Each year proves you cannot keep everything even if nailed to the floor. And even things that are literally nailed to the floor will be loss if the house burns down.
The Bible teaches that tomorrow is unknown, and that we brought nothing into life and will take nothing out of it. James 4:14. 1 Timothy 6:7. Instead of placing all effort into things of this life, why not focus on the soul and where one will spend eternality? Standing before Jesus Christ to judged is guaranteed, for it is appointed for man to die and the next is the judgment. Heb 9:27. 2 Cor 5:10. No one wants losses, so let men should seek gains and seek in the right way. Man should hold on gains if possible; and if there is nothing that can be done to keep them; he needs to accept loss and start over. Such is easy to do, if a man has Jesus Christ. The teachings of Christ will instruct and uphold us as we go though the highs and lows of life. To have a relationship with Christ; hear the word of God. (which you have if you read this far) John 6.45. Believe the word of God. Acts 18.8. Decide to repent of your sins. Luke 13.3. Confess Jesus Christ, the savior. Rom 10.9-10. Acts 8.36-37. Be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins. Acts 8.38. Acts 2.38. Acts 22.16. After that you will be able to rejoice and have the support of God as you tackle your gains and losses. Acts 8:39 Heb 13.5-6 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, so believe also in me.” John 14.1
“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He won’t let you be tempted more than you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” 1 Cor 10.13 “And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him; those who have been called according to His purpose.” Rom 8.28 The corona virus doesn’t have me stressed out, nor does it have me scared to death. I have been serving God before there was corona virus and my faith is in His protection and guidance. If you want to share with me in my security. Read these three scriptures and prepare yourself to allow the word of God to enter your life. If you choose to obey His gospel you can also share in the comfort that He gives to all His children. Matt 11.28-30 And if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do His commandments which I command this day, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. Blessed shall you be in the city and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your beasts, the increase of your cattle and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading-trough. Blessed shall you be when you come in and blessed shall you be when you go out. The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. The Lord will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in all that you undertake; He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you. The Lord will establish you as a people holy to Himself as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of you. And the Lord will make you abound in prosperity in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground within the land which the Lord swore to give you. The Lord will open to you His good treasury the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the Lord will make you the head, and not the tail; and you shall go upward only and not down if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day, being careful to do them. If you do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right hand or to the left, to serve other gods. Deut 28.1-14.
The eyes of the Lord are everywhere keeping watch on the wicked and the good. Pro 15.3
Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism. Col 3.25 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” said the Lord. Rom 12.19 These words from the Lord give comfort because it means that my attorney and Judge will be working my case; against those who wronged me. I don’t have to raise a finger to get even, because God will repay. We thank Him for the knowledge of His holy word. The word “ungodly” means not like God. A person and God isn’t on the same page. God would never be seen with such a one because they have nothing in common. The deeds of men build a wall between them and the Lord; for God is holy and He has told all who want to be with Him, to be holy as well. 1 Peter 1.15-16. Isaiah 59.1-2.
To give an example of what I say, consider these deeds, if you are a liar, you are ungodly. If you speak profanity and use the name of the Lord in vain, you are ungodly. If you practice premarital sex, adultery, homosexuality, you are ungodly.If you hate the word of God, you are ungodly. If you are a druggie, drunk, you are ungodly. etc. If you want the Lord to accept you, then you need to obey Him. Men and God will never be on the same page as long as they refuse to submit themselves to what the word of the Lord commands. You have spent too much time away from the Lord, so make plans to obey the Lord. Do so before its too late. John 8:21. Are you intimidated by your church going neighbor? You feel shame, don’t quite know how to behave when around him? Feel guilty when you are around him and compelled to say something about religion? If so, you are being convicted by his serving of God and your lack of. You see him doing what you should be doing, but for some reason you aren’t.
All is not lost; you still have hope. If you are touched in some way by the religious actions of another; just use these feelings to begin doing what you know you need to do. God wants the faithful to show their light to the world, so that others might be convicted by that light. Your neighbors light is calling you, please don’t turn away. In order to get to heaven, everyone must obey God. There will be no such thing as some not obeying God and others do and everything will work out just fine. There is a message called the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the message of salvation to all who will heed its words. You need to hear the gospel and obey it. John 6:45. Acts 18:8. Rom 1:16. 1 Cor 15:1-4. 2 Thess 1:7-8. I will sing of mercy and justice. To You, O Lord, I will sing praises. I will behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will You come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away and It shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall depart from me and I will not know wickedness. Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy.
The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, him I will not endure. My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land that they may dwell with me; He who walks in a perfect way, shall serve me. He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house; He who tells lies shall not continue in my presence. I will destroy all the wicked of the land and I may cut off all the evildoers from the city of the Lord. Psalms chapter 101. (NJKV) Daily Bible reading is good for you. Acts 17.11. John 5.39. When reading the Bible, you allow the Lord to speak though His Word and you will learn new things that you couldn’t have known by yourself.
During most of our lives, we hear men, but we don’t hear God. That is true because hearing God is only possible by studying His word and If we don’t invest time to study His Word, we cannot hear Him. The Bible has a total of 66 books with 39 being in the Old Testament and 27 in the New. By studying the Bible, especially the book of Hebrews in the New Testament, we learn that God has expired the Old Testament concerning men living by it. We learn that God by the death of Christ has established His church and set the New Testament as the sole authority for us today. That isn’t to say that the Old Testament is empty pages, but it does remain as a excellent source of history where men can read and see how God looked upon men at the time that it was in force. If you wish to know more about the Word of God and how it can be of help in your life, we urge you to contact the church here. Our purpose is to help men educate themselves in what the Bible teaches.. There is the possibly that Almighty God could get so angry with the world, that He becomes dead set on destroying men and not even His most faithful servants will be able to change His mind.
The word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly and I stretch out my hand against it and break its staff of bread and send famine upon it and cut off from it human beings and animals. Even if Noah, Daniel,[a Job, these three, were in it, they would save only their own lives by their righteousness says the Lord God. If I send wild animals through the land to ravage it, so that it is made desolate, and no one may pass through because of the animals; Even if these three men were in it says the Lord God. They would save neither sons nor daughters; they alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate. Or if I bring a sword upon that land and say, “Let a sword pass through the land,” and I cut off human beings and animals from it; Though these three men were in it says the Lord God, they would save neither sons nor daughters, but they alone would be saved. Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off humans and animals from it; If Noah, Daniel,[b] and Job were in it, says the Lord God, they would save neither son nor daughter; they would save only themselves by their righteousness. Ez 14.12-20 The office of the pope isn’t in the bible. If a doctrine isn’t in the Bible, that doctrine is not of God, but of man. Mark 7.1-15. That is the problem with our religious world, there are too many false doctrines posing as the doctrine of God.
One cannot be saved following doctrines that not taught by the word of the Lord and neither can a person expect God to be pleased, because He will not be. 2 John 9-11. Matt 7.15-27. The head of the church is Jesus Christ, and He doesn’t share that position with anyone. Eph 5.23. Col 1:18. Eph 1.22-23. However, men pay no attention to these bible truths and go ahead and established their own teaching about the head of the church. Romans 10.1-3. People believe that what the pope will say is truth and nothing could be farther from the truth. The word of God is the truth and when it speaks, you hear truth that will set you free. John 8.31-32. How can a person pledge their life to that not authorized by the word of the Lord? If you believe in the pope, where is your bible authority? Give book, chapter and verse. 1 Peter 4.11 And no scriptures used out of context, please. |