Wed, Jul 31st - 11:43AM

John 3:14-15

John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Whosoever believes in Christ will not perish but have eternal life. What does it mean to believe in Christ? It means to believe He is the Son of God born of a virgin who lived a sinless life who died on the cross for our sins and that He rose from the dead and that He is presently seated at the right hand of God and that He is coming back soon to claim His bride which is the church. We believe Christ died on the cross for our sins so that whosoever believes in Him and accepts Him as Lord and Savior can have eternal life through Him. Those who do not believe in Him are the ones who will perish. They are the ones who will not find their names written in the Book of Life. (Revelation 20:11-15)

Salvation requires belief:

Acts 16:30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Salvation requires faith:

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

There are many misconceptions out there about salvation such as universal salvation, predestination and others but the Bible is clear we are saved by our faith and belief that Jesus is the Son of God who died for our sins. You can go to church every day of your life, do all kinds of good deeds, and do all the right rituals and sacraments but if you have not accepted Christ as Lord and Savior and believe in Him through faith that He is the Son of God then you are not saved and you are still perishing. 

Mon, Jul 29th - 11:23AM

John 3:1-8

John 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

4Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 5Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Jesus said you must be born again to see the Kingdom of God. This wasn’t a suggestion or an option, and it is not one of many ways to heaven, Jesus said unless you are born again you will not see heaven. I find it particular to hear people who claim to be Christian mock those who claim to be born again when it was Jesus who said we must be born again. That is because so many people who claim to be Christian are Christian in name only. They might have been raised in a Christian home and have attented church but they have never really committed themselves to Christ and really have no idea what it means to be born again. 

We are all born once into the world physically to physical parents into a world of sin that has Satan as its master but those who have been born again are those who have been born again spiritually and have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior and can now called God their Father. They have turned from the world and its wickedness and no longer have Satan as their master but they now follow Christ as disciples of Him. They no longer have a spirit of wickedness and sin but they now have the Holy Spirit living within them. They are no longer on the path to hell but are following the one and only Way to heaven. They no longer live to fulfill they own sinful and selfish desires but live to please God and do His will. They live to serve Christ because He died for them. 

Sat, Jul 27th - 11:31PM

John 2:14-17

John 2:14 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” (NIV)

A lot of people have a hard time with this story of Jesus driving people out of the Temple with a whip and overturning tables and using force to clear out the Temple. They like the idea of Jesus as a person of love and compassion and mercy and can’t see Him doing something like this. Well God is a God of love, mercy, and compassion but He is also a God of justice, righteousness, and judgment. Christ came to the earth to die for the sins of mankind that through His sacrifice we can have the forgiveness of our sins but while Christ walk the earth He often confronted those living in sin and practicing wickedness. 

When the Jews brought the woman caught in adultery He didn’t condemn her to be stoned to death like they wanted but He also told her to sin no more. When He talked to the woman at the well He didn’t avoid the tricky issue of the life she was living He confronted her about it. He confronted the Jewish leaders over the hypocrisy they were living in and He often did this in a very direct manner and used very harsh language toward them. 

I am saying all of this because there are many who believe as Christians we should keep our beliefs private and never confront the sins of the society around us and I don’t believe that is what the Bible teaches at all and it is certainly not the example set in the Bible by Christ and the Apostles. If the Apostles had followed that way of thinking Christianity would have never spread past Jerusalem. Now I am not saying we should beat people over the head with the Bible, or going around calling people names and being very confrontational about our beliefs but I do believe God expects us to be a witness to people about Christ in a loving manner. Like most people I came to Christ because someone close to me took time to tell me about Christ in a loving and caring manner. I also believe that God expects us to take a stand against the immorality in the society around us. There are many who believe we should keep our mouths shut, well I don’t think this is what God would have us to do. When God was un-happy about the state of immorality in Israel He would send a prophet to speak out against the sins of Israel. Many Christian will complain about the state of immorality in our country today but yet in a lot of ways Christians themselves are to blame because we have set idly by while it has happened. We complain about corrupt and dirty politicians but yet we are the ones who voted them into office. We complain about abortion and gay marriage but yet we voted the politicians into office who allowed it to happen. Many Christians will vote a politician into office knowing he don’t hold the same views on social issues as we do all because he belongs to the party we support. 

Now the answers to our problems will never be found in a politician or through the government because the only true answer is in Christ. The only true way to change society is to change hearts. This world needs Christ but this world will never receive Christ unless Christians get off of their rears and take the Gospel to the world and that won’t happen hiding in our homes and churches and avoiding the world around us.

Mon, Jul 22nd - 11:18AM

John 1:29

John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Why is Jesus called the Lamb of God? The Bible says we have all sinned and that the penalty for sin is death. Under the Old Covenant God allowed lambs to be sacrificed as a substitute for man. Instead of requiring the death of every man that sinned God allowed the lamb to bear the penalty for man. But when Christ died on the cross He died for all the sins of mankind. He died as our sin sacrifice on the cross. He bore the penalty of sin for us that whosoever believes in Him and accepts Him as Lord and Savior can have the forgiveness of sins and eternal life through Him.

There are people who believe since Christ died on the cross for our sins that we are all forgiven and saved already. This is called Universalism which is the belief that when Christ died on the cross we all became saved automatically and everyone is going to heaven and we can do whatever we want because God has already forgiven us and that He isn’t going to judge us of anything. Well this is a false teaching because the Bible is clear that salvation requires belief and obedience on the part of the believer (Romans 10:9-13) and the Bible is also very clear that we will be judged (2 Cor. 5:10 & Hebrews 9:27) and that those who have rejected God’s gift of salvation will face eternal damnation (Revelation 20:11-15)

Christ died on the cross for our sins that whosoever believes In Him and accepts Him as Lord and Savior can have their sins forgiven and have eternal life in Him but if you reject His gift of salvation then your destiny is hell.  

Fri, Jul 19th - 11:37AM

John 1:12-13

John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Under the Old Covenant of the Old Testament the Jews were chosen by God to be the children of God but under the New Covenant established by Christ on the cross all those who receive Christ as their Lord and Savior and believe on His name are the children of God.  As verse 12 says as many as received Him (Christ) and believed on His name He gave power to become the sons of God and verse 13 goes on to say born not of blood or of flesh but born of God.  Jesus explains what it means to be born of God or born again in John 3. 

I believe Romans 10 offers a very clear picture of what it means we say become saved, Romans 10 says:

9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Many people preach the idea of universal salvation, the idea that when Christ died on the cross everyone was saved automatically.  Well the Bible doesn’t teach that, as you see in John 1 and Romans 10 salvation requires belief on the part of the individual and acceptance of Christ as Lord.  It requires faith that Christ is the Son of God, that He died on the cross for our sins and that He arose from the dead and then we must accept as Lord that is must make Him Lord of our lives and follow Him, which means we no longer live to do our will and fulfill our desires but we live to please God and do His will. 

Thu, Jul 18th - 11:27AM

John 1:9-11

John 1: 9That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

Jesus is the Light that lights the world.  Jesus came to the earth and came to His own people and they rejected and crucified Him.  The Jews were chosen to be the children of God but when God came to them in the flesh they failed to recognize Him.  The Jews claimed to be waiting for the Messiah but when the Messiah came they failed to recognize Him and they rejected Him and had Him crucified.  They failed to recognize Him because all though they made a big show of being religious in reality their hearts were far from God.

When Jesus came to the earth He came to redeem all of mankind by dying on the cross as a sin sacrifice for our sins.  He died so that whosoever believes in Him and receives Him as Lord and Savior can have the forgiveness of sins and eternal through in Him but sadly just like the Jews the majority of mankind has failed to recognize that He is the Son of God and their Savior.  God has provided mankind a Savior and they refuse to recognize Him as such and reject the gift of salvation.  God has provided mankind an escape from the coming judgment of God but the majority of mankind refuses to accept this gift of salvation so they condemn themselves by rejecting the one and only way to escape the judgment of God. 

Every one of us will stand before the judgment seat of God someday to be judged for how we lived our lives.  What is God to do when you rejected the only means of escaping His judgment?  Acts 4:12 says there is no other name given whereby we must be saved.  In other words there is no other way to salvation accept through Christ so if you reject the only way to salvation then you sealed your own fate and you will spend an eternity in hell for rejecting God’s gift of salvation through Christ.  God provided mercy and grace through His Son but if you reject that what else is He to do? 

Sun, Jul 14th - 10:26PM

Luke 24:45-49

Luke 24:45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. 49I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” (NIV)

This is the Luke’s version of the Great Commission.

In Matthew it says:

18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

In Mark is says:

15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned

In each one of the Gospels the Great Commission is worded slightly different but the command is still the same.  Go and preach the Gospel to the world.  When Jesus gave this command He wasn’t just talking to the 11 Disciples that were still with Him, He was talking to all Disciples of Christ including us.  We are to take the Gospel to the world.  That means each and every believer is to take the Gospel to the world. 

You might not be a preacher or an evangelist but every believer knows someone who isn’t saved rather that be a family member, a neighbor, a co-worker, a schoolmate or whoever every one of us knows someone who needs Christ and God does expect His children to tell others about the good news of salvation in Christ.  Think of it this way, the world is dying, it is dying of a disease called sin but you know the cure and the cure is Christ but they will never find that cure unless we tell them about it.  I am willing to bet if you discovered the cure for cancer you would want to tell everyone about it.  Well you know the cure for a disease more deadly than cancer.  Sin destroys lives, families, hope, and everything it touches but God provided a cure 2000 years ago when Christ died on the cross for our sins so that whosoever accepts Him as Lord and Savior can be saved and freed from the bondage of sin but they can’t be freed unless someone leads them to the cure.

Mon, Jul 8th - 6:49PM

Leviticus 19:1,2

Leviticus 19:1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2“Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. (NASB)

God expects His children to live a life of holiness.  This wasn’t just a command God gave to the Hebrews Peter quoted this scripture in 1 Peter 1:16 and Paul taught a great deal on sanctification which means to set apart.  We are to be set apart from God.  It means to be set apart from the world.  Jesus said in the same thing in John 17:16 when He said we are not of the world just as He is not of the world.

We have to live in this world physically but we are not to have the same attractions and lust of those in the world.  The desire of the Christian should be to fulfill the will of God not fulfill our own desires.  The things of this world are temporary and led us away from God.  Jesus said we can’t serve God and mammon.  We can’t serve God and our desires of the world at the same time.  As the Bible says, God is a jealous God.  He is a God that demands our undivided attention and service.  Satan intentionally makes the things of the world look desirable to lead us away from God.

Can the world tell you are a Christian by the way you talk or act?  The truth is to many Christians and churches are very worldly.  It is hard to tell them apart from other people or organizations.  In fact many churches really aint nothing but social clubs.  They don’t serve God and they never take a stand on the Word of God.  Just take the hot button issues such as marriage and abortion, many Christians know what the Bible says about the issues but they never take a stand for the Word of God because they don’t want to be singled out.  They are more concerned with pleasing others than they are of pleasing God. 

If you are a Christian than you are a disciple of Christ and as a disciple of Christ your desire should be to be Christ like.  We can never be truly like Christ because we are humans who can never live the perfect life that He lived but our desire should be to be like Him and Christ lived to please God not the world but the sad fact is to many Christians want to be like everyone else and not Christ.  To many Christians especially our young people try to be like their favorite Hollywood star or pop star instead of like Christ.  This is only going to lead them farther away from God because you aint going to find God living the Hollywood lifestyle. 

Sun, Jul 7th - 8:32AM

Leviticus 18

Leviticus 18:1The Lord said to Moses, 2“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘I am the Lord your God. 3You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. 4You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the Lord your God. 5Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord.

6“ ‘No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the Lord.

7“ ‘Do not dishonor your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; do not have relations with her.

8“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; that would dishonor your father.

9“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.

10“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter; that would dishonor you.

11“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father’s wife, born to your father; she is your sister.

12“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with your father’s sister; she is your father’s close relative.

13“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s close relative.

14“ ‘Do not dishonor your father’s brother by approaching his wife to have sexual relations; she is your aunt.

15“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife; do not have relations with her.

16“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife; that would dishonor your brother.

17“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. Do not have sexual relations with either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter; they are her close relatives. That is wickedness.

18“ ‘Do not take your wife’s sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living.

19“ ‘Do not approach a woman to have sexual relations during the uncleanness of her monthly period.

20“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife and defile yourself with her.

21“ ‘Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molek, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.

22“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.

23“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it. A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; that is a perversion.

24“ ‘Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. 25Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. 26But you must keep my decrees and my laws. The native-born and the foreigners residing among you must not do any of these detestable things, 27for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. 28And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you.

29“ ‘Everyone who does any of these detestable things—such persons must be cut off from their people. 30Keep my requirements and do not follow any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you came and do not defile yourselves with them. I am the Lord your God.’ ” (NIV)

In chapter 18 of the book of Leviticus God gives the Hebrews a list of prohibited sexual activity including homosexuality (v.22).  I singled out homosexuality because it is a hot issue right now and you have so many in the church trying to justify it, normally by saying that God loves everyone.  Well it is true He loves everyone but that doesn’t mean He approves of their actions.  God loves the person who commits murder and rape but that doesn’t mean He approves of their actions or that He won’t judge them for their actions.  You see here in verse 22 that God calls homosexuality detestable.  The King James Version calls it an abomination.  You see from reading this chapter that God puts homosexuality in the same category as incest, sex with animals, and child sacrifice.

You might say, well this is the Old Testament, Christian are not under the Old Testament Law.  That is true but Jesus and Paul made it clear about how God feels about marriage and homosexuality in the New Testament.  Jesus confirmed God view of marriage in Matthew 19 and Paul made it clear how God feels about homosexuality in Romans 1.  God doesn’t change.  It is society that has changed, God hasn’t and He hasn’t changed His ways to satisfy society like so many of our religious leaders have. 

God says at the end of this chapter that those who do these things defile themselves and their land.  Sexual perversion has never brought anything good with it.  It always brings pain and heartache usually through broken lives, broken homes, broken societies, and disease. 

Wed, Jul 3rd - 10:19PM

Luke 22:39-46

Luke 22:39 And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. 40And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. 41And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, 42Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 43And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. 44And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 45And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow, 46And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.

We see a couple of things I would like to point out these verses.  First, twice Jesus warns His disciples to pray unless they enter into temptation.  Prayer is not for God’s benefit, it is for our benefit.  Prayer is the children of God communicating with the Heavenly Father.  Just like any relationship communication is important for the child of God to have a relationship with the Father.  The more we pray and do stuff like Bible study and worship the closer we come to God and the stronger we grow in faith and the less likely we are to fall victim to the temptations of the world.  If we are focused on serving God we are less likely to be focused on the things of the world while on the other hand the Christian who is not focused on God is usually focused on the things of the world. 

Second, notice that Jesus prayed that His will not be done but that God’s will be done.  We see that Jesus prayed the same way in what we called the Lord’s Prayer when He prayed that God’s will be done on earth. (Matthew 6:10)  If this is the way Jesus prayed shouldn’t our prayers be the same?  Shouldn’t we pray that God’s will be done and not ours?  Because honestly way to much our prayers are self-centered and focused on what we want done with no regard to what might be the will of God in the matter.  

The true disciple of Christ will have the real desire to see the will of God done.  Part of the problem is our modern day name it and claim it way of thinking that has crept into a lot of church teaching.  This way of thinking turns God into some kind of magical genie that has to grant our prayers because we claimed it.  This way of thinking is nothing but garbage theology because Almighty God is not beholden to our wishes because we claimed it.  This way of prayer is selfish, greedy, and self-centered and the real disciple of Christ will pray the same way that Christ did, that the will of God be done and not our own.