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Archive for the ‘The Father’ Category

WHOSE REPORT DO YOU BELIEVE?

Posted in Faith, Gospel, Jesus, Salvation, Sin, The Father on July 20, 2021|

“Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

Isaiah53:1NASB2020

Jesus is a historical figure and documented in various religions. He is described as a great teacher, prophet, the Son of God, the Messiah, Emmanuel, the list goes on. Whose report do you believe? In Isaiah 53 we have an extensive prophesy about Jesus. Isaiah starts off the chapter by asking “Who has believed our report? Knowing the truth about Jesus is by faith. To understand Isaiah 53 you must have eyes of faith to see what God is revealing.

There are many who do not understand nor believe the purpose of Jesus. I grew up believing although Jesus died on the cross and rose again, I did not need Him to talk to the Father. I was quite offended by the people who showed me the gospel that I needed Jesus to have a relationship with the Father. Isaiah is rich with prophesy about Jesus and God’s purpose in sending Jesus. Jesus is the gospel message. You cannot have a relationship with the Father apart from Jesus. We will explore the revelation that Isaiah gives about Jesus. It will take faith to be able to see and understand the truth about Jesus. Do you believe in the Lord’s report?

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Displaced Worship

Posted in The Father, Worship on June 28, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Broken Heart

He also brought the bronze altar which was before the Lord, from the front of the temple—from between the new altar and the house of the Lord—and put it on the north side of the new altar. 2 Kings 16:14 NKJV

In the story of 2 Kings 16 we learn that King Ahaz is made King over Judah.  Ahaz did wicked things before the Lord and did not follow in David’s footsteps.  King Ahaz brought back the worship of Baal and even practiced child sacrifices.  When King Ahaz saw one of the idols that the King of Assyria had he wanted to set up an altar just like it.  So King Ahaz instructed the Priest to set up this new alter in the temple.  King Ahaz had requested that the Bronze alter, which was before the Lord and sacrifices were made on it, be moved from its place at the front of the temple.  King Ahaz did not want to get rid of the altar because he still wanted to inquire of the Lord when needed.  He moved it to the north side of his new alter and made all the sacrifices on the new alter and displaced the altar before the Lord.

It is shocking what King Ahaz did.  We know that God was angered by King Ahaz’s action and know this is a blatant form of idolatry.  However, upon closer inspection of the story we have done the same thing.

King Ahaz was no longer interested in worshiping God alone.  He still wanted God’s guidance but no longer wanted to worship God.  He put another altar in place of God’s altar.  It is the same in the church.  We are not satisfied in just worshipping God; there are other things that are taking God’s place in our hearts.

Our body is the temple for God.  God should be the center of our heart.  Is He the center of your heart?  Are there other things that have taken God’s place in your heart?  Is God an afterthought only to be approached when we want guidance?  Our actions speak to the thing or person that is center of our heart.  Whatever we give our time, our money and talent to is what we worship.  In this case you may not have stopped worshipping God altogether, but you have displaced Him in your heart.

Jesus told us that the Father is looking for true worshippers.  God wants us to worship Him for who He is.  God is not our servant.  We are to serve Him.  He does not answer our commands, we answer to His.  He is the Creator and we are the created.  Jesus told us to seek the Kingdom first and everything else would be added.

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any idols in your heart that have displaced God.  Confess your sins and repent.  If we serve God first, God will answer all our other prayers and help us in everything.

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Heal Our Land

Posted in Healing, Jesus, Knowing God, Peace, Prayer, Salvation, Sin, The Father, The Righteous, The Word, Unity on November 9, 2018|

Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; Acts 3:19 NASB

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In my last blog, I discussed that when we see pestilence in the land, we are told what we are to do by God.  In 2 Chronicles 7:14 God asks us to do the following:

HUMBLE OURSELVES

As Christians we should not think so highly of ourselves.  We should not look down on others and think we are better than they are. We must remember the only thing that saved us is Jesus Christ.  Our salvation has nothing to do with any work we did.  We have been adopted as God’s children because we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  We are able to walk in holiness because of the Holy Spirit.  Salvation is a gift.

We should not put all the blame on the wicked.  We must be willing to have our own hearts examined by God to see if there is any wicked way in us, confess our sins, and received God’s forgiveness.  We must be willing to own up to our own sin and stop pointing the finger at others.

PRAY

We don’t pray the way we should.  We don’t pray corporately and we don’t pray for our nation.  We may throw a prayer up every now and then but we are not strategic in our prayers.  I remember years ago there was an event where men went to Washington DC, repented of their sins, prayed and asked God to help them be better fathers, husbands, sons and men of God.  Today when we see tragedy in our land we look to blame someone or something else.  Now we are beginning to accept these events as a way of life.  We are supposed to pray effective prayers and effective prayers involve us opening our hearts and minds to God’s will and purpose and being ready to obey His word. Often time we use “thoughts and prayers” as an excuse not to really seek the face of God in prayer.

SEEK GOD’S FACE

It takes time to seek God’s face.  In order to come before God we have to deal with our own hearts.  This is not an easy thing to do.  It takes humility and prayer.  We can’t seek God’s face with a spirit of pride or entitlement.  If our land is suffering we are seeking Him to help us and we have to be in a posture of humility and trust.  We don’t seek God’s face to just see if we like His plan, but we seek Him so that we will obey Him.  God knows our heart so if we are to truly seek Him then our heart must be right with God.

REPENT (Turn from Our Wicked Ways)

We are told to turn from our wicked ways.  This is the most profound request in 2 Chronicles 7:14.  We are God’s people and He is asking us to turn from our wicked ways.  Notice God did not say to confess our sins.  He is telling us to turn away from wickedness.  This is what repentance entails.  Repentance is not a feeling of that we are sorry for what we did.  Repentance is a willingness to turn away from the thing that separates us from God.  In this case God is asking us to turn away from wickedness and to turn to Him.  We surrender our will and agree to follow His will for our lives.  All Christians have given their life to Christ and called upon His name for salvation.  Not all Christians have surrendered their will for God’s will.  Many of us still want to live in both the world and be accepted into God’s kingdom.  We cannot serve two masters and to serve God may cause us to lose favor with men.  God promised in Isaiah 1:19 that if we are willing and obedient we will have the best of the land.  So we must turn our will toward Holiness and obey God’s word pertaining to our nation.  The ultimate commission we have been given is to love and to share the good news of the gospel.  If we do this we will see things change in our nation.  First we must repent of our own hatred, fear, the lies we tell and believe.

By meeting these conditions God has promised to heal our land.  We do not fight against people but we fight against the principalities of this world.  People are not our enemy, Satan is the enemy.  We must surrender ourselves to God’s hands to see our land healed.  We have to be the ones to cry out to God and repent of our wicked ways.  Then God will be attentive to our prayers made to Him.

and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place. 2 Chronicles 7:14-15 NASB

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

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FALLACY OF CHRISTIAN POLITICAL IDEOLOGY

Posted in Faith, government, Jesus, Law, Love, Peace, Salvation, Sin, The Body, The Father, The Righteous on April 7, 2018|

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“If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.” 1 John 4: 20 NASB

For over two years the Media has defined what it means to be Christian by people’s political and religious beliefs.  Rarely, are we depicted as Disciples of Christ.  Instead many articles and debates question who are the real Christians?  Some have defined Christianity based on political and religious; if you are a true Christian you must ascribe to certain political and religious traditions.

I was struck this week by a question posed on a radio station on whether or not Christians who support President Trump are really Christians.  Can Christians be characterized by their support or criticism of a leader or political party in lieu of their faith?  There are many that argue they can because certain political and religious ideals are rooted in the teachings of Jesus Christ.  I found this interesting because our salvation and adoption as God’s children cannot be secured through the law or our adaption to world systems.

Those of us who identify ourselves as Christian believe in Jesus Christ, that He died for our sins, was raised from the dead, and is alive today at the right hand of God our Father.   We know “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”  Romans 10: 9-10 (NASB)

Unfortunately, in the height of political debates and a politically charge environment we have succumb to defining Christianity through a political lens.  We have this delusion that the party we belong to or the leaders we show allegiance to has some impact on our entrance into the Kingdom of God; or defines us as a disciple of Christ.  This is just absurd, because you are trying to judge something that is spiritually rooted in God with something rooted in mankind.

Our salvation is not obtained by any work we do or what others have done.  We cannot stand before God and claim that because we ascribe to a set of political and religious ideologies we are proven to be the Children of God.  The only reason we can stand before God blameless, is because Jesus Christ died for our sins.  He took our sin and punishment.  We were graciously given Jesus’ righteousness in exchange and have been reconciled to the Father.  There is no work we have done to earn our salvation, so we have no right to boast in our political and religious beliefs.  The law cannot save us, so it is ridiculous to think adhering to certain religious and political beliefs and laws (defined by men) can save us.

The bible is clear that we can identify Christians (the Children of God) by the love that we have for one another.  Jesus even said we would know people by their fruit.  So if a person claims to love God but hates his brother he is a liar and Christ is not in him.  If one claims to follow Jesus but is full of hatred they are not Jesus’ disciple.  Whatever comes out of the mouth reveals what is in the heart.  Whether we are ruled by love or hate speaks more to our faith in Jesus Christ than anything else, including our political party affiliation or religious sect.

Politics and religion will always reveal hypocrisy in man.  Often time these belief systems run contrary to the person’s own behavior.  Also, it is mostly used to sit in judgment of others and think too highly of ourselves.  Boasting about our political and religious ideologies is rooted in pride and God hates pride.  We are taught in scripture to hold our brother in higher esteem than ourselves.

Christianity is defined by humility.  Jesus Christ, who is God, became man and walked amongst us.  He took our sin and became the perfect sacrifice and died so that we might live.  It is through Jesus’ resurrection that we have eternal life and power.  There is no other name in heaven or on the earth that is greater than Jesus.  Jesus is the only one who is deemed the Savior of mankind.

Our faith is not evident through our political and religious symbols and allegiance.  Jesus said the world would know we are His disciples by the love we have for one another.  We may disagree on the political and religious battlefield but even in our disagreement we are called to love.

 

For those that want to know how to spot a Christian, check their fruit (character).  Jesus said you will know us by our fruit.  If these things (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, see Galatians 5:22-23) are not evident in a person’s character,  then the Spirit of God is not in them and they are not known by Jesus.

21“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.’ Matthew 7:21-23 NASB

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What Did God Say?

Posted in The Father, The Word on August 12, 2014|

15 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. Exodus 14: 15-16 NIV

When Moses had led the Israelites out of Egypt, God had instructed Moses to go a certain way. God told Moses that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart and he would pursue the Israelites. God wanted to demonstrate His power and glory so that all of Egypt would know He was God. God had a specific route for the Israelites to travel and had made provision for their journey.

As Israel was being led by Moses they saw the Red Sea before them and the Egyptians pursuing them they cried out to God and then complained to Moses that he brought them to the desert to die. They said Moses should have left them in Egypt to be slaves. All Israel could see was that there was no way out. They didn’t see how they could change their situation. Then God asked Moses “Why are you crying out to me?” God told Moses to tell the Israelites to move on for they were going to cross the Red Sea on dry ground and God would have the Egyptians go in after them and God would be honored through Pharaoh, his army and chariots. That way all of Egypt would know the God of Israel was The Lord.

How many of us find ourselves in a situation where we see our enemy pursuing us on one side and the Red Sea in front of us. It would be very easy to accept our situation and simply resign ourselves to an attitude “It is what it is.” Many times we say that we want God to help us accept situations we cannot change. But what has God said about your situation?

Nothing is impossible for God. Every person, situation and circumstance should be surrendered to God. We should go by what God says, He should have the final say.

Many times when we face impossible situations or circumstance we do not control or cannot change we say things that actually disguise our unbelief. The Israelites didn’t need to cry out to God or stop and pray about the situation because God had already instructed them what to do. They just needed to believe that God would deliver them from the Egyptians and lead them out of the desert to the land of promise. That is what God wanted. God just wanted Israel to believe and follow Him.

So what report have you received? Who has left you or rejected you? What are you facing that seems impossible or incapable of changing? Let God have the final say. Believe and don’t doubt. Whatever you are facing or wHatever is behind you, God will cause it to work out for your best. So next time just ask yourself “What did God say?”

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“It Is What It Is”

Posted in Peace, The Father, The Righteous, The Word, Uncategorized, Wisdom on August 2, 2014|

How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in the Lord his God,

Psalms 146:5 (NASB)

People love to say “It is what it is.” Usually I hear people say it when they are referring to a situation they cannot change. It is their way of declaring their acceptance. For me I hate the statement. It has become too commonplace in our speech. It is a statement shrouded in helplessness. We are not helpless.

The bible teaches us that our words have power. We can speak life or death into any situation. What we speak comes from our hearts. We must be careful what we say. The tongue can be dangerous. The tongue can heal. We can change our situation by what we say.

“It is what it is,” speaks something. The phrase has power. I saw a picture of the phrase on Facebook, and the person who posted it said it was wisdom. It is not a wise statement. It can have various meaning such as “who cares” or “things won’t change so deal with it.” It leaves a person feeling helpless. Whenever I hear people say it I hear the defeat in their voice.

We must guard our mouths. When we feel helpless or we find ourselves in a situation we cannot change, we can cry out to The Lord. No situation is impossible for God. He makes all things work for our good. God cares about every detail in our lives. No problem is too small or too big. God can and will work it out.

No matter what life throws our way, God is still God. It is what it is.

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What Pleases God?

Posted in Faith, Knowing God, The Father, Uncategorized on October 8, 2013|

“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6

I am sure that every believer wants to please God.  Of course we want to please our Father.  Many of us strive to please God.  We may think doing certain acts makes God happy.  God does love to spend time with us.  He wants us to walk upright before Him.  The thing that brings God pleasure though is our faith in Him.

Many believers are satisfied in their faith for salvation or that God will take care of them.  But I believe God is really pleased when we put our absolute faith in Him.

Abraham had faith in God.  God told him to leave his country and family and go to the place God would show him.  Abraham listened and obeyed God.  That is good faith.  God did not stop there.  He made Abraham a promise, God told Abraham something that was impossible but Abraham believed God.  God promised that Abraham’s descendents would number the sands on the sea shore.  This seemed impossible because Abraham and his wife Sarah were old and beyond child bearing age.  However, Abraham believed God.  That pleased God.

God doesn’t want us to simply have faith for things like our basic needs.  Jesus told us that God would take care of that because He created us; look at how God cares for the birds.  God wants us to have faith for those things which are impossible with man but made possible with God.

God wants us to believe that He will do what He says.  That He is a keeper of His promises.  He wants us to believe that when we come to Him He will give us what we ask for but mostly that we believe that He is who He says He is.

God wants us to believe that He will heal our diseases because He is a Healer.  God wants us to believe that He will bless us because He has promised to bless us when we obey His commands.  God wants us to have faith that we will prosper because God is our provider.

Many believe that sin displeases God.  God hates sin but Jesus paid the price for sin.  Our sin was settled on the cross.  What brings God displeasure is our doubt.  Without faith it is impossible to please God.  Imagine if Abraham had doubted God’s word and said it would never come to pass.  What kind of relationship would Abraham have had with God?  Even though Abraham obeyed God it was His faith that pleased God and was counted as righteousness.

Whenever we see God in pain in the bible it is because His people refused to believe in Him.  He was in pain when Israel built the golden calf.  He was hurt when Israel cried out for a king like the other nations of the world.  God saw generations of men in Israel die because they doubted God.  Now it pains God when men reject His Son Jesus and refuse to believe in Him.  Without faith it is impossible to please God.

Faith pleases God.  He takes great pleasure in our belief that He is and a rewarder of those who seek Him.  So when God says He will take care of all your needs and wants believe Him.  When He says He will heal all your diseases trust in His word.  When God says He loves you don’t doubt it.  Have faith in God.

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Happy New Day!

Posted in Peace, The Father on January 1, 2013|

The Lord’s lovingkindnessesindeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.  Lamentations 3:22-23

Happy New Year!  I was reflecting how excited we get on the last day of the year.  We are ready to put the year behind us and have such hope for the New Year.  We celebrate when the New Year comes.  It’s like a new beginning for us.

We should treat each day like that.  God does.  The bible says that every morning His compassions are new.  They never cease.  God does not dwell on the day before or the day ahead.  Each day is a new day with so many possibilities.  How different would our lives be if we approached every new day the way we approach the New Year.  Each day can be a new beginning, putting behind us yesterday and not worrying about tomorrow.  Let’s make the most out of each day.  Imagine what we could do with 365 days.  Each day would be an opportunity to improve on the day before, to learn from our mistakes, to make right what has been wrong in our lives.  Each day is precious let’s not waste one day.

Remember that we are precious to God and He is faithful every day of our lives.  His love, mercy and patience never run out.  For God each day is a brand new day to begin again and start anew.  So let’s stop looking at our lives through the lens of years but one day at a time for we do not know what tomorrow may bring.

Happy New Year and Happy New Day!

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Compassionate Conservative?

Posted in government, Love, Money, Prayer, The Body, The Father, The Righteous on October 9, 2012|

9 “This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. 10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’ Zechariah 7:9-10 NIV

Compassionate conservatism is a political philosophy that stresses using traditionally conservative techniques and concepts in order to improve the general welfare of society (Wikipedia Encyclopedia).  It is a term that President George W. Bush identified with when he ran for office in 2000.  The idea was that conservatives were motivated by compassion.  This is what President George Bush said about himself.  Many republicans at that time were talking about the importance of compassionate conservatism.  However, I wonder where that compassion has gone.

I have been astounded by the rhetoric of anger, fear, and hatred that I have heard from those claiming to be conservative or republican in speaking about the direction this country is going and the current administration.  The Republican Party seems to have been hijacked by a small group of right wing individuals who promote hate and fear.   They have made the republicans look like the main thing that matters to them is money.  They are tired of paying for programs that benefit the less fortunate or cringe at the idea that somehow their wealth will be redistributed to the poor or minorities who are viewed as being lazy or dependent upon government handouts.

The Republican Party has stood against abortion and stood for traditional marriage which is what entices many Christians to the party.  We even use terms as the Christian Right who have been vocal critiques of the liberal policies that make abortion legal and desire to allow gays to marry.  Despite the Republicans’ stance on these issues the recent rhetoric for the past four years has given me great pause and I ask where is the compassion?

How is it that policies that have favored the poor, immigrants or minorities are the very policies that are driving our nation to the brink of destruction?  Why is it that when the first black President is elected there were those who questioned his birth right, and called him names including Hitler, a Marxist or whatever negative term that would bring about fear and loathing?  But I don’t expect that much from those that are motivated by money or are more concerned about their balance sheets and profit margins.  I do expect more from Christians.  Where is the love and compassion?

As much as the current administration has been criticized by the Christian right for their policies concerning abortion and marriage they have remained silent about those in the republican party spouting fear, hate and anger.  Some have even fed the rhetoric by repeating what they hear.  Things like our country is headed for destruction and God will judge us if we support the current administration or Democratic Party.  They have not criticized those within the party that are spouting all this negativity.  Where is the hope?  Why all the doom and gloom?  Compassion has been thrown out the window.

I have been truly baffled by all of this.  I have prayed for understanding but I keep going back to love and compassion.  Jesus said that the world would know His disciples by the love that they have for one another.  Instead fear has been the driving factor in this election season by the Republicans who claim that God on their platform unlike the Democrats who tried to remove God from their platform.  I guess we should at least give the Democrats credit for being honest instead of purporting to be followers of God but not displaying the characteristics of God.

Let’s leave politics to the politicians and corporations that support them.  The church is to be about the business of God.  If the government is not going to provide justice, compassion and mercy to the people it is the church’s responsibility.

We can’t just support making abortion illegal without offering a solution for women and those babies born to parents that can’t care for them or do not want to care for them.  We need to provide them with a safe place where they will find compassion and mercy, not judgment and hate.  If we do not want the government providing the poor or minorities with programs that benefit their education, finding work, health benefits, etc. then the church has to step up.

When these right wing conservatives are crying foul and speaking doom and gloom; the church needs to step up and provide hope and love to a lost and hurting people.  We should not be standing behind them rooting them on in hopes that their rhetoric will encourage people not to support the current administration or Democratic Party.  How often have we demonized the current administration and those that are part of the Democratic Party?  Since when did they become our enemy?

The direction of our nation is not dependent upon those who do not know God.  They are doing what they know to do.  We can’t expect them to walk in righteousness.  However, the direction of the nation is dependent upon the righteous.  If the nation is headed toward moral decay or destruction then we have to look to ourselves and judge ourselves before God.  Are we fulfilling the great commission that Jesus gave us?

If we would show the mercy and compassion toward others that God has shown to us then we will find favor and compassion with whatever party or person that occupies the white house.  The bible is full of examples of godly men and women that found favor with kings and governments that lived contrary to them.

We should be celebrating everything that is right in this country and provide light and hope in those dark places.  Fear, hate, and anger should never be part of our vocabulary or conversation because it was never with Jesus.  Our hearts should long for the salvation of every lost soul and compassion and mercy toward all.  We can hate sin but not the sinner.  We should be building up and not tearing down.

I hope one day Republicans will return to the idea of compassionate conservatism.  Remember the bible teaches us that if we seek first the Kingdom that all these things will be added to us.  If we give to the poor we will not have to worry about our riches.  What we do for others God will do for us.  The church knows this message and it is time we begin to teach it to the nation.  The lust and love of money is the root of all evil but love, compassion and mercy is the very DNA of our living God.

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No, Not Even One

Posted in Heaven, Jesus, Knowing God, Salvation, Satan, Sin, The Father on May 30, 2012|

“There is none righteous, not even one;

There is none who understands,

There is none who seeks for God;

All have turned aside, together they have become useless;

There is none who does good,

There is not even one.”  Romans 3:10-12

 

I grew up being told that “good” people go to heaven.  You have to hope that your good deeds outweigh the bad.  I was also told that certain sins would guarantee you hell.  There are many that believe this not knowing what their future holds; but hoping that they will see heaven when they die.

Salvation is not about escaping hell and going to heaven.  That was never God’s purpose to begin with.  When Adam sinned and man fell; and our relationship with God was lost.  God is our creator and sin separates us from a relationship with Him.

It wasn’t enough that our sins were restored but our relationship be restored with our Father.  The problem is we do not desire a relationship with God.  It is not in our sinful nature to seek after God or to do good.  The sinful nature is evil and this is the truth we have to come to realize before we can truly understand and embrace the message of the cross.  There is no one who is righteous, no not one.

Salvation is about saving one’s soul that is dead in sin.  A dead soul cannot respond to God.  A person must be “made alive” in Christ to begin to seek and want God.  Jesus didn’t come to just wash our sins away but to restore our relationship and fellowship with the Father our creator.

So salvation deals with more than the question of heaven or hell but it deals with the radical transformation of the human condition and heart.  God knows this.  God knows our hearts; if we are left to our own choices and understanding would never choose Him.  So God designed a plan not to just save us but to make us a “new” creation that would seek after Him for a real relationship and intimacy that God intended to have with man from the very beginning.

If the only reason you believe Jesus is to escape hell then you missed the message and the purpose of the gospel; for even the demons believe and they tremble (James 2:19).

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