How do I honor God?

Have you ever wanted to honor God? I mean really honor Him in a way that makes Him glad?
I have, but I feel that my gifts and offerings always come short, because His gift to me, which is Jesus, is so very much bigger than what I can give back to Him.
However, today I came across this Scripture from Psalm 50:23:
"He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God."
There is a way I can honor God, a way to give Him something that really delights the Lord, and that is to offer thank offerings to Him.
What is a thank offering? We know what it is to say "thanks" or "thank you". We do it in response to something we have received. You give me a gift, and I say "thank you".
However, a thank offering is something different. The thanking is the same, but if it involves an offer, it is something that costs me something.
May be you don't seem to have anything to be thankful for? Your life's a mess and it appears that you have no more options left to live a happy life.
I have good news for you! There's always something to be thankful for. I didn't say "happy for", I said thankful for. As long as there's breath in you, you have at least one reason to be thankful. As long as there's breath in you, you live. And as long as you live, you have an opportunity to reconcile with God, get your life on track and start all over again.
Thank Him today for your life, even if you don't feel like it. If you thank Him in spite of your feelings, it's a thank offer, and God is honored.
Don't quit, but thank Him, thank Him, thank Him, till you feel thankful. Then He'll show you more things to be thankful for, and you have started on the right path to a life in thankfulness and every good thing the Father has to offer you.
Start today!

Like palm tree and cedar

Have you ever wondered what it's really like to be righteous? To be righteous is to have right standing before God through Jesus Christ and what He did for us on the cross. But what does it really mean in your and my everyday life?
Psalm 92:13 gives us an answer, and I want to explore that answer today.
"The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon" (Psalm 92:13).
First it says that the righteous shall flourish. What does it mean to flourish? My dictionary says it means to be successful, widespread, prosper, grow healthily, be well and active, be very active and influential.
Wow! That sounds good. But it says more. It not only says the righteous shall flourish, but that the righteous shall flourish like the palm tre and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
If someone says to me that I shall have success like "John Brown", I would try to figure out what "John Brown" does or did that made him a success. And when the Bible says that I shall flourish like the palm tree and like a cedar, I want to find out what that really means. What is it about the palm tree and the cedar that make them flourish?
My source of information about this is Dake's Annotated Reference Bible. And it says on page 1046 about Psalm 92:13:

The fruit of the palm provides a great part of the diet of the East. The stones are ground down for the camels; the leaves are made into baskets; the hard boughs or the strong leaves, 6 to 7 ft. in length, are used to make fences; the juice makes arrack, a very strong Oriental liquor; the threads of the leaves make ropes; and the wood makes building material or firewood.

Another WOW!

And the cedar?

The cedars of Lebanon are extremely long-lived. Some are supposed to be as old as 1,000 years. They grow 80 to 100 ft. tall and 40 ft. around the trunk. They express the ideas of majesty, durability, incorruptibility, and stability.

Are you righteous? If you've accepted Jesus Christ into your life and been born again, you are. And all the good characteristics listed above are yours. Don't settle for less! Jesus died for you and paid the price for you so you could have everything of the above.

Don't settle for less!

Don't frame God

Do you have grandkids? I do, five of them! And all five are a joy to me. I love and cherish each one of them. And I have pictures of them in my livingroom, pictures taken when they were around two years old. I look at the pictures every day and thank God for each one of my grandkids.
However, they're not two years old any more, not the four oldest, anyway. So what is the fact about the pictures? Are they lying? No, they tell me the truth about each child at the time the picture was taken. But now, 8, 9 or 10 years later, they don't look that way any more. They resemble the person they were at two-years-old, but they have grown and changed.
What does this have to do with God? Everything!
Many people "frame and glaze" a picture of God in their mind. And every day, they look at the picture and think about what happened when the picture was taken. And thirty years after the picture was taken, they still look at the same picture and believe that God is still the same way.
Don't misunderstand me. God never changes. He IS the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. But what I'm talking about is our perception of God. If "your" God hasn't changed in your perception since you were a child, there's something wrong with you "picture" of God, not with God Himself. If something bad happened 25 years ago, and you blamed God for it (in an unlawful manner, of course, because God never causes bad things to happen), and you still keep the picture of a God who causes bad things to happen in you mind, you have framed God as the author of evil, and that's the picture you look at every day. Then you need to get a new picture of God.
How do you do it?
Exactly the same way I would go about getting new pictures of my grandkids. I would look at them as they are now, take a picture, frame and glaze it, and hang it on the wall. But to take that new picture, I need to be with them. I need to see them as a teenager in stead of as a two-year-old. And to get a new picture of God, I need to know Him, (which I do by reading His Word), spend time with Him, (which I do in prayer and time spent before His face), and thus let Him form His picture in me.
How's your picture of God? The best way to see and know how God is, is to look at Jesus. You can see Him in the Bible, from beginning to end. The more time you spend with Him, the clearer and more correct your picture will be of Him. Don't hang an old picture of God on the wall of your heart, get a new picture each day, because God's love is new every morning.
"Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness" (Lamentations 3:21-23).

Cast your care!

"Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you" (1 Peter 5:7).
Casting ALL your care ... Let the phrase sink in. Let it really talk to you. What do you do with your care - your worry, anxiety, fear and confusion? Do you let those thoughts take your joy? Is your worry greater than you peace? Then today's text is for you!
I have had reasons to worry in my life. Things have happened, people have been unfair and rude, and there have been situations where I have had reasons to worry, humanly speaking.
But I am so thankful to God that through it all, He has taught me to cast my care upon Him! How do I do it? The same way you can do it:

1. You see the situation that worries you, thoughts go through your mind and torment you
2. You decide (and that's important, you have to decide) that you don't want to worry. Stamp your foot, if necessary, and say out loud that you don't want to worry any more
3. Fill yourself with God's Word about your situation. God's Word has something to say about every situation we face. Use a concordance, if necessary, and look up at least one or two Scriptures that say something about your situation, and meditate on them. Let them fill your thoughts and your mind, and refuse to open the door for worry and anxiety.

It may take some time, but sooner or later you'll experience that the worry goes away and you become strong in the Lord because of His Word that you have accepted and meditated on. Why? Because "so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it" (Isaiah 55:11).

God's glory - my glory

"I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one" (John17:22).
Have you ever thought about God's glory? When I think of God's glory, I think of smoke, fire, light, awe, reverence, thunder, stillness, miracles, wonders ... the list goes on and on.
And in light of all these wonderful descriptions (and words cannot describe God's glory, so words are just like shadows of the real thing!) Jesus said that God has passed His glory to Jesus (which I can fully understand and accept), and then Jesus has passed the same glory on to us! That's amazing! That's more than my carnal mind can comprehend. It takes heavenly enlightenment to fathom that God's glory resides in me. But it does, according to the Scripture above.
Why did Jesus give us God's glory? So we could boast? So we could "bask in the glory"? So we would have something to be proud about? No, no, no!
Jesus gave us God's glory so we should be one! One with God, one with Jesus, and - and this is very important - one with one another!
And that paints a whole other picture of the situation, because what is God? He has glory, but He is LOVE! And for you and me to be one with Him and with each other, we need to be filled with and walk in His Love!
That leaves boasting, bragging and basking out of the picture, doesn't it? Because
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails" (1 Kor 13,4-8).
These are some of the characteristics of LOVE, God's Love! And if you and I want to be filled with God's glory, which He so lovingly and generously has given us through Jesus, we need to walk in this kind of love.
Difficult? Yes, in our selves. Impossible? No, not through Jesus. It requires, however, that we give up our own, carnal lives, and live HIS life, in love, filled with His Glory!

Help! My tongue ruins me!

"Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech" (1 Peter 3:10).
Good days! Who wouldn't enjoy good days? I am sure everybody would like to enjoy good days. But not all people live good lives and enjoy good days. That means there's a discrepancy between the life I can have and the life I actually have. How come?
Today's headline gives us a good answer: My tongue is the culprit. With my tongue I set the course for my life, either good or bad. "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit" (Proverbs 18:21). Or as other translations put it: Death and life are in the power of the tongue.
That's plain and straightforward talk. With my tongue I set the course for my life. I am the administrator of my life, or the chauffeur if you like, and the steering wheel is my tongue.
Where are you heading today? Towards life or towards death? Ask God to show you how to use your tongue to His glory and towards life. He's always there to help, guide and suppport you in your good decisions. Ask Him, and He will help you!

Who is the bride of Christ?

Today's headline is an honest question, and I want to give an honest answer.
Who is the bride of Christ?
It has never resonated well in me when Christians have said that "we are the bride of Christ". I never really found that in the Scriptures. In Revelations 21 I read that the new Jerusalem is the bride of Christ: "I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." (Rev. 21:2+9)
And everywhere I see in the New Testamente, I see that we, the believers, are called "the body of Christ".
To further clearify the matter, I want to quote from Dake's annotated reference Bible, page 1258:
Israel the Wife of God (from Isaiah 54:5)
Israel is often spoken of as a woman and as the wife of Jehovah (Isaiah 54:4-6). The church is never spoken of as a woman or the bride of Christ. The church is referred to as a man (Eph. 2:14-15; 4:13) and part of the bride of Christ, which is the heavenly city, New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2,9). This wife of Jehovah is the woman of Revelations 12. Here God speaks of forsaking her for the moment because of her sins; but He will again bring her back to Himself to remain thus forever (Isaiah 4-10). This is a truth that is greatly enlarged upon in Hosea.
It's a widespread belief that the Church is the bride of Christ, and I wish to clarify, and set this matter straight.
We, the born again children of God, are the body of Christ!
Let's not get confused and spread more lies about this, but let's keep our doctrine straight and let's hold fast to the truth!

Beauty for ashes

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me ... To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified" (Isaiah 61:1+3).
What would you rather have, beauty or ashes? Seems like an easy question to answer. Everybody would rather have beauty in stead of ashes, I reckon.
However, when it comes down to it, many peoples' lives show that they actually prefere ashes over beauty. Why?
Because to get beauty, you have to give up your ashes. And that seems scary to many people. "Ashes" can be old habits, sins, likes and dislikes, a bad temper, an angry attitude, and so on. We want to be gentle and meek like Jesus, but we're not willing to give up our own not-so-meek temperament.
In the verses above, it says that Christ came to give us beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, and praise for heaviness. Ashes, mourning and heaviness! Have you ever felt any of that? I have, and I have trades my ashes, my mourning and my heaviness for God's beauty, joy and praise. Is it easy? No! Is it possible? Yes! Because "... greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4). And He that is in you, is greater than your ashes, your mourning, and your heaviness. He IS your beauty; He IS your joy; and He IS your praise. He is all I need in this world and in the next, all I need to do is give Him my old "self", and let Him fill me with Himself.

How to become one with God

One with God? That seems like a tall order, doesn't it? How can you and I, mere men, whom Job calls "worms", be, not only like God, but become one with God?
Before we look at the answer, let's look at a few Scriptures to show man's state without God:
"The womb forgets them, the worm feasts on them; evil men are no longer remembered but are broken like a tree" (Job 24:20)
" ...how much less man, who is but a maggot - a son of man, who is only a worm!" (Job 25:6)
"But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people" (Psalm 22:7)
"Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I myself will help you, declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel" (Isaiah 41:14).
Can you see how man in all these Scriptures is called maggots and worms? That is not a pretty picture, but that's man's state without God after Adam and Eve's fall in the Garden of Eden. No-one is exempt, we are all corrupt, depraved and "wormish". What can we do about it? Is there a "cure"? Is there a way out of this sad and desperate situation?
Thank God, He's prepared a way, and it is this:
"I (Jesus) have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me" (John 17:22-23).
Do you see it? Do you see the way out of our "wormish" state?
God's glory <---> Jesus <---> man (you and I)
Jesus said that God has given Him (Jesus) His (God's) glory, and that Jesus has given US, YOU and I, that same glory! That is shouting ground! Now is the time to shout HALLELUJAH!
God's glory is mine through Jesus! Through faith in Jesus I come out of my "wormish" state, and am clothed with glory from above. I am no longer a maggot or a worm, I am a child of God! I am clothed in the garment of salvation and the robe of righteousness (see yesterday's text).
"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom" (Luke12:32).

Garments of salvation and robe of righteousness

Are you dressed?
I don't mean if you've changed from night clothes to day clothes, but are you dressed in God's apparel?
What is God's apparel?
The Bible often uses figurative speech, like we see in today's headline; God clothes us with His garments of salvation and His robe of righteousness.
"I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels" (Isaiah 61:10).Garments are used to cover us, like Ruth said to Boaz in Rut 3:9: "'Who are you?' he asked. 'I am your servant Ruth,' she said. 'Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a kinsman-redeemer.'"
The redeemer was supposed to cover the one he should redeem. And Jesus redeemed us: "... who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good" (Titus 2:14). Salvation is likened to a garment, it covers. Remember after Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden? They were naked up to that point, and didn't even notice it, because they lived in perfect harmony and in the presence of God. But after they sinned, they became aware of their nakedness, and God clothed them with a fur coat. God redeemed them from their nakedness. In the same way I see God's garments of salvation. He clothes us with His own garments in stead of our own, sinful clothing.
What is the robe of righteousness? Abraham is our example of faith and righteousness. It says about him that "And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God's friend" (Jacob 2,23). We know that Abraham's faith walk was extraordinary. You can read about it in Genesis. But what made him righteous in God's sight, was that he believed God, and did what He said. That's what I believe being clothed in a robe of righteousness means, to listen to God, believe it in your heart and doing it.
So my question to you today still stands: Are you dressed? Are you clothed in God's apparel?
If you are, go in peace and rejoice in the Lord. If you're not, God is more than willing to clothe you and dress you up in His finest apparel. All you need to do is ask Him.

Refresh someone today!

Refreshments!
What do you do when you hear someone shout "Refreshments!"? You run to where the refreshements are and expect to have something good to eat and/or drink.
We as Christians should be "refreshers". We should shout: "Refreshments!", and everybody should run to us and expect to be refreshed. Sadly, in my country, anyway, many Christians do NOT refresh others; they gossip, slander, and spread negativity in stead of spreading the Good News about Jesus and His kingdom. They talk about the news and in that way exalt what the devil does rather than talking about and exalting Jesus and what He does.
But see what the Bible has to say about refreshing:
"I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint" (Jeremiah 31:25).
When people are weary and faint, you and I should be there to refresh, uplift and give hope. In stead of joining our neighbours, friends, and family in complaining about the weather, the government and everything else that we think is wrong, we should speak positive words, uplifting words, words that build up and not tear down.
Paul's wish was that he would be refreshed by Filemon:
"I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ" (Filemon 1:20).
Our job as Christian brothers and sisters is to refresh one another in the Lord. Let's ask Jesus to lead us to someone who needs encouragement and refreshing today!

Head or heart?

In yesterday's blog I wrote about the difference between faith (the unseen, the spiritual or supernatural) and sight (the seen, the natural). I want to go a little further today and expand the theme.
In Mark 11:23, Jesus is saying to His disciples: "Whoever says to this mountain, Be taken up and be put into the sea; and has no doubt in his heart, but has faith that what he says will come about, he will have his desire".
Where does Jesus say "whoever" should have his or her faith? In their heart! Jesus did not say "... and has no doubt in his head ...".
We often miss the mark because we tend to listen more to our head than we listen to our heart. My head is the seat of my thoughts, feelings, and my will. But these are bad road signs to follow if I want to go deeper into the things of the Spirit.
My heart, or my spirit, is the seat of God. When God speaks to me either through His Spirit or through His Word, he speaks to my heart. I guess I have to point out that "heart" in the Bible is not the same as "bloodpump", which is the muscle we have on the left side of our chest. My "heart" in the Biblical sense, is my spirit, it's the core of my being, it's what is being born again when I accept Jesus Christ as my personal Savior.
Kenneth E. Hagin has said that you can have faith in your heart with unbelief in your head. The important thing is to follow your heart!
So when Jesus told His disciples not do doubt in their heart, He meant that they should not rely on their natural senses; their thoughts and their feelings. He asked them to rely solely on what God had given them in their heart to believe. If they were to do that, they would be able to move mountains!
Wow! Isn't that something? Isn't it amazing that Jesus said that to them? But the even more amazing thing is that Jesus says the exact same thing to US, to YOU AND ME today. He says that if you and I will lay aside our natural senses, our own thoughts and feelings, and rely on His Word and what He has told us, WE CAN ALSO MOVE MOUNTAINS!
Is there a mountain in your life today? Something you really desire to get rid of? Find what the Bible has to say about it, believe that with your heart, talk to your mountain with faithfilled words, and see the mountain disappear!

"Faith" or "sight"?

Everybody who is saved, has heard about "faith". It's by faith that we are saved, it's faith that keeps us going day by day, and without faith it is impossible to please God. But what is faith, and what is the opposite of faith? In 2 Cor. 5:7 we read:
"For we walk by faith, not by sight". Here we see two ways of conducting or living our lives: by faith or by sight. What does it mean to live by faith, and what does it mean to live by sight?
What is faith? The Bible gives us the answer: "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). My personal interpretation is that faith is the firm conviction that what God says will come to pass! I like to liken faith with everyday acts we do without thinking about them. You want to drive your car from A to B. You get in the car, turn the ignition on and start driving. You have faith that your car starts, that it takes you where you want to go, and you also have faith in other drivers that they will not bump into you on the road. Another example: you want to sit down, and if there's a chair somewhere, you sit down without first checking if the chair is safe. You have faith in the chair that it holds you without breaking.
I think of God the same way. When I need something, I look it up in His Word, find what He says, and act as if what He says is true. To me, that is faith.
What does it mean to walk by sight?
Sight is connected to our eyes, sight is one of five natural senses; smelling, tasteing, hearing, touching and seeing. What does it mean that I do not walk (or live) by sight? It means that I do not live by my natural senses. I am not dependent upon what I see, hear, smell, taste or touch.
When what I see doesn't line up with what the Word says, I choose to believe God's Word; I set aside my natural senses and with my will choose to believe God.
That is walking by faith, and that is pleasing to God, and He rewards my faith.

The Spirit of Truth and Life

"We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error"(1 John 4:6).
"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2, my emphases).
When we have received Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we know God. God is ONE, and at the same time THREE: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is often referred to as the Spirit of Truth, and rightfully so. However, He is also the Spirit of Life, and we need to preach both.
The way I have learnt to see these two sides of the Spirit, is thus:
The Spirit of Truth has to do with salvation, what the Lord is and what He has done for us. If we preach, teach and act on both these sides of the Spirit, the Word will be rightly divided. "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15, my emphasis). What does this mean? It means that when I preach the Word, I am faithful to the Word's immediate context and to the author's intended purpose. I do not add or subtract anything. "Every word of God [is] pure: he [is] a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar" (Proverbs 30:5-6).
The Spirit of Life has to do with the life we live, or rather, the life we're supposed to live as Christians. Signs should follow the preaching and teaching of God's Word. "And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with [them], and confirming the word with signs following. Amen"(Mark 16:20). Do signs follow my preaching and teaching of the Word? If not, there's something missing.
"God also bearing [them] witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will" (Hebrews 2:4). The Spirit of Life wants to perform God's miracles much more than we do. Somehow we've become lazy Christians, not going for the full and complete Gospel. It's a prayer in my heart that God will awaken His people to the realities of His kingdom. I pray that my and your experience will be like Paul's in 1 Corinthians:
"And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching [was] not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God" (vv. 1-5).
If we preach and teach and believe in the Spirit of Truth and Life, we can and should expect to see the power of God! God is the same yesterday, today and forever. What He did before, He can and will do today, and also tomorrow.

I WILL!

"Now it came about that while the people came pushing to be near him, and to have knowledge of the word of God, he was by a wide stretch of water named Gennesaret; And he saw two boats by the edge of the water, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. And he got into one of the boats, the property of Simon, and made a request to him to go a little way out from the land. And being seated he gave the people teaching from the boat. And when his talk was ended, he said to Simon, Go out into deep water, and let down your nets for fish. And Simon, answering, said, Master, we were working all night and we took nothing: but at your word I will let down the nets. And when they had done this, they got such a great number of fish that it seemed as if their nets would be broken; And they made signs to their friends in the other boat to come to their help. And they came, and the two boats were so full that they were going down" (Luke 5:1-7. my emphasis.)

Peter and his fishermen friends had been out fishing all night, but caught nothing. When they came back to shore, Jesus asked if He could borrow one of the boats, and Peter let Jesus use his. When Jesus was finished using the boat as a pulpit, He told Peter to let down his nets again.

Peter was an experienced fisherman, and he knew that fishing was not so smart to do during the day. I guess many thoughts ran through Peter's mind, argumentative thoughts and probably also thoughts about how tired he was and he wanted to go home and sleep. After all, he had been out all night, trying to catch fish.

However, Peter didn't follow his natural, human reasonings, but he said: I will let down the nets. He said: I WILL! Jesus gave him a word, and Peter followed that word.

And here's my message for today:

My personal "I WILL" is a determining factor for how my life will turn out!

What would your response to Jesus' Words have been? Argumentative, negative and humanly? Many people's answer would have been that way. But today we can learn from Peter and say: I will! At Your Word, Jesus, I will do it your way!

What was Peter's experience from doing it Jesus' way?  "They got such a great number of fish that it seemed as if their nets would be broken." That's supernatural! That's above and beyond all Peter could imagine. And if you and I say "I will" to Jesus' Words today, we also will experience netbraking results!

Why do people go to hell?

If you're like most people, your answer to this question is, people go to hell because they sin!

Right?

Wrong!

People do not go to hell because they sin. Yes, sin is what kept Adam and Eve from staying in the Garden of Eden, and sin is what kept people in bondage through all times ever since, and sin is what still keeps people in bondage today. But sin is not the reason people go to hell when they die.

To make it clearer, let me ask you one question: Why did Jesus come to this earth, suffer what He suffered through His appr. 33 years here, and then go back to His Father in heaven? Because God wanted to get rid of the barrier that hindered human beings from having close relationship with their Father God.  He sent Jesus to suffer death for you and me, to take yours and mine and everybody's sin on Himself, so we could go free. Jesus took my sins on Himself, did away with it once and for all, and gave me a free passage to God.

Does that mean that everybody on this earth goes to heaven when they die? That's unfortunately not the case. Let's see what Jesus Himself said about this matter. He talked about the Holy Spirit that would come after Jesus had ascended to heaven.

"When he (the Holy Spirit) comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:  in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned" (Joh 16:8-11, my emphasis).

What's He saying here? He says that the Holy Spirit will convict the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgment. And then He says something very important. The conviction of sin is because people do not believe in Jesus.

So the answer to the question we started out with, is that people go to hell because they do not believe in Jesus.

Jesus took all the sin and all the sins of the world on Himself on the cross. Every thinkable and unthinkable sin is paid for in full by Jesus' death on the cross.

How do you and I get to participate in this wonderful work of Jesus? By believing on Him. It's that simple and it's also that difficult. Not difficult because it's not a finished work, but difficult because it requires that we give up ourselves and give ourselves to Jesus.

Why do people go to hell? Because they don't believe in Jesus!

Don't ask why!

Today's message is very short, but profoundly important:

You can trust and believe God even if you don't understand.

Don't ask WHY, just trust God!

Don't draw back!

Have you ever started a project and a few days or weeks later you just didn't want to go through with it? The excitement was gone and the project no longer had the charm of novelty. You just gave up! I guess that has happened to most people on one or more occasions.

When this happens concerning practical or other "human" or "worldly" projects, it may not be detrimental or damaging in other ways than hurt pride or wasted time and money. When this, however, happens when it comes to the things of God, it could have everlasting implications.

Let's look at a verse in the Bible that talks about this.

"Now the just shall live by faith: but if [any man] draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him" (Hebrews 10:38).

The just shall live by faith is an established fact. "Everybody" in evangelical circles knows that. It takes faith to please God, and it's by faith that we come to Him, live in Him and will eventually go to heaven to be with Him.

However, the rest of this verse says that if anyone (that's you and me) draw back, God is not pleased with us.

We want God to be pleased with us, so to avoid to get into this situation, we need to know what it means to "draw back".

To draw back comes from the Greek word hupostello, and it means to let down; shrink back from. It is translated draw back here in verse 38; withdraw in Galatians 2:12; shun in Acts 20:27; and keep back in Acts 20:20.

If Christians could not do this, God wouldn't warn us against it. So when this verse says if we draw back, it means that we CAN draw back. We should always check ourselves to see if we've become slack and are drawing back. Revelation 2:4 also warns about this: "Nevertheless I have [somewhat] against thee, because thou hast left thy first love".

It's easy to be so used to the things of God that we take our life in Him for granted. However, the Bible encourages us to not be slack, but "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby" (1 Peter 2:2).

Declaration:

I don't want to draw back from the things of God. I set my mind on getting to know Him better, learning more about God's ways and God's will, and I will "drink" the sincere milk of the Word so I can grow in wisdom and love. Help me do this today, Lord.

God or Allah - are they the same?

Today's contribution is of the more philosophical sort, something I have been thinking about for a long time.
From time to time we see and hear Christian and Muslim leaders argue that they have the same god - the god of Abraham. Since we all originate from Abraham (through either Ishmael or Isaac), they argue that Abraham's God is everybody's god.
However, some time ago God showed me something that settled that question once and for all for me. He showed me that it is not the physical genealogical table that's important, but the spiritual one. Let me explainn.
God promised Abraham a son by Sarah. They were both old, and Sarah had never born children. When the promise did not manifest as quickly as they would like, Sarah suggested to Abraham that he should have a child by her servant, Hagar. Thus Ishmael was born.
Ishmael was born out of disobedience to God. It was a mere physical and natural thing that happened. God had said that Abraham should have a son by Sarah, but they disobeyed God. Thus Ishmael was born out of disobedience. His physical father was Abraham, but the father of disobedience, Satan, was his spiritual father.
Isaac, on the other hand, was born out of obedience to God. Abraham was his physical father, but God was his spiritual father. He was born out of faith and obedience.
Thus it follows that all who follow after Ishmael (the Muslims), are children of Allah (the Muslims' name for their god) and all who follow after Isaac (the Christians), are children of God.
God or Allah - are they the same? No, by no means. Don't be fooled, but know who your God is.
"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?" (2 Cor. 6:14-15).
We should pray for the Muslims to be saved and come into fellowship with God, the Father of Jesus Christ, but we should never subordinate ourselves to their god. That's idol-worship. Worship the ONE TRUE GOD - our heavenly Father.

Salvation is more than just "salvation"

You have probably heard and used the expression "I am saved" or "he or she is saved", meaning that the person has received Jesus Christ as his or her personal Savior and is going to heaven when they die.

And that is absolutely one of the meanings of the word "salvation". But do you know that "salvation" is much more than that?

My English Bible, Spirit filled life Bible for students, has lots of explanations and statements about many topics, which give a clearer picture of the true and whole meaning of words and phrases in the Bible. Today I read Luke 7:50 whereJesus says about the woman who came and anointed Him with a very costly fragrant oil, washed His feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair: "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."

The word "saved" (or salvation) is explained thus: Saved, sozo (greek): Jesus told a woman that her faith had saved her. Sozo means "to save", "to heal", "to cure", "to preserve", "to keep safe and sound," "to rescue from danger or destruction", "to deliver". Sozo saves from physical death by healing and from spiritual death by forgiving sin and its effects.

Jesus came to seek and save the lost, and if we receive His offer, we're "saved". The average believer, however, has not understood the vast significance of Jesus' work for us - His salvation. When I am "saved", that means I am going to heaven when I die, but it also means that I am healed, cured, preserved, kept safe and sound, rescued from danger or destruction and delivered here and now, in this life!

That's good news for someone who is sick, who struggles with different issues in life, who is afraid or in danger. Jesus' salvation is sufficient for all of life's problems, His salvation covers all of life's situations.

Just as you accepted Jesus as your Savior from your sins, accept Him as your deliverer from all other issues you are struggling with.

His salvation is more than enough for this life and the next!

Perfect peace!

"Thou wilt keep [him] in perfect peace, [whose] mind [is] stayed [on thee]; because he trusteth in thee" (Isaiah 26:3).

Do you want peace? Not the short-lived, superficial so-called peace that comes from worldly pleasures, achievements and situations, but lasting, real peace. Jesus came as The Prince of Peace. And He wanted and still wants to give His followers the same peace. He said: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful" (John 14:27).

Do you see it? Jesus wants to give YOU peace. But the question is: How do you and I get hold of Jesus' peace? How can we exchange our fear, unrest and struggles with His peace?

Look at the Scripture at the beginning. Who will have this peace? The person whose mind is stayed on God! The person who trusts in God.

Trust is a choice. I choose to trust, or I choose not to trust. And in a human sense, when someone has proven to be faithful and just, I have grounds to trust him or her. We know, however, that few people are trustworthy. They fail, sin, betray others, don't keep their word and does not display a life that's worthy to be trusted.

God, on the other hand, IS trustworthy, He IS just, He DOES NOT sin and He always keeps His Word. I can trust God with all my being, without holding anything back. He can be trusted. And when I trust in Him, He gives me peace. Not as the world gives, but HEAVENLY,  SUPERNATURAL PEACE in the midst of an unpeaceful world.

Who do you put your trust in? Worldly goods? Pleasures? Other people? Don't! Put your trust in God, and experience HIS peace - a peace that far surpasses this world's so-called peace.

Jesus is the Prince of Peace - trust in HIM.

Who or what do you serve?

My daily devotional "From faith to faith" by Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, has an interesting and thought provoking entry today. The headline is: Don't serve the problem.

I have for a long time been interested in how my mind (my mind = my thoughts, will, and emotions) function as a "roadmap" for my life, and today's devotional gave more insight into the question. I will use it in my own words here in todays entry.

Some time ago I heard Terri Savelle Foi say something interesting about thoughts: Your life goes in the direction of your most dominant thought!

Have you ever thought about how your thoughts stear you along life's path? If you think about doughnuts, pretty soon you have bought a box full and are eating half a dozen before you know it, even though you know that you shouldn't.

Point taken, I guess. Doughnuts is one thing, life's big problems is something quite different and much more serious.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:24-25: "Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life."

Right after Jesus said that we cannot serve God and mammon (which includes our physical lives, material possessions and money), He said: Take no thought... The connection is clear: We serve our thoughts! If I have a problem, and I'm constantly thinking about this problem and how it will make life difficult for me and how difficult it will be to get out of this situation, that thought is my master.

No wonder the Bible is full of clues as to how we should master our thoughts, and not let our thoughts master us.

Here are a few of these Scriptures: Isaiah 55:7 says that the wicked shall forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. To forsake means to let go, not keep on to, let loose (my definitions). To forsake my thoughts means that I don't hold on to them, but let them go, and then replace them with other thoughts. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says: "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

The important thing here is that ungodly and unhealthy arguments (thoughts) that are not in line with God's Word, must be taken captive. That means we throw them out and make our thoughts obedient to Christ. What does the Word say about my situation? Will God let the righteous suffer loss? No, He satisfies the righteous with good things.

"The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing (Psalm 34:11) and

"... for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things" (Psalm 107:9).

To learn to do this and to be good at it, you should practice. Start with small, minor thoughts that "pop up" uninvited, kick them out and replace them with God's Word on the matter. Then when you have practiced a while, "attack" the major thoughts that usually almost chokes you. Tell them to go, tell them that you don't allow those thoughts in your mind, and fill yourself with God's Word in stead.

You will be amazed at what a difference it will make in your life!

What do you know?

Kind of strange question, perhaps, but anyway a very valid one. What do you really know?

"What is so important about knowledge? I thought faith was the main thing in Christendom."

Absolutely. Faith is important, and without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).

There is, however, another factor that's highly overlooked, and that is knowledge.

Example: You receive a painting as a gift from your uncle. You like the painting, and hang it on the wall. It hangs there for years, until one day you take it down to clean and dust it. When you examine the back of the painting, you see something that looks like there is a pocket or something behind the outer layer. You open the pocket and find $ 1 000. You're overjoyed, and call your friends and family to tell them of your discovery.

The point? The money was there all the time, you just didn't know about it. You had no knowledge about the money, and it was for you as if you never had it - until you found it!

That's the way it is with the knowledge of God. It's "hidden" in His "treasure chest" - the Bible. You just have to open it and find the treasures, then you can use them to live a victorious life in Jesus Christ.

The Bible has much to say about the importance of knowing. I have picked just a few scriptures to show you what I mean:

"Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?" (2 Chronicles 1:10) You need not only wisdom, but knowledge to be a leader.

"Job speaks without knowledge; his words lack insight" (Job 34:35) To have insight, you need knowledge. You need to know what's going on.

"Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I believe in your commands" (Psalm 119:66). To be a good judge, you need knowledge. You have to know, rather than suppose.

"Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.  His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness" (2 Peter 1:2-3). Grace and peace come through knowing God and Jesus. We have everything we need in this life and the next in Jesus Christ, but if we don't know about it, it won't do us any good. It's the knowing that makes us able to use it.

Just like the thousand dollars behind the painting, there are great riches and thruths hidden in the Word of God, riches and truths we need to live victorious, joyful and fulfilled lives here on earth. You need to know about these riches and truths, so start digging for knowledge today!

How does God chastise us?

Have you ever heard the phrase "Acts of God"? It's used in insurance policies for extreme catastrophies. And have you ever heard someone say that "God sent this disease to teach me something" or "God let me experience this accident so I would be a better person"?
I guess you have heard all this and more about how God sends accidents, catastrophies, sickness and death to "teach His people something". But that is absolutely not true. God doesn't send any of these. He does not send bad things. We live in an evil world, and bad and evil things happen. In the Lord's prayer we pray: "Your will be done on earth as in heaven". Is there sickness and death in heaven? No. Do accidents happen in heaven? No. Why? Because God doesn't have any of these. He's not the author of accidents, sickness and catastrophies. He's the author of GOOD. He's a Good God.
God has, however, a way to chastise and teach His people, and that is through His Word. Let's look at a few verses of Scripture that show us this: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Here it says that all Scripture is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. Why is that so? So that the Christians may be thoroughly equipped for every good work! That means that if there's something wrong with me in the sense of me lacking something in my faith or I am doing something I shouldn't, THE WORD OF GOD is my teacher.
Paul also writes about this in 2 Corinthians, where he explains the result of a letter (= words) he sent to the church in Corinth. He says: "Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it - I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while - yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us" (2 Corinthians 7:8-9). A situation in the church at Corinth needed to be addressed and corrected, and IF God's method of correction was sickness, death and accidents, Paul would have asked God to send this. But he did not do that. He sent A LETTER with words of caution. And the words he sent did their work; people repented and things were straightened out. The church was back on track again!
It's always God's Word that is the means God uses to chastise and correct us. Next time you hear someone say anything else, refuse to accept it. Sickness, death and accidents happen in this evil world, but they are not from God. And He does not use Satan's tools to teach His people. He uses His own tools, the Word to teach His people.

Where's your citizenship?

You probably live in a country and have your citizenship in that country. Or you may have moved to another country, but you're still a citizen of the original country. But do you know that as Christians, we have two citizenships? We're nationals of one earthly country, but we're also nationals of heaven. Since I live in Norway and Sweden is my closest neighboring country, let me ask you a question about Norway and Sweden. What are the differences between Norway and Sweden? I don't know what you would answer, but my answer is:

• language (even though we understand each other, there are distinct differences)
• food
• customs
• traditions
• certain national holidays
• laws and regulations

The list goes on and on.
A person from Sweden doesn't have to say more than one or two words, and I can hear they are not Norwegians, but Swedes. If I visit a Swedish family on Christmas Eve, I will see that they have a totally different menu than most people in Norway.
You get the point. There ARE differences between being a citizen of Norway and being a citizen of Sweden.
As a Christian, I have two citizenships; one Norwegian and one heavenly. And as a national of heaven, I talk differently, I think differently and I do things differently than one who is not a citizen of heaven. According to heaven's law, which is the Bible, I do not stir up strife: "Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification (Romans 14:19), I edify and build people up: "Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up (Romans 15:2), I speak "heaven's" language: "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen" (Ephesians 4:29), I do not retaliate: "When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly" (1 Peter 2:23)
Since Jesus is my "big brother" and my great example, I try to imitate Him in the way I live. When I open my mouth, people around me should hear that I belong to heaven. My actions should show my real and true citizenship: heaven.
My prayer for you and me today, is that we may show our true colors when it comes to our citizenship. If you're a Christian, talk like one and act like one! Let everyone around you hear and see where you really belong.
"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace"(Ephesians 4:2-3).
That living a life that reflects your heavenly citizenship!

Put, put, let, let and set

Have you ever considered the importance of small words? Like BE! When God created heaven and earth, He used the word be - light be! - and light was. I know He probably didn't speak English, but in English, the word He used is be.
There are other small words with great importance, like put, let and set. And who's to do the putting, letting and setting? We are, you and I. Like it says in Colossians 3, "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth ... put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering ... put on love ... let the peace of God rule in your hearts ... let the word of Christ dwell in you richly ..." (vv. 2,12,14-16, my emphases).
What do these small words have in common? They all point toward something very important in God's Word: There are a lot of things you and I need to do, not wait on God to do it for us.
Who is supposed to do the setting? Who is supposed to do the putting on and the letting? Not God, not Jesus, nor the Holy Spirit, but you and I, by the Holy Spirit's help. When God says put on love, He means that you and I shall get dressed in His love. When He says set your mind on things above, He means that I shall do the setting, in this case think about His things in stead of my things and the world's things.
And now comes the most important point in today's blog: All the putting, letting and setting we do starts in our thoughts! If I am to set my mind (which is my thoughts, my will and my emotions) on things above, it means that I have to deliberately think on these things. It means that I go to an effort to push aside (in my thoughts) the things of this world (bad, negative, destructive thoughts that will ruin my relationships and make me depressed and want to quit).
John 10:10 says that it is the thief that comes to kill, steal and destroy. And the thief is Satan himself. And his best and mostly  used battleground, is our minds. If he can make us think destructive thoughts, our lives become destructive, fruitless and meaningless. However, Jesus came to give us life, life to the full.
A full life is obtained when you and I are setting our minds on Jesus, putting aside evil thoughts and letting God's goodness and His thoughts fill us.
Try it today. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you. He is more than willing to assist you into a better life where you're the overcomer, not the overcome.

Are you afflicted?

"Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of  them all" (Psalm 34:19).
This verse of Scripture gives a pretty accurate picture of many people's situation today. Many are our afflictions. Being a Christian does not mean that we float through life on a cloud with a silver lining. Being a Christian means that we live in a world where sin, sickness, death and afflictions are overwhelming. I am not exempt from life's atrocities, and you're not either. However, and this is where being a Christian makes a tremendous difference in life, BUT THE LORD DELIVERS HIM (you and me) OUT OF THEM ALL! Not one or two of them once in a while, but all of them, all the time! Whatever affliction comes against me and tries to overtake me, the Lord delivers me out of it - every time and every one of them.
What does it take to be delivered? FAITH! Faith in His Word, faith in His ability to deliver me, and faith in His power in me to lead me safely through the difficulty and into His safe haven. How many times will He do it? Every time!
Are you afflicted today? Ask the Lord to deliver you, seek Him in His Word and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you into full freedom.
Maybe there are people you need to forgive? Or others you need to ask forgiveness? Be open to the Holy Spirit and don't give up until you are really free. You have God's Word that He wants to deliver you from all your afflictions!

Are you faithful?

Faithfulness - it's not the most widespread human quality we see today. However, faithfulness is one of the most important qualities that should mark a Christian. A believer in Jesus Christ should be faithful both to God and to his or her fellow human beings.
What does it mean to be faithful? According to Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, faithful means able to be trusted; conscientious, true to the facts; accurate; never had a sexual relationship with anyone else (than one's spouse). The sad fact is that there's probably no-one who can say that they are now and have always been 100 % faithful according to these definitions. The good fact, however, is that from this day forward I can choose to be faithful! Faithfulness is a choice, and you and I can choose to be faithful!
Why is it important to be faithful? Because God needs to be able to trust you and me to fulfil the tasks He has given us to do. He needs ME to be faithful to my calling, and He needs YOU to be faithful to your calling. And today I choose to stay faithful to God.

Where is your confidence?

I could also ask the question this way: "In whom do you trust?"
Maybe you trust in the Government? In many of the western, social democratic countries, the Government is the source of confidence for many people. If I don't have a job, I get unemployment benefits; if I am ill and cannot work, I can take sick leave and get sickness allowance, long- or short term; and when I'm old enough, the Government pays me a monthly allowance just because I've reached a certain age. That's good! And many people who don't have these benefits, envy us and want to move to our countries to enjoy this kind of economic security.
Is the Government your security and does your confidence lie in the State?
Then what happens if the Government decides to alter the laws and remove the benefits? That could happen. Then what?
I am blessed to live in a country which has good social security laws. However, my confidence is not drawn from my Government, but from God. He is the source I trust in, rely on and cling to. God is my confidence! His Word, which contains His "manifesto" so to speak, says that He is always faithful, He has all the resources I need, He has all knowledge, all wisdom and everything I need for this life and for the next. God is my confidence, and He is my source. And I can praise Him with the Psalmist, and say: "All my fountains are in you" (Psalm 87:7).

What does it mean to fear God?

Fear is a widespread condition all over the world. People fear all kinds of things, from spiders to tomorrows.
This kind of fear is a spirit from the devil, and Jesus told his followers time and time again to "fear not!".
(For more on this kind of fear, please see my list of earlier entries.)
However, there is one kind of fear that is appropriate and well pleasing in the sight of God, and that is the fear of the Lord.
In Psalm 33:18-21 the Bible tells us:
"But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name." God's eyes are on them that fear the Lord, and He delivers them from death and keeps them alive in famine. What does it mean to "fear the Lord" in this respect? The Scriptures above explains it very clearly; "...those whose hope is in his unfailing love ...".
To fear the Lord means to have such respect and reverence for Him that we trust in His Word 100 % to keep us in all kinds of difficulties and seemingly impossible situations. To put it very simply: To fear the Lord is to trust in His love. That kind of fear is good in the sight of God.

Who is a good Christian?

I guess you have asked that question a couple or more times in your life. "Am I really a good Christian?" "Who is a good Christian anyway?"
How do you measure "good" Christians? I am sure many people would answer: "By their works! Their actions or lack of actions is the determining factor. Jesus did MANY good works, and He was a very good Christian!"
Ok. Let's follow that thought. IF good works is the proof that I'm a good Christian, what about a Christian who is multi handicapped, who lies in his or her bed and cannot move a limb. If good works is a sign of being a good Christian, such a person can never (unless he or she is healed) be a good Christian. And since the Bible does not exclude anyone from being a good Christian, there must be something else that counts.
Jesus said in Matthew 12:33:
"Make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for by its fruit you will get knowledge of the tree." (My emphasis).
There is something the Bible holds higher than works (even though good works are highly esteemed and of high value), and that is fruit. What is "fruit" in this respect? The Bible answers that question in Galatians 5:22-23:"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, a quiet mind, kind acts, well-doing, faith, Gentle behaviour, control over desires: against such there is no law." 
Isn't that great? "Fruit" includes everyone. You can love someone if you're well or if you're sick and bedridden. You can have faith no matter what your circumstances are. On the other hand, being angry, bitter and resentful is not bearing good fruit, and if you harbor these feelings, the law is against you, according to the Scripture above.
Who is a good Christian? The person who bears good fruit!
Does that mean we should not do good works? No, absolutely not, but doing good works does not make us good Christians. Evil people and people of no faith can do good deeds if they want to, but that doesn't make them good people.
How does fruit grow? By being attached to the tree, getting nutrients and water from the tree, and staying there till the fruit is ripe.
Jesus is the tree, we are the branches. When we stay in Him and get nutrients and water (the Word) from Him through reading the Bible and listening to good teaching, we grow fruit. Then we'll become good Christians.

Are you a fool?

"The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God'" (Psalm 14:1)
According to this verse, the person who says that there is no God, is a fool.
So far, so good. As Christians we don't reject God's existence. I have never heard a born-again believer in God say that there is no God. We believe in God, we believe in His existence and in His power and might. And we don't want to be called fools.
However - and this might come as a surprise to you - there are many Christians whose lives testify that there is no God!
"What do you mean?" you might say.
If you read the rest of Psalm 14 and also Psalm 15, you see what I mean. And it can be summed up thus: What I say with my mouth is one thing, what I do in actions and deeds might be something totally different. Here are some thoughts for consideration:

• How do I treat my family?
• Are my everyday actions a testimony to God or to myself (am I selfish)?
• Do I sow good seed?
• Do I sow love and kind words or do I sow discord, hatred and strife?
• Am I a blesser or a curser through my words and actions?
• When people meet me, do they see and feel Jesus in me?
• Do I love my neighbor more than I love myself?

I know this is tough, but I also know that if we want to live victorious lives that bear witness to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we need to consider, not only what we believe, but how we live. The life people see in me, is what I really am. It's not enough to say: "I believe in Jesus, Halleluja, Amen!" and then turn around and gossip about my pastor or my friend. Jesus said in Matthew 5:16: "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
Your and my good deeds is the witness the world sees. They don't see what I believe, they see how I live!
So today, if you want to live a life that is a witness for Jesus, pray this prayer with me:
Dear heavenly Father. Thank you that you have given me your Son, Jesus Christ as my Savior. Thank you that you have given me the Holy Spirit to guide me through this day. I don't know exactly how I ought to lead my life today, but You know, Father. And I ask you to show me, step by step, how I can be the example of your love, kindness and mercy that the world needs today. Let them see Jesus in me, Father. I ask the Holy Spirit to guide me today, and I put my life in your hands today, Father. Thank you for helping and guiding me today. In Jesus' name, amen.
If you prayed that prayer from a sincere heart, expect God to guide you today. Be open and expectant for possibilities to show His goodnes, love and mercy to people around you. Maybe someone needs a smile today? You can give them that smile. Maybe someone needs a helping hand to cross the street today? You can be that helping hand today. Let someone see Jesus in you today!
Don't be a fool, but be a real Christian.

Who are you - really?

"Wherefore if any man is in Christ, [he is] a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new" (2 Cor 5:17).
Old or new? Who are you? That's the question.
As born-again children of God, we are new creatures in Christ. And with this "new-creature-status" comes certain qualities that we didn't have as unsaved men and women. Let's look at some qualities of a new creature in Christ. Because who you are in Christ is who you really are. Let's look at a passage of Scripture from Romans 8,6:11,
"For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace: because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be: and they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall give life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwelleth in you."
Here we see clearly the contrasts between an unsaved and a saved person.

1. Death versus life and peace
2. Enmity against God versus pleasing God
3. Flesh versus Spirit
4. Sin versus righteousness
5. Mortal versus immortal

If someone were to ask you if you wanted death, enmity against God, the flesh, sin and mortality or if you wanted life, peace, to please God, the Spirit, righteousness and immortality, what would you answer? You would probably answer the latter qualities. And as a born-again child of God, you have all these qualities. The sad fact is, however, that many born-again children of God don't know this or don't want to take the time to read the Bible enough to find out what salvation really means to them.
I hope you're not one of those ignorant people, but when you're asked "Who are you - really", you can answer with confidence based on the Word of God:
"I am a person who has life, peace, the Spirit of God, immortality, righteousness and I am pleasing God through Jesus Christ."
The table is set, you're more than welcome to help yourself to the most wonderful dishes!

Blessed to be a blessing

Do you want to be a blessing? Then you first have to be blessed. Do you want to set people free? Then you first have to be set free yourselv. This is a Biblical principle. You cannot give what you have not gotten. In Isaiah 61, Isaiah prophecies about Jesus (see Luke 4:18-21) that He will set people free. " The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion - to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. (Isaiah 61:1-3, my emphases). To sum it up, we could say that Jesus came to set the capitves free, free from everything that binds us.
It's wonderful to be set free. However, it's even more rewarding when you're set free yourself, and have experienced to go from being in shackles, so to speak, to complete freedom, that you can help other people be set free. And that's what verse 4 tells us: "They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations" (Isaiah 61:4). When you're set free, you will rebuild other people, restore God's peace to them and becoming a tool in renewing their lives. "They" in vers 4, are those who are set free in vv. 1-3.
You're blessed to be a blessing!