Posts filed under ‘salvation’
Staring Me in the Face
Here’s what I’m saying…we actually can see the character of our Lord in other believers to a small or great degree (depending on the person), if we will look for it. Sometimes, it stares us in the face for 40 years without us knowing it. While I’ve always loved my wife and will continue to love her, I’ve simply not noticed that Jesus lives within her and is expressing His character through her to other people and me. I’ve always seen her as pleasant, sweet, loving and attractive. Yes, she is those things and some of those things may be due to her own innate personality. However, it seems ultimately very clear to me that since she is a believer and Jesus does live within her because of the Holy Spirit, He is clearly expressing His character through her personality. He wants to do that with every believer. Some of us offer more roadblocks to Him unfortunately.
Much Ado About Prophetic Events
There were also numerous times when God said that things would happen “soon.” Isaiah is filled with words from our Lord that appear to indicate things will occur “soon,” and yet, in some cases, hundreds of years if not a few thousand years passed before His Words were fulfilled. When we hear “soon” from someone, we think not long in coming. Yet, from God’s perspective, “soon” may not mean that. He talks about the Millennial Kingdom and the blessings for the nation of Israel as happening “soon,” but we are still waiting. From His perspective, the timing is His and His alone to determine and it is compared to eternity not time as we understand and live it.
Privacy Is Dying Thanks to AI
There’s something happening that most cannot see because it is hidden under the surface. Artificial Intelligence (AI), is more and more included in the design of too many things: cars, appliances, telephones, TVs and too many other things to list. People are using AI to help write their papers or books. AI is being used as part of company coding that unfortunately, has had some very negative effects, which we’ll get to in a minute.
We are losing freedom in huge steps due to the Internet, which can be hacked. Yet most of us are completely unaware that this is the case. The reason? Because we do not see any real physical signs of the digital prison being built. Oh sure, when we go to stores, we see those cameras but we tell ourselves those are to stop shoplifters. They do work for that purpose, but they go well beyond that purpose too. Maybe we no longer see the cameras.
No One Knows…
Certainly, to be clear, things are ramping up and each day brings us one day closer to the Rapture and/or the start of the Tribulation (if you do not believe the Rapture precedes the Tribulation). However, we cannot know the day or hour of those events. We can know the times and the seasons but that is all. That still should not pull us away from the God-given task at hand, which is to live lives that glorify Him and we do that by dying to our own self will and reaching out to the lost.
Forgiveness How To
If God is love (He is), we who call ourselves believers, Christians and followers of Jesus must also live lives of love. It all starts and ends with forgiveness. If we cannot truly forgive, we are simply not loving others.
God did not have to, but He chose a way to forgive those who come to Him in faith through His Son’s sacrificial life, death and resurrection. That forgiveness granted to us is permanent, unfailing and results in our true justification before Him. How can we call ourselves believers and followers of Jesus if we cannot forgive (love), as He forgives us?
Acquainted with Grief
What I’ve begun to realize is that when Jesus says we are to count the cost in Luke 14:28, He is saying more than I’ve considered. One of the things He is implying is that the cost of following in Jesus’ footsteps involves being willing to allow God to create within us the same unrestrained compassion that existed in Jesus. Think about what that means. It means that often, our efforts to reach people will be stymied by those we are trying to help see the light. It means they might ignore us, laugh at us, attack us verbally (or even physically), castigate us, make fun of us, label us something we are not and more.
Unrestrained Compassion
Jesus’ heart of unrestrained compassion knew what people needed and in effect, knew what they were seeking even if they did not fully comprehend it themselves. He was angry at what sin had done to their hearts and minds as well as the world in general. He was angry that this world was under the sway of the evil one. Yet, what overwhelmed Him was His deep sense of compassion that literally rose up from His bowels and yet, was met with resistance, complacency and even rebellion leading to outright rejection. He knew they were spiritually blind and He so desperately wanted them to see the truth…but they were unwilling.
Burdens We Unnecessarily Carry
The other day, in church, as our pastor walked up the two stairs to the platform, I pictured Jesus sitting on those steps and me walking over to Him. I took a seat on the floor and looked up at Him. He looked at me and sincerely and compassionately asked, “Fred, how are you doing?” This was not a vision. It was my imagination, yet it concurs with Scripture because of how much He cares about you and me. He didn’t ask me because He wouldn’t have known. It was His way of drawing me out, telling me it was safe to share with him by deepest, darkest thoughts and concerns. He knows them already yet does not reject me.
He Empathizes with Us, Pt 2
n my last article, I spoke of being in the Word. No one will completely master His Word in this life though I’m amazed at the ability of some to quote it verbatim. If we are honest with ourselves, we will be forced to admit that we probably do not read or study it enough. We also do not likely apply ourselves to memorizing parts of His Word to carry it in our hearts at all times. We may not even think about it or contemplate it enough throughout each day. We become what James 1:24 says; we look in the mirror, walk away and immediately forget what we look like. It takes effort to dwell on, contemplate and remember God’s Word even after we are done reading it and walk away from it.
Do We Christians Do This?
By the time of Malachi, Israel had literally become numb toward God, having gotten to that point by deliberately and continually moving from faithful and obedient to becoming full faithless and disobedient. They eventually became bitter toward God. Can you imagine that? They actually harbored animosity and bitterness toward the God who had rescued them from Egypt and many troubles after that.
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