John 12.25 promises, those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for
their life in this world will keep it for eternity.
Mohammad twisted this promise from God reinterpreting it to mean that his followers whose suicide kills others will automatically qualify for heaven. What kind of a god would make this offer? Only one whose true mission is to steal, kill and destroy. (more…)
1 Peter 3.12 promises, the eyes of the LORD watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to
their prayers. But the LORD turns his face against those who do evil.
This promise is what we would expect from a God Who is good. It makes sense to us that a good God would watch over those who do good and hear their prayers. It also makes sense to us that God would oppose those who do evil in the world.
There is a disconnect however from this logic and some of our experiences. Evil in the world is a problem for people. (more…)
Mark 12.34 observes, realizing how much the man understood, Jesus said to him, You are not far from
the Kingdom of God.
Knowing and doing are not the same. We inherently know this in our dealings with people, especially family. We know our spouse loves us but sometimes their actions are hurtful. We know our children know what they are to do but they often fail to do what they have been made responsible to do.
On and on it goes in our experience of the gap between knowing and doing, both in our own lives as well as the lives of others. (more…)
1 Thessalonians 1.10 promises, Jesus is the one Who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming
judgment.
Recently I was listening to a man describe why he rejected his Christian upbringing. He served as a soldier in Vietnam and couldn’t understand how a good God could allow so much suffering. He has since become a Muslim. I didn’t understand how switching ‘gods’ helped him especially to one who doesn’t describe himself as love. (more…)
Philippians 2.12 commands, work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep
reverence and fear.
Easter has just passed for most Christians: it is the time for celebration of the life, death and resurrection of God in Jesus the Savior. It is a celebration because humanity no longer is required to be perfect in order to get to heaven. It is a celebration because humanity is no longer measured by their own performance for earning heaven. It is a celebration because God is offering a pardon for all disobedience against Him by every person who has ever lived who will simply ask God for His pardon through Jesus the Savior. (more…)
Exodus 1.21 explains, because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own.
What was God’s response to some pro-lifers who defied their king? Bless them with children. What was God’s response to His people who were suffering immense hardship in slavery? Bless them with children.
God’s greatest blessings are children. (more…)
Romans 13.14 commands, don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.
Contentment is a difficult virtue to maintain. It seems to last only moments before we move onto the next fantasy relationship or wished for possession that would finally make our lives complete.
If we could record our daily thoughts then replay them at night we might be surprised to find how much of those thoughts are spent wishing for someone or something else. God commands us not to live in this fantasy for many reasons. (more…)
Romans 4.25 describes that He was handed over to die because of our sins, and He was raised to life to
make us right with God.
Religion is the attempt to make people right with God. Performance is essential for success.
Even the agnostic plays this game by convincing themselves they are essentially good people deserving of heaven if there proves to be a god in the end. Being right with God by the agnostic and the religious is defined as doing more good in life than bad.
But what is good? (more…)
Acts 26.20 records Paul’s message to the Gentiles, that all must repent of their sins and turn to God—and prove they have changed by the good things they do.
One of the knocks on Christianity is how easy it is to be ‘successful’ in the religion, if success is defined as going to heaven. All of the other religions require great effort and sacrifice if the adherent is going to earn their eternal reward but Christianity promotes itself as a free gift only to be received in order to become an eternal member. (more…)
Matthew 20.23 says, I have no right to say who will sit on My right or My left. My Father has prepared
those places for the ones He has chosen.
Men want to be great, and recognized as such, for as long as possible. Imagine being the number two or three person in an eternal kingdom.
Forever recognition of personal greatness. Its sort of what we have in a hall of fame except we can enjoy the recognition without ever dying! (more…)
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