Christian Living / faith / heaven

What Does it Mean to Believe?

John 6.29 describes the work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.
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One of the knocks on Christianity is it’s easy entry to heaven. Some believe going to heaven is as easy as believing in Jesus, after all, isn’t that what He just said? Its fair to say what He meant by belief and what we understand by belief are not the same.

If what we understand belief to mean, simply believe, then the devil and all the demons would go to heaven since they certainly believe. In the gospel it is only the evil spirits who consistently identify Jesus correctly as the Christ the Son of God. I don’t think they will live with God forever though they believe. (more…)

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March 16, 2015
Christian Living / Judgement / obedience

Passing the Test

Mark 8.11 records to test Him, they asked Him for a sign from heaven.image

God tests people, people don’t test God.

People want to test God to see if He exists, God tests men to see if they will obey. People test God so they can believe in Him, God tests people so they will manifest their belief in Him.

Despite the fact that God detests being tested by people most of us do it all the time. This is probably why much of the time we aren’t sure about God because He fails to show up for the test. (more…)

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February 5, 2015
Christian Living

How do you Identify Yourself?

Acts 27:23 proclaims the God to whom I belong and whom I serve…How do you recognize yourself?images

Everyone we meet for the first time asks, ‘what do you do?’ What do you say?

It would be odd for any one of us to say I belong to God and serve Him. This was how the Apostle Paul identified himself when speaking to his captors and other prisoners just before their shipwreck.

Were we to identify ourselves as Paul it would feel weird, besides we know that people are just making small talk by being polite in asking about our work. However I think the real issue is deeper for us. (more…)

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January 28, 2015
evangelism / Judgement / obedience

Drawing a Line in the Sand

Matthew 12:30 observes whoever is not with Me is against Me, and whoever does not gather with Meimage scatters.

On occasion in the gospels, Jesus, God Who has become man, throws down the gauntlet and demands we choose sides. This passage is one of those times when Jesus invites us to separate ourselves into wheat or chaff.

What does it mean for us when God demands we choose but we refuse to even engage the discussion? (more…)

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January 12, 2015
Christian Living / evangelism / obedience

God’s goal for 2015

Malachi 2:6 describes he passed on to the people all the truth he got from me. He did not lie or cheat; he walked with me, living a good and righteous life, and turned many from their lives of sin.images

In this description of one of God’s favorite people, Levi, He is describing the role of the priest. At least among the Protestants, the belief is held that all Christians are now priests. The tribe of Levi has been replaced with the Spirit filled people of God who walk by faith and obedience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. (more…)

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December 29, 2014
Christian Living / Free Bible Reading Plan / obedience

Seeing More of God

John 14:23 reveals I will only reveal Myself to those who love Me and obey Me.th

God loves everyone but God does not treat everyone the same.

God loves everyone as He demonstrated by coming to earth as a man to die as a sacrifice so that all humanity might be pardoned for all their evil done against God and one another. Yet not all of humanity will receive God’s pardon nor will all recognize Jesus as God the Savior while they continue in this life living selfishly and ignoring the commands of God.

It is only those who love God as demonstrated by obedience to God that see God and experience His presence in their lives. (more…)

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December 24, 2014
Christian Living / evangelism

Praising God on Monday

Hebrews 13:15 commands to continually offer our sacrifice of praise to God by telling others of the glory of His name.image

Most people think of praising God in terms of singing songs or giving Him thanks. God describes praise as declaring to others the glory of His Name. It is easy to give thanks and sing songs in church but much harder to declare the need all people have to love God and obey His commands in the marketplace. This is true for a myriad of reasons.

First, we lose focus on Monday from the God Whom we worshiped on Sunday. Like those who don’t follow Jesus we become consumed with the pursuit of success or overwhelmed by the responsibilities to produce at work. We forget the Christian command to work as though Jesus were the boss, because He is for the Christian, which means keeping our focus on honoring Him all day while we do the tasks we are assigned by people. We mustn’t let our desire for success and acceptance overwhelm our neighbor’s need for a Savior. (more…)

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November 18, 2014
Christian Living

Undefiled by Sinners

Hebrews 7:26 records God in Jesus is holy and blameless, unstained by sin, undefiled by sinners, and to Him has been givenimage the place of honor in heaven.

In a pluralistic world Christianity is maligned because it denies any means to heaven besides Jesus. This is because if the Christian story is true, that God sacrificed Himself as payment for the disobedience of humanity, then no amount of good works by humanity can be sufficient otherwise God wasted His effort.

While Islam also makes exclusive their religion for obtaining heaven, theirs is based upon obedience to their way rather than the love of God demonstrated in His personal sacrifice. Another similarity between these two religions which also demonstrates their marked contrast is the idea that God remains undefiled by sinners. (more…)

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November 12, 2014
Christian Living

Listening to God

Hebrews 2:1 warns us to listen very carefully to the truths we have heard, or we may drift away from them.image

We have a powerful propensity to forget. Its not just us, it’s an age old malady that has been part of human history.

The things we forget are those things that are good and true, the great works God has done for us, the kindnesses we have experienced.

Each new crisis seems to shut off our memory of past deliverances causing us to cry out anew for God to help and to heal. Likewise in the moment of our temptation we forget what God has commanded and instead begin to rationalize our actions based upon our own wants and desires.

This is why God often says to His people, ‘remember,’ or in this case, ‘don’t forget.’

The key to memory is repetition. (more…)

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November 7, 2014
Christian Living / obedience / Titus

The Importance of Good Works

Titus 2:1 teaches that there is right living that goes along with true Christianity.image

One of the problems with Christians defining themselves as ‘believers’ is the disconnect that occurs with the responsibility to live ‘rightly’ as a result of right belief. This disconnect is furthered when we discuss our acceptance by God through grace by faith and not by our good works.

While true, it wasn’t that no good works occurred giving humanity the opportunity to be forgiven, Jesus Himself earned our pardon through His perfect obedience to all the will of God. Without His good works we would have none appropriated to us for us to be forgiven. (more…)

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November 3, 2014