Did you miss the point? God's love for mankind

 

Many people know this famous Bible verse found in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

It may not seem like much to some but I would like to give some perspective to this verse. The first thing that we must note is that it's love that caused God to do what He did by sending His Only son to save the world.

God did not send His Son into the world for animals, plants or for building, no! God sent His only Son to save mankind. If you have any doubts about that statement check out John 3:17, "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."

This just shows us how great God's love for us is and the reason that I did not use the past tense "was" but used the present tense "is" is because of the fact that this great love for mankind is as true today as it was then. Here are some reasons why:

    1. 1 John 4:8 tells us, "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."

    2. James 1:17, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."

Simply put, God is the same and does not change! Even when we do wrong God loves us. And be assured of this by reading Romans 5:8, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Even when we were sinners, enemies of God, even we didn't care about Him, He loved us. How much more shall He love us now?

Now the other part of John chapter three verse sixteen tells us that salvation comes by believing in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ His Son. Do you know that there is no miss-and-hit with God, He is always on target? What I mean by this statement is that there is no disappointing when it comes to salvation as far as God's word is concerned, once you meet His requirements, you will be saved.

So, have faith, believe in Jesus Christ, believe in His works and that through Him you are saved from the condemnation of sin and that you have new life in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17 guarantees that, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

                                                                                                                                        

Please note dear friends that John 3:16 says whoever believes, so this means that even if your parents, grandparents, siblings or friends believe and you don't, they will be save but not you. It may sound harsh but it's the truth and the truth is what that will set you free. There is no transfer of salvation each person must recognize for themselves their need for Christ and accept Him personally as their Savior.

Don't depend on others for the most important decision you could ever make but make that choice today.

If you feel convicted as you read this message and would like to know what you can do today to make and accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior I would like you to say a prayer with me. A note of caution though, these aren't just words to be repeated lightly, if there is something that we can learn about God from His word is that prayer means nothing to Him if we don't have faith in Him and believe we are going to get what we ask for. Hebrew 11:6 says, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." And James 1:6, " But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed."

"Dear God, I come to you in the name of your Son Jesus Christ, and I say thank you for speaking to me today. I thank you for loving me so much that even when I didn't care about you, you sent your only Son to die for me. I am a sinner and I recognize that without your Son in My life I am condemned. I need you in my life at this very moment to lead me, to direct me and to save me. I recognize that your Son Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sin and that you raised Him from the dead so that I could have a new life in Him.

Jesus, I accept you today as Lord of my life and as my Savior and I'm asking you to come into my life now, to forgive me from my past sins and dwell with me. I now believe that in You I am a new creature and that the old things that I have done have passed away and that all things have become new. Thank you Lord for doing this wonderful thing for me, so I can be called a son/daughter of God today. Amen!"

Blessings on you from God Almighty and from His Word!

 

 

Reference: #PRW0000007

Free but Costly

 

I would like to take this opportunity to share a thought with you. I pray that it will encourage and remind you of the greatness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May it remain in your heart all the days of your life and may it greatly bless you.

This thought is centered on a word that we hear quite often nowadays, the word “Free”.

How many times have we heard of an ad that gives something away for free? Or read an article online that offers something for free?

I can assure you that I have seen plenty offers where there is some free giveaway. Sometimes you may be at the supermarket or the mall and there is a free sampling of a new product, etc.

There is something that I realized concerning those free products, many times, because we didn’t pay for them we tend not to take good care of them, as much as something that we would have paid with our own money. This is true especially when it comes to something that doesn’t have a high commercial value. Say for example that you were given a free bookmark. It’s a relatively cheap item that you may have accepted out of courtesy, you may hold on to it for a while but it may very well end up in the next bin that you encounter.

In my opinion this is based on two things, the first one is that it is something that was given to you freely and that you didn’t have to pay for. The second is that it may not necessarily be something that you value or it’s simply unimportant to you.

Now, with all this in mind I would like to ask you a question, were those items free? You may answer “yes” which would be correct because you didn’t have to pay for them and they had some value, as small as it may be. At this time I would like you to consider the other side of this equation. Think of it like this, whenever something is given away for free it had to have cost someone something. It may have been little, it may have been much, it may have been time, money, skills etc. Just think of it…

Consider this, an item is only free for the one that receives it, a price had to be paid somehow by one or many people.

Read the following passage of Scripture found in Ephesians 2 8-9 (KJV), “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

We read here that we are saved through faith and that it is a gift from God. This goes to show that salvation is not based on human efforts of abilities but on God’s gift to mankind.

The question is, do you know what that gift is? Let’s look at the following verses found in John chapter 3 and verses 16 and 17, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

What a gift! Can you believe that? The gift in question here is Jesus Christ, the only Son of God. I can assure you that this gift not only was very valuable but the price that was paid was very high. To understand all this better I’ll invite you to read a few passages with me.

The first one is found in Isaiah 53:3-10 (KJV), "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand."

This is a prophetic passage of scripture by the prophet Isaiah talking about the Messiah (Jesus Christ) and the suffering that He would have to go through during His earthly ministry.

The second passage is found in Matthew 16:21 (JKV), "From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day."

And our final one is Mark 10:33-34 (KJV), "Saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles: And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again."
These are just a few passages that show us that Christ had to suffer many things at the hands of men and that it was for our sake. He was imprisoned, beaten, spat upon, mocked tortured with a crown of thorns placed on His head, He was crucified with criminals, nails pierced His feet and His hand and finally, He died.

It is written in Romans 10:9-10 (KJV), "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

You see salvation is accessible to any and everyone as long as they follow these principles. It’s not about what you have done or how you lived your life, whether good or bad, what matters at the end of it all is that you place your faith in Jesus Christ, God’s gift to the world for salvation.

Indeed, Jesus Christ, God’s gift to mankind is free for all those that receive Him but it did come at a price and a very high one. Today I would like to encourage you to place your faith in God and in His Son Jesus Christ because He is more than able to take care of you.

Value this gift with your life because Christ paid a price that no one else could have paid and suffered dearly so that we could be reconciled with God today.

A free gift like none else: Jesus Christ, the Son of God to the world.

Receive this gift today and treat it as it deserves to be treated, The Most Valuable Gift In The World.

May the Word of God bless your heart!

 

 

Reference: #PRW0000005

Are You Wearing Your Armor?

There is a very interesting passage of scripture in the Bible that talks about the armor of God and is found in Ephesians chapter 6 verses 10 to18 (KJV), “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”.

There are certain key points of the utmost importance in this passage of scripture that I would like to point out if you may permit.

First of all I would like to make it abundantly clear that this passage does not refer to any “physical” armor. Many times people read this text and associate it with something they can actually touch with their hands when in fact it’s talking about attributes we should clothe ourselves with.

Secondly we have to notice that this armor allows us to stand against the wiles (tricks or stratagems) of the devil. There again, to clarify the fact that this is not something physical that we wear, we are told in verse 12 that we are not wrestling against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces. Yes you may tell me that at times this fight may become physical, true, but at the end of the day it is spiritual in origin.

Practical Guide of the 7 items the armor of God is made up of:

1. Truth
2. Righteousness
3. Preparation/Readiness that comes form the gospel of peace
4. Faith
5. Salvation
6. The word of God
7. Prayer

These are all very powerful tools that we should use in our daily lives as we fight this battle. You may ask yourself though “How can I use those tools in a practical way?” so to answer this question I would like to share seven points with that will hopefully enlighten you on the matter.

1. Truth

Do like Christ, when the enemy comes at you with his lies trying to lead you astray, fight back with the word of God. You need to ensure that you know God’s word for yourself so that you won’t fall for it.

2. Righteousness

Live an exemplary life above reproach by faith in Jesus Christ so that you may bring glory to God in everything you do. Remember, your righteousness comes from Christ!

3. Preparation/Readiness that comes form the gospel of peace

As a “soldier” of the gospel be ready for action, for service, for obedience etc. Be watchful, the enemy always looks for easy preys.

To put it simply: Always be ready!

4. Faith

There is no way I can overemphasize the importance of faith in the Christian walk. To put it simply, there is no way in this lifetime that you will be able to live a life that is pleasing unto God without faith. To take God at His word you need to have faith and believe that He will do what He says He will do.

Believe without doubting!

5. Salvation

You can’t take part in the most important battle of your life and have doubts about something as fundamental as salvation. I will simply quote Romans 10:9 which says, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;” (American Standard Version). So the big question is “Are you saved?” This question must leave no doubts in your mind because you can’t enroll in this army or be victorious if you don’t meet this condition.

Remember, you are saved by faith in Jesus Christ.

6. The word of God

You have one guide on the battlefield: the word of God.

This guide gives you vital information such as:

1. How to use the weapons;
2. Your allies;
3. The enemies and their strategies;
4. It provides you with your orders from the commander in chief: Jesus Christ;
5. It is needed to know the terms of engagement;
6. Etc.

Don’t underestimate its importance; your life depends on it!

7. Prayer

Many of your battles will be won in prayer. You must also realize that not only it is important to pray for yourself but also your brothers and sisters as they depend on you to do so also. It’s a team effort where fellow soldiers pray for each other.

Pray throughout the battle according to the leading of God’s Spirit.

Finally I would like to say that the better you know your orders, the nature of the battle, your weapons, the enemy's etc. the greater your chances of victory and total success. You battle guide is the Bible, God's word to us.

So now, put on the armor of God my friend.

Reference: #PRW0000004