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BIBLICAL TRUTHS TO PONDER

These are Truths that I received from the Bible through a godly teacher of the Word.

  • Our sin affects others to sin. 

— Philippians 2:4-6 says, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.

  • We all need to have a humble attitude of repentance for our sins to be able to put our faith in what Jesus did for us on the cross by shedding His blood and dying for our sins and their penalties and to receive eternal life in Heaven with Jesus. Jesus’ resurrection conquered death so we can go to Heaven for all of eternity.

— Luke 5:32 says, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”   — Jesus

— 2 Corinthians 7:10 says, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

— 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

  • We need to come to Jesus like a child.

— Mark 10:15 says, “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child, shall not enter it.

  • Jesus reigns over creation and remains calm and at peace. He is Lord over ALL. If you remember His identity…Who He is…He will give you rest.
  • Our sense of calm is as close as our closeness to Jesus in His Presence. We need to depend on Him.
  • Our faith needs to be strong and fearless. We need to stop and listen to Jesus. We need to bow to His Words.
  • The greatest gift you get for following Jesus – is JESUS! We need to love the Savior and know His commands.
  • Don’t be a part of the casual Christian crowd. This is so important, but knowing Jesus is more important. It is in quietness that He speaks to you.
  • Jesus gives us grace to reach others on His behalf.
  • Always forgive!!!
  • Our sin that needs forgiving (which encompasses all of our sins) is making ourselves the center of our lives. Self-idolatry is what has taken the peace of Jesus Christ from your heart or what is preventing you from putting your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior from your sins.
  • Loosen your grip and submit your idols to Him. Submit yourself to Him. Give up all idols to Jesus!
  • Be more like Jesus. Once you put your faith in Him, His Holy Spirit will help you.
  • Our SUCCESS can be an idol and our culture tells us we need it. Our culture uses education and “religion” to change its youth. Our culture lies to us!
  • We are NOT our own gods! That is humanism! We compare ourselves to God. Things that belong to God are Holy. We must PRAISE Him. There is only ONE GOD! How are we blaspheming Him?
  • We choose to worship gods we can control!
  • In Daniel 4:28-37, King Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, was judged by God because he was worshiping other man-made gods of this world and then he set up an image of gold that everyone had to worship when the King announced to do so. God’s judgment, which humbled him and was difficult to endure, was God’s mercy on him. King Nebuchadnezzar realized his sins and decided to look up to the One True God and worship Him only, as we should. He was brought to his knees as we should be!
  • Our Gospel mission is to proclaim that Jesus is Lord and tell others what He did for us on the cross in our place, TO SAVE US from our sins and their penalty of hell for all eternity. That is quite a GIFT from God! Salvation comes after humbly confessing our sins, humbly repenting of our sins and then through our faith in what Jesus did for us on the cross and resurrection. We will receive His forgiveness for our past, present and future sins. After we receive forgiveness doesn’t mean we will never sin again. We need to still confess and repent to remain in close fellowship with God, which is very important.
  • DO ALL FOR THE GLORY OF GOD!!!

I hope these Truths will influence your heart, mind and soul and help you realize who YOU ARE compared to the ONE TRUE GOD!  ONLY HE IS WORTHY OF OUR PRAISE! ONLY HE IS WORTHY TO BE PRAISED!

Sharon

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HOW DOES GOD DESCRIBE HEAVEN IN THE BIBLE?

If you read my last blog post, you really need to know what Heaven is like. . .how God, Himself, describes it. God wants us to know! We’ll learn some things that exist there.

— A throne of God. (Psalm 11:4; Isaiah 66:1)

— A place where God will reward His people. (Matthew 5:12)

— There is safety from theft and destruction. (Matthew 6:20)

— It is a place of rejoicing. (Luke 15:7) This is the story of the lost sheep. The shepherd was herding 100 sheep. He noticed that one of his sheep had wandered off and was lost. The shepherd found the lost sheep and was rejoicing and asked his friends and neighbors to rejoice with him. This is an illustration of how God reacts when one lost sinner comes to Him and repents and puts their faith in His Son, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross by dying for mankind’s sins and their sins’ penalties. He rejoices and invites all of Heaven to rejoice with Him.

— It is a place where there will be no marriage. (Matthew 22:29-30) We will have a different life in Heaven from that on earth. We will be more like the angels. Marriage will be obsolete.

— It is a house with many rooms. (John 14:2) Jesus says that He is preparing a place for each of His true believing children. True believers are considered children of God or children of the King.

— It is a house of righteousness. (2 Peter 3:13) After God destroys the current Heaven and Earth, He will make a new Heaven and Earth where righteousness lives.

— It is a garden paradise. (Revelation 2:7) In the Garden of Eden there was a tree with fruit from which Adam and Eve were not allowed. In the new Heaven, the tree of life will be available to all believers.

— It is a place where there is no hunger, thirst, tears, hot sun or scorching heat. (Revelation 7:16-17) Even though, here, John is referring to people who come to Christ during the Great Tribulation and are given white robes to wear because of the blood of the Lamb (Jesus), God stresses here how the people will no longer experience these things in Heaven that they so often experienced on Earth in the last days. All true believers will no longer experience these difficult things, as well.

— It is a place of victory and playing harps (Revelation 15:2) Again, this is about those who had rejected the beast and its image in the last days. God gives them harps to play and they also will sing the song of Moses and of Jesus, the Lamb of God. Personally, I am hoping there are also pianos in Heaven and God will enable me to play perfectly for Him!

— It is a city where God dwells with us (Revelation 21:2-3) This is the New Jerusalem that God places on the New Earth that He creates and then dwells in. God puts Heaven on earth so He can dwell with us–His new perfect children. He will be our God!

— It is a place with no sadness, tears, death, mourning or pain, (Revelation 21:4). All of those things will have passed away.

— It is a place that is brilliant with precious jewels, stones, pure gold and pearls (Revelation 21:11 and 18-21). It has 12 foundations–each is a precious stone. The street is pure gold and each of the 12 gates is a single pearl.

— Its light is the Glory of God. (Revelation 21:23)

— There is no night. (Revelation 21:25)

— It is a place where no impurity exists. (No sin!) (Revelation 21:27) Only those whose name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will live there. There will be nothing shameful or deceitful there.

— It is a place of life and healing (Revelation 22:1-3) There will never be death or sickness again. It will be totally opposite from when we were on this earth. We will not only be healed physically, but also spiritually. There will never be sin in Heaven. We will be eternally healed from that. The Tree of Life will be there and will not only have fruit, but also leaves that nourish us. It will be a restoration of Eden!

— It is a place where God reigns forever (Revelation 22:5) And it says we will reign with Him!

— If you’re thinking that Heaven isn’t going to be any fun for you because you enjoy things on this earth and want them to continue, remember that your sinful soul will now be sinless, and you will long to worship and serve God. God will have designated things He’s chosen for each of us to do. We will worship Him by singing and by our service to Him.

I know this is not a complete list of things that we will see and experience, but it’s a good start.

— Two more things I want to mention and I think they are very important to each true child of God.

1. Every person that you knew on earth that is also a child of God, will be there for you to fellowship with and enjoy. We will recognize each other even though we will all have new, sinless bodies. Also, those that you witnessed to on the former earth that put their faith in Jesus, will be there and most likely thank you for telling them about Jesus and salvation. We will also see family members and friends again, who are true children, who had gone to Heaven before us. Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing my mom, dad, brother, aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents, great grandparents, and some I never met on earth, etc.

2. Now, this, I believe, is the MOST important fact about Heaven! This is what I’m most excited about!!! We will see Jesus!!!!!!! To look at Jesus face to face and see the nail scars in His hands and feet as part of what He endured for us to pay for our sins and their penalties, so we don’t have to pay for our own sins in eternal Hell. Jesus also endured terrible beatings and shed his blood and died on the cross for us and then rose again. I don’t know about you, but when I see Jesus, I’m going to bow on my knees (that will be by then, healed) or maybe even lie prostrate at His feet and worship Him. I also want to give Him the biggest HUG possible. What an unbelievable experience that will be. Even though there won’t be tears in Heaven, I’m hoping God will allow tears of Joy! Seeing Jesus, to me, will bring overwhelming praise to my lips. HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is the Lord God Almighty! Hallelujah to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and so much more!!!

The next blog post will be totally opposite from this one. It is going to be about Hell. That is where those who rejected Jesus will go for all of eternity because their sins were never forgiven by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. What an eternal loss!

Sharon

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THE FUTURE JUDGMENTS OF MANKIND AND THE FUTURE OF THIS WORLD

The Bible does not give any prophetic events that must happen before true believers in Jesus will be taken up to meet Jesus in the clouds (called the Rapture) and then taken to the current Heaven. Then, at that time, God will judge the works of true Christians that they had done after they had put their faith in Jesus and reward them. This is a good judgment.

On the earth below, 7 years of Tribulation will begin. It will begin when a man that people become very impressed with, whom the Bible calls the Antichrist, who is indwelt by Satan, signs a 7-year treaty with Israel. Yes, that will happen! He will become a one-world ruler. The first 3 ½ years he will be a peacemaker, but then, the Antichrist will eventually show himself to be evil. He will expect people to have the Mark of the Beast put on their hand or forehead. If they don’t have that they will not be able to buy or sell anything, including food. At the beginning of the second 3 ½ years, the Antichrist will have a huge statue of himself made and put in the new Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and demand that people worship him by worshipping that statue. If they don’t, they will be killed, even beheaded. So many even more horrible things (none like this world has ever experienced before…earthquakes, pestilences, wars, etc.)  will happen during that time because God is tired of the sin in this world. They will be horrible. It will all culminate with the war at Armageddon. The Antichrist will be leading it. It is a war of the armies of the world, Satan, and God. God ultimately wins because Christ will return to earth with His Heavenly armies. He will defeat evil. Christ will then reign a thousand years on earth.

He will bind Satan in chains and throw him into the Abyss and lock and seal it for the thousand years, called the Millennium. Revelation 20:7-10, says:

“When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. 9They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”  Just so you know, the beast and the false prophet are the Antichrist’s helpers.

Those who have rejected Jesus and His salvation will be judged at the Great White Throne judgment. God will open the Book of Life and when God does not find their name listed, they will be sentenced to eternal hell. No one in this judgment will escape hell because they rejected Jesus. They will be judged according to what they had done on earth and different grades of punishments will be given, but they will still be forever and ever very hot in hell. This is called the second death.

God will create a new Heaven and a new Earth because the first Heaven and earth had passed away. Then God will send down to the new Earth, a New Jerusalem where God will dwell among His true believers. This will be the new Heaven that will be now on the new Earth. There will no longer be any sin or death, or tears, or pain or mourning. God will make all things new!

So, are you thinking that this sounds very far-fetched? Well, the Bible says it is true and it has come from God, Himself. If I were you, I would take Jesus Christ’s offer of salvation through faith in what He did on the cross by shedding His blood and dying for your sins, very seriously, and in humility, confess your sins to Jesus and repent of them (stop doing them) and put your faith in Jesus Christ.

We don’t know when the Rapture of the true Christians (the Church, as God calls them) will happen and if it happens soon, you might be left behind and have to experience the Tribulation. Now, you will have an opportunity to put your faith in Jesus during that time, but that time will be a very difficult time and since all the true Christians will be up in Heaven that means the Holy Spirit will not be on earth, either, as He indwelt the true Christians. He also worked as somewhat of a restrainer of evil. Now evil will be on the rampage.  Don’t wait. Make your decision to follow Jesus today.

Please make a comment to me if you want more information about true salvation. Click on the word comment that is at the top on the left. Thank you.

Sharon

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE AND WHY?

WHAT IS YOUR SOURCE OF INFORMATION?

  1. Do you believe the Bible is infallible – not one untruth?
  2. Do you believe in a Heaven and a Hell?
  3. Do you believe that God created the Heavens and the earth? If not, where did the Heavens and earth come from?
  4. Do you believe there is more than one way to Heaven?
  5. Do you believe that you can work your way to Heaven?
  6. Do you believe in a One True God consisting of three Persons: God the Father, God the Son – Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit?
  7. Do you believe you are perfect, or a sinner?
  8. Do you believe you need forgiveness from God for your sins to get to Heaven when you die?
  9. Do you believe that God the Father sent Jesus, His Son, to earth to die for the sins of mankind?
  10. If God the Father did send Jesus, His Son, to die for mankind’s sins, what was the need that God required to be met?
  11. If Jesus died on the cross and was buried in a tomb, why did Jesus need to rise from the grave on the third day?
  12. Do you believe in the fall of man regarding sin in the Garden of Eden where Satan, in the form of a serpent, tempted Eve to eat from the tree of Good and Evil and then Eve gave its fruit also to Adam to eat, which introduced sin into mankind because God specifically told them not to eat of that tree?
  13. Do you believe from that point on, every baby born, except Jesus, was born a sinner?
  14. Do you believe if you don’t humbly confess and repent of your sins to God and then put your trust/FAITH in what Jesus did for you on the cross by shedding His blood and dying to pay for your sins and their penalties and in His resurrection from the dead, that you will spend Eternity in Hell?
  15. Do you believe that if you do humbly confess and repent of your sins to God and then put your trust/FAITH in what Jesus did for you on the cross by shedding His blood and dying to pay for your sins and their penalties and in His resurrection from the dead, that you will spend Eternity in Heaven?

I pray that you will think on these things and ask God to reveal His Truth to you. Please don’t just let these questions go!

If you like, you can actually answer these questions or ask your own questions in the comment section of this blog post and I will write back to you. You do not have to tell me your name, if you don’t want to, or maybe just tell me your first name. I would love to hear from you!

Sharon

LIVE LIKE YOU WON’T BE HERE TOMORROW

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How should we live our lives if we know we are dying? Would you live it frivolously? Would you party the rest of your day? That may be the case for those who don’t know Jesus.

However, when you do know Jesus as your Savior from your sins, what should be your response if you find out you’re dying?

At first, you would grieve, hopefully mostly for your loved ones who will not have you around to be of help to them and love them.

Then you should think about Jesus and Heaven and what you will experience with Jesus and also with your loved ones who have gone on before you.

We need to do what Jesus said we should do while on earth as Christians. We need to tell others about Jesus and His salvation that they, too, can have salvation and eternal life in Heaven.

If you are not yet dying, you should not let that keep you from telling others about Jesus. Afterall, in a way, everyone is dying, Every day lived, means you are closer to the day you die a physical death, whenever that may be.

Fortunately, true Christians will not die a spiritual death because of their faith in Jesus’ shed blood and death on the cross to pay for their sins and penalties. They will go directly to Heaven when they die a physical death. That is such a wonderful Truth and promise!

If that is such a wonderful Truth, why are we keeping it to ourselves? Shame on us for doing that. That is selfish of us for not passing that Truth on.

Why are we not passing Jesus’ Truth on? Because maybe we are too entrenched in this world, or because we are fearful that we might be rejected by a friend or friends. If they do reject you personally, maybe they were not the friend or friends you thought they were. At that point, you need to continue praying for them to see and understand the Truth. Don’t reject them!

If you live your life for Jesus as though you may not have another day to tell others, you may have the opportunity to lead someone to Jesus as their Savior. Then they will have the opportunity to tell others about Jesus, too, and God’s Truth will get passed on to others – God’s Plan!

So, we as Christians need to think about life differently and about death differently. We need to live life with urgency to serve God and serve and tell others about Jesus before our earthly life ends!

To have the desire to tell others about Jesus doesn’t just happen. It comes when we focus on Heaven more than on earthly things. Earthly things will pass away and be like dust. Heavenly things are forever.

True Christians are forever friends, but non-Christians are not, unless they decide to put their faith in Jesus and their sins are forever forgiven.

What a shame to lose non-Christian friends to a forever death in Hell. If you feel that way, then for goodness’ sake…tell them about Jesus’ salvation! They need to hear it!!! It’s one thing if they still reject Jesus after hearing the plan of Salvation through faith. It’s another, if they never hear it. How eternally sad!

By the way, keep the Rapture in mind, too! We may not have another day to tell others about Jesus, even without dying a physical death! Jesus may come through the clouds as He promised to take up to Heaven all of His true children! I, personally, am looking forward to that day when I will be taken up to Heaven and will see my personal Savior, Jesus, face to face. What a day THAT will be! Woo Hoo!!!!!!!

Thanks for reading!

Sharon

THE WORD OF GOD AND THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT

Is there a difference between the two? Yes, even though both are the Word of God.

The Bible uses two Greek words to describe the Word of God. The first one is Logos, which means the whole Bible as the Word of God.

The second Greek word is Rhema. This means the Sword of the Spirit. It’s still the Word of God but it is a specific portion of the Word of God. It is when the Holy Spirit speaks to you through God’s Word with certain verses regarding a specific situation. The Holy Spirit may point out some verses that will encourage you about something or the Holy Spirit may point out some verses that will help you to see that you are sinning in some way, and He wants you to repent to restore fellowship with God in your life. We need the Sword of the Spirit to protect us from evil. We also need it to reach our “heart.” When someone opens their heart and soul to put their faith in what Jesus did for them on the cross by shedding His blood and dying for their sins and their sins’ penalties, it is the Holy Spirit Who helps them see the Truth of salvation and God’s forgiveness. The Holy Spirit also gives, forgiven believers, spiritual strength to overcome evil and also to do God’s will, which helps them to grow in their faith.

For example, in another blog post, I told you how God spoke to me through some verses in Psalm 27, Psalm 28 and Psalm 30 during the time of my kidney and liver transplants. Five months before my transplants, God gave me Psalm 27:13-14 and Psalm 28:6. After my transplants, God gave me Psalm 30:2. They are printed out at the end of this post as a reminder of God’s specific message to me. These verses are the Word of God, yes, but the Holy Spirit pointed them out to me to encourage me that God was with me through this entire difficult time. That is “rhema” meaning the specific Word of God meant to specifically help me at that time. .

I think that is so cool! I can’t tell you how excited and encouraged I was to read those verses and God didn’t stop with Psalm 27:13-24 and Psalm 28:6. He continued to speak to me after my transplants with Psalm 30:2.

You know, I’m getting all revved up again about it. What a great God that I, and maybe you, serve if you have put your faith in Jesus as your Savior and Lord.

God is so loving, compassionate, and giving. He gives joy and peace, He is patient, kind, good, personal, faithful, gentle, righteous (holy), and just. God has so many characteristics as well as, so many Names throughout the Bible, such as Holy One, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Healer, Redeemer, Comforter, Prince of Peace, Emmanuel, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Son of God. . .and there are many more!

I don’t know how long God will use my transplanted organs to keep me going but just so you know, it’s been 17 years, as of September 17, 2007, so far. I know God has an appointed time for me to either die a physical death or be taken up to Heaven with Jesus at the Rapture when He removes all true Christians from the earth and takes them to Heaven and then the 7 years of Tribulation begins on the earth, including an evil world leader whom the Bible calls the anti-Christ.

If you don’t yet know Jesus, I suggest you, in humility, come to grips with the fact that you are a sinner who needs to repent of your sins and put your faith in Jesus’ shed blood and death on the cross to pay for your sins and their penalties. Jesus died so you could believe in Him and go to Heaven with Him for Eternity, instead of you paying for your own sins in hell for Eternity.

In John 14:6, “Jesus said, I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Please put your faith in Jesus! Please!!! I am praying that the Holy Spirit will help you to see your sinfulness and need for Salvation through Jesus. There is no other way to get to Heaven, which is Paradise.

Here are my specific transplant verses:

Psalm 27:13-14 says, “13 I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord, in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

Psalm 28:6 says, “Praise be to the Lord, for He has heard my cry for mercy.”

After my transplant:

Psalm 30:2 says, “Lord my God, I called to You for help, and You healed me.”

Thanks for reading. I hope it has impacted your “heart.”

Sharon

SELF-ESTEEM PROBLEMS?

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How do you see yourself? In your mind, do you see a person who is confident or a person who is self-centered and needs to keep boosting his/her self-esteem to be able to survive the human race and this world?

If you need to keep boosting your self-esteem, maybe you have been missing something…something that may have been right in front of you or never was.

Your childhood may have brought some discouragements or accusations of who you are or who you are not and you feel as though you need to prove them wrong because your ego can’t handle them. They have made you feel empty and depressed. Does that ring a bell in your mind and heart? Are you trying to build your ego around the things you accomplish? The human ego was made for God to fill it up, not us — Please keep reading!

Our ego draws attention to how we come across to others, how our body and face looks, etc. If we sense negativity from others, we feel emotional pain. We want to be perfect.

In order to make us feel better about ourselves, we either need to boast to others about our “greatness” or compare ourselves to others in our minds as to how much better we are than they are. Then our self-esteem temporarily goes up a notch in our minds. We are competitive and prideful.

When we’ve come to the place where our ego is so full of us, it can be easily damaged and become smaller. So, we go on a trek to build it up again. Up and down, up and down.

What we want is to be “somebody.” The only way for that to happen is by putting your faith in Jesus. He is the One who came down to earth to die for your sins and their eternal penalties so you can become righteous in God’s sight. When you do this, God sees you as perfect as He looks at you through His Son, Jesus, who provided the WAY to be forgiven of your sins so you can live in Heaven with Him forever and ever.

When you put your faith in Jesus, God considers you His child! Since Jesus/God is the King of Kings, that makes you a child of the King who is also the Creator of the Universe. You see – you can be “somebody.”

You may have respect for earthly kings, but Jesus is the King of those kings. Those kings will die like everyone else. Jesus is Eternal. He died for your sins and then rose again to conquer death for us so we can have Eternal life. He will never die again and neither will you after your earthly death because now you also are Eternal. You have changed from death unto LIFE.

Now, if you change your perspective from earthly to Heavenly things . . . from dwelling on yourself as to who you are in this life, to dwelling on God and who you are because of Jesus, your self-esteem will fill your ego with Jesus. He has changed you. He has given you LIFE through Himself.

Can I get a huge AMEN? This should make us want to praise and honor God/Jesus instead of ourselves. But only IF you first realize you are a sinner and tell Jesus you know that and that you want to repent of the life you’ve been living without Him and then put your faith/trust in Jesus’ shed blood, death on the cross to pay for your sin penalties and His resurrection from the dead.

What’s it going to be for you? You need to choose Jesus! If you don’t, you’ve chosen eternal death in Hell. Why would you do that? If you say that you don’t believe “all this stuff,” that doesn’t mean it’s not true! Let’s say that you don’t believe in gravity and you want to prove it’s not true. So, you jump off a tall building and quickly find out how true it is, and then you die. Your opinion was untrue. Your opinion about Jesus’ salvation for you is untrue, too, and you’ll find out that you’ll die a Spiritual death in Hell.

So, if you don’t believe in what Jesus did for you on the cross by dying for your sins, and that God requires that for Eternal life, you’ll realize that it is true when you die a physical death. You will also experience Spiritual death for all of Eternity. All if this is Biblical Truth!

Are you so entrenched in the things of this world that can give you temporary pleasure and praise that you refuse to focus on forever Heavenly things? Like I said, “You will believe when it’s too late. Please don’t do that. Become a child of the King of Kings today!!! Don’t you want freedom from Spiritual death and Hell?

Jesus said, “I am the WAY and the TRUTH and the LIFE. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

By the way, if you are a true believer in Jesus, you may need to get your eyes off of pleasing yourself and back onto pleasing Jesus again and ask Him how you can serve Him in this life. Sometimes true believers get off track and focus on earthly things that are not healthy for them. They may become addictions. They need to recommit their lives to Christ Jesus.

Please let me know in the comment box if you want to have forgiveness of your sins and perfection through Jesus in God’s eyes. Thank you.

Sharon

*Certain Truths were used from the book, “The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness” by Timothy Keller and also, The Holy Bible.

THE BIG DISAPPEARANCE IS NEAR!

What disappearance? Are you aware of a time when those who believe in Jesus as their Savior from their sins by FAITH, will disappear from the face of the earth? Yes, I said disappear! . . . as many as over 2 billion people! It’s all in the Bible, except for the amount of Christians. That has been estimated.

Where will they go?

They will be called up to Heaven by Jesus, then a trumpet will sound and the voice of the archangel, most likely Michael, will be heard and he will set the process in motion. Only those who know Jesus will be aware of all of this happening. Those that don’t know Jesus will not hear Jesus’ call, the sound of the trumpet or archangel Michael. Imagine the explanations people left on earth will come up with as to why people have disappeared. There are three passages of Scripture in the New Testament of the Bible that point to what we call the Rapture. The Bible doesn’t actually use that term, but describes it. Rapture has several meanings, but in this case, it means transported from earth to Heaven.

Those who know Jesus as Savior and have died, will rise up to where Jesus will be in the clouds. God will gather them up and give them new bodies. Then those who are still alive will rise up to where Jesus is, be given new bodies, also, and then all will go with Jesus to Heaven. Those who were still alive, will have been sitting, standing, sleeping, driving, flying, swimming, climbing or descending mountains, etc. Those who were driving a vehicle will disappear from the wheel and their vehicle will crash into other vehicles or poles or buildings or walking humans. Those flying on an airplane will disappear from their seats or if they were flying the airplane they will disappear and chaos and crashes will happen.

Those who thought they were true Christians and aware of the Rapture, will quickly find out that they weren’t true Christians, because they were left behind to experience the 7 years of Tribulation when Satan, in the form of the anti-Christ, will cause extreme havoc on the world. He will start out as “the world’s best friend,” but then he will turn on and expect everyone to worship him or die. Many who will put their faith in Jesus during those 7 years, will be beheaded at the direction of the anti-Christ and they will go straight up to Heaven..

The first passage of Scripture is:

JOHN 14:1-3

“1. Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4. You know the way to the place where I am going.” – Jesus

The second passage of Scripture is:

1 CORINTHIANS 15:51-58

”51. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52. in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 55. “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” 56. The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

When it says that we will not all sleep, it means that we will not all die a physical death before the Rapture. The Bible uses the word sleep for death many times.

The third passage of Scripture is:

I THESSALONIANS 4:13-18

“13. Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so, we will be with the Lord forever. 18. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

Now, if you have never, in humility, confessed your sins to Jesus, repented of them and then put your faith in Jesus’ shed blood and death on the cross for forgiveness of your sins, (He paid your sin penalty on the cross) then you will experience eternal death in Hell when you die or even possibly experience the Tribulation. You will be able to put your faith in Jesus during the Tribulation, and many will, but why would you wait when you don’t have to! Put your faith in Jesus now and you may experience the disappearance where you will meet Jesus in the clouds and then be taken to Heaven by Jesus, Himself.

We don’t know when the disappearance (Rapture) will be. However, there are prophecy signs in the Bible that indicate that the time is near.

If you are a true believer in Jesus by faith, then you need to be watching what’s happening in the world and especially in and to Israel and the Middle East.

The Bible says that this world is not a true Christian’s home. We are just passing through. Heaven is our true Home, living with Jesus and His angels and all other true believers in Jesus. Don’t you want Eternal Life in Heaven instead of eternal death in Hell, completely without God and others? It will be so lonely there!

If you want forgiveness from your sins and Eternal Life in Heaven, I have written a prayer that can help you talk to God and express your thoughts and humility before Him.

“Dear Jesus, I realize that I am a sinner in need of You as my Savior. I have been living my life for myself instead of for You. I confess my sins that are all as a result of doing that and I now want to repent and live my life for You. I want to put my FAITH in Your shed blood and death on the cross for the forgiveness of my sins and their penalties and in Your resurrection from the dead that gives me Eternal Life in Heaven with You. This is what I want Jesus. I want You to be my Savior from my sins and the Lord of my life. Thank You, Jesus. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

If you truly prayed this prayer, then welcome to the Family and Kingdom of God! Please tell me in a comment and give me your name and email address. I would like to help you to grow in your new faith in Jesus. Thank you.

Sharon

BELIEF VS. FAITH

This is another “what’s the difference” article between belief and faith. Is there a difference? Yes, there is.

It’s easy to believe that Jesus lived and even died on a cross; but, to believe that by putting your faith in Jesus’ death on the cross can forgive all your sins (past, present and future sins) and their penalties and can give you Eternal Life because Jesus rose from the dead to conquer death – that’s a bit harder. When you do that, the Bible says that Jesus wants you to trust Him with your life now and be committed to serving Him. God knows that you need to grow in your faith and by doing that, you will want to serve Him faithfully. Jesus will let you know how He wants you to serve Him, when you are ready. He let me know!

If you don’t trust Jesus with your life, then you don’t have faith in Him. If you don’t want to serve Him, why is that? Is it because you still want control of your life? You don’t want anyone else telling you what to do, including Jesus/God? I think that is sad. It’s sad when I’ve done that at times. I want to be totally committed to Jesus!

So, what’s the difference between belief in Jesus and faith in Jesus? Belief is you agreeing mentally and faith is believing and being committed to Jesus.

The Bible sometimes uses belief and faith interchangeably, but it also has certain distinctions for faith and they are very important.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith – and this is not from yourselves. It is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast.”

* What is grace? It is God giving you what you don’t deserve, which is forgiveness of sins.

* ”Saved through faith” means saved from your sins and their consequences – that is mercy!

* ”Not from yourselves” means there is no salvation by what we ourselves can earn.

* ”Gift of God” means God sent His son, Jesus, to earth to die for our sins and to rise again to conquer death for us so we can have Eternal Life from the moment we put our faith in Jesus through our entire time in Heaven forever with Jesus. Yes, everyone must die a physical death, but the second your body dies, your soul is then immediately in Heaven. So, you’ll never die – only your body dies, your soul is then in Heaven, unless you are without faith. Then your soul is in hell. God created all mankind as eternal. We have a very critical decision to make for where we spend eternity.

* ”Not by works” means that doing good deeds in order to earn salvation is rejected by God. He said that all of us would be boasting that we saved ourselves. There is nothing we can do for that to happen because we all still have our sinful natures in this life. The only way to be saved from our sins is by confessing and repenting of our sins and putting our faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection because Jesus is sinless! God the father only allowed His sinless, perfect Son to suffer and die on the cross for our sins. A sinful person cannot die for another sinful person’s sins.

When we put our faith in Jesus, we become righteous in God’s sight, even though we still have our sinful nature on earth. God wants us to allow His Word and His Spirit to grow our faith deeper in our soul. When our faith grows deeper in our soul, we become deeper in our relationship with Jesus and become more like Jesus.

I pray you will allow that to be a priority in your life.

We will never be totally sinless in this life even though through God’s eyes, we are because God looks at us through what Jesus did for us on the cross and our faith in Him. When we die and our soul goes to Heaven, we will be totally sinless! The ability to sin will be no more! I’m really looking forward to Heaven!!! There will be no more sin, no more sorrow, no more tears, no more death. It will be an eternity of perfection! Yes, I said perfection. All you perfectionists out there that know Jesus should be ecstatic! All with faith in Jesus should be ecstatic! Woo hoo!!!

If you have any questions about this, please put them in a comment to me. Thank you.

Sharon

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

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Something that happens that affects your faith to grow deeper in your soul, is directly from God. It may have been something wonderful or it may have been a tragedy. It may have come from when you were reading the Bible or from a sermon that was based on the Bible that you heard when you were at church or elsewhere. It was something that you needed to hear or go through.

Jesus’ disciples are good examples of having both in their lives. They followed Jesus around and wanted to learn from Him because He said He was the Son of God and their Teacher. They were able to witness Jesus’ miracles such as resurrecting Lazarus from the dead, healing the lame, the blind, the deaf and the mute. He turned water into wine and 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread into enough to feed 5,000 + people one time and 4,000 + another time from a few fish and 7 loaves of bread. (The numbers 5,000 and 4,000 were only the men, but there were women and children, also, so that’s a lot of food to make.) He even walked on water on a lake in front of His disciples who were in a boat. At first, they thought He was a ghost! But Jesus spoke to them. Then Peter asked Jesus if he, himself, could also walk on the water. None of the other disciples asked, but Peter was a very bold person. Jesus said yes, so Peter climbed out of the boat and looking at Jesus began walking on the water. Then a strong wind began to blow and Peter became uneasy and looked down at the water. When he took his eyes off of Jesus, his trust/faith became weaker, and he began to sink. Jesus took Peter’s hand and they climbed into the boat. Peter had not yet experienced a deep faith, soul-changing event.

By the way, when true Christians take their eyes off of Jesus, their faith also becomes weaker, and they struggle again. That’s never a good thing to do! Keep your eyes on Jesus!!!

Another example regarding the disciples’ trust/faith and how it needed to grow is when Jesus and all of His disciples were in the “upper room.” Jesus said in John 13:33, “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.” He didn’t say He was going to die, but He said that he would also return. They were confused. He also said that they would have a time of mourning. Then Jesus said that He wanted to go to the Mount of Olives to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane. The disciples went with Jesus. He asked them to stay in the garden and pray for Him, but instead they fell asleep. The disciples didn’t take what Jesus told them in the upper room very seriously or they would have made an effort to stay awake and pray for Jesus. The disciples were a little distance away from where Jesus was praying. Jesus was asking God to not allow His suffering and death to happen, but then He said, “Thy will be done.” When Jesus returned to where the disciples were, He found them asleep. Being with Jesus had not yet caused their faith in Him to be deep in their souls.

The disciples were having spiritual experiences that were amazing, but not soul changing until they saw Jesus on the cross and then die for them that it affected them deeply. It wasn’t until seeing Him after His resurrection and, also, when He ascended to Heaven, that it made a lasting impact deep in their souls to the point that they became Jesus’ missionaries. Jesus said that He would send another Comforter (the Holy Spirit) to help them. Jesus told them to preach the Gospel to Judea, Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the Earth.

It’s a good thing that the disciples’ souls were so deeply affected because without their preaching the Gospel, WE would not have heard and believed the Gospel ourselves and been forgiven af our sins and have eternal life in Heaven with Jesus through our confession, repentance and faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection from the dead. Wow, that would be a disaster for our souls. We would have to pay for our own sins in hell forever and ever.

The deeper your faith is, the better you will be able to weather the storms of life. If not very deep, you may even turn away from God, blaming Him for your troubles and tragedies instead of going to Him in prayer for help and allowing troubles to make your faith stronger.

So–what is your soul? It’s the part of you that will either go to Heaven or hell when you die. For true Christians, it is where God lives through His Holy Spirit. For non-Christians, they do not care about God and they live their lives the way they want to. Things of this world become their gods and their souls are destined for hell when they die.

Did you know that the heaviest part of a sailboat must be below the waterline in order for it to keep from capsizing from strong storms? That’s also true about our faith being deep enough in our souls to keep us from falling away from God when we’re experiencing difficult times. Also, the deeper our faith, the more God can use us for His glory in this life.

So deeper faith needs to be our goal because of our love for God. It is so important for our souls. It is so important for our spiritual stability. Spiritual experiences are nice, but deep faith is necessary and so much better! So, get out your Bibles and read them and study them and find a Bible-based, Bible-believing church that you can attend, even join, hear the Bible taught and worship Jesus, and fellowship with other believers in Jesus and serve Him there in some way! God loves our worship! God wants us to have a deep faith in Him and we need to want that, too!!!

Sharon

WHERE DID EVERYBODY GO? WHAT IS GOING ON!!!?

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Why are there so many people missing? Why are there so many traffic accidents and airplane accidents? The earth is in chaos! Why???

In 1 Thessalonians 4 of the Bible, it tells of a time when Jesus is going to come in the clouds and Rapture (gather up) all of His true believers…those who have been forgiven of their sins by believing in Jesus by FAITH – in His death on the cross to pay for their sins and in His resurrection from the dead to provide Eternal Life in Heaven for them. His children (true forgiven believers) will be Raptured up in the clouds with Jesus and then taken to Heaven.

That will first include Jesus’ believers who have already died and then those believers who are still alive, will be taken up. The Bible says Jesus will come down from Heaven with a loud command, then we’ll hear the voice of an archangel and then the trumpet call of God. The true Jesus’ believers will hear these things.

When is this going to happen? No date has been given and the Bible says that the Lord Jesus will come like a thief in the night…very quickly! This could happen at any moment!!!

Now think about how those left behind on the earth will react to such a thing! God’s believers will be walking along, or driving vehicles, riding on trains, flying on airplanes, or flying airplanes, at work, etc., when, all of a sudden, people (as many as a few billion) will disappear. This will cause major accidents for vehicles, airplanes, trains, buses, and cars, and people who are walking along will disappear in front of other people’s eyes. The world will be in panic mode and in tears. Jesus will also Rapture children who are not yet accountable for understanding God’s plan for salvation. Jesus said that He loves children!

There is a series of 13 books called the Left Behind series, written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. It uses fictional characters to experience what the Bible describes. It is based on End Times’ prophecy events and it includes the Rapture of God’s Church (true forgiven believers), the 7 year Tribulation that is God’s wrath upon those who have rejected God’s gift of Jesus’ death to pay for their sins and the resurrection to provide Eternal life for them and then all the other events after that. You can purchase that series at Christianbook.com. The Book of Revelation in the Bible is all about that, as well as other events that will occur after the Tribulation.

The Rapture of God’s children (His Church) can happen at any moment. There is nothing in Bible prophecy that must happen first. Since Israel is back as a nation now, the Rapture can happen. The Jewish people are God’s chosen people, so prophecy is much about them and the land of Israel and about Jesus’ coming as Messiah, in the Old Testament. It even describes Jesus coming as a baby and being born of a virgin. That’s Old Testament Bible prophecy!

The Bible says that after the Rapture, the 7 Years of Tribulation will begin. It will begin by a man coming on the scene who is the antichrist. Nations will be against Israel and this man will propose a 7-year peace treaty with Israel and Israel will sign it! The world will worship this man willingly at first! But he is indwelt by Satan and his true colors will come out!

Now, with Israel being attacked recently by Hamas and other nations being against Israel, things could very well be lining up for all of the above to happen soon.

Like I said before, the first thing to happen before the antichrist and the peace treaty, is the Rapture. It really could happen at any moment. Did I mention that before? Hmmm…  =)

Are you ready? Have you humbled yourself before God and confessed your sins of living your life for yourself and ignoring God and controlling your own life the way you want it and rejecting Jesus? Have you yet repented of those sins? Have you put your FAITH in Jesus’ death on the cross (He took YOUR place) to pay for and forgive your sins and in His resurrection that conquered spiritual death (hell) so He can give you Eternal Life in Heaven?

If not…you WILL be left behind after the Rapture to experience the 7-year Tribulation. The Tribulation will be like hell on earth. If you don’t put your faith in Jesus even during the Tribulation, there is no hope for you…you will go straight to hell. The earth has never experienced such turmoil. There will be plagues, national disasters, and more. There will then be a huge war at the end of the 7 years. The Antichrist will be leading it. It is a war of the armies of the world, Satan, and God. God ultimately wins because Christ will return to earth with His Heavenly armies. He will defeat evil. It is called the Battle of Armageddon. Then the Millenium will happen where Jesus will reign on the earth for 1,000 years. After that the Great White Throne Judgment will happen for all non-believers and because they rejected Jesus, they will be sent to hell for all of Eternity. Then Jesus/God will destroy this current Heaven and Earth and create a new Heaven and Earth where He and His true believers and His angels will live for all of Eternity. It will be an awesome place of beauty where there will never be sin. Sin will exist NO MORE, nor will that possibility exist. God requires total righteousness in His perfect Heaven and Earth where He will forever reign.

Now, if you’re thinking that this is all science fiction or that I have “gone off my rocker,” all of this and more details are in the Bible, and a lot of details about the 7 years of Tribulation are in Revelation, which is the last book of the Bible. I suggest that you read it for yourself and if you have a study Bible, it will help you understand it better!!! I encourage you to read both I Thessalonians 4 (which was given to the Apostle Paul by God) and, also, Matthew 24, spoken directly by Jesus, Himself.

If you don’t have a Bible, please go on the Internet and look up  www.bible.com  You can read the Bible online or you can even download the whole Bible. I encourage you to choose the ESV (English Standard) version or the NIV (New International) version. There are many versions listed but either of those two are great!

I’m praying for you! You need Jesus!!!

Sharon

OUR SECURITY AND HOPE

“The anchors of hope are cast upward into the heavenlies, not backward into history or downward into circumstance.” — Eli Stanley Jones

This is so true. My anchor is Jesus who is in the heavenlies, who I hold onto tightly and He holds onto me. History and current circumstances can never promise anything regarding hope, peace and security. Our security does not come from ourselves or the praise of others or because of what we achieve. It comes from our Creator, Jesus, Who is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Son of God, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. He’s the promised Messiah, the Great I Am because He’s always existed and always will. HE’S EVERYTHING!

How can we look to ourselves or others for our own security and our anchor of hope? We are so imperfect and sinful. Jesus is completely Perfect and loves us so much…He was sent by God the Father to earth to shed His blood and die on the cross for our sins and their penalties, so IF we confess and repent of our sins and put our trust/faith in His death on the cross for us and in His resurrection that conquered death so that He can give us forever forgiveness for past, present and future sins and Eternal Life. What a forever GIFT of God’s Grace and Mercy we can have if we will stop looking to ourselves and decide to look to Jesus! What a Perfect Anchor He is! What a Perfect Savior He is!!!

“Thank You, God the Father for sending Your Son Jesus to earth and thank You, Jesus the Son for Your obedience by dying for us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

Without this, all of mankind would end up in Hell because of unforgiven sin. Now we can choose Jesus who is Life and Truth! Please choose Jesus!!! Please see yourself as a sinner in need of a Savior, Jesus Christ. He’s the only way to forgiveness and Eternal Life in Heaven! REALLY!!!

Sharon