In this article, I would like to say things straight to the point. No kid stuff, no being nice and personable, just the plain Truth, as is stated in the Holy Word of God. In these days, everyone wants to be “ Politically Correct. ” They don’t want to come off as being “Offensive.” My point is this: if the Holy Word of God is offensive to you…in any way…you have more problems than you realize. Let’s make sure that we understand something here; The Bible cuts the mustard one way…right down the middle!

The first thing to know is, YOU either belong to Jesus Christ…or you don’t. Regardless of how you act or what you say, YOU know whether you belong to Jesus Christ or not. If you were to die this very instant, you know where you are headed to in Eternity. You also know, you chose this destination all by yourself.

Matthew 16:25-28 “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.”

Whether or not you like that is not the issue; the issue is, do you believe it or not? What are you going to say when you stand before the Lord and this is in your mind? “Reward?”…“Your Works,” which is according to the “Intent of your Heart.” And be sure to note, the Lord knows your heart. Not just once or twice, but every Intent throughout your life. Sobering isn’t it?

Jeremiah 17:10 “I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”

That can grate on your nerves if you do not belong to Jesus Christ.

Proverbs 3:5-8 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.”

Wow! There it is in Black and White, and you have what problems? What better reason for believing the Word of God than a Healthy Life? Trust me, my friends; this is straight out of the Word of God.

Numbers 32:22-23 “And the land be subdued before the LORD: then afterward ye shall return, and be guiltless before the LORD, and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the LORD. But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.”

Ahh! That grating feeling again. It makes my teeth hurt just to read this! Yet it does not have to be so for you, if you are willing to follow Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ IS the Answer to your problems—all of them!

1 John 1:6-7 “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

Again, in black and white, that is your Answer! We are all sinners, yet…for those that are Born-Again Believers and followers of Jesus Christ…our Sin…is covered by HIS Blood from the Cross of Calvary. We are NOT better than anyone else…we are simply forgiven of our sin. That alone makes us presentable before the Lord God…the Father. Anything else is a waste of your time.

When I was a young man, I wanted to do those things that my ancestors had done. They were able to talk with the animals, and so this is what I wanted to do. One day I sat down with a bag of raw peanuts in the shell. A rather large raccoon came over to about 6-7 feet from me, and I fed him/her some of my peanuts. He/she sat there and ate the peanuts and chattered to me, and I was in Love; yet I never understood a single thing he/she said. There was a language problem.

There is no language problem with the Holy Word of God; it is straightforward and to the point. The real problem is…how many read it? And then there is this: if you do read it, do you believe it?

Again I am going to say, a church is nothing more than a building. There is nothing HOLY about it, unless you are there to Worship the Lord…it begins with your Heart…the “Intent of your Heart!” As I have said so many times, you can sit in the pew every Sunday, sing all the hymns and FEEL so holy…and you can still be headed for Hell and the Lake of Fire. It is your decision to Follow Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior…or the lack thereof. THAT IS the difference!

Whatever your decision is about Jesus Christ, He IS the answer to every problem you could have.

Life is very short and death here on Earth is permanent. No one will ever come back from death. That again is not the problem…your Eternal destination is! It is very simple; follow the Lord Jesus Christ and go to Heaven for Eternity…or follow Satan and his ilk, denying Jesus Christ, and your destination will be Hell and the Lake of Fire.

It bothers me to an extent that there are more people dead and buried than there are people alive. How many of those were saved to Jesus Christ? That little word FEW gnaws at you! Only a FEW will find the “Narrow Path” that leads to Heaven and the Lord God. So where are all the others headed? That’s right…Hell and the Lake of Fire. Yet, you don’t have to be among them; you can change your destiny to Heaven. Jesus Christ is the ONLY Answer!

Read the Holy Word of God and choose wisely, my friends.

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.”

I use the King James Version of the Bible, and all emphasis is mine.

You may reach the Author at: twobears44@gmail.com

Consequences of Sin

I was just wondering, how much control over everything do we really have? Obviously, there are none able to control weather, tides, earthquakes or volcanoes, just to name a few. And as we all know, we are not able to control the actions of others. And yet, it would seem to a degree that we find fault in each other and our actions, or the lack thereof, as far as pollution, diseases, poverty and such. The question is, do we really have any control whatsoever over any of these? Do we control our own daily lives, or our destiny, if you will? If so, how is that possible?

I am asking this in reference to some passages of Scripture that I will lay out shortly. We already know that we have the ability to commit sin or to refrain from it. We are given this choice by the Lord God Almighty, just as we are given the choice of salvation through Jesus Christ. And so, with this firmly in our mind, what about all the other stuff? I know you will agree that we did not have a choice in our birth on earth, yet we have the opportunity to choose our Eternal Destiny, before we die on earth.

John 15:5 “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

The above verse is probably one of the most notable passages for most, and I have highlighted the more important part for this article. Other passages say other things, such as:

1 Kings 17:1 “And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.”

In this instance, a circumstance came about because the people had turned their backs on the Lord God. One would understand this better by reading the entire chapter. And yet, it is proof positive that it is the Lord God that has withheld the dew and the rain, not Elijah. Elijah was the instrument, if you will, to King Ahab and all the people, for the Lord God. Now this in turn makes me wonder about everything we see going on across the globe today, in the End of Times.

2 Timothy 3:8-9 “Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.”

In this passage, things are going to be removed from people because they will not recognize the Lord God as their Savior. As we can surmise, sin is most evident in this, if you read the entire chapter.

1 Kings 18:38 “Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.”

Again, to understand all that was taking place, it is important to read the entire chapter; but for this exercise, know that Elijah was going to prove to King Ahab and the prophets of Baal that the Lord God…IS God. This is despite the fact that the prophets of Baal poured water on the offering and the wood on the altar three times!

There are other examples as well. Acts 5: Ananias with Sapphira his wife – both dropped dead. Numbers 16: Read the chapter about Korah, Dathan and Abiram, how they and 250 others were against the Lord in the wilderness. The ground swallowed them and fire burned up 250 others. And the list goes on. The point is, however, that The Lord God does all these things because of their sin against HIM.

Having said this, with examples, it should solidify in our minds who it is that is absolutely in control and that it is our sin that wrecks our lives, which we have chosen for ourselves and against the Lord God.

Having relayed these accounts, I once again go back to the original question, Who is in control? I must also state that this makes John 15:5 even more serious in its own context about our lives today.

As we watch the world rumble and groan, people dying, whole cities destroyed…is there any wonder by any of us…what is going on and by whose hand? Is there any wonder left of what the consequence of our sin truly is…and this is in the here-and-now category! As we look at 2 Timothy 3 and the Last Days, are we surprised by what we see going on?

These are prophecies that are taking place everywhere, because this is what the Lord God said. We are able to reference these things, along with what took place just before the Great Flood and Noah. Then we can see the comparison between then and today. I am reminded that the people back then were “exceedingly wicked” just before the Flood; so now we must take account of what all is going on today. The similarities are surprising to say the least! How much more obvious is it that we are “exceedingly wicked” as well?

I believe we should be mortified in ourselves, to say the least, to know our sin has reached such a great level that the Lord God is taking note. Just my thoughts here; it scares the living bejabbers out of me, as it should everyone else. Maybe that small word FEW (Matthew 7:13-14) has taken on a new meaning all together…right? I choose to be one of the FEW rather than the many, or majority.

At times our own arrogance gets the best of us as humans when we should be humble before the Lord God. As you are able to surmise by all that has been said here, WE are NOT in control of anything. Again, we are the “Branches” and NOT the Vine; that belongs to our Lord and Savior only.

I believe in my heart that we should reflect on our thoughts and our actions, many times throughout our lives. Then we need to compare them according to the Holy Word of God. Thus we should be able to see where we stand. And then humbly thank the Lord God for HIS Love for us and renew our passion to follow HIM.

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

The passage of Scripture above does indeed become much more serious than when we first read it. We have so much to be thankful to the Lord God for, and we need to change our hearts and our lives and follow HIM even closer!

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.”

I use the King James Version of the Bible, and all emphasis is mine.

You may reach the Author at twobears44@gmail.com