~ "Whenever it wants the past can come kicking the door down. And you never know where it's gonna take you. All you can do is hope it's a place you wanna go." from "Hearts in Atlantis".
I was waist deep and sinking in choppy dark water, depths unknown; my hand reaching for the lifesaving hand outstretched towards me. Where once it was Peter, this time it was a visual of me; it was adeptly descriptive of my present state; metaphorically I was truly drowning; metaphorically I was literally crying out to be saved from drowning; and literally I recognized HE is the only one that could lift me from the depths that threatened to engulf me.
Like so many people worldwide, I am weary. I’m weary of being sick; weary of worrying over the health of loved ones; weary of being cooped up inside my house; weary of being being invalidated with my integrity questioned. And quite possibly most of all, I’m weary of waiting, and wondering if and when this all will end.
By “end” I’m not just talking about this pandemic level virus assaulting not only the country I live in but the world at large; I’m also weary of the darkness and pervasive evil worldwide, that is as much of, if not more of a pandemic than this virus.
Thus it was so timely that I happened to notice, pick up and begin again reading a book some months set aside.
Through the words of John Eldredge, in his book: All Things New, my focus was shifted away from the cares of this world to the promises of what is to come; and beautiful and exciting these promises are.
I was reminded afresh how God has promised to make ALL things NEW. Contrary to commonly held beliefs that leave some in fear of eternal boredom and cloud floating, I was able to visualize an existence in a body free of disease and aging which will forever experience eternal joy while busily engaged in developing God given talents as I realize all of my dreams of this life, many set aside and unfulfilled, to be fulfilled to their fullest in the beautiful, exciting world to come.
While I endure the trials of this life, I can latch my hope and faith onto these promises, because they are just that: promises; they’re promises given to those who faithfully slog (endure) their way through this life faithfully holding onto the hope found through Jesus Christ.
And mind you, these are not pipe dreams, as these promises are biblical: both Old Testament as well as New. From Isaiah we find promise in these words:
(Isaiah 65:17-19): For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, And her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, And joy in My people; The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, Nor the voice of crying.
From the book of Revelation, found in the New Testament, and pertaining to end times, in chapter 21 we find: “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”
And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Later this afternoon, when once again I started feeling weary, a video popped up that peaked my curiosity. It turned out to be just what I needed to hear, and served as a confirmation of what I’d experienced hours earlier:
“What does it profiteth a man if he gain the whole world but lose his soul… “
As I sat here staring at a blank blog page with a desire in my heart but absolutely no idea how to express it, the above words came to mind.
I believe those words comprise the lifeblood of the message that is in my spirit which I pray will touch your heart.
A little over 7 years ago, in the midst of a crisis of my faith, I phoned my childhood best friend. At age 11 my family moved 850 miles away from my childhood home, so this friend and I no longer maintained the typical friendship of those who are blessed to grow up together in the same town. But this friend and her family were so near and dear to me, I reserved a place for her in my heart, for life, and periodically kept in touch in an attempt to sustain our friendship.
As she and I were raised under the same religious culture, but knowing she did not live true to the religion, she was, I believed, the one I could safely call. I needed someone whom I believed would understand, to discuss with this crisis I was in, upon coming to recognize this church in which I was raised and had been faithful to for the better part of my life was, actually, in fact, not all it perported to be.
In this phone conversation I learned a few things: while my friend did not live the religion in her daily life, she still held to the culture and believed the church to be true; my friend believed what is important to make it to heaven is simply to be a “good person”; and lastly, my crisis of faith of the church actually seemed to serve distancing this friend from me; something I feared it would those who remain active believers of this particular church; I just never anticipated it of this friend.
However, that phone conversation is the last this particular friend has accepted from me.
I still love that friend and I’ve missed her. But more importantly is what I have come to understand in the years since that phone call with her.
In particular, on my mind today, is not so much her belief that this particular church and culture are true, but more importantly of her belief that you only need to be a “good person” to obtain eternal salvation into Heaven.
This is a false belief and my objective desire today is to share with you, my reader, what is essential to obtain the saving Grace of God, so as to obtain eternal salvation in the glories of eternal heaven, as opposed to finding yourself in the realm outside of heaven thereby being cut off from the presence of God which equates to spending eternity in the realm of Hell.
To begin we need to understand why any of this is relevant, and I believe the following sums it up well:
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— 13 For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. (Romans 5:12-15)
In a nutshell: Adam sinned against God and in that moment suffered spiritual death. He was cut off from the presence of God.
In order to restore a way for mankind back into the presence of God, (since we each are born of Adam with a sin nature) a sacrifice had to be made to atone for sin.
This was accomplished by God (the son of God: Jesus Christ) coming to this earthly realm and taking on the form of humanity; this being accomplished by the Holy Spirit implanting in the womb of the virgin Mary so that she would bear the human child in which the spirit of God, (the son of God) dwelt, thereby creating a human being that was both God and man.
And Simon Peter answered and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father who is in Heaven. (Matthew 16:16-17)
Thus it was that Jesus was without sin which qualified Him worthy to be a sacrifice to atone for the sins of all of mankind.
However:
“For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13)
For us to be able to partake in the redemption offered us of God by way of this atoning sacrifice, it is requisite that we ACCEPT this gift; acceptance of this gift is done by way of faith and believing.
To deny the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ leaves us lost in our sins:
Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins;for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. (John 8:24)
or again:
Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins;for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. (Colossians 2:9)
On the other hand, when we accept and believe on the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ:
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2)
That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” (Romans 10:9-11)
I think because my original foundational understanding of the gospel began with religion based upon law, it was challenging for me to come to understand and accept the principle of grace, a principle taught us by the Apostle Paul.
Perhaps this is why I was given a particularly powerful dream, one I felt was worthy to share, which I did in a previous blog post. You can read it by following this link
I recommend reading it, as I believe it serves well to drive home an understanding of this powerful gift or blessing that can be ours.
Following are a couple scriptures that define what I came to understand in the dream:
Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:27)
Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us (Romans 8:34)
While doing research I came across an article wherein I learned the following:
There are two kinds of faith: ascentia and fiducia.
Ascentia is a mental acknowledgment.
Understanding this helped me understand something that once puzzled me:
In reading from the New Testament I realized the demons who took possession of mortal bodies recognized Jesus as the son of God.
In my mind this establishes a couple points:
1) Jesus IS of God, because these demons, followers of Satan, each of whom once dwelt in the Heavens with God clearly would know of the deity of God and thus of the Son of God. Therefore, when He dwelt upon the earth they recognized Him.
2) Despite fully recognizing Jesus, thereby “believing” it was Him, and thus knowing He IS the Son of God, yet still they are NOT saved. So, what’s the difference?
The difference is between ascentia and fiducia.
Fiducia is a faithful, independent trust in the work of Christ upon the cross. It is in believing andtrusting that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ: His offering up His life and allowing His blood to be shed for our sins: is the only way through which we can and will be saved.
So it’s more than just knowing of Jesus Christ. Many are those that can know of Jesus. There is secular documentation from the time when Jesus walked upon the earth that allows us to know He was a real life character. Knowing OF Him is not enough.
Salvation requires believing in Him; believing His atonement; trusting in the salvation He offers: understanding that is is ONLY through Jesus Christ that we can come to the Father.
Jesus said to him, “I amthe way,the truth, andthe life.No one comes to the Fatherexcept through Me. (John 14:6)
Being a good person and doing good works is a good thing, but it will NOT bring us to the eternal Father!! It is NOT the key.
“Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, (1Corinthians 15:1-4)
And once we have this; hold fast, because:
…“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Cor 2:9)
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39)
I pray that if your faith was wavering or, simpering out, or no longer existent, it is revived, so that the fire now burns within your spirit and that your HOPE burns bright, as we wait upon our Lord and Savior, because HE has long promised HE WILL RETURN for those who love Him.
For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? (Romans 8:24)
Standing waist high in rather swampy water, I noted the water was not a murky green, but instead was an orange red color.
From my viewpoint I saw my son and a girlfriend standing together; to my right of them stood a tall man; however, my son and this young woman’s interaction was limited to between themselves; they seemingly unaware of me or this man.
Next thing my son was standing away in the distance, no longer with this young woman, whom I knew he had been in relationship with.
Making my way over to the young woman I engaged in conversation with her.
The male personage still stood, now off to my left. There was a barrier standing between us and Him, which at the time wasn’t significant, to me, and, despite being aware of his presence, there was no attempt to engage with him or vise versa.
I understood this young woman was a virgin and that she had separated herself from my son being concerned he no longer was a virgin.
I found I was explaining to her that ALL of us have sinned; no one is free of sin, and there is not a grading scale for degrees of sin. Instead all sin is in opposition of God, and thus separates us from Him.
(Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,)
I attempted to impress upon her to not judge my son, explaining that through Jesus he could be made clean.
(Hebrews 10:10 By this will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.)
I then went on to state that all of us, all of mankind, will stand before God in judgment one day.
(Revelation 20: And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.)
However, those of us who believe in, and trust in Jesus Christ: as our Lord, and our Savior, are washed clean through the blood sacrifice of Jesus, so we are now clean before the Father.
(Romans 10:13 For “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”)
Quite literally, through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, we can be made clean; God the Father will see us through Jesus, which is how we are seen as perfect.
(Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.)
(1 Corinthians 3:10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.)
As I was explaining to this young woman how my son, through faith in Jesus Christ will be made clean again, I very literally “saw”, in my dream, Jesus standing between my son and the Holy Father.
As I witnessed this I was so strongly impacted by the reality of HIS redeeming love I was overcome with emotion and, literally, wept.
1 John 2:1-2 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
During the week since having this dream I have gained some clarity on it.
Virgin is representative of spiritual purity.
The murky waters represent the sins of mortal life of which we are surrounded and tempted.
This dream is applicable for all of humanity, it is not singularly about my son. I believe the Lord gave me this dream and used a visual of my son because it would serve to strongly impress upon my heart the full impact of the significance of the message; the significance of the sacrifice Jesus made for us, and the gift that sacrifice is on our behalf.
Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, now stands in the gap between us and the Father, and through our Savior we can be washed clean, IF we accept this gift offered us.
John 14:6
Jesus answered,“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Often we have heard the precursor to this, but I believe the following is of equal or perhaps even more importance. THIS is the reason why HE came to earth:
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. (John 3: 17-18)
And I believe it is SO important that each of us get firm on where we stand, because God does not “send” us to Hell, we are already destined for Hell. Jesus Christ came to SAVE us FROM Hell.
God, by way of The Son, Jesus Christ, came to earth, took OUR sin upon Himself, (He a perfect being without sin) and died in our place, so that WE do not have to die for our sins.
Remember, in the garden God warned that those who partook of the fruit of that particular tree would “die”. Well, they DID die, that day!: they died spiritually.
So, each of us are born spiritually “dead”. but, here’s the GOOD NEWS:
Because of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we can be saved from that eternal death!
THAT, friends, is what Hell is: eternal death!
To be SAVED from eternal death, or Hell, we need to ACCEPT the outstretched hand of Jesus Christ by BELIEVING on Him, believing IN Him, and thus accepting HIM as the LORD and SAVIOR that He is!
Then, take up our cross and follow Him.
“If you love me, keep my commands.” (John 14:15)
The following link is a good article to define what it means to “take up our cross”:
He promised He would return to earth, only this time it will be to gather up all who are true and faithful (both the living and the dead) who will be raised up in incorruptible bodies.
Those who REJECT Him (Jesus Christ) will remain on earth and will be tried by great tribulation:
Matthew 24:21 – For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Daniel 12:1 – And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation [even] to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
My constant prayer is that those I love and care about will believe on Jesus Christ and be ready for His return.
Remember:
John 3:16-18 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
We’ve all heard it: “Be careful what you wish for”.
Just a few minutes ago I was reading a verse from the book of Revelation (in the Bible) only to become frustrated at not clearly understanding what I was reading; the frustration being mostly due to the varied differences of opinion “out there” which cause division and confusion for those of us trying to understand what to expect in regard to the fulfillment of “end times”.
So a few minutes ago I prayed for enlightenment to my mind, by way of the Holy Spirit, knowing it is by way of the Holy Spirit that we are given knowledge and understanding.
My prayer was for understanding of God’s actual truth from the pages of scripture. I could read and make educated guesses as to the meaning of the words written, just as I believe was done by a women I listened to yesterday, but I don’t want yet another “opinion” of what “it” means; I want to know what GOD is telling us by way of His word.
Since I was in the midst of following listed scripture via a daily devotional I moved along to other listed passages, and it was upon reading from Hebrews I felt compelled to share all of this. The scripture listed was Hebrews 2: 14-15, but I read 2:14-18.
What is written in verse 16 really struck me:
Hebrews 2:14-18 King James Version (KJV)
14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.
I realized, while reading verse 16, that we human beings are not the same as Angels.
I was of the impression Angels were basically the same creation as humans, and while I didn’t (and still don’t) believe the following, I’m aware a lot of people do believe when a loved one dies he or she becomes an Angel.
Scripture does not support this idea, thus I am confident we do not, and will not, become Angels, ever. My understanding is Angels are a different creation and Angels are NOT below/lower than humanity in status. (I was taught as a kid that if I didn’t acquire a certain status in mortality I’d be effectively “demoted” to the status of an Angel”. )
Along with the realization, as indicated in the above quoted scripture, Angels are not the same as human beings (the seed of Adam), I also see, in this passage of scripture, that Jesus “TOOK ON” the nature of a human being, i.e. the “seed of Abraham”.
And, He became human by way of choice. He did this so as to be able to become the sacrifice needed to redeem human kind; an act needful to save us all from eternal death. Thru one man, Adam, we all become subjected to death.
Thru Jesus Christ we can be freed of the chains of death.
No other human being could be the needful sacrifice for sin because we are all born of sin nature as we, all of us, are from the seed of Adam.
Romans 5:12King James Version (KJV)
12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Jesus, through being born of Mary, was able to take on the nature of humanity, but because He is also a part of God, (The Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit), He, unlike all of us in humanity, was able to live a life free of any sin. Thus it is He was able to be the sacrifice for sin- which was achieved by allowing His blood to be shed for sin.
Romans 5:19 King James Version (KJV)
19 For as by one man’s disobedience [Adam] many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one [Jesus Christ] shall many be made righteous. *
*Italics are my insertion for clarification
Through Jesus Christ we can be saved if we accept His sacrifice for us. Believe on Jesus Christ and be saved.
Romans 5:12-21 King James Version (KJV)
12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Because they had been protected they were unaware of the danger all around them. Just as we don’t, they didn’t see the dangers that were unseen and not yet felt, so they didn’t know what was there. Rather than be thankful for protection received and their many blessings, they instead, yet again, began to grumble and murmur about perceived unjustness; the extension of this being cursing and murmuring against the very one who was protecting and providing for them.
To teach them a very important lesson, the one who has long provided for and protected them, lifted that hand of protection. All a sudden the people realized that in this desert environment they were surrounded by deadly poisonous snakes.
The effects were swift and immediate. “Now there was terror and confusion throughout the encampment. In almost every tent were the dying or the dead. None were secure.”
The murmuring of past perceived trials completely ceased as what they previously complained couldn’t compare to the trial they now faced. How often do we do this in our lives; lack gratitude only to find ourselves in even less desirable circumstances only to wish we’d only recognized the blessings we once had .
The people were now, again, humbled. They approached their leader and pleaded with him to intercede for them and call upon the hand that had once protected them to do so again.
Their leader was instructed to make a serpent of brass resembling the poisonous snakes. He was then to raise this brass snake high in the air and let the people know that anyone who had been bitten by one of the poisonous snakes need only to look upon the brass snake and they would be healed.
Some refused to look believing it impossible to look upon a snake of brass and find healing. Others chose to look upon the brass snake.
Those who refused to look upon the replica died. Those who chose exercise faith in looking upon the brass snake were restored to health.
There was a time, in my life, when I thought stories like this sounded like science fiction. Stories of this nature do not get reported in our modern times, to my knowledge, so I was very skeptical, thinking perhaps such stories were created for the purpose of teaching allegorically.
As of this writing I have a deeper and thus vastly different understanding of this tale. I am no longer skeptical.
This is a story of an experience of the Israelites during the time they were being led by Moses to the Promised Land.
“The lifting up of the brazen serpent was to teach Israel…they could not save themselves from the fatal effect of the poison in their wounds. God alone was able to heal them. Yet they were required to show their faith in the provision which He had made. They must look in order to live. It was their faith that was acceptable with God and by looking upon the serpent their faith was shown. “
There was no power in the brass serpent; it significance was in that it was a symbol of Christ.
“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so was the Son of man ‘lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.’ John 3:14, 15. All who have ever lived upon the earth have felt the deadly sting of ‘that old serpent called the devil, and Satan.’ Revelation 12:9. The fatal effects of sin can be removed only by the provision that God has made. The Israelites saved their lives by looking upon the uplifted serpent. That look implied faith. They lived because they believed God’s word, and trusted in the means provided for their recovery.
Jesus came to earth and took on a human body and then allowed his blood to be sacrificed for mankind so that now we can look to Him, Jesus Christ for salvation. Thus it is He is our “Savior”. Only through Him can we be saved from the poison that is in our lives, called “sin”. The wages of sin is death. Without a savior to save us, our fate is to die because of our sin. But if we trust in the merits of Jesus Christ, and thus we look upon Him in faith, just like the Israelites, who looked upon the symbol of their salvation from mortal death, we can be saved from eternal death.
I have come to recognize, in my study, that the Old Testament is full of stories that ultimately point to the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. What once sounded like fantastical stories, so vastly different than the reality we experience in our time, I now recognize as God’s way for a time long before the arrival of The Son of God, who came to earth to redeem mankind.
For those who are skeptical, I appreciate how E.G. White summed it up:
“Many are unwilling to accept of Christ until the whole mystery of the plan of salvation shall be made plain to them. They refuse the look of faith, although they see that thousands have looked, and have felt the efficacy of looking, to the cross of Christ. Many wander in the mazes of philosophy, in search of reasons and evidence which they will never find, while they reject the evidence which God has been pleased to give. They refuse to walk in the light of the Sun of Righteousness, until the reason of its shining shall be explained. All who persist in this course will fail to come to a knowledge of the truth. God will never remove every occasion for doubt. He gives sufficient evidence on which to base faith, and if this is not accepted, the mind is left in darkness. If those who were bitten by the serpents had stopped to doubt and question before they would consent to look, they would have perished. It is our duty, first, to look; and the look of faith will give us life.”
Quotes taken from Patriarchs and Prophets Volume 2 by E.G. White
So, on Facebook I’m seeing a lot of personal photos embedded into the French flag.
I’m wondering what flag folks will embed their photo into next; this assault on Paris is not a first and I’m very confident it will not be the last terrorist assault.
I truly believe we are entering the “last days” as prophesied long ago. Pay close attention to all the world events and the natural disasters that are coming in close and rapid succession. Put the pieces together and compare to Biblical prophecy and see if you see the same picture I am coming to see.
I’m not afraid; I’m excited. That said, please don’t misunderstand me. I’m NOT happy about natural disasters, I’m NOT happy about wars, rumors of wars and pending world war. I’m NOT happy about terrorist activity.
But my heart leaps with joy to see actual signs of HIS coming. I’ve long looked forward to the return of Jesus Christ.
My life has been full of sorrow, so my lifeline; my hope, has been placed in the promised joy that will come with dwelling in the presence of God.
I once had a personal experience, very short lived, of feeling peace beyond anything this life has to offer. I truly believe it was a gift from God; something I very much needed to give me Hope so I could find the strength to stay among the living.
I don’t exactly know what my life mission is, or why God wanted me to carry on, but having that glimmer of Hope was essential.
And just when I began to weary my hope was in vain; that maybe there really wasn’t going to be “last days”; that maybe Jesus was not really going to come again to earth, then, at last, the tide began to turn; things started happening world-wide.
And I’m not ‘gonna’ lie–I started to get real excited.
But, like I said before, I’m excited not for the sorrows; I’m very excited to meet face to face with our Lord!
Jesus came to earth and took on a human body and then allowed his blood to be sacrificed for mankind so that now we can look to Him, Jesus Christ for salvation. Thus it is He is our “Savior”. Only through Him can we be saved from the poison that is in our lives, called “sin”. The wages of sin is death. Without a savior to save us, our fate is to die because of our sin. But if we trust in the merits of Jesus Christ, and thus we look upon Him in faith, just like the Israelites, who looked upon the symbol of their salvation from mortal death, we can be saved from eternal death.