Confess

  Confess 

In the book of Romans the apostle Paul states,

"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  

For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."  

For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,  for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" Romans 10:9-13.

Is this you? Do you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in you heart God raised him from the dead? Do you trust Jesus?

We who live in the twenty-first century have never seen Jesus in the flesh, nor seen his Myricales. For us it’s a purely faith thing. We either believe or we don’t.

In the book of Hebrews we read,

 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.... 

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:1,6.

So where is your faith?

Please think about it.

Small is the gate

 Small is the gate

Jesus said,

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  

But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Matthew 7:13,14.

There are many people in the world that say they know the way to heaven. That being said which is the right way?

In the book of Proverbs we read,

"There is a way that seems right to a man

 but in the end it leads to death proverbs"

                                                                  Proverbs 14:12.

Jesus replying to his apostle Thomas said,

“Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  John 14:6

This is a bold claim. A claim everyone who hears the gospel message must decide for themselves is right or wrong.

What do you believe?

Please think about it.

Heir of all things

 Heir of all things

In the book of Hebrews we read,

“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son,(Jesus) whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.  

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews 1:1-3.

Here the writer of Hebrews makes it clear that Jesus is “the radiance of God the exact representation of his being,...”

In the Gospel of John we read,

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  

He was with God in the beginning. 

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  

In him was life, and that life was the light of men....

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. " John 1:1-4,14.

As I have mentioned in previous blogs, the apostles and those close to Jesus had no doubt that Jesus was the Son of God, God incarnate.

Thus the question becomes do you believe this?

Please think about it.

Jesus is

  Jesus is

In John’s Gospel we read,

"Jesus said to her, (martha)"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;  and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

"Yes Lord" she told Him, "I believe you are the Christ the Son of God, who was to come into the world," John 11:25,26,27.

In Matthews Gospel we read,

"When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" 

They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 

"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" 

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Matthew 16:13-16

In the book of Acts we read Peter saying,

"Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." 

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" 

Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  

The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call." Acts 2:36-39.

So who is Jesus? Those close to him Martha, Peter and the other apostles believed him to be the Christ, the Messiah.

The apostle Paul tells us why Jesus came to this earth. In Romans he writes, 

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:6-8.

Do you believe Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, who died for your sins?

Please think about it.

Jesus the Christ

 Jesus the Christ

In the gospel of Matthew we read,

“Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, "Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?"  

But Jesus remained silent. The high priest said to him, "I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." 

"Yes, it is as you say,"Jesus replied. "But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."

Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy.  

What do you think?" "He is worthy of death,"” they answered. Matthew 26:62-66.

Jesus knew what the penalty for claiming to be the Christ, the Messiah, was. Yet he never denied that he was the messiah, God incarnate. 

I like what C. S. Lewis said of Jesus,

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. 

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. 

You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.

So who do you think Jesus is, a lunatic, a great moral teacher, or the Son of God, The saviour of all who would believe in Him?

Please think about it.

A duty to our Children

  A duty to our children

In the book or Proverbs we read,

“Train a child in the way he should go, 

and when he is old he will not turn from it.” 

                                                                        Proverbs 22:6.

In the Talmud we read,

“Whoever teaches his son teaches not only his son 

       but also his son's son, and so on to the end of generations.” 

                                                                                      The Talmud

I believe God has given every parent a duty to show our children the way they should go in life. I found this quote by Joshua Loth Liebman that to me expresses our duty to our children. It reads,

"Give your children unconditional love, a love that is not dependent on report cards, clean hands, or popularity.  

Give your children a sense of your whole-hearted acceptance, acceptance of their human frailties as well as their abilities and virtues. 

Give your children your permission to grow up to make their own lives independent of you.  

Give them a sense of truth; make them aware of themselves as citizens of a universe in which there are many obstacles as well as fulfilments.  

Bestow upon your child the blessings of your faith.  

These are the laws of honouring your son and your daughter.  

Out of these laws will be built the Declaration of Independence for the coming generation, a spiritual and emotional independence that, in turn, will make the world free, democratic, safe, creative".  Joshua Loth Liebman.

If you have children are you doing this?

Please think about it.

Above all put on Love

  Above all put on love

In the book of Colossians we read,

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  

"Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  

And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." Colossians 3:12-14.

As Christians we are asked to clothe ourselves with...

Kindness

Humility,

Gentleness

Patience.

We are to forgive whatever grievances we my have against one another.

We are to forgive as the Lord forgave us.

And above all we are to put on love.

When you look at your life or when others look at your life do you and they see these attributes in your life.