February 2nd 2020
What Is Your Life? You Are A Mist That Appears For A Little While And Then Vanishes.
Genesis 1:1 and Revelation 22:21 (NIV)
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. - The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.
Mortality through grace becomes immortality all contained between these two verses. The dash first represents the entire Biblical accounts all contained in this one book. Then this dash represents your lifetime. Creation then immortality through grace! Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of this world, IF you accept His offer? Have you accepted this offer of Grace? If not, or if you are not sure, do not delay, because no one is promised tomorrow in this mortal life part of our immortal existence! Do not wait until tomorrow, because tomorrow may not be a reality for you! James the half-brother of Jesus wrote about this brief time we call a lifetime. Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. (James 4:14). Death in this cursed world is not a form of punishment, it is the reward given by God to release your immortal soul to leave this cursed world and go to heaven to be with Jesus! BUT you must first accept Jesus offer of salvation, or your immortal soul will spend eternity in the torment of hell.
We all suffered a loss of sorts this week as a seemingly good man died in an accident. This man of great fame and great earthly wealth died suddenly, without any advance warning, as far as we know! This of course is not uncommon, as people die every day, many of them die accidentally in some unplanned situation! It just reinforces the need to not put off accepting the grace offered by Jesus Christ to all of mankind. Jesus Christ tried to tell all mankind that He is the Son of God, which makes His also be part of the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Ghost! We cannot know if this good man had accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Unfortunately, being good by earthly standards will not earn any of us an award of heaven, when we die! It is very important that we all accept the fact that Jesus was a man and was also God, so that we will be awarded heaven when we die. John wrote one of the times Jesus claimed to be the “I am!” "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" (John 8:58). Notice that in this paragraph, the word for going to heaven is termed an award, as it is not something we can earn, it is only given through Grace!
It is true we are rewarded by Jesus for following Him during this lifetime, but salvation is still an award given to Jesus’ followers when we die. That reward is given immediately when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, it is sometimes called being born again, and it changes the emphasis we place on our everyday life! Do you believe it, do you feel it? Paul has told us to not be proud or boastful about our salvation, because we did nothing to deserve it. We are still sinners who have accepted Jesus’ offer of salvation. Peter wrote about the danger of being proud of our sinful lifestyles, because it does not please God. Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility towards one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:5-7). Read what Peter wrote about becoming proud of your sinful lifestyles. "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Grace awaits the humble!
Paul wrote about his struggle with what he called “a thorn in my flesh.” To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). Remember that Paul was persecuting the early followers of Jesus Christ. Paul stood by and saw some martyred because of their faith that Jesus was the promised Messiah! Then Jesus came to Paul on the road to Damascus, and blinded Paul for three days. Then, Jesus revealed who He is to Paul, and Paul’s life was immediately greatly improved, as Paul was born again. Therefore, Paul had a lot to be proud of because of these great revelations from Jesus.
On another road, the road to Emmaus, Jesus joined with two people walking and they did not recognize Him, as He had recently died on a cross. They had heard some stories from His other followers about them finding the tomb empty, and then, some even said they had seen Him, and He was alive again. This is how that conversation went. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see." He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he (Jesus) explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (Luke 24:22-27).
It is important to recognize that Jesus knew the Scriptures of that time, and He believed them to be true. Jesus often quoted from the Scriptures to verify that He is the Savior of this world, and that He is the Son of the Godhead. In the above incident Jesus used the Scriptures to let them know who He is. As it says, “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he (Jesus) explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” Do you believe what Jesus believed that both the Old and New Testament Scriptures are in fact, God’s Word, and thus can be believed as the absolute truth? This is the only available absolute truth on this earth, every other book was written by sinful members of mankind. Do not take man’s ideas as being more accurate than God’s Word. This week tell someone, how having Jesus in your life has caused you to be born again, which has made this lifetime better. Jesus is their only hope to such happiness!
Next week I plan to write more about being born again, stay tuned!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
Genesis 1:1 and Revelation 22:21 (NIV)
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. - The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.
Mortality through grace becomes immortality all contained between these two verses. The dash first represents the entire Biblical accounts all contained in this one book. Then this dash represents your lifetime. Creation then immortality through grace! Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of this world, IF you accept His offer? Have you accepted this offer of Grace? If not, or if you are not sure, do not delay, because no one is promised tomorrow in this mortal life part of our immortal existence! Do not wait until tomorrow, because tomorrow may not be a reality for you! James the half-brother of Jesus wrote about this brief time we call a lifetime. Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. (James 4:14). Death in this cursed world is not a form of punishment, it is the reward given by God to release your immortal soul to leave this cursed world and go to heaven to be with Jesus! BUT you must first accept Jesus offer of salvation, or your immortal soul will spend eternity in the torment of hell.
We all suffered a loss of sorts this week as a seemingly good man died in an accident. This man of great fame and great earthly wealth died suddenly, without any advance warning, as far as we know! This of course is not uncommon, as people die every day, many of them die accidentally in some unplanned situation! It just reinforces the need to not put off accepting the grace offered by Jesus Christ to all of mankind. Jesus Christ tried to tell all mankind that He is the Son of God, which makes His also be part of the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Ghost! We cannot know if this good man had accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Unfortunately, being good by earthly standards will not earn any of us an award of heaven, when we die! It is very important that we all accept the fact that Jesus was a man and was also God, so that we will be awarded heaven when we die. John wrote one of the times Jesus claimed to be the “I am!” "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" (John 8:58). Notice that in this paragraph, the word for going to heaven is termed an award, as it is not something we can earn, it is only given through Grace!
It is true we are rewarded by Jesus for following Him during this lifetime, but salvation is still an award given to Jesus’ followers when we die. That reward is given immediately when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, it is sometimes called being born again, and it changes the emphasis we place on our everyday life! Do you believe it, do you feel it? Paul has told us to not be proud or boastful about our salvation, because we did nothing to deserve it. We are still sinners who have accepted Jesus’ offer of salvation. Peter wrote about the danger of being proud of our sinful lifestyles, because it does not please God. Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility towards one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:5-7). Read what Peter wrote about becoming proud of your sinful lifestyles. "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Grace awaits the humble!
Paul wrote about his struggle with what he called “a thorn in my flesh.” To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). Remember that Paul was persecuting the early followers of Jesus Christ. Paul stood by and saw some martyred because of their faith that Jesus was the promised Messiah! Then Jesus came to Paul on the road to Damascus, and blinded Paul for three days. Then, Jesus revealed who He is to Paul, and Paul’s life was immediately greatly improved, as Paul was born again. Therefore, Paul had a lot to be proud of because of these great revelations from Jesus.
On another road, the road to Emmaus, Jesus joined with two people walking and they did not recognize Him, as He had recently died on a cross. They had heard some stories from His other followers about them finding the tomb empty, and then, some even said they had seen Him, and He was alive again. This is how that conversation went. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see." He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he (Jesus) explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (Luke 24:22-27).
It is important to recognize that Jesus knew the Scriptures of that time, and He believed them to be true. Jesus often quoted from the Scriptures to verify that He is the Savior of this world, and that He is the Son of the Godhead. In the above incident Jesus used the Scriptures to let them know who He is. As it says, “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he (Jesus) explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” Do you believe what Jesus believed that both the Old and New Testament Scriptures are in fact, God’s Word, and thus can be believed as the absolute truth? This is the only available absolute truth on this earth, every other book was written by sinful members of mankind. Do not take man’s ideas as being more accurate than God’s Word. This week tell someone, how having Jesus in your life has caused you to be born again, which has made this lifetime better. Jesus is their only hope to such happiness!
Next week I plan to write more about being born again, stay tuned!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
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