January 7th 2024
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.
John 3:16-18 (NIV)
"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 he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
Our celebration of Christmas has now ended, and we are now resolving to do better in this coming new year. At least some reading this may have made a New Year’s resolution(s)! It is good to look at this new beginning as we start a new year at least on our calendars. However, it is important to realize that everything we will ever do is done in a today! You cannot go back in time and get a redo on mistakes we made then. It is also important for us to plan our future, but again, remembering that all our accomplishments will be realized in a today, or series of todays for tasks taking more than one day to complete!
As we start this new year it is important to reflect on this CHRIST-mas true story, which should cause us to rejoice and celebrate, as in the selected verses, John wrote God’s message to mankind about why He sent His Son into this cursed world. As it was out of God’s love for mankind that a Savior was sent, "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.” Since all human beings are born with a sinful nature, it is impossible for any of us to be able to gain a heavenly reward for good deeds we may do in our mortal lifetime.
When you come to believe that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, this belief alone is what is required for you to obtain salvation as a gift from God! Therefore, all people who believe Jesus is the Savior sent by God into this world will go directly to heaven when they die and their mortal life is over, they are awarded heaven as a free gift from God! There is only one God and only one Son of God, and this describes the one salvation plan available to every human being. Becoming a follower of some human being or believing in a god or some gods will not result in anyone being awarded heaven for their soul to reside when they die!
It seems that we see more people who do not perceive a benefit to attending a church of their choice, and it makes me wonder how long it will be before God stops to bless this once great country. I have been taught that there are demons, once angels, which were cast from heaven to this earth. These demons may be able to influence the thinking of anyone who is not a true follower of Jesus Christ! Paul wrote his observation of this in his lifetime. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4). I believe the number of followers of Satan is increasing as more people leave the Christian faith.
When Jesus was leaving this earth as the Son of Man, He left behind the Holy Spirit, who would teach the people who chose to follow Jesus what He believed. Jesus said, But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:26). Only believers are helped by this Holy Spirit. James wrote about the effect of this Spirit has on believers., and then James notes that unless you believe this Spirit is conversing with you, you may be ignoring the instructions. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. (James 1:22-24).
In Jesus early ministry He went about and healed all who were ailing, and He never mentioned that a person being healed because of their faith in Him. Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them. (Matthew 4:23-24).
Later when Jesus returned to His homeland and there arose doubt as to whether Jesus was the Messiah or not. These people had seen Jesus grow up as one of their neighbors. Many of these people doubted that this Jesus was really the Messiah. Jesus said to them, "Only in his home town, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. (Mark 6:4-5).
Once there was a boy who Jesus healed, after His disciples tried to heal this boy but failed. Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn’t we drive it out?" He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:19-20). Reading this makes me wonder what power we may have if our faith is truly strong!
As we all start a new year, we may have the power to do some wonderful things through the power Jesus is willing to bestow on His followers. From the Star Wars movies, we heard Yoda telling Luke to absorb power from some power source, and Yoda said, “May the force be with you!” As true followers of Jesus Christ we can tap into the power that is supplied through this Holy Spirit and amount of this power is limited only by the weakness of your faith. You may be the closest resemblance of Jesus Christ that some people may ever see in this cursed world.
Recently I have been struggling with some health issues and have thus not been feeling very creative. I just received the second negative result from my COVID testing. So, my hope is that I will write a new edition of the VOW each week!
I want to wish you and those you love a belated,
Happy New Year!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
John 3:16-18 (NIV)
"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 he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
Our celebration of Christmas has now ended, and we are now resolving to do better in this coming new year. At least some reading this may have made a New Year’s resolution(s)! It is good to look at this new beginning as we start a new year at least on our calendars. However, it is important to realize that everything we will ever do is done in a today! You cannot go back in time and get a redo on mistakes we made then. It is also important for us to plan our future, but again, remembering that all our accomplishments will be realized in a today, or series of todays for tasks taking more than one day to complete!
As we start this new year it is important to reflect on this CHRIST-mas true story, which should cause us to rejoice and celebrate, as in the selected verses, John wrote God’s message to mankind about why He sent His Son into this cursed world. As it was out of God’s love for mankind that a Savior was sent, "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.” Since all human beings are born with a sinful nature, it is impossible for any of us to be able to gain a heavenly reward for good deeds we may do in our mortal lifetime.
When you come to believe that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, this belief alone is what is required for you to obtain salvation as a gift from God! Therefore, all people who believe Jesus is the Savior sent by God into this world will go directly to heaven when they die and their mortal life is over, they are awarded heaven as a free gift from God! There is only one God and only one Son of God, and this describes the one salvation plan available to every human being. Becoming a follower of some human being or believing in a god or some gods will not result in anyone being awarded heaven for their soul to reside when they die!
It seems that we see more people who do not perceive a benefit to attending a church of their choice, and it makes me wonder how long it will be before God stops to bless this once great country. I have been taught that there are demons, once angels, which were cast from heaven to this earth. These demons may be able to influence the thinking of anyone who is not a true follower of Jesus Christ! Paul wrote his observation of this in his lifetime. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4). I believe the number of followers of Satan is increasing as more people leave the Christian faith.
When Jesus was leaving this earth as the Son of Man, He left behind the Holy Spirit, who would teach the people who chose to follow Jesus what He believed. Jesus said, But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:26). Only believers are helped by this Holy Spirit. James wrote about the effect of this Spirit has on believers., and then James notes that unless you believe this Spirit is conversing with you, you may be ignoring the instructions. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. (James 1:22-24).
In Jesus early ministry He went about and healed all who were ailing, and He never mentioned that a person being healed because of their faith in Him. Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them. (Matthew 4:23-24).
Later when Jesus returned to His homeland and there arose doubt as to whether Jesus was the Messiah or not. These people had seen Jesus grow up as one of their neighbors. Many of these people doubted that this Jesus was really the Messiah. Jesus said to them, "Only in his home town, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. (Mark 6:4-5).
Once there was a boy who Jesus healed, after His disciples tried to heal this boy but failed. Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn’t we drive it out?" He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:19-20). Reading this makes me wonder what power we may have if our faith is truly strong!
As we all start a new year, we may have the power to do some wonderful things through the power Jesus is willing to bestow on His followers. From the Star Wars movies, we heard Yoda telling Luke to absorb power from some power source, and Yoda said, “May the force be with you!” As true followers of Jesus Christ we can tap into the power that is supplied through this Holy Spirit and amount of this power is limited only by the weakness of your faith. You may be the closest resemblance of Jesus Christ that some people may ever see in this cursed world.
Recently I have been struggling with some health issues and have thus not been feeling very creative. I just received the second negative result from my COVID testing. So, my hope is that I will write a new edition of the VOW each week!
I want to wish you and those you love a belated,
Happy New Year!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
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