November 12th 2017
Can You Tell Someone, Who May Not Be A Believer, How Having Jesus In Your Life Allows You To Be Thankful?
Romans 14:10-12 (NIV)
You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written: "‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘Every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.’" So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Are you ready for your interview with God? Are you looking forward to being able to stand before God, and present your case for inclusion into heaven? Please remember that Jesus will accompany you, and Jesus will present you as His brother to His/our Father in heaven! Your application will be accepted, ONLY if you are accompanied by Jesus. Jesus will only come to take you to the Father, IF you accepted Jesus gift of grace. “So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.” Jesus told His disciples that He was going ahead to prepare a place for them, so that when they pass from this realm to the next, He would have prepared a place for them, and He was coming back to take them (us) with Him to that place in heaven. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. (John 14:2-3)
So, we can be confident of what will happen when we die to this life, but how are we blessed during this lifetime? The writer of Hebrews gives us a hint about it. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" (Hebrews 13:5-6). When Jesus was teaching His disciples how to pray, He only made a minimal request of the Father about one of the necessities of life food, when He said, “Give us each day our daily bread.” (Luke 11:3). Matthew wrote it as, “Give us today our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11). Luke was thinking of a continuing supply of food, and Matthew was thinking of each day possibly being your last day of this lifetime. Remember no one is guaranteed tomorrow! Actually, the request is the same of asking for food each day, or for the minimum requirement for life.
Each of us has within us an evil or sin nature, which causes us to view evil sometimes as good, and thus, sinning has a positive appeal. Jesus told His disciples about a Holy Spirit that is available to them (us), if we just ask for it. If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:13). We have had represented to us a picture of a good angel on one shoulder and an evil angel on the other. To me this represents the conundrum in the life of believers. This Holy Spirit is only available to followers of Jesus Christ, and is the good angel, and Satan is of course the bad angel! So, without Christ there is no good angel available! As we move toward the thanksgiving season, be sure and ask God for this buffer against a lifestyle that contains hate.
Peter wrote that we have “everything we need for life and godliness!” Do you feel protected from giving in to evil desires? His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (2Peter 1:3-4). Do you have your escape mechanism in place, so you can identify the evil desires and avoid them? As believer’s we can “escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” My assumption here is that, if you are reading this, you are a believer! If you are not sure, ask Jesus to give you the Holy Spirit, so you too have a good angel on your right shoulder!
In the Old Testament God promised His followers success in being able to take over The Promised Land from those who held it. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. (Deuteronomy 31:6). God promised to be with the chosen people as they tried to follow His commands, so they could possess their land, which He promised to Abraham many years before. We know that they were successful and for a long time they flourished in that great land. However, they seem to forget that God gave them this great land, and they turned away from God. When this occurred, and they no longer were thankful to God for this great gift, they lost it and were taken over by other nations.
It seems to me that the USA is facing a similar situation as we as a nation are turning against God, as we are taking Him out of all our schools and government holdings. Many people believe this is the right path, as they wish to remove all religion from our public schools and public areas. Is this attitude going to prevail and cause God to step away from this once great country? Many believe this is the educated attitude, and is an intelligent and wise movement. Jesus earthly brother, James wrote the following. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. (James 3:14-15). It seems our country is falling away more from God every day, and our society is becoming more aggressive it it’s desire to remove Christianity from any position of power in the country!
Paul was helping Timothy to become a follower of Jesus and a pastor to God’s people in the early church. Paul mentioned that Timothy should not back down because he was still a young man, and he could still be a great example to other people. Today, we need to become brave and tell others about what we believe, and why we believe it! Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. (1 Timothy 4:12, NLT). As Paul told Timothy, we must “Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.”
Can you tell someone, who may not be a believer, how having Jesus in your life allows you to be thankful, as we begin to enter this season of thanksgiving?
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
Romans 14:10-12 (NIV)
You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written: "‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘Every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.’" So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Are you ready for your interview with God? Are you looking forward to being able to stand before God, and present your case for inclusion into heaven? Please remember that Jesus will accompany you, and Jesus will present you as His brother to His/our Father in heaven! Your application will be accepted, ONLY if you are accompanied by Jesus. Jesus will only come to take you to the Father, IF you accepted Jesus gift of grace. “So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.” Jesus told His disciples that He was going ahead to prepare a place for them, so that when they pass from this realm to the next, He would have prepared a place for them, and He was coming back to take them (us) with Him to that place in heaven. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. (John 14:2-3)
So, we can be confident of what will happen when we die to this life, but how are we blessed during this lifetime? The writer of Hebrews gives us a hint about it. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" (Hebrews 13:5-6). When Jesus was teaching His disciples how to pray, He only made a minimal request of the Father about one of the necessities of life food, when He said, “Give us each day our daily bread.” (Luke 11:3). Matthew wrote it as, “Give us today our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11). Luke was thinking of a continuing supply of food, and Matthew was thinking of each day possibly being your last day of this lifetime. Remember no one is guaranteed tomorrow! Actually, the request is the same of asking for food each day, or for the minimum requirement for life.
Each of us has within us an evil or sin nature, which causes us to view evil sometimes as good, and thus, sinning has a positive appeal. Jesus told His disciples about a Holy Spirit that is available to them (us), if we just ask for it. If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:13). We have had represented to us a picture of a good angel on one shoulder and an evil angel on the other. To me this represents the conundrum in the life of believers. This Holy Spirit is only available to followers of Jesus Christ, and is the good angel, and Satan is of course the bad angel! So, without Christ there is no good angel available! As we move toward the thanksgiving season, be sure and ask God for this buffer against a lifestyle that contains hate.
Peter wrote that we have “everything we need for life and godliness!” Do you feel protected from giving in to evil desires? His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (2Peter 1:3-4). Do you have your escape mechanism in place, so you can identify the evil desires and avoid them? As believer’s we can “escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” My assumption here is that, if you are reading this, you are a believer! If you are not sure, ask Jesus to give you the Holy Spirit, so you too have a good angel on your right shoulder!
In the Old Testament God promised His followers success in being able to take over The Promised Land from those who held it. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. (Deuteronomy 31:6). God promised to be with the chosen people as they tried to follow His commands, so they could possess their land, which He promised to Abraham many years before. We know that they were successful and for a long time they flourished in that great land. However, they seem to forget that God gave them this great land, and they turned away from God. When this occurred, and they no longer were thankful to God for this great gift, they lost it and were taken over by other nations.
It seems to me that the USA is facing a similar situation as we as a nation are turning against God, as we are taking Him out of all our schools and government holdings. Many people believe this is the right path, as they wish to remove all religion from our public schools and public areas. Is this attitude going to prevail and cause God to step away from this once great country? Many believe this is the educated attitude, and is an intelligent and wise movement. Jesus earthly brother, James wrote the following. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. (James 3:14-15). It seems our country is falling away more from God every day, and our society is becoming more aggressive it it’s desire to remove Christianity from any position of power in the country!
Paul was helping Timothy to become a follower of Jesus and a pastor to God’s people in the early church. Paul mentioned that Timothy should not back down because he was still a young man, and he could still be a great example to other people. Today, we need to become brave and tell others about what we believe, and why we believe it! Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. (1 Timothy 4:12, NLT). As Paul told Timothy, we must “Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.”
Can you tell someone, who may not be a believer, how having Jesus in your life allows you to be thankful, as we begin to enter this season of thanksgiving?
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
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