Gospel- not in word only, also in power

1Th 1:5  For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.
1Th 1:6  And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost

Not in word only- but also in power- the GOSPEL.
In the Holy Ghost- the GOSPEL.
In much Assurance- the GOSPEL.

Followers of the LORD.

Receiving the word in MUCH affliction- WITH JOY of the HOLY GHOST.

Not in word only- not just hearing words without meaning. We all know what it's like to listen to words that have no meaning to us- we call that generally being bored by the speaker and letting things go in one ear and out the other.  We call it listening but it having no real impact upon us. We call it every day life as we deal with things that have no real substance. How many conversations have you had in the last week that are memorable to you? How many conversations had an impact on you and your life? When you read the word of God last - did it leave an imprint upon you or were they simply words to be read, understood perhaps, yet lacking real staying … POWER.   We need the gospel in POWER, not just in word.  The HOLY GHOST gives the power to the gospel.  The SPIRIT and the TRUTH.

Joh 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

Joh 14:17  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you

Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

Eph 5:9  (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)

2Th 2:13  But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth

1Jn 4:6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

1Jn 5:6  This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.

The SPIRIT and the TRUTH- hearing the gospel in POWER not just in word.

Luk 4:14  And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.

Luk 4:32  And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.

Luk 24:45  Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
Luk 24:46  And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
Luk 24:47  And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Luk 24:48  And ye are witnesses of these things.
Luk 24:49  And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

Act 1:8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Act 4:33  And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.

Act 10:38  How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

Act 26:15  And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.
Act 26:16  But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;
Act 26:17  Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,
Act 26:18  To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

Rom 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

God's word! God's HOLY WORD! God's TRUTH. GOD'S POWER! May we also preach not just in word but in power- the power of the Holy Spirit.  Help us Lord to understand it is YOUR POWER alone that SAVES. That YOUR TRUTH HAS POWER.

All in YOUR LOVE!

Laboring fervently- in prayers

Col 4:12  Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

Labouring fervently for you in prayers-  that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

Laboring FERVENTLY in PRAYERS!

Do we really think of praying as something laborious?

Have you prayed laboriously lately?

Have you labored fervently in your prayers? 

Seriously- laboring , when we think of laboring we generally do not think of praying. We think of working, we think of something hard not something easy. Yet when we pray do we consider it something laborious, something agonizing?

G75 labor fervently-

- to contend with adversaries, fight
-to contend, struggle, with difficulties and dangers
- to endeavour with strenuous zeal, strive: to obtain something

- to struggle literally (to compete for a prize) figuratively (to contend with an adversary) or generally (to endeavor to accomplish something): - fight labor fervently strive.

Read those words, do they make it sound as if laboring fervently in prayer is something done lightly?

Yet we pray so much, so often and never as if it were hard work.

We are told to pray continuously, to pray always, to pray and watch- maybe we need to rethink things just a little tiny bit.  Maybe prayer isn't simply speaking to God as a friend. Maybe it isn't simple at all. I'm not saying that we have to make praying hard, but I'm saying we need to give it more REAL thought. When we talk of praying for someone maybe we need to ask ourselves if we are praying fervently- laboriously for them or are our prayers lukewarm tokens, mere good hopes and thoughts. 

Good hopes and good thoughts for someone aren't bad things at all, and if that's what a person is inclined towards doing it's not wrong. We aren't all led by the Spirit in the same way. Remember some are called to be teachers, others preachers, other evangelists, we all are called to pray.  But perhaps some are called to be more fervent prayer warriors - so to speak, I don't know, I don't have all the answers of course but we are told to study and in studying we are learning- all by the GRACE of God.

When I read this verse-

Col 4:12  Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

- it just really hit me  - that laboring fervently in prayers- because I'm not sure if I pray that way and maybe I really, really need to. It's not that I don't pray - I do all the time, but to call it 'laboring fervently' well I'm not sure I do that all that often. I know I have but I think I need to do it more.

We are to be praying for others, praying that they may STAND PERFECT and COMPLETE in ALL the WILL of GOD!

All in Christ's righteousness! All in Christ's LOVE! We have to pray this way for each other because we will have to stand perfect and complete all in the will of God- it's the only way we should stand- fully in HIM, always in HIM.

All too often we get busy praying for the various things people desire but isn't the greatest prayer for another truly praying for them to stand perfect and complete in all the will of God?  Seriously. If this life is a temporary life- temporary to eternity- then praying for someone to STAND PERFECT and COMPLETE in ALL the WILL of God- is more important than anything else. What good is it to pray for a person to 'get well' if you are only truly praying for them to get well without concerning yourself with their eternal life? Do you really only want them to get well for this life? No, I'm not saying we shouldn't pray for people to get well but let us also pray for them to be Christ's and all that means.  Let us pray for God's will to be done and we KNOW it's God's will for us to be His in Christ. Above all- HIS WILL is most important and that we live according to HIS will not our own.

Please Lord, please help us to be YOURS fully. Teach us to pray laboring fervently in prayer for others to YOURS, for us to be YOURS fully, always!

Guide us with the HOLY SPIRIT, help us to stand perfect and complete in ALL Your Will!

All in YOU!

All by YOUR LOVE!

Walk in wisdom

Col 4:5  Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.

People say they want to know what God wants of those who love Him and when they are told the excuses begin as to why they just can't do it.

We are to WALK in WISDOM.

What wisdom?  God's wisdom.

1Co 1:24 ... Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

We are NOT to walk in man's wisdom.

1Co 1:17  For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
1Co 1:18  For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
1Co 1:19  For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
1Co 1:20  Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
1Co 1:21  For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
1Co 1:22  For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
1Co 1:23  But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
1Co 1:24  But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
1Co 1:25  Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
1Co 1:26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1Co 1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1Co 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.
1Co 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1Co 1:31  That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

We are OF HIM. We are IN Christ Jesus- WHO of God IS MADE unto us WISDOM and RIGHTEOUSNESS, and SANCTIFICATION, and REDEMPTION.

Col 4:5  Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.

We are to WALK in CHRIST which is WISDOM towards those who are NOT walking in Christ and this is how we are to redeem our time.  We must LIVE in Christ- visibly.

Col 4:5  Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.
Col 4:6  Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

We must TALK ALWAYS with grace- SEASONED with SALT- that we might KNOW HOW we ought to answer every man.

What does it mean to always talk with grace SEASONED with salt?

What is the purpose of salt as a season? To give something the proper flavor, right? If you have too little salt your meal can be tasteless, or if you add too much it can be awful. You have to add just the right amount of salt to a meal to make things taste good.  Now don’t start that whole salt is bad for you stuff, that's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about proper diet without all our modern day abuse of salt in food which has led to so many problems.

When we discuss  talking always with grace- seasoned with salt we mean that we are to talk of our Savior's loving grace appropriately.  What do I mean by appropriately? I mean speaking as the SPIRIT leads us to speak and NOT speaking as we would. Some people believe to spread the gospel, to preach Christ and His amazing salvation that they have to be forceful, they have to speak it even if someone doesn't want to listen. Knowing when to speak is as important as knowing when not to speak. Having our speech seasoned with salt as we talk of Christ will allow us to KNOW how we are to answer every single person we talk with. We aren't to assume that we are to talk to everyone in the exact same way. Every one is an individual and some people can only handle the milk and not the meat, and only the Holy Spirit can show us how we are to talk.

We need to pray-

Col 4:5  Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.
Col 4:6  Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

We need to pray that we can walk in wisdom, speaking with grace always, seasoned with salt so that we might KNOW how to answer every man.

No, not all are called to be teachers, preachers, evangelists, but we are all called to LIVE Christ, to live for Him, in Him, by Him and in doing so our lives touch others and when they touch others they will be able to see Christ in US all through the HOLY SPIRIT!

Please Lord, please give us the words we need to speak, don't let us use our own unseasoned words.

All by YOUR grace! YOUR LOVE!

Speak the MYSTERY of CHRIST

Col 4:2  Steadfastly continue in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving,
Col 4:3  praying together about us also, that God may open to us a door of the Word, to speak the mystery of Christ, on account of which I also have been bound,
Col 4:4  that I may make it clear, as I ought to speak.

Praying - that God may open to us a door of the Word.

A door of the Word.

Open a door.

What happens when you open a door? Why do people usually open doors?  When you open a door you to so in order to go into another place. When you open a door you want to get from one place to another. You want to open that door perhaps leading you outside from being inside. Or you want to go inside when you're out. Perhaps you're going from one room to another. Doors lead to places whether into something or out of something.  When you want a door to open for you, you want it to open so you can get inside.  Perhaps there is something inside you desire, usually there is, right? Even if you go inside to relax, or get something to eat, or sleep, perhaps go to work, or to be entertained. There are numerous reasons a person goes through the doors they do, but always there is a reason. 

When we want the door to the Word to be opened we are asking for understanding, aren't we?

We are asking, we are asking in prayer, for God the Father to open the door of our understanding to HIS word. We are asking for this so that we may SPEAK of the MYSTERY of Christ, of that Word.  We need to speak of the mystery to others that wondrous mystery of Christ- salvation found in Him and Him alone!

Rom 16:25  Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the MYSTERY, which was kept secret since the world began

Eph 3:9  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the MYSTERY, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Eph 3:11  According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
Eph 3:12  In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

Eph 6:19  And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the MYSTERY of the gospel

Eph 1:6  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Eph 1:7  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Eph 1:8  Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Eph 1:9  Having made known unto us the MYSTERY of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Col 4:2  Steadfastly continue in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving,
Col 4:3  praying together about us also, that God may open to us a door of the Word, to speak the mystery of Christ, on account of which I also have been bound,
Col 4:4  that I may make it clear, as I ought to speak.

We have to pray that we may be able to speak of this wondrous MYSTERY of CHRIST- that we may speak it CLEARLY as He intends that we should through HIS power, through HIS SPIRIT.

Praying continuously- in constant communication with our Lord and Savior- in constant contact with Him so that He may work through US. That door has to be opened and He will open it, He will speak through US all to HIS glory and HIS glory alone!

All praise, all honor, all glory to our God and King, our SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST!

Amen!
 

Continue in prayer

Col 4:2  Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving

Continue in prayer.
Watch in prayer.
Pray with thanksgiving.

Prayer- communicating with God.

We pray through faith, believing our God hears us, believing He listens to us, believing He answers us. We don't pray to idols of stone, wood, plastic, rubber, glass, paper, etc.  We pray to a living God. We could carve a million idols from all those things mentioned and none of them would have life in them, not a single one. We could label another human being as god, yet they would still be a created being, a human- not God- not Spirit. We could say the elements are gods but that'd be wrong, they too are created things. Our God, the TRUE God is NOT a created being.  Our TRUE God is a SPIRIT being.

Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

God is an entity beyond our full comprehension.

When we pray we are addressing our CREATOR, our REDEEMER, our GOD- God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit who AGREE in one agreement.

When we say we will pray for someone, or some situation we are telling others that we are going to seek divine intervention on their behalf. We are going to use the faith we've been given by God to seek Him and communicate with Him. We do this and we believe that our prayers are truly being heard, not being spoken (even silently) to someone that doesn't exist.

We are to CONTINUE in prayer. 

To be God's- we have to remain in CONSTANT contact with Him. Jesus taught us that, didn't He?  He was in constant contact with the Father God throughout His entire life on earth- up until the cross when He felt the separation that sin causes between God and man.  Remember His agonizing words?

Mat 27:46  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

His Father did NOT forsake Him- but that separation caused by taking on the sin of the world made it seem as if He had. Sin separates us from God, only forgiveness, only repentance, only atonement by our Savior brings us back in contact with God.  It was God whose power caused Jesus to rise from the dead and brought Him back to life. God did NOT forsake His Son, if He had then He would never have been brought back to life.

For someone who lived in constant contact with God the Father that separation was horrific. Jesus prayed constantly - the lines of communication were completely opened between them day and night.

Is it any wonder our Savior told us through His apostle to CONTINUE in prayer, to WATCH in prayer, and to pray with THANKSGIVING?

He's telling us to keep in CONSTANT contact with God the FATHER.

When you only pray once a week just how close to God do you really think you are? Truthfully, how close? How close are to someone you never talk to? You might have ties that bind you but to really know someone and have them know you - you have to talk with them, you have to interact with them. I have a brother who lives in New York and I've probably spoken to him five times if that in the last ten years. It's not that we don't like each other we're just not buddy, buddy. I love my brother and I say that truthfully, but do I know him? Do I know the things he likes and dislikes? Not really. I know him but I don't know him, and a lot of people know God but they don't really know Him.

Now if I spent time with my brother over the course of that time I'd be able to say I know Him. If I spend time with God, I would know God, as much as we are possibly able to know Him.

We can't know Him much at all if we aren't in contact with Him through prayer. If we cut Him off as He's trying to communicate with us how do we ever expect to know Him or be known by Him?

No, it's not like a human and human friendship but it's something very, very special and if you do NOT choose to speak with God, to listen to God through His word, then you are missing out on something incredibly beautiful.

Col 4:2  Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving

Continue in prayer-
Watch in prayer-  we have to watch, we have to pray as we watch, and we need to be very, very thankful knowing our God hears us, our God loves us, our God wants us to know Him.

Please Lord, help us.

Through Your love!

We have a Master in heaven

Col 4:1  Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.

We don't like to think in terms of 'masters' and 'servants', puts us in the mind of thinking 'masters' and 'slaves', and who likes to think about that sort of thing? Slavery is something we imagine to be awful in all respects and yet… oddly enough slavery served and serves a purpose still in some places. I'm not talking about slavery of abuse and without consent! What I'm talking about is JUST slavery and by that I mean a person WILLING to be enslaved to serve a purpose  - perhaps to pay off a debt or some such- and that person being enslaved by a just master, not an abusive monster of a master.  Do you imagine there is such a thing, a 'just' master?  We don't like to because we'd rather imagine the horrors of slavery- of which there are many.  Yet, here in the Bible we know there were slaves and masters, and it was accepted, and God wanted the masters to be just to the slaves and the slaves to serve the masters justly as well.

There was also this-- 

Deu 15:12  And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.
Deu 15:13  And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty:
Deu 15:14  Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the LORD thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him.

Sold- you cannot be sold unless you are a slave.  Sold and served six years then in the seven set FREE and given goods liberally. 

Not EVERY thing about slavery is evil, but Satan would have us believe that even the tiniest thought of slavery is evil. Satan want us  to equate our relationship with God as slave serving a master in such a way that it is a derogatory thing, not a good thing. As master and servant- a bad thing for the servant. Satan would have us all believe we should be masters.  Haven't you heard the various sayings about being masters of our own destinies, masters of our own ships,  master of our own fates, etc. We are even told that we don't need to listen to God, we don't need to obey God, but rather we need to be our own masters and do as we please because God is just hiding things from us, God is just keeping us from being so much better- Satan did the telling of all that to Eve in the garden and mankind has desired to be right with God ever since.

Can you even imagine how badly Adam and Eve regretted their decision to listen to Satan?

I mean, we on a significantly lower level of things, get disappointed when we lose a great job, a great house, when we must end our vacation and return to our mundane life. We never had paradise and lost it, not like Adam and Eve. We never had that oneness with God, never. 

Losing paradise is something people don't concern themselves over much with because Satan wants us to believe that there never was a real paradise to lose. Satan doesn't want us believing in His lies, that being a creature in servitude to a Creator/Master is an offensive thing.

Adam and Eve would probably have given just abut anything to get their sinless state back, to live their life in perfect harmony with their Creator, not doubting Him.

Satan wants us to believe that we are losing out when we submit to the authority of God. In fact, Satan has set our world up to believe in the same thing about each other. To be in service to another is to be inferior- this is what the world believes and yet, there is nothing further from the truth.

Luk 22:25  And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors.
Luk 22:26  But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.
Luk 22:27  For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth.

He that is chief- HE THAT DOTH SERVE.

CHRIST was among us as HE THAT SERVETH.

We are servants, every single one of us is a slave to our Master in heaven.

We are servants to each other! We are NOT to strive for mastery over all, mastery above God, mastery above each other.   Yet when we are thrust into the position of being a master over others as is the way of things especially in many positions of authority, we MUST treat those who are serving under us as if we were in their position.

Col 4:1  Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.

We have a Master in heaven and it is to God that we are required to answer for our every action.

We are to LOVE one another as we would be loved, not as we are loved by others, but as we would be in that ideal, perfect world people long for. When we treat others as we WANT to be treated even if they hate us and treat us horrifically, then we are doing God's will, serving our God! 

We must give to others especially if they are subservient to us in any way, we must give unto them that which is JUST and EQUAL, because we WILL answer to our MASTER in heaven for our treatment of others in all the huge ways and in the very tiny, tiny ways.

Please Lord, please HELP us all to do YOUR will, and YOUR will only! All through YOUR love! Please Lord, please bless us and teach us to be YOUR SERVANTS ALWAYS.

Serve the LORD CHRIST

Col 3:23  And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
Col 3:24  Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.
Col 3:25  But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.

Knowing that of the LORD
Ye shall RECEIVE the reward of the INHERITANCE
For ye SERVE THE LORD CHRIST

But he that doeth WRONG
Shall RECEIVE for the wrong which he hath DONE

And there is NO RESPECT of PERSONS

We know, we who choose to serve the LORD in truth, in His love, by His grace, by His mercy, through His righteousness, all by faith- we know that we shall be rewarded with the inheritance of eternal life with HIM.

So many people desire to live forever, or if not live forever here on this earth they desire to live in a much better place- that place commonly known as heaven where nothing is wrong or can go wrong, where all is wonderful, peaceful, loving, and sin free.  The trouble is- most people DO NOT want to live forever in Jesus' love, they want to live forever in their own love.

Lately, more than usual it seems, there have been a number of deaths among my friends and family. Constantly there are memorials put up on the social network- Facebook about how that person is now in heaven, that person is now an angel, that person is happy now and no longer suffering. The only part I agree with is that person is no longer suffering.  Biblically the dead are sleeping, knowing nothing, in the grave at rest. Biblically there are angel beings but humans upon death do not become these angels they are an entirely different entity from us. Biblically the dead are not happy, they know nothing and cannot praise anyone or anything from the grave.  People WANT to believe this of their deceased loved ones because it brings them comfort thinking that death wasn't the end of it all for their loved ones, that somehow they are still alive  and in their lives, in some form we cannot fully comprehend as long as we are living.

These deceptive lies have been woven for thousands of years by Satan and he has perfected his art until the majority of people are caught up in his sticky web of untruths.  You can't really tell these people to stop believing as they do, they don't want to listen, why would they? Their lies bring them comfort and peace.

The truth is,  as mentioned above, most people want to live forever in happiness- but NOT necessarily the happiness that comes through believing in the truth of our SAVIOR'S LOVE. They want their own love to reign and that means living with their own desires, their own longings, their own ways and truths.

Knowing that of the LORD
Ye shall RECEIVE the reward of the INHERITANCE
For ye SERVE THE LORD CHRIST

Serving the LORD CHRIST this, and this alone is the love that will lead us to that eternal reward, to that inheritance only He can offer to us. If we refuse to serve the Lord Christ in love right now here on earth, preferring rather to serve ourselves, what makes us possibly believe that we shall inherit eternal life?

The thing is, all those who are busy serving themselves right now do NOT want to serve the LORD CHRIST. And if they do not want to serve the LORD CHRIST right now, why would they want to serve Him for an eternity? They wouldn't.  Their idea of life eternal and happiness is contrary to the truth of the LORD'S Love.

We must serve the Lord Christ now, in HIS love, through His power, all by faith.

But he that doeth WRONG
Shall RECEIVE for the wrong which he hath DONE

This is truth.

Unforgiven sin is left upon the one committing that sin and each, and every one of those sins will be punished. Truthfully they shall receiving for the wrong they've done. As much as we'd love to believe that every human being- which has their own group of loved ones- will get a free pass into eternity when the Savior returns- the truth remains that only those serving the Lord Christ in sincerity and truth will claim eternity by the sacrifice of our Savior. To serve the Lord Christ is to LOVE HIM FULLY, to live with Him IN US our HOPE of glory!


And there is NO RESPECT of PERSONS

No one is given special treatment. No one is exempt from needing to serve the LORD CHRIST, no one. You might be born into a very religious family and raised religiously but that is no guarantee for eternal life, none. You might be born into pure misery, poor, sick but that too is no guarantee for eternal life. We must serve the LORD CHRIST.  Only HE knows who serves Him in truth, we cannot judge anyone, not a single person! He alone knows the truth.

He allows us the truth in Him and we are each individually accountable for that truth.

May God help us to serve the LORD CHRIST in LOVE, in truth!

Please, Lord, we are fully at Your mercy.

All praise, all glory, all honor, all love to YOU always!