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GETTING TO KNOW JESUS TROUGH HIS WORD
Our Comfort Is In Eternity
John 14:2 'In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.'
This is Jesus' last teaching to His disciples before His crucifixion. Jesus' disciples were about to go through the greatest test of their faith that they had ever encountered. Jesus said that He was saying these things so His disciples would not be offended. Jesus was preparing them for what was to come. Why then speak of preparing them a mansion in heaven? The reason for this was to comfort the disciples and help them put things in perspective. In 1 Thessalonians 4:18, Paul tells us to comfort one another with words about...
JESUS FORGAVE ALL SIN
Turn Back To God
Luke 22:32 'But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.'
The concept of 'conversion' is mentioned in the Holy Scriptures at least 14 times. The basic meaning of the term is a turning or returning to God. This implies a turning away from sin and a turning to God. Repentance and putting faith in God are corresponding synonyms to conversion.
The theological basis for conversion lies in the truth of the 'atonement.'
Although man lapses into sin, the truth of the atonement remains. When men turn to God in repentance and faith, the effects of the atonement - reconciliation and forgiveness -...
ARE YOU REALLY BORN AGAIN? DID YOU RECEIVE JESUS AS YOUR SAVIOR OR DID YOU GO DOWN TO THE ALTER IN CHURCH FOR ANOTHER REASON. I AM SERIOUS. IN MY GROWING UP YEARS, I HEARD BOYS JOKE ABOUT THEM GOING DOWN TO THE ALTER JUST BECAUSE OTHER KIDS WERE DOING IT. THAT IS NOT BEING BORN AGAIN. I AM AFRAID A LOT MORE PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY MEN, ARE LIKE...
Our Success Is In God
Matthew 26:33 'Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.'
Just like Peter, we are often more confident of ourselves than God is. Many Christians are devastated when they fail in some area that they thought they had long since grown past. We need to realize that as long as we are in this mortal body, we cannot fall asleep at our battle station against the works of the flesh. If we do, our flesh is just as capable of sin as anyone else's. If we fall, it should concern us but not surprise us. We should simply realize with Paul, that 'in my flesh dwelleth no good thing,' get back into the...
Love Comes First
John 13:35 'By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.'
Jesus didn't say that all men would know we are His disciples by our doctrine, our rituals, our hatred for sin, or even by the way we express our love for God. He said very clearly, that the one characteristic that would cause the world to identify us as His followers, is our love, one for another.
This same night, the Lord prayed to His Father using this same thought saying, 'That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me' (Jn. 17:21). The only way that...
I WROTE ABOUT THIS A LITTLE LATE LAST YEAR BUT I TRY TO WRITE SOMETHING ABOUT HALLOWEEN EVERY YEAR TO LET PEOPLE KNOW WHAT THE LORD THINKS ABOUT SOME OF THE THINGS ASSOCIATED WITH IT. I THOUGHT I WOULD GET A MESSAGE OUT EARLIER THIS YEAR TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE HISTORY TO SHOW HOW HALLOWEEN CAME TO BE. IT ORIGINATED WITH "THE CELTIC FESTIVAL OF SAMHAIN" WHERE THEY WOULD BUILD BONFIRES AND WEAR COSTUMES TO WARD OFF GHOSTS. IN THE EIGHTH CENTURY, THE POPE DESIGNATED NOVEMBER 1ST AS A TIME TO HONOR ALL SAINTS. SOON "ALL SAINTS DAY" BEGIN TO INCORPORATE SOME OF THE SAMHAIN TRADITIONS. THE EVENING BEFORE WAS KNOWN AS "ALL HALLOWS EVE".
A New Revelation Of Love
John 13:34 'A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.'
Jesus previously stated that all the law and the prophets were dependent on loving God first, and then loving your neighbor as yourself. These truths were already in the law but people missed them. So, this commandment was not new in the sense that it had never been given before, but it was brought to the forefront and given new meaning through the example of Jesus. Jesus not only loved His neighbor as Himself, He loved us more than Himself.
John, the apostle who wrote this gospel, later wrote about the new commandment of...