Salvation Conversation

God is love you say? I totally agree with you! If we live a sinful lifestyle, God is love, most definitely. I can't, however, tell you that God is pleased with how you behave or carry yourself in public and in secret. He hates, yes He HATES it.

God loves righteousness and he hates iniquity, because He is HOLY! 

1Corinthians 13:6 "Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth" 

If I love that which is good then I must hate that which is evil, to have a pure love, yes?

Does He love the sinner, yes. So much so that He sent His only begotten Son to die for your sins and make a way of salvation for you. [John 3:16 - 21] 

That's a lot of love for a father to give the only child he has, much more with God who sees all our sin and disobedience every single day.

If I love babies, I must hate abortion.

If I take joy in marriage, then I must hate fornication, adultery and homosexuality.

If I love to see a hard working person earn their fair wages, then I must hate that which gains through dishonest means.

So now that He extends the only way to salvation, through Jesus Christ His Son, what will you do with His love.

Will you surrender and submit to His will and receive mercy or would you rather to pay for it yourself, pretending to love Him with words and end in destruction? [Matthew 7:13-27; 15:7-9]

You know that deep down in the heart you love Jesus, you say? [John 15:10; Exodus 20:1-17]

Fascinating...

Did you know that your heart has the amazing ability not only deceive you but justify your actions? [Jeremiah 17:9, 10]
The worse thing you can believe is that you are okay when you really aren't.
If you tell yourself that you can inherit what God has in store for the righteous, and you aren't righteous yourself you have a false hope in something you don't deserve, because you're trying to get in some other way. [Psalm 50:16-23; John 10:1]

But if you just come to Him, He will be a merciful Father to you. He will forgive your transgressions and remember them no more. [Isaiah 1:16-18; 55:1 - 11]

DO NOT try another method, don't pray to anyone else. Jesus alone is more than enough for you.
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If anyone says that to become a Christian is easy, it is not. It is not, it has never been and it will cost you EVERYTHING.

We don't go to God on our terms... oh no, we go to God on His terms, his way, according to His Word. The Bible (I trust the KJV more, since other versions seem to be a derivative of it, and I did some research).

We are not going to know God from reading a book about somebody, who knew somebody, who knew God, not from magazines or booklets, or best sellers. It is to just read the Bible. And if you may feel that you cannot understand the Bible without some help from other religious literature that profess that its interpretation is truth, read the scriptures and see for yourself.

Jeremiah 29:13  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

If you are given some sort of justification why you do some things, and reject others, consider this; there are many scriptures that warn against doing that.

Matthew 5:17-20

17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

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A cathedral in Lubeck, Germany has these words inscribed on its walls:

You call Me master and obey Me not.
You call Me light and see Me not.
You call Me the way and walk Me not.
You call Me the life and live Me not.
You call Me wise and follow Me not.
You call Me fair and love Me not.
You call Me rich and ask Me not.
You call Me eternal and see Me not.

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Go through the scriptures. They will make you wise unto salvation.

Repent; turn from your sins.
Accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord and serve Him. He already is Lord.
Be baptized in His name.
Learn about Him and learn how to love him and how to worship Him.
Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you, and you will learn to be like Him and if you continue walking with Him then He that began a good work in you will finish it.

Righteousness is an Acquired Taste

Today I read this verse and it was today I actually realized what it meant. I read it before and I guess I never noticed. This is why the Bible, the Word of God can never get old.

In this parable Jesus was comparing old wine verse new wine. Or rather making an implication of the old life of sin and worldliness verses the new life in Christ and leaning towards righteousness. The word I want to point out is straightway, another word we can use is immediately. 

Notice he says that no man having drunk old wine straightway desires the new one, but rather he say, the old one is better. I'll start by saying that righteousness is an acquired taste, after all no man was born righteous (Romans 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:), meaning that the life of sin that we would have before coming to the knowledge of Jesus Christ and accepting is one we preferred and were comfortable with. 

Becoming one who is righteous is a process, a growing process... you start somewhere. But you must persist... like I said, its an acquired taste... and once the taste is acquired, you should start to hate the old life.

Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

This statement speaks to loving your enemies... quite contrary to mankind's heart which is inherently evil... Anyway I was saying the problem with people isn't that we don't love righteousness, the problem is, we don't hate sin... its true. We love good happening to us and we feel good when we do something good, but think about this, do we hate sin? Lets think about it and I don't mean some sin, I mean all of them... No justification, but confession!

Righteousness is an acquired taste... a process, it take renewal of the heart and mind...

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Additional Verses: 1John 2:15; Ephesians 5:17; 1Thessalonians 4:3;

Chastisement

Do you ever get that feeling, while watching a fellow Christian with the wrong habit, to give them correction to let them grow more Christ-like but tend to draw back from it because he or she may take offence to it.
You probably have it in your head that they'll end up say something like: "Why are you judging me?" or
"You know it was just a joke, lighten up."

I was conversing online with a friend of mine earlier today. I've known her for a few years now and we talk from time to time. Today she shared with me something about a bad habit she had, something I had noticed when we first met. I'm glad to say that she now realizes that it was wrong of her and has made it up in her heart to repent of it.

But it got me thinking of something...
Are we willing correct those who need correcting regardless of what their justification? (I speak of those who are in the faith). Do we shy away from being an offence to others for the sake of friendliness?
An even more interesting question is, when was the last time you received correction from someone more mature in the faith and how did you take to it?

Receiving Correction

Scripture points to two types of person when it comes to correction:

Proverbs 9:8 Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.

The wise and foolish are quite contrary, one to another and the book of Proverbs are really shows what they are.

For a foolish person, receiving correction is a problem since more than not, they are "wise in their own eyes" and "it's fine... don't worry about it".
The person correcting us isn't trying to embarrass us or humiliate us. Their first priority is to build us up spiritually. They see something wrong and they want to help. Now God will send correction anyway he sees fit, whether by brethren, through His Word, your God-given conscience (keep it sharp) or maybe even in a circumstance.
Nevertheless, it is for our own good.

Hebrews 12:5 -11 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

I'll give an example of myself. While in my 4th year of University and acquiring for skills in animation, I started to brag to one of my classmates about what I could do. My Christian friend, Garwin, came over to me afterwards while I was standing by myself and told me what I did was wrong, and I shouldn't be trying to exalt myself like that. How did I take it? I told him "Thank you", because I understood what he wanted for me.
It's like what most parents will probably do for their rebellious teenagers, but as teens (for those of us who are here) we've see it another way. It's strange too not only when they tell us not to do what we want to, but they usually end up being right in the long run.

In all honesty, correction is good for us to receive. It shows that God is caring for us, and it is better to receive it willingly.

Giving Correction

Giving correction isn't something for a person who thinks they are better of when they aren't:

Galatians 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

It's really good when we can care enough to correct someone, however sometimes we may get angry for what our brethren may have done and say it in such a way that rather than them being more encouraged to continue in the Lord or even to do the right thing, they get offended and feel degraded.

Listen, none of us are perfect but the aim is to strive to perfection.
There is something my wife and I discuss sometimes and it's about how to talk to people.

"You can be right in what you say, but wrong in how you say it," she'd say sometimes, and I agree.

We have to consider for a moment, how would we want to the situation to be handled with us? Are we so "over-righteous" (holier than thou attitude) that we cannot care for them. It's possible to be like a Pharisee in how we reason with people.

Ecclesiastes 7:16  Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself? 

Paul spoke about how he would have come to the brethren in Corinth and basically asked them "Which would you prefer, A or B, A or B?"

1 Corinthians 4:18-21
18  Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you.
19  But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.
20  For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.
21  What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?

So let's really consider how we give and receive correction from our brethren okay, and remember, we don't belittle the sin but we pull out brethren out of it with love.

Jude 1:20-2520  But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,21  Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.22  And of some have compassion, making a difference:23  And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.24  Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,25  To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

 See also: James 5:20, 1 Peter 4:8

Bless God and God bless.

Encouragement

I just want to encourage you today, that regardless of the circumstances you are going through, whether you are a Christian or not, yet... that if you lean on the Lord Jesus Christ, he will carry you through and you know, sometimes we go through things we don't expect we can survive and we come through it, and it makes us more refined and stronger. Its in these things we ought to give the Lord thanks for...

Note this verse:

"Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he [it is] that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." (Deuteronomy 31:6)

Yesterday I heard a very encouraging comment by one Pastor Brown, "Obstacles are seen by those who lose sight of their goal!" I don't know where he got it from but it was encouraging!

I say, we take the obstacles and turn them into stepping stones!

God bless you and if you are not saved, God loves you, what will be your response? Will you respond to His love?

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." (John 3:16-17) 

Remember one thing also... Loving God is not a mere thought or word of mouth, but attitude towards Him and His Son, His teachings and relationship to others... I'll never have all the answers but, this I will do, try my hardest to follow God.

Continue to strive a share my fellow brothers and sisters!