GOING TO CHURCH? WHY?

Going to church doesn't save us. Jesus does. Then should we not go to church? The Bible says we need to assemble with the saints. In other words, we need to spend time with other Christians. We need to hear God's Word. We need to worship. The Bible says it. So, it's not even a good question, is it?

To-Do List

Today's To-Do List

1. Read the Word.
2. Help someone.
3. Give someone the Gospel message.
4. Be kind to someone.
5. Be a spiritual leader for my family.
6. Pray.
7. Pray.
8. Pray.

Thank you Lord for another day of life. Please give me wisdom not to waste it, for everyday is for You.

Applying Easter

Night before Easter. It wasn't a bad day. It was actually pretty good. My Christian brother and I had yet another one of our Saturday Bible studies. We're still in the book of Matthew. Chapter 23 this time. Matthew has so much to teach. 

I had read this Gospel many times in my lifetime, but the past year it finally made sense. I thought I had understood it. I mean, I read it, I read English well, I'm thinking. It seemed to make sense. I've even read some of Matthew in Spanish and in Italian. It all says the same thing.

We started our study in Matthew a few months ago - every Saturday. One or maybe two chapters at a time. We study in depth. Discuss what the passages mean, non only what we think it means, or what we've heard other people say that it means, but we focus on what the author means. Yeah. The author. God himself.

It's very important to understand what he is saying in his Word. You, the reader (I know there are at least 1 or 2 out there somewhere) have realized by this point that I'm not going into detail on the study of Matthew itself, but rather the plan here today is to place a bit of emphasis on the importance of delving into the Word, on understanding what the original manuscripts in the Koine (commonly spoken) Greek meant, and what God wants us to get out of it. The entire Bible, the stories, the parables, the analogies, the admonitions and commands, the poetry, the pleading (and on and on) can be applied to our lives.

Yeah. About that. There's no a lot of rationality in merely reading the Bible daily and whipping a check mark with a Sharpie on our calender to note that we've done our daily Bible reading. Notice I said "merely". It is very important to make this a routine, a habit, a part of life. However, without application, we are wasting our time. We are wasting God's time.

Let's please remember to apply what we read, what we learn, and use it in our lives, our family's lives, in raising our children, in making sure that everyone that we can reach is saved.

That's the point today. Application.

Today is 04/20/2014. Easter morning. 12:51 A.M. A lot of us Christians, and some reluctant non-Christians with a drug problem (they'll be "drug" to church against their will) will end up going to some type of Easter service, I imagine. Let's pay attention to the sermon. Really think about what's being preached. Take it home with us. Apply it. Not just today, but for the rest of our God-granted time here on earth. 

Life is short. Do something.

Sorry for the lack of editing. It's now 12:55 in the morning.

God Bless. Love ya guys.

Sam

No Comdemnation

Romans 8 is one of my favorite chapters of the Bible. I find myself reading it over and over. I suspect that the reason for this attraction to this portion of the inspired word of God is the fact that it tells me something that draws from me a sigh of relief, in that while I am a sinner, I am still promised by the grand maker of this universe that the sacrifice that his (God's) son, Jesus, made 2000 years ago is still at work today. It's at work for those who repent and put their trust in him, and follow him.

I should have been up there on that cross going through the horror that surpasses anything Stephen King would have thought up in his creepy little check under my bed before I go to sleep and leave the light on till the morning mind of his, only afterwards to be thrown into a fiery hell forever. Stephen King did in fact tell me that, by the way. No, really. He did. Straight through the TV during an interview. Forgot what late night show that was. I'm sure you can find it as you waste your time away on YouTube here in a minute. Made ya check, huh?

What? You think I'm hard on myself? You betcha. Because I deserve that fiery pit. No, I'm not very proud of it, either. And here's another thing - so do you. Oops! Did I offend somebody? Not the intention here, but I do need you to understand the importance of Jesus' sacrifice. It's not just some nice thing that some Jew did for us long ago. It's the way to heaven. God is love, but he is also wrathful. "How?", you ask. He has several attributes. He is love and he shows wrath to those that go against him and his rules. Y'all know the 10 commandments and what they mean already, so I won't go there today. I have an earlier post on that called If You Died Tonight...

Back to Romans 8. I think my mostest bestest verse in the whole Bible has got to be Romans 8:1, which says, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Whew! This is a verse that continues to remind me that I am saved and am not going to hell. Not because of anything that I did, mind you, but because of what my wonderful God did for me, and for you, if you'll believe that. We turn from our wicked ways and follow him, trusting him like we would an elevator or a parachute (I know, gotta throw some Ray Comfort and Todd Friel in there, don't I?)

Wretched

Life is short. I wanna live forever. The only way to do that is by repenting and trusting in Jesus and living for him. I've lived too long without Him.

I've promoted twice at my job, got a nice house and two vehicles, clothes, and food on the table. I'm finally not poor. But I've found that it doesn't make me happy...it's being with my family and living for God. Yes it's sounds corny, and it's actually even hard to tell you that, because I've been such a bad, wretched person all my life. I look at the "ten commandments" and I've broken all of them.  There's no way I could make it to heaven by my good deeds, because I don't really have many. I'm going to heaven only because Jesus took the punishment that I deserve and credited his righteousness to my account. Whew!

Are We Saved Through Our Good Works?

 Can we be saved by our good works? That is impossible, since we would have

to be perfect. The Bible says the opposite.

None of us are good:

As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; (Romans 3:10)

...and there is no way we can be saved by our good works:

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8, 9 ESV)

The way to the Father is through Jesus:

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

In Galatians 2:14-21 we read:

When I saw that they were not following the truth of the gospel message, I said to Peter in front of all the others, “Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions? “You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles. Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not! Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die. (NLT)

How To Repent

1. Realize that if you've ever lied, stolen, dishonored your parents, been angry with someone without a good reason, not put God first, you're a sinner, like me and everyone else. 

2. Turn from sin a RUN the other way - towards God. 

3. Believe that we deserve eternal punishment but Jesus paid our fine in full by dying on the cross. Done. 

4. Put faith in Jesus and follow him. 

5. Read the Bible daily. If you have a hard time, promise yourself you'll read at least a verse each day. Soon, you'll have a hard time putting The Book down!

6. Remember that repentance us a daily thing, since Christians still fall into sin. This is not to be confused with "diving" into sin.