Is There Only One Way?

In response to a question from a dear friend

asking if other religions go to Heaven.

When I heard that not all religions go to Heaven

I was angry and put off,  I turned my back on God

I said He did not Exist.

But when I came to realize that He DOES Exist

then I had to accept all that the Bible says as HIS Word

His Truth.

Whether I like it or Not

Whether I agree with it or Not.

God does not Lie

His Truth is right there for us to read, in His Word, The Bible.

It is His World

We are His Creation.

And it is His Rules.

(doesn't that very statement make you want to rebel?  oh our sinful hearts!)

He loves us and wants us to be with Him.

(so why do we hate Him?)

Forever

In Heaven.

And all we have to do is say YES

and accept him.

AND, if you accept God

And His Word, the Bible as the One and Only Truth

Then you have to accept that Satan is Real.

And that Satan is the Prince of this World

And that Satan seeks to Deceive us.

Even if it means posing as peace and love in other "religions"

and deceive us and lead us away from God.

Personally, I find it very hard to believe in Satan.

And Satan loves it that way!

He gets so much more accomplished if we do not believe in him!!

Satan tells us:  "All Roads will lead to God, if you are a good person, you will go to Heaven"

It tells us so in the Bible:

Proverbs 14:12  "There is a way that seemed right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."

1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

2 Corinthians 11:13-14 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

But the Bible says only One Road leads to God

And you are called to be more than just a good person.

You are called to Follow Christ.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 3:3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Who will you believe?

Was Jesus Really the Son of God?

Since the Time of Jesus, people have question who he really is/was and many then and now do not believe he was truly the Son of God........Even some people who believe in God.   Many people dismiss Jesus without even thinking about it and how un-logical they are being.

I learned this at Sunday School and thought it was really very Powerful.    It is called "The 4 L's"

This idea states that Jesus must be one of 4 things:  

A Legend,

A Liar

 A Lunatic (crazy person)

 or The Lord

Which "L" do you believe him to be?


Legend:   This is something I often wondered.   Maybe he never really existed and He was just a legend or myth.   Well that is easily proven wrong because there are lots of historical documents (not just the Bible) that describe Jesus.  Many of these documents were written by the Romans who didn't care about God or who Jesus said he was.

OK---So, maybe he did exist but his story is exxagerated into a legend?   This is also proven wrong easily because there are many different historical documents that all tell the same thing written by different people in different countries

Liar:     Maybe Jesus was a great Liar and Trickster and told such great lies and everyone believed him.  (kind of like politicians today)  Maybe the disciples were all in on it too and set up elaborate stunts that made people believe he performed the miracles.   Like a great magician. 

But then anyone smart enough to do all of that, would that person be willing to die for his lies?? Especially the kind of death he suffered?  (whipped bloody,  kicked and punched, nailed with huge spikes and crucified---which is said to be one of the most painful deaths ever)  

All he had to do was confess he was a fraud and they would've released him.  But he wouldn't.   What kind of perons would die so painfully to cover up their lies??

Lunatic:    The above could be true, and Jesus could be crazy.....but crazy people never hold it together to seem sane in front of the thousands of people for as long as he did.   Crazy people could'nt perform elaborate "miracles" even with a team of disciples.  And why would 12 men leave their jobs and families to be with a crazy person anyway??
.

And that leaves the final possibility.   Jesus is LORD


So, who do you think Jesus was?


If you think Jesus is Lord and God is Real, then it is time to ask yourself, isn't knowing more about God and Jesus the most important thing I can do in my Life??
That is where I am........I am trying to learn as much as I can about God and Jesus and the Bible.   If Heaven is real (and God says it is) and is for eternity, then time on Earth is nothing, preparing for life on Earth is much less important than preparing for eternity in Heaven

The Twelve Days of Christmas Re-Mastered

Did you ever wonder what was going on with that addictive song,

 "Twelve Days of Christmas"?

The song originates from the 1500's and may have been "code" 

for various parts of the Bible during a time of Persecution of Catholics.  

Now that is disputed, 

but it is likely that there are significant symbolism 

to the items chosen to be in the song.  

According to several sources (click here for the one I referenced) 
the song breaks down like this:

The Partridge in a Pear Tree is Jesus Christ

The 2 Turtle Doves are the Old and New Testaments

The 3 French Hens stand for Faith, Hope and Love

The 4 Calling Birds are Matthew,Mark, Luke and John

The 5 Golden Rings are the first 5 books of the Bible ,
also known as the Torah or The Law

The 6 Geese A-Laying stand for the 6 days of Creation

The 7 Swans A-Swimming







Represent the 7-fold gifts of the Holy Spirit:

The 8 Maids A-Milking are the 8 Beatitudes: 

• Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
• Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
• Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.
• Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
• Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
• Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
• Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
• Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The 9 Ladies Dancing are the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit:

Love, Joy, Peach, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control

The 10 Lords A-Leaping are the 10 Commandments

The 11 Pipers Piping stand for the 11 Faithful Disciples

The 12 Drummers Drumming
symbolize the 12 points of Belief in the Apostles’ Creed.

Click here to read The Apostle's Creed

Also, if you add up every single gift given
you will come up with 364 items....

And I have been told that is significant
because the 365th gift is
the Birth of Christ.

And just who is this "True Love' that gives all these gifts to me?

It is Our God,
Who so loves us that He became flesh
and lived among us,

To teach and guide us





And cleanse us of our sin
with His blood.

So that we might live with Him forever

Are You In Prison?

Many of us are, especially teenagers.

What are you in Prison for?

We create these prisons in our hearts 

and then find us guilty of some trumped up charge 

and condemn ourselves to this internal prison

For example,

I have a friend who thinks she is weird. 

She is very shy and afraid to initiate conversations with others.

I think when others see her quiet and to herself,

 they see her as a loner and not very approachable

I ask her, "Has anyone ever been mean to you?"

"No"

See, she "smartly" doesn't give them a chance to be unkind

because she won't approach them.

Actually, She can't approach them

Because she is in Prison of Anxiety.

See, she finds herself guilty of weirdness and puts herself in prison.

Another Example,

I know someone who thinks she is unpopular.

And she is very sad.

She is sure no one likes her because she feels she is dumb.

She struggles with her school work.

She's not dumb at all.

She's dyslexic.

But she finds herself guilty of being dumb and puts herself in prison.

One more Example,

I was once hurt by some people I thought were my friends.

Deeply hurt.  They really let me down.

So I built a wall around my heart.

A prison.

I would talk and laugh with people.

So they would think I was alright.

But I was sad inside

I didn't trust anyone

But then I learned about God

I learned He will never let us down.

I learned I could trust him.

He helped me to commute my prison sentence 

and free my heart.

It took a lot of prayers and a lot of time.

Each prayer was like removing one bar of the prison wall.

But over time He healed my heart and set me free of my prison!

He replaced all those feelings of anger with feelings of Love.

It is my prayer that if you are in prison.

That you trust in the Lord with all your heart.

And let those feelings go.

That's all they are.....feelings.

You created them, you can destroy them.

Trust in God and pray for the courage to reach out to someone.

You just might make a friend.

And if not

Try, try again.

So I believe in God, So where is He?

Ever feel like that?

You believe in God, but you don't see Him.

You don't hear Him.

You don't feel Him

In your life in any way.

I feel that way sometimes.

 ***

I heard this on the radio today:

(I listen to Shine FM 95.1--see link on the side bar)

"Give Nothing, Get Nothing"

So what does this mean?

It is one thing to say "I believe in you, God"

or 

"I accept you Jesus Christ, as my Lord and Savior"

But if that's it

and that's all you do.....

meaning, you do 

NOTHING

Then you get Nothing.

You'll feel alone.

If you want to See, Hear and Feel the Lord 

In your Heart, 

In your Soul,

In your World,

you have to give something...

You have to give your time to Him

Every Day Do This:

Read the Bible

Pray to Him

Sing His Praises

And every week Go to Church / Sunday School / Youth Group

I promise you, if you do these things

You will See, Hear and Feel God

Because you will develop a personal relationship with Him

It takes time 

and 

effort

But doesn't everything good and worth while take time and effort??

Perhaps the Boat is Empty

There is an ancient Chinese story that goes like this:

Once upon a time, there was a man canoeing up a river.

From around a bend, a large boat appeared and it was headed directly at the man in the Canoe.

The man in the canoe began to wave and shout warning to get the boat's captain to change its direction.

But the boat came coming, closer and closer.

The man got louder and angrier as the boat approached.

He yelled and name called and cursed at the boat's captain.

The boat continued, running into the man in the canoe.

The man was thrown overboard and the canoe capsized.

The man turned to look at the captain of the boat and was ready to really curse at him and make him pay!

but the boat was empty......

the man quickly realized that the boat had slipped its mooring and was drifting.

no one controlled it, it struck him out of randomness.

And truthfully, the man in the canoe could have gotten out of its way.

But he was so busy being mad at the captain that he did nothing to help himself.

****

How can you apply this story to you?

So often we think someone is being mean to us on purpose

And we get so angry.

99% of the time, that person doesn't even 

know they have made you angry.

For example.

In a crowded hallway at school a kid bumps roughly into you and doesn't say anything.

You may think that the person doesn't like you, they did it on purpose, maybe even to bully you.

But, perhaps "the boat is empty"

Meaning that kid was so lost in his own thoughts / problems and it is a crowded hallway

and someone bumped him, making him bump you.

Another Example.

your parents are driving you somewhere and some wild driver is 

swerving through traffic  and cuts off your parents.

How many of you have parents that would curse him, call him an idiot?

But maybe, "the boat is empty"

Maybe what you don't know is he just got word that his wife is in the ER about to loose their baby

Wouldn't you drive like a mad man in that situation?

***

Ok, so maybe the kid is a jerk, maybe the man is an idiot.

But you don't know what is in ones heart

So always think "the boat is empty" 

and you will find yourself letting go of anger and spite.

Forgive them

Respond with love and understanding.

That is what God wants for us.

To let go of our anger, to forgive, to love.

And like the man in the water

--who really could have gotten out of the way if he wasn't so angry---

what could you do to make the situation better?

*** 

May God bless you with a calm head, a warm heart and a passion for others.