Category: Christian Thoughts

Closer And Closer To Hell

Wow! While networking among you I am moved as I learn of the continued trials that my brothers and sisters face everyday. Sadly a lack of love, respect, patience, dignity and interest in others is expressed by the people we interact with more often than not as we go about our day to day lives.

I have now formed an opinion that as the people of this world move further and further from God in their ways, society sadly moves quickly, closer and closer to hell!

Hell! Hmm… what is hell?

They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might

2 Thessalonians 1:9

From the verse above we learn that God, through The Bible teaches us that hell is the absence of Him and therefore if there is any truth in my earlier statement; that society is moving closer and closer to hell, then, when one considers God’s attributes, a few of which I have listed below, we should unfortunately be able to witness less and less of His ways in the world.

God Is Glorious – He is Infinitely Beautiful and Great

His radiance is like the sunlight; He has rays flashing from His hand, And there is the hiding of His power.

Habakkuk 3:4
God Is Holy – He is Infinitely, Unchangingly Perfect

Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord Almighty

Revelation 4:8
God Is Loving – God Infinitely, Unchangingly Loves Us

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

1 John 4:7-8
God Is Gracious – God Is Infinitely Inclined to Spare the Guilty

The LORD is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.

Psalm 145:8
God Is Merciful – He is Infinitely, Unchangeably Compassionate and Kind

I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.

Romans 9:15-16
God Is Just – He Is Infinitely, Unchangeably Right and Perfect in All He Does

The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.

Deuteronomy 32:4
God Is Good – He Is Infinitely, Unchangingly Kind and Full of Good Will

O, taste and see that the Lord is good

Psalm 34:8
God Is Faithful – He Is Infinitely, Unchangingly True

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.

Deuteronomy 7:9
God Is Wise – He Is Full of Perfect, Unchanging Wisdom

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!

Romans 11:33

With God’s unchangeable qualities diminishing among the societies of this world, life is truly becoming frightening as the world moves quickly, closer and closer to hell!

Saints, I pray that God remains the Immovable Anchor for our souls and we are able to witness His ways amongst us.

‘Two things I ask of you, Lord;
    do not refuse me before I die:
keep falsehood and lies far from me;
    give me neither poverty nor riches,
    but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
    and say, “Who is the Lord?”
Or I may become poor and steal,
    and so dishonour the name of my God.

Proverbs 30:7-9


In Jesus name,
Amen.

An Anchor for the Soul

The Certainty of God’s Promise

When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 6:13-20

To me it has become the greatest blessing ever received, and in my mind, that anyone could ever receive; and that is to have been fastened to the Lord as one’s immovable anchor. Hallelujah!! 

While in prayer I had a vision of a huge cable fixing my heart to God, my Anchor, the thick cable was securely bound to the Anchor by golden steel twine and, in my vision I watched it, in brilliance being laced up around the thick cable that I was attached to, fusing my being to God the Father, the Immovable Anchor. There was a huge storm around me and I was being swept / pulled / torn off my feet by its power. The storm was tugging on me, relentlessly trying to rip me from my Anchor… I just prayed and continue to pray that my bond to my Lord and God, my Anchor remains secure.

Following continued prayers and contemplating the Lord’s greatest gift, praise God, I received from the Lord that nothing can ever separate us from the love of God and have come to realise that such hope, joy and security can be found in fully understanding this truth.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

1 Peter 1:3-5 NKJV

Abraham And Isaac

A father, a son, and a sacrifice

Abraham and Sarah had a baby boy, just as the Lord promised. They named him Isaac.
Genesis 17:9; 21:1–3

They loved Isaac. They taught him to choose the right and to trust the Lord.
Genesis 21:8

The Lord promised Abraham and Sarah that through Isaac their family would grow to bless the whole earth. But one day the Lord told Abraham to take Isaac to Mount Moriah and offer Isaac as a sacrifice.
Genesis 17:1–8; 22:1–2

On their way to the mountain, Isaac asked where the lamb for the sacrifice was. Abraham said the Lord would provide one.
Genesis 22:4–8

On Mount Moriah, Abraham built an altar and placed wood on it.
Genesis 22:8–9

As the Lord commanded, Abraham asked Isaac to lie down on the altar. Isaac trusted Abraham just like the Savior Jesus Christ trusted His Father.
Genesis 22:9

When Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac, an angel of the Lord stopped him. Abraham showed his faith in the Lord. Abraham knew he would always follow the Lord.
Genesis 22:10–12

Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the bushes. The Lord provided the ram for the sacrifice.
Genesis 22:13

Abraham and Isaac learned about how Heavenly Father would offer His Son Jesus Christ as a sacrifice. The Lord Jesus Christ trusted Abraham because he obeyed. Abraham trusted the Lord’s promise that one day his family would grow beyond the number of stars in the sky.
Genesis 22:17–18

Good People Don’t Go To Heaven; Forgiven Sinners Do

HOW TO GET SAVED

Man is a sinner in the eyes of a Holy God.

Romans 3:23 – For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

There is a price for our sin, the wage (what we earn) is death when we sin.

Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Jesus Christ paid for all our sins, by dying on the cross, shedding His blood; Christ was buried and bodily rose again 3 days later.

Romans 5:8 – But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

By faith in Jesus Christ alone are we saved forever.

Ephesians 2:8 – For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Faith alone in Christ alone. That is the gospel, it is simple, pure and it saves you eternally. You cannot lose salvation.

Do you trust that Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh? That He died for all your sins on the cross? That He was buried and 3 days later rose from the dead? If you do, you are saved.

https://holytext.org/gospel

The Lord’s Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer is the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples, when they asked him how they should pray. It has two Origins in scripture from the New Testament:

Matthew 6:9–13 and Luke 11:1–4

Most Christians know the prayer by heart in their own language, and it is used today by every Christian tradition, though there are sometimes minor variations in the wording. It has a place in every Anglican act of worship, and forms a pattern for prayer for Christians:

  • We bless God and pray for our world, our communities and our lives to be shaped by God’s will;
  • We pray for daily needs to be met,
  • For forgiveness for wrongdoings, strength to resist temptation and protection from danger.

Matthew 6.9–13

In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Luke 11.1–4

The Model Prayer

Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”

So He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us day by day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.”