In one chapter alone, Jesus warns us three times about imposters!
Matthew 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
(Many shall come in Jesus's name and shall deceive many.)
Matthew 24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
(Many. That's not just a few, then.)
Matthew 24:23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25 Behold, I have told you before.
26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert; go not forth: behold, He is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
(This is the third time just in chapter 24 that Jesus has warned us! We should consider ourselves warned. Then, He goes on to tell us exactly how to know when the "Real Jesus" returns. He goes into detail to describe His return just so we will all know without a shadow of a doubt that it's really Him!)
Matthew 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
(We won't be able to miss it! It won't be a secret! The whole sky is going to light up! Get that picture? Any questions?)
Furthermore, He goes on to tell us exactly when this phenomenal return is going to take place.
Matthew 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
(It will be very obvious that "something's going down" when all of a sudden the sun and the moon go black! Hard to miss that! The powers of the heavens shall be shaken. Can't wait to see that! It doesn't sound like a secret "rapture", does it?)
30 And then (and only then) shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
(Italics, brackets and underlining have been added. I'm quoting the King James version of the Holy Bible.)
Matthew 24:31 And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
(There you go! So, even if you are blind and deaf and you don't see that the sun and moon are black and that the entire sky has lit up with the return of our Lord; even if you don't hear the great sound of the trumpet, He's going to make it very clear by "gathering" us together! And, then, guess what happens!
You should know this already, right?)
I Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
(Can you imagine that? Does that please you? Will that make you happy?
The Final Grand Climax!
Isn't that worth suffering for? Going to prison for? Sacrificing for? What wonderful encouragement. You could just take that one verse of scripture and hold it in your heart for the rest of your life and it would get you through just about anything, wouldn't it? What a promise to cling to!
To me, that's just a whole lot better than some wimpy, secret snatching away of the believers in a hidden so-called "Pre-tribulation Rapture" that is a fabrication of someone's fearful imagination. Those who believe in that think,
"Our God is so merciful, He would never allow us to suffer going through the tribulation."
He wouldn't? If you think that, take a look at the history of believers since the crucifixion of Christ!
Give me a break! And read Hebrews chapter 11! Ever hear of martyrdom?
And yes, our God is merciful. That means we won't go through anything alone. He'll be right there with us and help us get through whatever we need to go through and He'll help us to be a testimony for Him, too.
But, we will not suffer the "Wrath of God". The wrath is reserved for the most unbelieving, wicked who have persecuted and killed the true believers. Right? We need to understand the difference between God's wrath and the "Great Tribulation". That may require some Bible reading.
Here's another suggestion: Just read the Bible word for word exactly as it is. And, by all means, ask God to help you understand what you're reading. Don't allow preconceived ideas and man's interpretations to interfere with your relationship with the naked, pure Word of God. Allow it to speak personally to you. Don't worry if you don't understand it all. Nobody does.)
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Monday, August 11, 2014
Forced Faith is not Faith
God does not force us to believe in Him.
Like a lover Who is madly in love with us, He waits. He woos. He rescues us. He sends messages to us. He sends messengers. He gently pleads, He reveals Himself in His handiwork. But, He never forces Himself on us. Ever.
Think about it for a moment:
If a baby were born into the world and prevailed upon to believe in a demanding "God" who insisted on certain prayers at certain times and in a certain way, how would that be pleasing God?
If God is Love (as the Bible tells us) then, how would it please a God of Love to pray and worship Him without involving one's heart?
God does not want robots who are forced to love Him. In fact, God made a very big deal about giving humans the majesty of choice. Yes, even the choice to rebel if we choose to. Choice is an important part of being human.
If we had no choice but to worship and love God, I think we would become slaves or robots and... more-than-likely, not really in it with our whole hearts. If we were forced to pray and praise God every day, it would get to be a habit and would very soon (I imagine) lose its appeal due to the repetition and non-voluntary state of the worshippers. This would seem true even more when the habit is forced upon us by humans rather than by a willingness to obey God.
(That doesn't necessarily mean that, as believers, we will always "feel" like praising God. That's a different subject altogether.)
How much faith does it take to believe in the "God" you are taught to believe in from birth along with the rest of your family? How much faith does it take to believe in something you are not allowed to stop believing in?
Well, that is a question.
If a person is in such a case, I think they should ask themself another question:
"Would God want or even need me to believe in Him if I had no other choice?"
There are loads of gods out there to choose from. There are loads of religions, cults, gurus and idols. But, there is only one God Who is the actual Creator of heaven and earth, our bodies, hearts and souls.
It is up to us to choose. I believe that unless we have the majesty to choose, we will not have the honour of knowing the One True God.
God wants us to know Him. He wants us to have a loving relationship with Him. He wants us to want Him. He wants us to choose Him.
Like a lover Who is madly in love with us, He waits. He woos. He rescues us. He sends messages to us. He sends messengers. He gently pleads, He reveals Himself in His handiwork. But, He never forces Himself on us. Ever.
Think about it for a moment:
If a baby were born into the world and prevailed upon to believe in a demanding "God" who insisted on certain prayers at certain times and in a certain way, how would that be pleasing God?
If God is Love (as the Bible tells us) then, how would it please a God of Love to pray and worship Him without involving one's heart?
God does not want robots who are forced to love Him. In fact, God made a very big deal about giving humans the majesty of choice. Yes, even the choice to rebel if we choose to. Choice is an important part of being human.
If we had no choice but to worship and love God, I think we would become slaves or robots and... more-than-likely, not really in it with our whole hearts. If we were forced to pray and praise God every day, it would get to be a habit and would very soon (I imagine) lose its appeal due to the repetition and non-voluntary state of the worshippers. This would seem true even more when the habit is forced upon us by humans rather than by a willingness to obey God.
(That doesn't necessarily mean that, as believers, we will always "feel" like praising God. That's a different subject altogether.)
How much faith does it take to believe in the "God" you are taught to believe in from birth along with the rest of your family? How much faith does it take to believe in something you are not allowed to stop believing in?
Well, that is a question.
If a person is in such a case, I think they should ask themself another question:
"Would God want or even need me to believe in Him if I had no other choice?"
There are loads of gods out there to choose from. There are loads of religions, cults, gurus and idols. But, there is only one God Who is the actual Creator of heaven and earth, our bodies, hearts and souls.
It is up to us to choose. I believe that unless we have the majesty to choose, we will not have the honour of knowing the One True God.
God wants us to know Him. He wants us to have a loving relationship with Him. He wants us to want Him. He wants us to choose Him.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Noah Movie Review
The movie, "Noah" starring Russel Crowe started out alright. I mean, the first few seconds were accurate in that God created the heaven and the earth. But, after that, it became a fairy tale. Sadly.
I was quite disappointed because it was sort of interesting and even had a lot of facts thrown in but it was a big letdown simply because it was not scriptural.
One redeeming factor of this movie is that it may get people to pick up their Bibles to find out,
"Did that really happen?"
"Was Noah really THAT out of touch with God that he was going to kill the baby if it was a girl but allow it to live if it was a boy?"
That part reminded me of China.
If you do happen to want to read your Bible to compare it with the movie, you'll find the story of Noah in the book of Genesis chapters 6 to 9.
The Bible indicates that God spoke quite clearly and directly to Noah, giving him specific instructions on how to build the ark as well as directions on storing up food, even telling Noah exactly how long the rain would fall. God even told him when to leave the ark.
In the book of Genesis, you'll notice the words, "the Lord said" followed by a direct quotation of words that God spoke to Adam, Noah and Abraham.
God had conversations with Adam as they walked together in the garden. In fact, God tells us that man was created for God's pleasure. So, it seems that God enjoyed talking with Adam and Eve before the fall.
He continued to talk to specific men afterwards. Then, angels spoke to specific people in an audible voice.
Although, it happens less often in these days that humans hear the audible voice of God, it does happen.
Nowadays, we are living in the "Age of Faith" so that in order to know God, we need faith to believe in a God we no longer hear in an audible voice or see with these physical eyes (unless God so chooses to allow it). Most of the time, our relationship with God is by faith.
When God speaks to His children, it's usually not audible. It's a thought or a knowing by faith.
But, when Noah heard from God, God was speaking out loud very clearly. There were no "if's, and's or but's" like the movie portrayed. Noah was not confused about his mission as he was in the movie.
God told Noah, "The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth... but with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee."
Noah knew exactly what his mission was. He knew what God was doing and why. He didn't have doubts or wonder what God was telling him. He simply obeyed.
Through Noah's obedience, mankind had a second chance. Of course, mankind muffed it. Again.
Still, obedience to God is a wonderful thing. When we do it God's way, it shows God we believe in Him and trust that He knows best.
I was quite disappointed because it was sort of interesting and even had a lot of facts thrown in but it was a big letdown simply because it was not scriptural.
One redeeming factor of this movie is that it may get people to pick up their Bibles to find out,
"Did that really happen?"
"Was Noah really THAT out of touch with God that he was going to kill the baby if it was a girl but allow it to live if it was a boy?"
That part reminded me of China.
If you do happen to want to read your Bible to compare it with the movie, you'll find the story of Noah in the book of Genesis chapters 6 to 9.
The Bible indicates that God spoke quite clearly and directly to Noah, giving him specific instructions on how to build the ark as well as directions on storing up food, even telling Noah exactly how long the rain would fall. God even told him when to leave the ark.
In the book of Genesis, you'll notice the words, "the Lord said" followed by a direct quotation of words that God spoke to Adam, Noah and Abraham.
God had conversations with Adam as they walked together in the garden. In fact, God tells us that man was created for God's pleasure. So, it seems that God enjoyed talking with Adam and Eve before the fall.
He continued to talk to specific men afterwards. Then, angels spoke to specific people in an audible voice.
Although, it happens less often in these days that humans hear the audible voice of God, it does happen.
Nowadays, we are living in the "Age of Faith" so that in order to know God, we need faith to believe in a God we no longer hear in an audible voice or see with these physical eyes (unless God so chooses to allow it). Most of the time, our relationship with God is by faith.
When God speaks to His children, it's usually not audible. It's a thought or a knowing by faith.
But, when Noah heard from God, God was speaking out loud very clearly. There were no "if's, and's or but's" like the movie portrayed. Noah was not confused about his mission as he was in the movie.
God told Noah, "The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth... but with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee."
Noah knew exactly what his mission was. He knew what God was doing and why. He didn't have doubts or wonder what God was telling him. He simply obeyed.
Through Noah's obedience, mankind had a second chance. Of course, mankind muffed it. Again.
Still, obedience to God is a wonderful thing. When we do it God's way, it shows God we believe in Him and trust that He knows best.
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