Tag: God’s Word

A Heart Full Of Thanks

With A Heart Full of Thanks

A heart full of thanks

Dear Christian – do you want to know how much you are loved?

These Bible verses from Ephesians, which exhibit God’s great mercy, can help to serve as a reminder.

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the boundless riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. – Ephesians 2:4-7, (NASB).1

There are so many encouragements like these verses found in God’s Word.

What an impact God’s promises will have on us!

Even though we are undeserving sinners, through Jesus, we have His gift of salvation.

We choose to repent because of His transforming work in us.

That is great news to be grateful for.

With a heart full of thanks, we can come to His throne and know that because of His “great love”, we will live with Him in eternity.

Recently, I came across a beautiful version of a Brandon Lake song that I couldn’t wait to share.

The song is called “Gratitude”.

Please enjoy talented harpist and vocalist, Megan Tibbits, in this uplifting and beautiful cover.

You may want to turn your sound up for this one.

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1 Scripture quotation is from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.

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Biblical Christianity vs. Christianity-Lite

The Hidden Danger of Christianity-Lite

Cinnamon vs. CuminEvery morning I look forward to having the same breakfast.

I call it “the smoothie of champions.” Lol.

There’s a chocolate protein liquid to start, and then I mix in cucumber slices, chia seeds, frozen strawberries, bananas, blueberries, and more.

This shake tastes so good!

Except for one day . . . when it didn’t. 

I grabbed what I thought was cinnamon and sprinkled a nice helping into my little blender.

I didn’t realize it at first, but it was cumin!!!!

The bottle looked the same, the color of the ingredient was the same, but in my morning fog, I wasn’t careful and grabbed the bottle at face value and went to town.

Blech.

Cumin and cinnamon certainly aren’t the same, and on a lot more serious note, neither are Biblical Christianity and Christianity-lite.

Not even close.

A watered-down version of Christianity is not authentic Christianity.

Biblical Christianity vs. Christianity-LiteSadly, millions can be led astray by the dilution of God’s Word offered up by a world of disturbing re-interpreters.

Do any of these sound familiar?

The Bible needs to change with the times

We need to remove certain sins from “the list”  

Jesus isn’t the only way

Faithfulness to God equals material wealth

Cultural Relativism 

Sadly, the list of cultural dilutions goes on and on.

Without practicing discernment in matters of our faith, continuing to follow ear-tickling Christianity-lite will have disastrous eternal consequences.

Biblical Christianity vs. Christianity-Lite

What in the world is going on?

Sadly, the question also contains the answer.

The world.

We’re talking about a secular world inhabited by over “8 billion people”. (worldometers.info, n.d.)1

A devastating majority of our fellow men and women do not want to believe the authority of the Bible – God’s Word – because they consider it harsh, archaic, or it convicts them of their sins.

World population of an estimated over 8 billion people

I believe that one reason why the church of God at this present moment has so little influence over the world is because the world has so much influence over the church. – Charles Haddon Spurgeon, pastor and author.2

Friends – there are millions of lost people in need of a Savior.

I’m talking about the true Savior we read about in God’s Word.

He died for our sins so that repentant sinners could have eternal life with Him in Heaven – proof of God’s love for us.

But, God’s love does not include tolerating unrepentant sin.

Eternal separation from God would be agony, grief, regret, and sadness to a degree unimaginable.

The only just punishment for high treason against our perfect Creator is eternal separation from Him. That separation means the absence of goodness, light, relationship, and joy, which are all facets of God’s nature. To excuse our sin would require God to be less than just, and to allow sin-tainted humans into His perfect heaven would render that place less than perfect. That’s why only the perfect Son of God could go to the cross in our place. Only His perfect blood was an acceptable payment for the debt we each owe God (Colossians 2:14). When we refuse Jesus as our substitute, we must pay the price ourselves (Romans 6:23). – Got Questions.org.3

I pray for a spiritual revival.

Will it happen as it has in generations past?

That remains to be seen depending on God’s providence and grace.

In the meantime, as discerning believers we know that compromising God’s Word isn’t Christianity at all.

Beware.

God’s Word will never pass away, but looking back to the Old Testament and since the time of Christ, with tears we must say that because of lack of fortitude and faithfulness on the part of God’s people, God’s Word has many times been allowed to be bent, to conform to the surrounding, passing, changing culture of that moment rather than to stand as the inerrant Word of God judging the form of the world spirit and the surrounding culture of that moment. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, may our children and grandchildren not say that such can be said about us. – Francis Schaeffer, theologian.4

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1 World population statistic from “Worldometer | Current World Population Clock”. Web. Accessed January 19, 2024. Retrieved from: World population stats, updated.

2 Quotation by Charles Spurgeon, influential Christian pastor and author, (1834-1892) courtesy of courtesy of Christian quotes.info.

3 Quotation from gotquestions.org, from “How can a loving God send someone to hell? n.d., para. 8. Web. Accessed January 19, 2024. Retrieved from a loving God send someone to hell

4 Francis August Schaeffer, (1912-1984), evangelical Christian and theologian. Schaeffer quotation courtesy of AZquotes.com. Accessed 20 January, 2024. Francis Schaeffer quotation

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The “R” Words

The Most Significant “R” Words

R words

What are the most important words you can think of that begin with an “R”?

If you ask some of the people being interviewed by the mainstream media these days, you’d get answers like:

Resist

Rebel

Rise Up

In this contentious world we live in, it’s obvious that people have taken their eyes off God.

Sometimes the news comes on, and I.just.can’t.watch.

Focus On God

As a Bible-believing Christian, and a sinner in need of God’s grace, these are the most significant  “R” words I know:

Resurrection

Repentance

Redemption

In the ultimate scheme of things, what matters most is Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection on the cross – the affirmation of our faith.

Jesus paid the ultimate price for our sins, and through His death and resurrection, and our repentance, we can have an eternity with Him in Heaven.

Doesn’t it sadden you that there are people out there, even people you know, who think this life is all that there is?

Life Eternal

We can spend our eternity in Heaven with our Savior!

eternal happiness and joy

So how do we respond to what Christ did for us on the Cross?

Do we just go to church Sunday, help the less-fortunate, and then check those items off our good works list?

Or, do we also “repent” of our sins, and tell a lost world the whole truth – that Yes, there’s a Heaven and there’s a Hell.

I’m frustrated that, in some Christian circles, there’s an ongoing movement away from salvation messages, and that we should only speak about Love. They don’t even want you to mention that there’s a Hell.

We are to share the love of Christ with a lost world.

But, please, tell them the “whole” truth.

We are all sinners in need of the Savior

Unrepented sin has consequences.

Unfortunately, some churches shy away from talking about Sin and the need for salvation because it might turn off people and affect church growth.

That to me, shows a lack of trust in God.

Are clever marketing, great singing, and talking about soft topics more important than preaching all of God’s Word and how to obtain salvation through His Son?

What Jesus Christ did for us on the cross is the biggest, most extraordinary, expression of love that there is.

Withhold no part of the precious truth, but speak what you know and declare what you have seen. Do not allow the toil or darkness or possible unbelief of your friends to dissuade you. Let us rise and march to the place of duty, and there declare what great things God has shown to our soul. – *Alistair Begg, Christian pastor, Truth For Life Teaching Ministry, and Author.

 

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*Alistair Begg quotation, as quoted from Christian quotes.info

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