Ponder this

 Ponder this

For the Christian it's all about faith in God. 

God does not force himself on us. He gave us a free will to do and believe as we wish.

Thus I put these portions of the New Testament for you to ponder. My question being do you agree with them or not 

The apostle Paul writes

                          "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

 and are justified freely by his grace 

through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

 Romans 3:23,24.

The apostle Paul tells us we cannot work our way to heaven. Stating,

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith

and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God

 not by works, so that no one can boast.”  

 Ephesians 2:8,9

Faith defined by the writer of Hebrews as,

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for 

and certain of what we do not see.” 

 Hebrews 11:1

The same writer noting 

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, 

because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists 

and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him”

Hebrews 11:6

Blaise Pascal noting,

“Belief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that He exists.” Blaise Pascal

Thus the question becomes. Do you believe Jesus is the Son of God, God incarnate, the Saviour of mankind?

Where will you place your wager?

Please think about it.

The LORD and your Neighbour

 The LORD and your Neighbour

Jesus who when asked,

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 

Jesus replied: " ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'  

This is the first and greatest commandment.  

And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.'  

All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:37-40

Do you have the same kind of love Jesus is talking about in this portion of scripture? Do you love God and your neighbour?

It is only through loving and showing that love to those around us that we will win souls for Christ. God set that example by sending Jesus to die for our sins.

Jesus speaking of himself said,

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." John 3:16,17. 

The apostle John wrote,

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.  

If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?  

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.  1 John 3:16-18.

Please think about it.

For each of us

 For each of us

The apostle Paul writes,

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8.

C. S. Lewis puts it this way.

"He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less." C.S. Lewis.

As Christians we believe you cannot live a life good enough to get into heaven. Isaiah the Prophet put it this way.

“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” Isaiah 64:6.

That is why we believe Jesus came into this world to take upon himself the sins of all those who would believe in Him.

Jesus speaking of himself said,

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16,17.

The primary reason for Jesus to come to this world is simple. To save the sinner and all of us at times sinned and fallen short of Gods ideals for our life.

Thus the question becomes do you believe this?

Please think about it.

Where will you spend eternity

Where will you spend eternity

In the book of James we read,

"Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money."  

Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. James 4:13,14.

We don’t know what will happen to us tomorrow or for that matter in the next moments of our life. Whether we will live or die. But we can know were we will spend eternity.

In the book of Romans the Apostle Paul writes,

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:6-8.

The apostle John writes,

"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." John 1:12,13.

Do you truly believe in The Lord Jesus Christ?

Do you know where you will spend eternity?

Please think about it. 

Jesus God in the Flesh

 Jesus God in the flesh

In the book of Hebrews we read,

"The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.  Hebrews 1:3.

The apostle John referring to Jesus as “The Word” States,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  

He was with God in the beginning. 

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  

In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” John 1:1-4.

In 1 John the apostle writes,

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.  

The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.  

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.  1John 1:1-3.

Those writing this have been, talked to and even touched Jesus. They were close to Him and believed that He was and is God in the flesh.

The question however is do you believe this?

Before you answer the question however I would challenge you to read the New Testament and see what the writers of it thought about Jesus.

Please think about it.