THE LAST DAYS
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
We have been discussing Mark 13: this week and some of what Jesus said during what people call His Olivette discourse. Jesus talked mainly about two things in this message to us; The Last Days, and His Second Coming.
I have spent a couple of days now on the warning that Christ gave us to "Watch Out" for false teachers, and why we need to be on guard for the deceit of this world. I don't believe that any of us know the extent of the trials that are going to come in these last days because they are meant for one good reason; and that is to weed out the dead wood that is clinging to the vine, but not having any signs of life in Christ or bearing any Spiritual fruit. I don't believe that most Christians realize the severity of a problem the church has today of not really bearing Spiritual fruit.
Jesus has given us this same warning time and time again that unless we do bear Spiritual fruit in our lives. The fact is that unless we do have Spiritual fruit develop within our life with Christ we, first of all, will not grow, and secondly will eventually die on the vine. We can still be plugged into a source of life within the church body and still be dead in Christ ( that is yet another thing that is not taught from our pulpits today) and it will eventually lead to death and decay. It is the tendency that we have to not change our lifestyles for the cause of Christ that becomes the real issue here because unless we take to heart the fact that God is real to us; not just in our minds, but in the deepest parts of our hearts we are not going to seek that kind of change within our lives. God is asking us to believe that He is and that He has loved us so much as to send a part of Himself to us as a living sacrifice so that by believing and accepting that fact through the blood sacrifice that God has made for us we might be saved.
That sacrifice is no good unless we respond to it, and unless we are somehow transformed by it. The thing is we cannot be changed by simply saying the words "I BELIEVE"; Satan himself truly believes even though he rejects and despises God and you. The change must come from within us and then grow outward until it begins to change our thoughts and attitudes toward God and our own life here. Until that change starts we may do many good works in this life without ever really bearing any spiritual fruit. That is the part of the transformation in us that is so serious and important to grasp because unless we are transformed by the renewing of our mind and regeneration of our hearts we will not fit into God's Kingdom. My dear ones this is one of the most important things today that we need to understand...God demands change within us; not simple lip service, but real change in the ways we live, think and view this life.
As I have said before this God is not coming again to save this physical world, it is temporal in its nature, and it will pass away just like all things that are temporary pass away. God is saving that which is eternal in nature; which is our created soul and is spiritual. It is the only part of us that can dwell with God in His Kingdom, but even that part of us must be found to be loyal to God and in love with God or He will not accept us. It is this reason that I tend to have a question mark around the idea of those who say " Simply believe in Christ and you will be saved". That statement is true, but it also has a qualifier within it; it must be a true belief, and it must be a life changing belief. If you find yourself in a situation where your life is no longer growing closer to God and you are not changing from year to year toward Christ it is time to do something about it. I am really beginning to pray about starting up a bible study in my home where we study only the teachings of Christ so that some of these things might be brought out that we so desperately need to know and adopt in our lives. Let me know if you are interested in such a study with me? May you richly bless God through yourr life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
We have been discussing Mark 13: this week and some of what Jesus said during what people call His Olivette discourse. Jesus talked mainly about two things in this message to us; The Last Days, and His Second Coming.
I have spent a couple of days now on the warning that Christ gave us to "Watch Out" for false teachers, and why we need to be on guard for the deceit of this world. I don't believe that any of us know the extent of the trials that are going to come in these last days because they are meant for one good reason; and that is to weed out the dead wood that is clinging to the vine, but not having any signs of life in Christ or bearing any Spiritual fruit. I don't believe that most Christians realize the severity of a problem the church has today of not really bearing Spiritual fruit.
Jesus has given us this same warning time and time again that unless we do bear Spiritual fruit in our lives. The fact is that unless we do have Spiritual fruit develop within our life with Christ we, first of all, will not grow, and secondly will eventually die on the vine. We can still be plugged into a source of life within the church body and still be dead in Christ ( that is yet another thing that is not taught from our pulpits today) and it will eventually lead to death and decay. It is the tendency that we have to not change our lifestyles for the cause of Christ that becomes the real issue here because unless we take to heart the fact that God is real to us; not just in our minds, but in the deepest parts of our hearts we are not going to seek that kind of change within our lives. God is asking us to believe that He is and that He has loved us so much as to send a part of Himself to us as a living sacrifice so that by believing and accepting that fact through the blood sacrifice that God has made for us we might be saved.
That sacrifice is no good unless we respond to it, and unless we are somehow transformed by it. The thing is we cannot be changed by simply saying the words "I BELIEVE"; Satan himself truly believes even though he rejects and despises God and you. The change must come from within us and then grow outward until it begins to change our thoughts and attitudes toward God and our own life here. Until that change starts we may do many good works in this life without ever really bearing any spiritual fruit. That is the part of the transformation in us that is so serious and important to grasp because unless we are transformed by the renewing of our mind and regeneration of our hearts we will not fit into God's Kingdom. My dear ones this is one of the most important things today that we need to understand...God demands change within us; not simple lip service, but real change in the ways we live, think and view this life.
As I have said before this God is not coming again to save this physical world, it is temporal in its nature, and it will pass away just like all things that are temporary pass away. God is saving that which is eternal in nature; which is our created soul and is spiritual. It is the only part of us that can dwell with God in His Kingdom, but even that part of us must be found to be loyal to God and in love with God or He will not accept us. It is this reason that I tend to have a question mark around the idea of those who say " Simply believe in Christ and you will be saved". That statement is true, but it also has a qualifier within it; it must be a true belief, and it must be a life changing belief. If you find yourself in a situation where your life is no longer growing closer to God and you are not changing from year to year toward Christ it is time to do something about it. I am really beginning to pray about starting up a bible study in my home where we study only the teachings of Christ so that some of these things might be brought out that we so desperately need to know and adopt in our lives. Let me know if you are interested in such a study with me? May you richly bless God through yourr life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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