Walking With Jesus

Salvation

“That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joeseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying, ‘Sovereign Lord, now let Your servant die in peace, as You have promised. I have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared for all people. He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and He is the glory of Your people Israel!’” (Luke 2:27-32 NLT)

Salvation isn’t simply an experience we have when our sins are forgiven and we’re given new life; it’s the initiation of an eternal relationship with the King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus isn’t simply the Purchaser and Provider of our salvation; He IS OUR SALVATION! Peter had it right in Acts 4:12 when he said: “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”

Perhaps the greatest tragedy in the Christian Church is the belief that salvation is a process into which we enter as we learn what it means to be a child of God. It’s like someone getting married, but the husband saying to his bride: “I love you and I can’t wait to go on our honeymoon, but I have to get this marriage manual memorized first!” That’s asinine, marriage is a relationship, not conformity to a set of rules. It’s learned IN relationship.

John Piper helps us when he writes: “Salvation is not mainly forgiveness of sins it is mainly a fellowship with Jesus.” Having our sins forgiven is a wonderful thing, but it was only made possible by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. No Jesus! No forgiveness! How do you ever thank someone for forgiving you? You build a positive, wholesome relationship with them. The measure of forgiveness determines the measure of love, grace, and time it will take to heal and to find wholeness in our relationship.

With the Lord Jesus, that relationship will build throughout eternity. As we learn more fully who He is and what He has done and is doing on our behalf, our devotion must deepen and our commitment to Him must grow stronger. Out of that relationship will grow spiritual disciplines such as worship through prayer and reading, studying, and memorizing God’s Word, the Bible; faithful fellowship with other Jesus followers through a local church devoted to knowing Him, growing in Him, and serving Him through sharing His life and love with those in our spheres of influence.

For someone to profess they have salvation in Christ alone by faith alone, then huddle themselves away, never interacting with anyone or sharing their life in Christ with anyone in any meaningful way is blasphemous. Salvation has no meaning except it’s shared. It’s like having a baby but never telling anyone about it. Or being married but never speaking about your spouse. Or having a new friend but never sharing them with anyone. What’s the point?

Love is to be shared and Jesus IS LOVE. EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW JESUS! Why? Because He’s the only way to heaven. It’s not a system, process, or religion, it’s a PERSON! The Lord Jesus. To know Him IS to have salvation, new life, hope for all eternity! Do you know HIM? Not just about Him. Not just have an acquaintance or satisfactory knowledge of Him Do you know HIM? Are you having regular fellowship with HIM! Are you spending time speaking with HIM! Are you disciplining yourself to worship HIM in and through your lifestyle – the way you dress, speak, work, live, drive, spend your time and money, in short, how you live and move and have your being?

If not, you likely don’t have salvation, you may simply have had a religious experience that continues to leave you cold, empty and lost. Come to Jesus alone by faith alone. But how? Open your heart to Him by inviting Him to become the Lord of your life. But how?

Just ask Him: “Lord Jesus, please forgive my sin that is separating me from You. Cleanse me of my sin and fill me with Your Holy Spirit. Teach me how to walk with You, not just jump through a bunch of spiritual hoops. Open Your Word, the Bible, to me in fresh ways. Help me to see You on every page and seek to model my life after Yours. Guide and teach me by Your Spirit, but please help me find others like me who really need strength and guidance to walk faithfully with You and to grow in our likeness of You. I want You, Lord Jesus to reign in and rule my life. You’re what I really need! I open my life to you, thank You for coming into my heart and giving me new life by Your Spirit. In Your holy Name I pray. Amen!”

If you just prayed that prayer you must let someone know. If you have a Pastor you trust or a trusted Christian friend, please call them or somehow let them know you’ve given your life to Jesus and you need someone to walk with you. If you don’t have anyone, respond to this message or write me at walkingwithjesus@gmail.com.

Blessings, Ed 😊

The Power of Positive Praying

*Having often used quotes from Pastor Rick Warren, he is certainly no stranger to my blog, but this devotional on prayer was just too good not to share in its entirety. Hopefully it will be as helpful and as meaningful to you as it was to me. Blessings, Ed 😊

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” Philippians 1:9-11 (NIV)

Paul didn’t just pray for the people in his life. He prayed for them with joy!

There are probably things in other people’s lives you’d like to change. You don’t want to change yourself; you want them to change. You can’t make them change—but you can, however, pray and let God do his work in other people.

Positive praying is more effective than positive thinking. All the positive thinking in the world isn’t going to change your spouse, child, friend, or situation. Positive thinking might change you, but it won’t change somebody else. But positive prayer can make a difference in both you and in others.

What’s the quickest way to change a bad relationship to a good one? Start praying for the other person! It will change you, and it may change them, too.

Paul even gave us an example of how to pray for others: “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:9-11 NIV).

From these verses, you can learn to pray for the people in your life in four ways:

Pray that they will grow in love: “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight . . .”

Pray that they will make wise choices: “. . . so that you may be able to discern what is best . . .”

Pray that they will live with integrity: “. . . and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ . . .”

Pray that they will become like Jesus: “. . . filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”

Pray this for yourself and for other people in your life. Then watch how God turns around even your relationships that have seemed hopeless.

Talk It Over

Think of a strained relationship in your life. Take time now to pray that the other person will grow in love, make wise choices, live with integrity, and become like Jesus.
How does positive prayer change you, and not just the person you are praying for?
Take a moment and read Galatians 5:22-23. How are you seeing more of this “fruit” in your life as you follow Jesus?

If you’ve never invited Jesus into your heart, I want you to have that opportunity now.

Tell God you trust his promise of salvation through Jesus by praying this prayer:

“Dear Father, I confess that I have sinned against you, and I ask for your forgiveness. Thank you for your promise that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus and that my guilt is taken away through him.

“I believe in your Son, Jesus Christ, and accept him as my Lord and Savior. I give my life to you completely, trusting in your grace and love. Thank you for saving me and making me new. Help me to follow you every day. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

If you just prayed to accept Jesus, please email me at Rick@PastorRick.com and let me know. I’d like to send you some free materials to help you start your journey with Jesus.

What Will Heaven Be Like?

“Can you solve the mysteries of God? Can you discover everything about the Almighty? Such knowledge is higher than the heavens – and who are you? It is deeper than the underworld – what do you know? It is broader than the earth and wider than the sea.” (Job 11:7-9 NLT)

Here’s the truth: we could memorize the Bible from Genesis to Revelation in every translation known to man, including the original languages and still miss God. How could that be? Because knowledge and wisdom are two very different things. Revelation of Truth and knowing the One who IS Truth, is the only way to heaven. Knowing facts about God and the Bible, while helpful, aren’t in and of themselves adequate to prepare our heart, mind, and soul to make the journey from life to death and into life again for all eternity.

Do you understand that eternal life isn’t the issue? EVERYONE, is going to live forever…somewhere! The issue is where will that life be lived, who is the Author of that life, and what will that life look like? We looked yesterday at several things that won’t be in hell, but today we’re going to look at a few things that won’t be in heaven. Sickness, sadness, suffering, sin, sex, and separation won’t be in heaven, as well as marriage or money.

Photo by Caleb Falkenhagen on Pexels.com

Because everything is perfect in Heaven, there will be no injustice, bickering, arguing, or differences of any kind. How can that be? Because we’ll all see as we are seen. We’ll have perfect understanding of everything because we’ll have the mind of Christ. We’ll be in an environment of perfect love, with perfect people, governed by a perfect Lord.

The presence of the Lord will be our light, our love, our life. We’ll have no needs of any kind because they will all be met in Him. There will be no death, sorrow, or suffering of any kind and, amazingly, there will be no questions. Have you every thought: “When I get to heaven this is the first thing I’m going to ask the Lord?” On earth we fret, worry, and wonder about why things happen as they do. Why does God seem to answer some prayers and not others? Why does He heal some and not others? Why are some saved and not others? Why do children suffer and die? Why? Why? Why?

The answers to all those things and a million more will be answered the moment our eyes are opened in the presence of our Savior. HE IS the only answer we need now. That’s why it’s called faith. But faith will be turned to sight the moment we see Him and we’re given our new body, mind, and eternal heart. Because there will be no sin, no separation of any kind, our understanding will be complete and our knowledge exhaustive.

Our purity, wholeness, completeness in Jesus will prepare us on every level and in every conceivable way to live the life to which we’re being called as the Lord’s chosen. And that raises a very vital question. Why are some chosen and others aren’t? While I can’t give you a chapter and verse, based on what the Lord is teaching me about Himself and His Word, my sense is it’s because the Lord records everyone’s name in the Lamb’s Book of Life who opens their heart to Him and invites Him to become their Savior and Lord.

“Yeh, but that Book has already been written. What if someone hasn’t even been born yet?” The Lord is ever present. He’s in the presence of everyone who has or ever will be born, and He knows without question where their heart is with Him. Nothing is a mystery or unknown to Him and He uses perfect judgment. If someone wants to be in heaven and they place their faith and trust in the Living Lord Jesus, their name will be recorded in His Book of Life, and they will be in heaven when they die.

But what if they never heard His Name or knew anything about Him? Read Romans 1, but know that’s why WE as believers exist, to make Him known. My sense is no one who genuinely has a heart to know Him will be left out of heaven. Jesus knows His own. Are you one of them? If not, please tap on anewstory.com and get that settled today!

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

What Will Hell Be Like?

“Just as the weeds are sorted out and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the world. The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will remove from His Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 13:40-42 NLT)

As frightening as those verses are, the worst part of hell isn’t what we perceive as physical pain and agony, but the emotional anguish of being in an environment completely separated from God. That’s beyond anything we can imagine because no living being on earth has ever been completely separated from His presence. Just as sin separates us from God in life, death separates those who have persisted in their sin from God for all eternity. What might that look like?

John writes in 1 John 4:16-18: “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in His love. God is Love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them,. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face Him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced His perfect love.”

If we’re separated from God, we’re separated from His love. The opposite of love isn’t hatred, it’s fear. Love means security in Him, peace, hope, satisfaction, confidence, companionship, community, and many other positive things that bring comfort and joy. Fear means never a moment of peace, constant anxiety, it essentially means living in fear every second.

Since God is love, there is no love in hell, but God is also light, so hell will be complete darkness. Jesus said in Matthew 19:17 “There is only One who is good” who is God, so, in His absence there will be nothing good in hell. God is life, which implies fellowship and interaction with others, hell will be isolation and loneliness. God is filled with grace, mercy, kindness, none of which will be present in hell.

In this life we have family, friends, jobs, the ability to see other beautiful places and people from other countries who broaden our appreciation of who God is and how creative He is and how much joy life affords us. Hell will be without joy of any kind. Try to imagine life without the joy of having someone in your life whom you love and by whom you’re loved.

Yet, even as I write that, I realize there are millions of people in this world who could say, “That’s me! I must already be in hell!” But here’s the sad truth, that’s only one small aspect of the real hell, yet few make the connection between their misery in this life and the absence of Christ as Savior in their life. Jesus IS life so the adage is true: No Jesus, No life! Know Jesus, Know life and peace, happiness, joy, fulfillment, and many more positives.

If you’ve continually pushed away from any thought of Jesus, believing you don’t want anything to do with God, Jesus, the Bible, Church or anything that smacks of religious belief, read carefully again the words above, because when you die, you will get your wish, and I guarantee you, you won’t like it. Why not rather open your heart to life by opening your mind and heart to Jesus? At least investigate His claims for yourself.

Please tap on anewstory.com and allow Ron Hutchcraft to walk you through a brief, but helpful explanation of how to begin a relationship with the Lord Jesus, the only One who can save you from an eternity in hell.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Thin Agnosticism

By: John Stonestreet and Dr. Glenn Sunshine

*This being the first of the month, I’ve chosen this timely and informative article from the Colson Center. If you’re not familiar with the Colson Center, please check it out. Blessings, Ed 😊

In 1869, at a meeting of the Metaphysical Society in London, English biologist and anthropologist Thomas Huxley coined the term “agnostic” to describe those who, like himself, were neither theists nor atheists. Claiming instead intellectual ‘humility,’ Huxley claimed to know that anything unknowable to science could not be real knowledge since it could not be empirically verified. This included the existence of God, the ultimate nature of reality, and anything immaterial.

The word “agnostic” is constructed from Greek, beginning with the “a-,” which means without or not, and gnostos or gnosis, which refers to what is known or knowledge. Huxley contrasted “agnostic” with gnostic, a word that refers to secret, mystical, or spiritual knowledge. In other words, for the agnostic, truth about life, God, and supernatural realities are unknowable.

An assumption built into the word agnostic is that the only way to know is through empirical evidence. In other words, agnosticism is a kinder and gentler version of positivism, the idea that only what is empirically verifiable or logically necessary can qualify as knowledge. Anything not empirically verifiable or logically necessary is unknowable and, according to Huxley, ultimately meaningless.

Of course, the assumption that science is the only route to real knowledge is a statement that cannot be proven scientifically. Thus, by the agnostic’s own standard, science cannot be the only way to know things because science cannot prove that science is the only way to know things. As the Greeks might say, “Oh, the irony!”

In fact, the agnostic assumption is not only incoherent; it is also false. There are other ways of knowing beyond empirical science. We know things by experience, by moral and philosophical reasoning, and by aesthetics, among others. Huxley’s agnosticism pushed much of human life and experience into the realm of the unknowable and the meaningless.

Huxley’s claim that certainty is possible only by empirical evidence also fails because science itself is subject to constant reappraisal. The scientific certainties of past eras often become the discarded theories of the next. That Huxley reserved the right to decide what qualified as knowledge undermined his claim to intellectual humility. And it is likely that he believed things not testable by empirical evidence.

In the end, agnosticism is just a lite version of atheism. While not denying the existence of God outright, agnosticism says that knowledge about God, including whether or not He exists, is impossible. It also claims, in effect, that if God does exist, He does not and cannot communicate any knowledge about Himself or the world. Not only would His existence be, for all practical purposes, irrelevant, but that’s also an awful lot of knowledge about God that agnostics claim to have. Though they also claim that knowledge about God is impossible.

Theists propose another source of knowledge: divine revelation. As Francis Schaeffer said, God is there, and He is not silent. Ironically, in the century and a half since Huxley claimed that science is the only thing that provides knowledge, it has uncovered more and more evidence of God from the world that He made. From the finely tuned molecular machines in every cell to the world seemingly built for humans, the evidence points to purpose and design in the universe. If there is design, there is a Designer.

It’s also worth noting that science itself developed out of theistic assumptions, specifically biblical teaching. If God is rational and created an orderly universe and human beings in His image, we can study the universe. Without these assumptions, there is no reason to assume the world is knowable or that humans are able to know. It is the theistic assumption, not the agnostic assumption, that grounds science. By rejecting God, scientists undercut the foundations for their work.

This just scratches the surface for why it’s reasonable to believe that God exists and has made Himself known in His Word and His world. Agnosticism is another example of how humans suppress the truth, by rejecting what may be known about God. The evidence is there for those with eyes to see.

Jesus: Healer and Hope

“Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And He healed every kind of disease and illness. News about Him spread as far as Syria, and people soon began bringing to Him all who were sick. And whatever their sickness or disease, or if they were demon possessed or epileptic or paralyzed – He healed them all.” (Matthew 4:23-24a NLT)

It could be argued that the single most upsetting issue in our lives is sickness or disease. We wake up with the sniffles or try to move, and it seems everything hurts. “Oh no!” is often our first response, but why? Because if our body isn’t working well, nothing else seems to go right. And because we have medicine, doctors, Urgent Cares, Emergency Rooms, Hospitals, home remedies and many other resources available to us, we seldom immediately turn to the Lord for an answer.

Jesus is the Author of our health, so, it just makes sense to me to turn to Him immediately, seeking His instructions regarding ANYTHING that affects any area of our lives. Does that mean He gave me this nasty cold? Of course not, you may have just gone out in the wind and cold without proper clothing. What it does mean is we can always rely on Him to help us resolve physical issues in accordance with His will regardless of the source.

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It’s interesting to me that the Bible explicitly says, “He healed every kind of disease and illness.” Much of what I struggle with today is because of poor eating habits when I was younger, issues I could easily have avoided had I been willing to discipline myself better. The Lord could say to me: “You had your chance, live with the consequences!” And, to some extent, I do, but He makes doctors and medicine available that enable me to live a reasonably normal life even with several conditions.

Why would He do that? Primarily because He loves us, but the overriding theme in cutting us this physical and spiritual “slack” is hope. Especially spiritually it could be so easy to lose hope. We want with all that is within us to do better, to strive to be like Jesus, but that’s not really our calling; that’s not what the Lord has called us to do. That’s the ministry of the Holy Spirit within us. He does the work; we just get in step with what He’s showing us.

For example, prayer. There’s a very real sense in which prayer isn’t our efforts to reach God or to share our thoughts with Him, it’s the Holy Spirit’s efforts to reveal God to us, to reveal how much He cares, how closely He’s listening, not simply to our words, but our heart that bears the impact of our words. Sometimes when we’re burdened and our heart is heavy, we don’t need words. Our tears, our quietness, our humble posture conveys to the Lord the positioning of our heart before Him, ready to receive whatever He desires to say to us.

Many times, my most meaningful prayer times are spent listening to the heart of God, taking notes, making calls or writing texts, letters or emails. Our concern in prayer shouldn’t always be what we want, it must also focus on what God wants for, in, and to do through us. The most exciting and meaningful part of my day is obeying God in what He’s prompting me to do, say, or write.

My healing isn’t reflected simply in the condition of my body, but in and through my relationship with my Savior. As long as He’s speaking and I’m listening, I’m exactly where I need to be. When He’s finished with me, He’ll call me home; until then, I’ll continue to trust Him as my Healer and my eternal Hope.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

God Has Made a Way to Heaven

By: Rick Warren

*This powerful message from Rick Warren is the perfect follow-up to yesterday’s article about Another Jesus. Please read carefully with the lost in your spheres of influence in mind. Blessings, Ed 😊

“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.” (John 3:16 NIV)

Over the years, I’ve encountered people who want to deny the existence of evil. They think that people are basically good and by nature unselfish, and that they naturally put the needs of others before their own.

I always wonder if those people have ever read the news! You don’t have to look far to see that the world is filled with broken relationships, broken promises, and sin. Evil is all around you—from world politics to local conflicts, you can see hatred, bitterness, and corruption.

And because sin and evil exist, hell also exists.

What was true in Noah’s day is still true today: “The LORD observed the extent of human wickedness . . . and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the LORD was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart” (Genesis 6:5-6 NLT).

When God looks at all the wrong, evil things that are done in the world, it breaks his heart—because he loves everyone and wants us to learn to love each other.

But God is also holy and just. He is perfect and cannot sin. So one day he will settle the score and right the wrongs: “He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with justice, and the nations with his truth” (Psalm 96:13 NLT).

Until then, God has given you free will so that you can choose to love him—and love involves a choice. That’s why this world is still broken by sin. But in heaven, there is no sin. It’s a completely perfect place.

If heaven is a perfect place, then that means only perfect people get to go there. Of course, that’s a problem—because you’re not perfect, and neither am I. No one is perfect!

If you’re made to last forever and you’re not perfect, you can’t go to a perfect place like heaven. So where will you go? The Bible says hell.

But thank God! He has made a way—through Jesus Christ, his Son—for you to join him in heaven: “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. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:16-18 NIV).

Hell is real. So is heaven. Choose Christ, and there is no condemnation. The choice is yours!

Talk It Over

Why is it important to be straightforward about the existence of hell when you talk to people about the gospel?
How would you respond to someone who asks, “Why do you believe hell exists?”
Do you think God can have love without exacting justice? Why or why not?

Will you choose to spend eternity with God?
The Bible says, “We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are” (Romans 3:22 NLT). If you’re ready to turn away from your sins and surrender your life to Jesus Christ, start by praying this simple prayer:

“Dear God, I know I’m a sinner, and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe Jesus Christ is your Son. I believe that he died for my sins and that you raised him to life. I want to trust him as my Savior and follow him as Lord from this day forward. Guide my life and help me to do your will. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”

If you just prayed to accept Jesus, please email me at Rick@PastorRick.com and let me know. I’d like to send you some free materials to help you start your journey with Jesus.

Another Jesus?

“But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed.” (2 Corinthians 11:3-4 NLT)

There’s a lot of confusion in our world today about who the Jesus of the Bible really is. Many have been fooled by the blasphemous claims of the Latter-Day Saints or the Jehovah’s Witnesses, though they use similar terms and claim to be “Christian,” they have completely different meanings for many terms. They use common expressions such as being saved, baptized, faith, church, works, believe, heaven and others, and refer to Jesus and the Spirit, but what they mean by those terms is drastically different from what the Bible teaches. But how will you know? You ask questions.

It’s not uncommon in conversations with friends, loved ones, even strangers to mention Jesus, and it’s not unusual for someone to say something like, “Oh, I believe in Jesus!” And our knee-jerk reaction can sometimes be, “Oh great! That’s wonderful.” Often followed up by, “Where do you go to church?” “I go to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” or “I go to the Kingdom Hall” or “I don’t go to church. Me and Jesus have an understanding, I believe in Him and He lets me basically live however I want to without the burden of church and all that formality.”

What should these responses clearly indicate? They believe in a different Jesus than the One in the Bible. Why is that important to know? Because if we’re trying to help someone come to faith in the Jesus of the Bible, we need to know what they mean when they use His Name or hear His Name in conversation. We need to ask someone: “What does that name mean to you?” Or “Who is Jesus in your understanding?” Because if someone doesn’t know who Jesus is, the true, living Gospel will never make sense to them.

If Jesus is a created being, as some cults believe, not the pre-existent, Creator, Sustainer, and Ruler of the Universe that the Bible teaches that He is, then He’s powerless to forgive sin. If He wasn’t born of a virgin, didn’t live a sinless life, didn’t die by crucifixion on a Roman cross, and rise on the third day from a borrowed tomb, He’s not the God-Man the Bible describes. If He’s not the second Person of the Triune Godhead (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), He’s clearly not the Jesus of the Bible. If He didn’t overcome sin, death, and the grave He has no power to save and has no authority to call us to heaven when we die.

It matters what we believe about Jesus, that’s why reading, studying, and memorizing Scripture is so critical. Memorize or at least know what John 1:1-14 says where John explains exactly who Jesus is. The same with Colossians 1:15-20 where Paul explains the uniqueness of the God-Man. There is no question that Jesus is unique, one-of-kind, God in human flesh. To mistake the clear teaching of Scripture is to distort truth and blaspheme the Name and character of almighty God.

Peter summed it up in the presence of the Jewish Council when he said in Acts 4:12: “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved!” There is no agreement between Truth and lies; no compromise between contradictions; no fellowship between good and evil.

We must love others enough to gently, but forthrightly help them to understand who Jesus is and why knowing Him is the only way to the heaven of the Bible, which is the ONLY heaven.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

There Is No Mama

By: John Stonestreet and Dr. Timothy D. Padgett

*This article grabbed my heart and attention in a fresh way to allow me to see in ways I haven’t seen before what’s happening to many children in our world today because of our ignorance and/or neglect. Please read this article with fresh eyes. Blessings, Ed 😊

A recent video exposed the injustice at the heart of same-sex marriage and commercial surrogacy. In it, a man bouncing a baby on his lap asks, “Who do you want? Dada or Pop?” The baby answered, “Mama!” To which, both the man and his unseen partner behind the camera laughed and said, “There is no Mama.” They continue to badger the child, who then begins to cry.

The most obvious evil portrayed in the video is the relentless teasing of a baby. The deeper evil, however, is not that the men were mean. In fact, being mean was only the insult added to the injury of forcing their farcical arrangement on a baby and calling it a family.

Because, and everyone knows this including these two men suppressing the truth by their wickedness, there is a mama. She is not included in the video, nor is she in the life of the baby she carried and who needs her, but she exists. She’s been cut out of her child’s life, presumably by her own choice. The baby, however, did not make a choice. And now two men who have appropriated the title of “parents” are badgering the baby into affirming their lifestyle choice.

Perhaps, the infant is only doing what infants often do, babbling out those syllables that are often among the first learned by young ones across times and places and culture. But of course, these syllables always refer to the same person. They are, in the end, a primal cry of children for a particular someone who should always be there for them.

Anyone who has spent time around babies understands what is playing out in this scene. For little ones, mama is the world. In fact, according to childhood policy expert Dr. Dan Wuori, kids often say “Dada” before “Mama” not because the mom doesn’t matter as much but because she matters so much more. In their tiny, growing minds, they recognize “Dad” as a distinct person before they realize that “Mom” isn’t part of themselves. This innate and beautiful bond is intentionally broken when we pretend that a man can replace a mom, or whenever a child is acquired through surrogacy.

Just as tragic is the embrace of same-sex “marriage” or such reproductive technologies by individuals, governments, medical authorities, and Christians, while failing to even take a cursory glance to consider what is best for the child. Any ethical concerns around in vitro fertilization and surrogacy have been deferred in order to protect the feelings and desires of adults. In fact, both in policy and in public discourse, we’ve lost the ability to even discern the difference between couples who suffer with infertility and same-sex couples who have chosen inherently sterile relationships but then demand children. As a result, what children need is tossed aside in the name of adult desires. Children become commodities in the marketplace of consumer-driven reproductive technologies.

As Katy Faust, founder of the children’s rights group Them Before Us and the Greater Than campaign, said to the Colson Center:

We’ve been sounding the alarm about surrogacy for years. The mother loss, the commodification, the fact that children often go home with unrelated adults, increasing risk of abuse and neglect. But videos like this do something that arguments and studies never can. They spark righteous rage that leads people to come out of the closet as defenders of the natural family. It is more and more clear that gay marriage didn’t just have to do with what takes place “in the privacy of the bedroom.” It impacts children. And when we see those children cry on camera, it motivates us to action.

It should, at least. The word “natural” is accurate. Having chosen unnatural relationships, to quote Paul, these two dads now demand that even a baby must affirm what is unnatural. Even if they had not made that demand in such a cruel way in a video shared for social media clicks, great harm has been done to this child. And a culture that affirms their choice is complicit in that harm.

Babies need their mamas. There are few things more obvious than that. Denying that reality is a tragedy. Harming children should be a crime.

Perfection

“But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48 NLT)

Are you perfect? What is Jesus asking in the above verse? He’s asking, are you sinless, flawless, perfect in every aspect of your life and being? Of course not! And we’re quick to think: “No one is!” But that’s not true, is it? Jesus is perfect and as His redeemed children, we’re called to be like Him, but how? By the power of His Spirit living in and through us. It’s not that we’re without sin, but because the God of heaven views us through the lens of Christ’s perfection, as blood-washed and chosen children of God we’re seen as perfect, just as Jesus is.

Does that mean we can just live anyway we want and it’s okay? Our sin no longer matters? That’s not what Paul said in Romans 6:1-4 when he writes: “Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of His wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined Him in His death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.”

That raises a problem for many people across our world today. Comparatively speaking only a small fraction of the people of the world have yielded their lives to the Lordship of Jesus and accepted His perfection as their own; therefore, that leaves the vast majority of people lost and separated from a holy God. Why is that important? Because if heaven is perfect and only those who are perfect are allowed to enter, no one apart from those who find their perfection in Jesus will be allowed to enter.

Why is that a problem? Because people as a whole fall into one of two categories: they either think they’re good enough already and don’t need Jesus or they think they’re so bad even Jesus couldn’t help them. Both are wrong, of course, but that’s where you and I as Jesus-lovers come in. How so? As a rule we fell into one of those categories ourselves.

We either felt we were pretty good or saw ourselves as beyond hope because of how bad we perceived we were. But, by the grace of God, we were able to see ourselves as the Lord saw us, lost and undone, without hope of heaven without Jesus, but alive to the possibility of being redeemed, restored, and made perfect through the priceless blood of our Savior, the Lord Jesus.

Where do you find yourself today? Are you feeling pretty good about yourself? You’ve got this religion thing down pat? You know the language, you sing the songs, you jump through all the religious “hoops” so you’re feeling pretty good about yourself? Welcome to hell’s favorite fan club – the self-righteous! Sorry, but if you’re in that club, there’s no place in heaven for you unless you repent of your self-righteousness, be forgiven, and find your hope in Christ alone by faith alone, the same as every other sinner.

Or maybe you’re seeing yourself as hopeless, helpless, and eternally lost because of all the wrong you’ve done. I have some very good news for you; you’re in some very good company. Because you realize just how lost and hopeless you are, you’re the ideal candidate to open your heart to Jesus and find forgiveness and the hope of heaven you never dared dream was available to you. You’re exactly the kind of person Jesus is looking for, because you understand you have no hope without Him.

That’s the decision each of us must come to if we’re to ever be “perfect” and prepared for heaven. If you’re not sure how to open your heart to the Lord Jesus and allow Him to forgive and cleanse you of your sins, please tap anewstory.com and let Ron Hutchcraft walk you through a brief explanation as to how you can know your sins are forgiven and you have a home in heaven.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊