Saturday, December 6, 2008

Someone, whom I deeply respect, has questioned my use of Savior and of Lord. Maybe I am not putting what I believe clearly, or maybe I am wrong. Please, never take ME as gospel. Search the Bible and learn for yourself. But I will try to explain what I said in my earlier blog.

Those, who I think, will be surprised to be turned away at the gate of Heaven are people who truely believe they are saved but are not. Some call them false converts. They have made a commitment to Christ but didn't have a Road to Damascus experience. They "believe" in Christ. Well, Satan knows Him personally. They are people who sit in church every sunday, who "work" for the Lord and say they are good people. Jesus uses the parables of the wheat and the tares, andthe ten virgins to show us that not everyone sitting in our churches will enter the kingdom of Heaven.
If people don't repent of their sin, they will become false converts Mark4:16,17. In evangelism, we have gone too far to God is a loving God and forgotten to teach that God is a just God. We don't think the ten commandments are relevant today. But they show us our sin! Charles Spurgeon said, "Explain the Ten Commandments and obey the Divine injunction: Show my people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins. Open up the spirituality of the Law as our Lord did". He also said " There must be true and deep conviction of sin. This the preacher must labor to produce, for where this is not felt, the new birth has not taken place.". Many view their conversion as no longer being accountable to the Law.
My son Isaac, has also added the wider view of who will be saved and he is correct. God will have mercy on those who are sincerely searching for God according to their abilities ie people in regions of the earth that have not heard the gospel. Christ is their Savior even tho they are unaware of it, but Christ is not their Lord.
I love this example that I read in The Way of The Master.... Instead of having the sons of Kohath carry the ark, David had it carried on an oxcart. As it was brought into Israel, the oxen stumbled and the ark began to rock. When Uzzah reached out his hand to steady it, God killed him. R.C. Sproul rightly said that Uzzah presumed his hand was cleaner than the dirt!

Are we presuming?

Friday, December 5, 2008

Thank you all for your condolences. During prayer the other day, the Lord said, "She is with me.". How gracious of Him to let me know. She is "running with angels on streets made of gold, listening to stories of saints new and old, worshipping her Maker".
I have shared this with others and one person wrote, "Aren't we all on the same road?" How I wish that were true. But the Bible is so clear about how to get to Heaven.

John 14:6 "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.".

Luke 13:24+"Strive to enter through the NARROW door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the master of the House has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the dor, saying, Lord, open to us, then He will answer you, "I do not know where you come from. " Then you wil begin to say, We ate and drank in Your presence, and you taught in our streets. But He will say "I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me.".

Matthew 7:13+ "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads t life, and those who find it are few.".

I have learned that there is a difference between Jesus being the Lord of your life and accepting Him as your Savior. You try to follow His ways and be obedient if He is your Lord. These are the people who will be utterly surprised to be turned away. To make Him your Savior, you must admit you are a sinner and accept His great sacrifice on the cross as payment for your sins, past present and future. Jesus paid it all. He is the narrow road. The only way.

To many people, Heaven and Hell are fictional places. They are very real. I have many friends who are in Heaven but sadly, some of my friends are suffering in eternal hell. How it grieves me to think of them. But we all make our own choice.

I pray that everyone who reads this will one day be with me, and my sister, and my Lord in Heaven. Blessings to all.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

My sister has died. I loved her.

Friday, October 17, 2008

I'm back. Been sick with a sinus and double ear infections.
Do you ever feel you've disappointed God? Well, while I've been sick, my daily devotions and Bible reading were non existent. I was doing so well too. Not watching tv, reading good books and working on my discipleship class work every night. Right down the tubes. But there is good news....I don't think (and this is only my opinion) that we can disappoint God. Have you ever wished for something for Christmas? You hope and pray and you expect your mom and dad will get it for you...only to be disappointed when you open the box and it's ________ (fill in the blank). It's happened to us all. But that's the point. God doesn't expect anything from us. He already knows what we're going to do. We don't surprise Him. He knows everything. He doesn't sit up there and say "I can't believe she did that!" My grandson Dawson loves buttons. The dvd player is a wonderful toy. But we tell him not to push the button that opens it and ruins the show. He inches his little hand closer and closer. Looks over his shoulder at me. Of course I knew he would push it until he learned better. So I was not disappointed in him at all. I've watched him grow and now he knows better. That's us with God. We are growing and learning and He is watching us with infinite love. No expectation..do disapointment. He is smiling at us like I smile at Dawson. Oh by the way, did you read your Bible today? I did :)

Friday, October 10, 2008

I can't ask today...I forgot.
Yesterday I caught myself telling "not the complete truth". I fought my conscience saying it wasn't totalling untrue. Just a short version that was basically the same but not. The total truth would have taken alot of explaining etc. The short version was quick and easy. Later, I said well, I should tell God I'm sorry and I started to...but I decided I wasn't really sorry. What's the big deal? It didn't bother me or the other person and ..and...and. So I tried to see what I had done through Gods eyes. OK. I didn't kill anyone. I know people say one sin is as bad as another but really, oh yeah, God said that. Crazy. But if He sees my "not the complete truth" as seriously as a murder...If that were my only sin..ever...it would be enough to keep me from Heaven. Wow. Just for that? God is so perfect that a sin is a sin not matter what the sin. For my silly little "not the complete truth" Jesus would have had to die for me so I could go to Heaven! This is much more personal than ssaying Jesus died for the sins of the world. He died for my "not the complete truth", for my fib, for my little white lie, my omission, for my LIE. My SIN. Call it what it was..a SIN. Wow. We need to hold up what we do against God's perfect standard and not that of the world. Believe me, I repented as fast as I could and pray that He will continue to show me my actions for what the really are. Thank you Lord.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Have your read your Bible today? I may just continue to ask that question as a way of holding myself accountable. This am I was hurrying around to get out the door when it occurred to me that I might post a blog today. I had not taken the time to read my Bible. How can I ask others if I don't do it myself? So I put everything down, went back into the bedroom andpicked up my Bible. I'm so glad I did. I stopped rushing around and read the Word of God. Peace. Tranquillity. Assurance.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Have you read your Bible today?
After my last post, I began to think about the people who "walked across the room" for me. I would say the first was Rev Louis Hausele from Haskinville Wesleyan Church. I was going to be married in the Wesleyan church (the Aldermans home church) but as I had been divorced, I was told that I could not be married "upstairs". So the night before the wedding, we were setting up chairs in the basement and arranging everything. Rev. Hausele came over and asked me why we wanted to get married in the basement. I was embarassed, assuming he knew, but I told him it was because I been married and divorced. His reaction was....so? Next think I knew we were going up the stairs into the sanctuary. Many times over the years I wondered what would have happened if he had not "accepted" me "upstairs". More than likely I would never have felt welcome there and not have gone there for church. Maybe I would never have been saved or at least not as quickly as I was....4 months after the wedding. Rev. Hausele led me to the Lord and his wife, Joyce, led my first ever Bible Study on Romans. The Hausele family has remained close to me....I am especially fond of them.