Time is Running Out

"Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come."  (Matthew 24:42). 

     Have you ever watched  a commercial or infomercial on television, or seen an advertisement in a sales brochure advertising something for a limited time only? They always say, "Don't delay, time is running out! Limited Time Only!!!" They stress the importance of the limited time so that we will be compelled to act and take their offer. If we feel the time is limited, we feel we might miss out if we delay. 

     Jesus is telling us that time is running out. He is telling us how urgent it is for us to accept Him as Savior today without delay. We may not have an opportunity tomorrow. Even if we are young, we have no promise of tomorrow. 

"behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."   (2 Corinthians 6:2). 

     We do not know the time when Jesus will return to take the Christians to Heaven. We do not know when the trumpet will sound. We must be ready at all times for we do know know when that blessed event will take place.  We do know from Scripture that it will take place.

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

     If someone tells you they will come by your house to pick you up sometime in the morning to take you out for lunch and to buy you something, you would get up in the morning, get ready, and be watching for them to come. You wouldn't forget, you wouldn't get so busy doing other things that you would neglect to be ready. You would make sure you were ready and watching. 

     He did not give us the date of His coming. We do not know when it will happen. We do know it will happen. People have said for many years that He is not coming, that it is just a story. The Scripture is very plain. He is coming and we must be ready. If we are not Christians, if our sins have not been forgiven, if Jesus is not our Savior, then we cannot go with Him. We will be left behind to endure some horrible things, too horrible to imagine or describe. 

      We do know know when we will pass from this life to the next. Since we do not know when He is coming, we must be ready at all times. He tells us in His word to watch and be ready. If we are ready (having our sins forgiven), then we will be able to go with Him. If we are not ready, it will be horrible.  

     2 Timothy chapter 3 and Matthew chapter 24 tell us what to expect in the last days. We are seeing all these and more in our society today. We can know by this that time is running out. His coming is very soon. 

     Don't believe the lies of the devil that Jesus isn't coming back. Don't believe that you can live any way you want to live; after all, it's your life. The devil wants you to believe you have plenty of time and you should live your life your way; because you aren't hurting anyone. The truth is:  Time is running out. Jesus is coming soon! There is not plenty of time. You must live God's way.

"There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." (Proverbs 16:25). 

     Don't delay. Choose Jesus today. Time is running out.  Jesus is coming very soon. Are you ready to go with Him? If not, you can be. Just repent of your sins, turn from your sins, ask Him to save you and be your Savior. Then when that trumpet sounds, you will be ready to go to Heaven. O what a wonderful day!

Who Is He?

"When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?" (Matthew 16:13).

      In this passage, Jesus was asking the disciples what people were thinking of Him. He knew they were out and about in the public places hearing people talking. He wanted to know who they said He was. In the next verse, the disciples answered His question:


"And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets." (Matthew 16:14).



      Then Jesus took it a little farther by asking the disciples yet another question in the next verse:



"He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?" (Matthew 16:15).

     
       This was a very important question that Jesus is still asking us today. It isn't enough for us to know what other people think of Him. It's not enough to know what our pastor calls Jesus. It isn't enough for us to know what our parents or grandparents knew about Jesus. It isn't enough for us to read what others say about Him. We must settle the question once and for all in our own hearts:  Who is Jesus to me?

     In the next verse, Peter answered Jesus' question and Jesus was well pleased with his response:

"And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.  And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:16-19). 

      Peter didn't tell Jesus that He was a good man, great teacher, prophet, healer, or any other title that we sometimes hear today. Jesus is all of these things, but He is much much more. He is The SON OF THE LIVING GOD!  He is the only way to Heaven.

      How do you answer the question:  Who is Jesus? What is your response? It doesn't really matter what others say about Him. It doesn't matter how others answer this question. Each of us must answer this question on our own. There are many opinions and theories going around about who He is. The Word of God should be the only place to find the answer to this question. 

      Jesus is the only begotten Son of God (John 3:16). He is the Way to Heaven. (John 14:6). He is our only hope. (Titus 2:13). Yes, He is our Healer, Redeemer, Savior, Lord, Master, and so much more. However, until we can answer as Peter answered, then we are missing out on Who He really is.


      So, Who is Jesus to you? Can you truly say He is the only Son of God? Can you truly declare Him to be the Christ, the Son of the Living God?  One day every knee will bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord. 


     Who is Jesus to you?  Do you tell others who He is? Do you blush and try to change the subject, or do you boldly proclaim who He is? Do you have a personal relationship with Him? If not, then you can right now. Call on Him, repent of your sins, accept His sacrifice for your sins, and ask Him to be your Savior. You can know who He is without a doubt. Don't delay. Time is running out.

There is Help

     
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16).


     Imagine if you were in a burning building with the flames growing higher and higher; getting hotter with each passing moment. Imagine your fear and pain as the flames grew closer to you and you could not find your way out to safety. Now, imagine someone coming into this building and rescuing you; delivering you to safety. Think about how you would feel toward this person who risked their own life to save yours. You would tell people everywhere you went about how this person saved you from this horrible fire. You would devote your life to making sure people knew how much this person meant to you. You would spend the rest of your life thanking this person for their great sacrifice of unselfish love.

      You and I were on our path to Hell. Hell is a real place that is more horrible than can be described with mere words. The flames are real and they are hotter than anyone can imagine. As sinners, we were headed to Hell and there is no escape from there. Once a person goes there, there is no leaving. It is permanent. It is a miserable place of torment and horror. We deserved to go into this place. We deserved Hell forever. This is where we would be spending eternity without hope. 

      However, Jesus came and rescued us from this eternal torment. He paid the supreme sacrifice by giving His life on the cross. His death on the cross and resurrection on the third day provided atonement for our sins. All we have to do is confess that Jesus is Lord, repent of our sins and ask Him to come and change our lives. It is not His will that anyone should go to Hell. He wants us all to spend eternity with Him in Heaven, surrounded by beauty, peace, splendor and things our minds can't imagine. He doesn't want us to go to Hell, where there is torment, pain, darkness and horror. 



"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that anyshould perish, but that all should come to repentance." 
(2 Peter 3:9).

     Why would anyone who was rescued from the fire, continue to stay in the fire and refuse to get out? That would be senseless and foolish. Yet, this is what people do when they do not accept the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. When people ignore Jesus' help and choose to continue living in sin, they are basically saying they would rather burn than turn their lives to Jesus. 

     The choice is yours. Each of us have to make the decision for ourselves. Jesus won't force us to accept His salvation. He has made the escape available, all we have to do is follow Him. He is calling out everyone today. 


"And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Acts 2:21).


     Will you accept the Lord today? He is waiting for you to call on Him and confess Him as your Lord. He wants to lead you and guide you to life everlasting. He wants to be your Savior. Call on Him now and escape the fire.

Keep Your Eyes on Jesus

"Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." (Colossians 3:2).

      When I was learning how to drive, I had a habit of looking at on-coming traffic as they passed me going the opposite direction. I am not sure why I did this. Perhaps it was to make sure they wouldn't hit me, I am not really sure. My driving coach, (my awesome dad), told me that was not a good habit to develop.  He told me that when driving, wherever my eyes went, that's where I would go. If I looked off the road to the right or the left, my hands would subconsciously turn the wheel to the right or the left. He said, look straight ahead. 

      This principle is the same in our daily walk. Whatever we focus our attention on, that's what we will have. Whatever we turn our eyes toward, that is where we subconsciously end up. If we look to the right or the left, that's where we will end up:  off the path and in the ditch. 

 "Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil." (Proverbs 4:27). 

     Several years ago, my family was in a serious car accident. We were hit from behind as we were stopped to make a turn. The man behind us who hit us, told the police he was looking at some wild turkeys in the field, when he looked back onto the road, he saw us but it was too late.  Had he kept his eyes on the road, the accident would have been avoided. 

     We are to stay focused on the Lord and the things of God. His Word, His ways and His commandments should be our only focus. If we look to Him always, everything else will work out for our good! 

Will You Pass the Salt?

"Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men." (Matthew 5:13).

     When sitting at the table for a meal, if you want the salt, you are taught from a young age to not reach and grab it. You were taught from a young age to say, "Will you pass the salt, please?"

     Jesus compared us to salt because in those days, salt was very valuable. It was used in trade of commodities and even used sometimes as pay for workers instead of money. Salt has many uses; even today that we can compare to what we should be in this life.

   Salt is a preservative. It is used on foods to keep them from spoiling. God has called us to be a preservative to this world to keep souls from perishing. We are to preserve God's Word, His laws, His commandments and His ways. If we fail to preserve these things, the future generations will have no hope. (Deuteronomy 11:18-21).

     Salt is also used for healing. We gargle warm salt water for sore throats or sore gums. Hospitals use saline solutions to help with healing and cleansing. We, as God's children, are to help strengthen those who are weak and help lead them to their Spiritual healing.(2 Kings 2:20-22), (2 Chronicles 7:14). 

     Salt adds flavor. We don't like it when the doctor puts us on a diet of no salt. We call this food "bland". It is tasteless and we do not enjoy eating it. We should be adding flavor to this world and causing them to want to partake of the things of God. We should be influencing them to follow Christ. (Psalm 34:8)

     Salt produces thirst. When we eat salty things, it makes us want water to drink. The more of the salt of the earth we become, the more of His Living Water we want to partake of. The more of the salt of the earth we pass to others, the more of His Living Water they will want. They should want to know more about Him by being around us. (John 4:28-29, 39).

     Salt melts ice on steps, sidewalks and roads. If we are truly the salt of the earth the way Jesus told us to be, then the cold hearts of people around us will melt and become softer to be receptive to the things of God. (Proverbs 15:1). 

     Salt is used in fertilizer. This helps things to grow faster, stronger and more productive. We should be trying to help all those around us become stronger and more productive instead of beating them down and holding them back. We are called to strengthen and uplift. (Galatians 6:1). 

     Then there is the salt covenant mentioned in Numbers 18:19:

"All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the Lord, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord unto thee and to thy seed with thee." 

     This was a covenant entered upon by two parties; usually a business agreement. In this covenant, one party would bring the bread, and one would bring the salt. The salt was sprinkled upon the bread, the bread was broken, and shared between the two parties.
     Jesus is the Bread of Life who was broken for us (1 Corinthians 11:23-24).  We are the salt. You can see how the two go together to form a covenant. 

    So, when Jesus told us that we are the salt, He wasn't just picking an object off the top of His head. Salt is very important and valuable. There are many purposes for salt, some not mentioned here.  In order to be useful, we cannot stay in the salt shaker where we feel comfortable. God did not call us to sit and do nothing. If we do nothing, we lose our saltiness, and our verse tells us that we are good for nothing; except to be thrown to the ground and stepped on.  If salt is mixed with impure substances, it is useless. If we are diluted with sin, we are useless as well. Just as salt in a salt shaker must be shaken to be used, sometimes we experience a shaking in our lives. It seems everything is upside-down. It could be at that time that the salt is being passed to help us or someone else. Don't despise the shaking!

     Will you pass the salt?

Time to Clean

"The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light."                  (Romans 13:12).

     We all have taken on the task of cleaning out closets, drawers, attics, basements, or any other storage place where things get thrown into with the hopes of someday organizing.  When the time comes to organize and clean, we usually find every excuse to put off the task, because we just don't want to deal with it. However, once we begin going through all the stuff, we are always shocked at what all we find. We think, "Where did all this come from? What is this? Does it even work anymore? Why do I still have this? I don't even know where the rest of it is. I don't even know how to use it." On and on the comments come as we find more things that we didn't even know we had.

     Sometimes, we look at our floors or tables and furniture and wonder where all the dust and dirt comes from. It seems like we clean it, and a few minutes later dust and dirt have come back.  The dust is in the air and is constantly moving around waiting to settle onto something. The floors get dirty due to us walking out into the world to work or wherever, and we track it into our house. We have to be cautious where we walk outside so we do not track things onto our floors. 

     So it is with our spirit man. We know we need to purge and clean our hearts and lives, but we would rather put it off until another day. We find something else to do to take our mind off of the clutter and junk in our lives, but every day that we postpone dealing with it, adds to the mess. We must be careful how we walk in our daily lives. When we walk in the sinful world, if we don't guard our heart, it will soon come into our spirit man. We may not realize it at first, but before long, we will see how dirty we have become and wonder how we could have let it get that way.

     When we stop everything and focus on the task of cleaning our hearts and lives, we will often find there are things in there that have been there a long time. Some of the things in our minds and hearts we didn't even know was there. We don't know where it came from, we don't know why it is even there. As we look through our hearts and minds, we may find things like anger, unforgiveness, bad attitudes, rebellion, criticism, complaining, grudges, backbiting, bitterness, sinful desires, evil thoughts, doubt, habits that are not Godly, time-consuming and time-wasting activities, prayerlessness, or sins of any kind. 

     We may not always intend to keep these things, we just don't make an effort to get rid of it.  It can seem overwhelming sometimes to try to get rid of these things, but it must be done. Our Scripture tells us to cast these things off. This means to get rid of them, to walk away from them, to shun them and avoid them no matter what. 

"But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;" (Colossians 3:8-9).

"Abstain from all appearance of evil."  (1 Thessalonians 5:22).

      Anything that separates us from God needs to be removed today. The longer it is allowed to stay, the harder it will be to get rid of. Search all areas of your life today and ask God to search. When we search, we tend to leave things that we want to keep. When He searches, He reveals all things that need to go. Our flesh doesn't always like that, but it is beneficial for us in the long run.

"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalm 139: 23-24)


     Let today be the day that all the things that are displeasing to God go from our lives. Truly search your heart and mind. Ask God to search your heart and give you a heart that desires what God wants. Ask Him to purify your heart and change you from the inside out. He is willing and ready to do so. Give it to God and He will cleanse you! You don't need to hold onto any of it any longer. It is profiting you nothing. Repent and walk away from it. Cast it off and don't pick it back up. Let Jesus set you free!

     "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you" (1 Peter 5:7).

Are You Murmuring Away Your Blessing?

"Do all things without murmurings and disputings:"  (Philippians 2:14). 

      We all know of people who complain all day long every day. If it's hot outside, then  they say it's too hot. If it's cold outside, they say it's too cold. They complain if the son shines, because they are too hot. They complain if it rains, because they get wet. They complain no matter what. It seems they are always searching for something to complain about. No one likes to be around someone like that. They cannot be pleased no matter what. They are miserable most or all of the time.

     The children of Israel in the book of Exodus were notorious for being complainers and murmurers. They complained when they were in bondage under Pharaoh. They wanted to be free. God set them free and they were not happy after awhile because they didn't like the Manna He was miraculously giving them. He brought water from a rock for them to drink, and even that wasn't good enough. Their shoes never wore out in forty years. They had protection from the enemy, food and water given to them, and yet they were murmuring and complaining saying they wished they had stayed with Pharaoh. They would have rather stayed in bondage; being worked like slaves and beaten daily, than to trust God to see them safely to the Promised Land. They murmured about everything and were constantly complaining to Moses. Because of their murmuring, they were not allowed to enter into the Promised Land, but were made to wander in the wilderness the whole time. 

     Sometimes, bad things happen in our lives. We aren't promised that everything will be fun, jolly and pleasant all the time. That doesn't give us the right to complain and murmur about it. We are to be joyful no matter the circumstance we find ourselves in. This isn't easy, but it is possible. If we rely on the Lord for our strength, then we can go through any situation without complaining. It takes effort; however. The enemy wants us to complain our way out of the victory God has for us. We wants us to murmur away our blessing. We should be praising away our defeat instead.

"And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,  And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?  And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house." (Acts 16:22-32).

     If anyone had a right to complain and murmur, Paul and Silas did. They were beaten with many stripes and  put in stocks in the prison. They did not rob, kill or mistreat anyone. The only reason they were in prison was for preaching in Jesus' name. They could have blamed God. They could have gotten angry and accused God of not caring for them. After all, they were preaching about Him; telling others about Him, and yet He let them be beaten in prison. They could have complained, griped, murmured and blamed God. Instead; however, they sang praises and worshipped the Lord in the midst of their darkest hours. They never lost their deep joy for the Lord. They never lost focus of Him. Because they rejoiced and praised the Lord, the jailer and his household received salvation!  If they had not blessed the Lord, that would not have happened. 

"Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice." (Philippians 4:4).

    We are not told to rejoice only in the good times. We are not told to praise the Lord only when things are going the way we want them to. We are not told to be joyful only in the easy times. We are told to rejoice always...all the time...no matter the situation. It isn't always easy, but it is possible. He would not tell us to do it if it were not possible.

     Renew your mind starting today. Determine that you will not complain and murmur. It kept the children of Israel out of the Promised Land. There is no way to know what blessings we are missing out on because of our complaining. Nothing is worth missing out on the blessings of God. Complaining accomplishes nothing. Murmuring doesn't get anything productive done. 

    

     What is coming out of your mouth today, praises or complaints?