Month: January 2017

Religion or Salvation? 

​I am just beginning to understand the truth and depth of this statement: 

  “I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth.” – 3 John 1:4 NLT

SO thankful for the prayers of my parents! 

Today I’m reading in 2 Timothy 3. This is eye-opening, at the very least. Remember, this was written over 2000 years ago, but it is absolutely spot on for today. 

  “For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!” 

These next two verses hit me like a slap in the face….

  “They are the kind who work their way into people’s homes and win the confidence of vulnerable women who are burdened with the guilt of sin and controlled by various desires. (Such women are forever following new teachings, but they are never able to understand the truth.)  These teachers oppose the truth just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses. They have depraved minds and a counterfeit faith. But they won’t get away with this for long. Someday everyone will recognize what fools they are, just as with Jannes and Jambres.” {Tradition says these were the 2 chief magicians of Pharaoh when Moses challenged him to let the Jews leave Egypt.} “Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil people and impostors will flourish. They will deceive others and will themselves be deceived.”- 2 Timothy 3:2-9, 12-13 

Could anyone today pen a truer statement of the state of the world? I don’t see how. How grateful we need to be that God has provided us with a way to transcend this world and all of the evil in it! His inspired Word is available to anyone, either in print or electronic format. But listen to this!

  “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip His people to do every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:16-17

I was one of those people; one of those women. By the Grace of God I am no longer a victim and I strive to be the opposite of the type of person Paul is warning Timothy about. I don’t want anyone to see me as a religious person, but I pray that the healing and grace of our Lord shows in my life. The reality is that I am far from perfect! I am a broken vessel with many flaws, and that is exactly how Christ shines through me. My brokenness is His Glory. Not for anything I have done or could do; He is the repairer of my heart and my soul. All Hope comes through Him, and all Glory goes to Him.

[All scriptures are from the Bible app http://www.YouVersion.com]

One Way

​  “Jesus told him, “I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life. NO ONE can come to the Father except through Me.” – John 14:6 NLT (http://bible.com/116/jhn.14.6.NLT)

Sound harsh? If you believe that Jesus was nothing more than a good person, a teacher, prophet, or a mad man, then yes, it is harsh. But if you know the truth and acknowledge that He is Who He says He is, the Son of Man, Messiah, Deliverer, immortal part of the Triune God, you know that it isn’t harsh at all. He is stating the simple truth. 

You say that Mohammed was also a good man? Maybe he was, although his teachings that tell his followers to rid the world of the infidel certainly aren’t good! I thought that perhaps the Quran might actually have a peaceful message, but what I found shows a message of violence against anyone not professing Islam. It’s true that in the Bible, specifically the Old Testament, the Jewish people were led to conquer certain lands that God promised them. Overall, the violence was done to people who had left the moral ways of God, and for the Jews to regain their homelands. Each battle was fought for a specified area, and outside of those battles that God commanded, violence was condemned. God then sent Jesus, Messiah, as the ultimate sacrifice, and at that time He commanded no more violence against others. Jesus taught that we are to show love and forgiveness to those people who are not followers of Him. He condemns violence against others, and teaches to not only turn the other cheek, but to give them the shirt off our backs if they need it. 

The verse at the beginning is a simple statement of Truth. Without Jesus, we have no future. With Jesus, we have an incredible, indescribable future. It’s a simple matter of accepting Him as your Savior. No violence needed or wanted, and you don’t have to worry about “karma” or having to go through life multiple times to reach nirvana. We have one life, and one death, and one eternity. I know where I’m going, do you?

(For information purposes, I copied the following from http://www.thereligionofpeace.com. Interesting reading: 

  “The Quran contains at least 109 verses that call Muslims to war with nonbelievers for the sake of Islamic rule. Some are quite graphic, with commands to chop off heads and fingers and kill infidels wherever they may be hiding. Muslims who do not join the fight are called ‘hypocrites’ and warned that Allah will send them to Hell if they do not join the slaughter.

Unlike nearly all of the Old Testament verses of violence, the verses of violence in the Quran are mostly open-ended, meaning that they are not restrained by historical context contained in the surrounding text (although many Muslims choose to think of them that way). They are part of the eternal, unchanging word of Allah, and just as relevant or subject to interpretation as anything else in the Quran.”)