Tag Archives: Salvation

Is Doomsday Approaching?

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The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists reported this week that we are now two minutes closer to midnight on their Doomsday Clock, having moved us from five minutes to midnight to just three.  Citing the amount of nuclear weapons in the world and human climate change, they feel that we are close to extinguishing the human race through some sort of doomsday catastrophe.

Kennette BenedictKennette Benedict, the director of the group, says, “The probability of global catastrophe is very high. This is about the end of civilization as we know it” (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/01/22/doomsday-clock-three-minutes-to-midnight/22158457/).  Interestingly, the clock was once just two minutes to midnight in 1953 following the testing of a new nuclear bomb.  Even though there were no fears of “global warming” and there were not as many nuclear weapons in 1953, we were closer to extinction then than we are now according to this scientific group.

So is this the case?  Are we closing in on Doomsday?  Let us put aside the dubious nature of the “scientific” proof of climate change for the moment.  Instead let us address the question as to whether man is able to bring life on this planet to an end.  Is man able to destroy the planet?  These scientists would answer that question in the affirmative, but is that really the case?

Scripture tells us who is really in control of the planet and all that goes on in it, and it is not man.  In Daniel 2, the prophet tells us that it is God who “changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding.  He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him” (Daniel 2:21-22 NKJV).  Man may desire to know what is going to happen in the future, but to us that is darkness.  It cannot be seen by man.  God, however, is the one who knows what is in the darkness.  Thus we might say that we do not know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future.

Additionally, God made a promise to mankind through Noah that nothing was going to stop the changing of the seasons while the earth remains (Genesis 8:22).  So while we are running around on this planet, to and fro, worrying about when the end will come, we must realize that we are not the ones who are in control of the planet.  It is God, the One who created it all (Psalm 19:1).  God will bring all things to an end when He sees fit to do so.  Jesus reported that of that day and time, no one knows.  Even He did not know when that would be.  Only the Heavenly Father has that answer (Matthew 24:36).

Instead of worrying about Doomsday, what every person on this planet should concern themselves with is whether they are ready to pass from this life into eternity.  What does grow closer everyday is the appointment that we have with eternity.  One day we will all pass from this life to the next, and we need to be ready for that day.  Jesus said, “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.  But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.  Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 24:42-44).  No one knows when they will die, but we all know that we will someday, unless the Lord returns first.  The question is, are you ready for that day to come?

Don’t I Know You?

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who-am-iMaybe this has never happened to you, or maybe it has.  You walk into a store and you see someone who looks familiar to you.  You know that you know them from somewhere, but you cannot recall their name or where you know them from.  Perhaps you walk up to them and say, “Don’t I know you?”

While it is often easy for us to remember faces, remembering names or where we may have seen someone before can sometimes be difficult.  Many times it does not matter that we cannot remember every passing acquaintance in our lives, because most likely they do not remember us either.

 However, if this is a person that we have an intimate relationship with, we had better remember their name and where we know them from!  This leads to the question of whether or not we know God, and if He knows us.  The importance of knowing God, really knowing Him, is seen in Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians.  Paul writes, “and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thes. 1:7-8).  Since Jesus will take vengeance on those who do not know God, it is imperative that we know Him.

 It is also important that God knows who we are.  Towards the end of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus declares that those who call Him Lord, but fail to do the will of the Father will be like those He does not know.  They will be told to depart from Him for eternity (Matthew 7:21-23).  We need to know God.  We need for God to know us.  Do you know Him today?

Can You Carry Me?

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117-1713_IMG     When my daughter was much younger we all went on a hiking vacation together to Acadia National Park in Maine.  Each day as we hiked, she had little desire to take the easy paths.  She loved to hike the more difficult paths and climb over the rocks, all the while looking for the next trail marker.  At some point in the day, however, her little legs would tire out.  She would turn to me and ask, “Can you carry me, Daddy?”

     There are times when we are walking in our journey of life, where we feel the same way.  We don’t know if our tired legs will hold up any longer, we grow weary, and we want someone to carry us.  It is at those times that we should rely upon the Lord to help carry us along.  The words of scripture tell us that “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1 NKJV).  “In God is my salvation and my glory; The rock of my strength, And my refuge, is in God” (Psalm 62:7).  Jeremiah called out to God and said, “O Lord, my strength and my fortress, My refuge in the day of affliction” (Jeremiah 16:19a).

     Jesus offers to help us get through life, if we will choose to follow Him.  He told His disciples, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).  He wants to help us to continue to endure, when we are weary of life and its struggles.  Therefore, why would we hesitate to come to Him?

     As a child of God, we can come to Him and ask Him to help us bear our load.  If we will only do our part, by obeying Him and coming to Him in prayer with our requests, He is faithful to hear us and to come to our aid.  Notice that Jesus said that we are to come to Him when we are heavy laden.  Have you come to Jesus?  If not, why not?  He is waiting for you now!

New Beginnings

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Baby-New-Year     In just two days we begin our journey into a new year, 2015.  With each passing year, time seems to move more swiftly than it did when I was younger.  Still, each year provides us with an unexplored opportunity to make a new resolution for what we hope to accomplish in the coming year.  We tend to be very good at making resolutions for the New Year, but most of the time we fail to follow through on our good intentions.

     As we look towards the 365 days that now lay before us, let us think about some of those important things that we would like to achieve in the coming year.  Perhaps we want to lose weight, or read a book, or be more involved with our families in 2015.  Whatever our goals, it is important that we remember God in our planning.  In Luke 12:13-21 we read the parable of the rich fool.  He had made plans for what he intended to do with all of his goods with a resolution to build bigger barns to store his produce.  Tragically, he failed to include God in his plans, and he is thus called a fool by Jesus.

     The problem with this man was not that he made plans, but that he failed to include God in his planning.  He was laying up treasures for himself, but was not rich toward God (Luke 12:21).  As we plan for the coming year, let us not make the same mistake.  Let us be sure to include God in our plans for 2015.  Let us see if we can draw ourselves closer to Him through this year’s resolutions!

The Greatest Gift!

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3703145222_428db0fdbc_z     Christmas morning!  I remember as a child, my brother and I could hardly sleep the night before in anticipation of the gifts that we would find under the tree.  Invariably, there was always one “big” gift each year, which we would open last.  To build the anticipation, my dad would keep egging us on by saying, “I wonder what’s in that big box.”  As a child, I definitely enjoyed receiving gifts on Christmas.

     As I grew older, I came to realize that there was more joy in giving than in receiving.  To witness the merriment in someone else’s face as they open the gift that you have selected for them was a good feeling that far surpassed whatever I might receive.  Paul understood this to be true as well, when he quoted the words of Jesus that it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35).

     As we search the stores and websites in our modern age, from Black Friday to Christmas Eve, we are looking for just the right gift, the perfect gift, the greatest gift that we can give our loved ones.  As we live here on earth, we should realize that God has given us that perfect gift.  He has given us the greatest gift.  He has given us His Son.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 NKJV).   God has given us a gift to pay our debt of sin; a debt that we could never repay.  By the blood of Jesus, we can have redemption.

     As we gather with our families and friends on this holiday, we should remember the God who gave us that greatest gift.  Indeed we should always remember the God who loved us so much that He sent His Son Jesus to die for us on the cross of cavalry.  It is by Jesus’ blood that we can have the hope of eternal life with Him in heaven.  You won’t find a better gift than that under anybody’s tree this morning!

An Awful Lot to Be Thankful For

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 mlb_choice_04    On July 4, 1939, then thirty-six year old Lou Gehrig gave one of the most memorable speeches in American sports.  Gehrig had been diagnosed with ALS, a disease that was going to claim his life within two years of his famous speech.  In that speech, Gehrig claimed to be “the luckiest man alive” and said he had “an awful lot to live for.”

     How would we have reacted if we were told that we had a debilitating disease that was sure to claim our lives in a very short time?  Would we feel like the luckiest man alive?  Would we feel like we had a lot to live for or to be thankful for?  Lou Gehrig’s attitude in the face of “a bad break” should serve as a reminder to us all about how we should look at life.

     Rather than focusing our attention on bad news or by the trials that come upon us in life, let us look to all of the blessings that God has bestowed upon us.  He has given us our very lives as our Creator (Gen. 1:26-28; 2:7).  He has given us this planet with all of its wondrous beauty on which to live (Psalm 19:1; Gen. 1:1).  He has given us His word so that we can come to know Him and become His children (John 1:12; Phil. 2:15).  He gave us His one and only unique Son in order that we may have the hope of eternal life (John 3:16).

     At this time of the year, we all take a day to think about being thankful for what we have.  However, not just on this day, but all throughout the year let us count those blessings that we have from God.  Even though life can be difficult, and many times we may have to deal with trials, bad breaks, and bad news, let us all realize that we have an awful lot to be thankful for.

All Gave Some. . . Some Gave All

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DSCF4430     Today we remember the brave sacrifice that this nation’s veterans have made over the course of our history.  We honor those who stood in the breaches in the defense of freedom both here in the United States and in other foreign lands around the globe.  Many young men and women made that journey for the cause of our freedom and security, and never returned home again.  While we do not want to take anything away from their dedication to this nation and its freedom, there is an even greater sacrifice that has been made on our behalf, which we must not ever forget.

The pages of the Bible are rich in the telling of the story of Jesus.  Many prophets in the Old Testament alluded to His coming to earth and the mission He was charged with completing. Isaiah 53 is especially compelling, as it gives us a glimpse of the suffering that our Savior was going to go through on our behalf.  It was for the cause of our freedom from sin, that Jesus gave His all for mankind.  Paul tells us that while we were sinners and enemies of God, the Father sent His one and only unique Son to die a cruel death on the cross in our place (Romans 5:6-11).

Even though He was innocent, He allowed Himself to be placed on that cross to die, so that our sins could be removed.  We were the ones who had sinned.  We were the ones who had fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).  We were the ones who deserved death due to our transgressions, which had taken us away from God (Isaiah 59:1-2; Romans 6:23).  Instead, Jesus stood in the breach between us and our transgressions, and by His stripes, we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).

On this day we remember the sacrifices made by our brave men and women and express our gratitude for their service to our nation.  Let us never forget that we have freedom due to their willingness to act, but also because of the selfless sacrifice of Christ.  He came so that we might have life, and have it more abundantly (John 10:10).  Let us strive to do our part and give Him back our all.

Blisfull Ignorance

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Perhaps you’ve heard it said that ignorance is bliss, or that what is not known cannot hurt us. The idea is that if we do not know that something can hurt us, then we will have no need to worry about it.  Therefore, we can be blissful and happy.  But how does this play out in reality?

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Do you know how fast you were going?

 We can be ignorant of the speed limit and drive as fast as we wish. Will our ignorance of the law be a viable excuse when the police officer pulls us over?  Ignorance of the law will not stand up as a defense.  If we ignore the speed limit, we will pay the price (fine) for that ignorance.  We can be ignorant of the fact that the stove top burners can hurt our hand.  Here again, ignorance will not keep us from coming to harm if we place our hand on a lit stove burner.

 Many in our world today act as if they can be ignorant of God and His requirements, and yet all is well. They go on in blissful ignorance with no care for their future state.  And, indeed, we may see many people who live this way and nothing bad ever befalls them.  Have they somehow found a path that circumvents God’s requirements?  Is there bliss in their ignorance?

 God paints a different picture of ignorance and a lack of knowledge concerning Him. The prophet Hosea spoke for God and lamented the fact that His people were being destroyed by a lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6).  Paul writes by inspiration to the Romans that God’s power and divine Godhead are evident in the creation, such that they (those who ignore God and walk in ignorance) are without an excuse (Romans 1:18-20).  When Paul stood on Mars’ hill in Athens and addressed the Greeks, he stated that in times past God may have winked at man’s ignorance, but now calls on all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30).

 We can ignore God. We can make that choice.  We can claim ignorance is bliss.  However, ignorance of the law is no excuse.  Ignorance can bring us great harm.  Jesus declared that His word would judge us in that last day (John 12:47-48).  Therefore, we must know what His word says for us to do.  God desires that all men seek Him out, repent of what is wrong in their lives, and live in obedience to Him.  That is the true path to bliss.  Are you truly blissful this day?

Hammer Away

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nails     My last remodeling project got me thinking.  As we were going through the process of deconstruction and trying to be careful to limit the amount of scratches and bruises, I began to think about installing the new floor.  You see, when we undertake any project where we are going to be using a hammer and nails it has our full attention.  We don’t want to slip up and hit our fingers or worse yet, pierce our flesh with a nail by mistake.

      Now think about Christ and what He did for us.  He had the power to stop anyone from doing any harm to His body, but He did not exercise that power.  At any time during His mockery of a trial, the scourging of His body, or the nailing of His body on that cross of Cavalry Jesus could have simply said the word ‘stop’ and could have brought His torture to an end.  Concerning His life, Jesus said “No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father” (John 10:18 NKJV).

      No one had the power to take Jesus’ life unless He allowed it.  The amazing thing about His love for us in that Jesus allowed those Roman soldiers to take His life.  At a time when we were without hope, at a time when we were still sinners, Christ died for our sins (Romans 5:8).  We work hard to make sure that we don’t slip and allow a nail to poke us in the hand by mistake, but Jesus allowed them to drive large nails through His flesh on purpose.  It is hard to comprehend just what Jesus suffered on our behalf.  So then, are we allowing that sacrifice to have an impact on how we live our lives?

Peace and Safety

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3828960388_ebf3fe4262_z     Last week my family and I traveled to our nation’s capital on vacation.  While we were in D.C., a man jumped the fence and attempted to gain entry to the White House.  It was not me.  However, it made us think about the security measures we did see while in Washington.  At most of the museums and monuments, there were security screenings and metal detectors in an effort to make us all feel safe.

That feeling of safety is something we all crave, especially in our modern world.  News of attacks and planned attacks seem to dominate the news.  And while the extra security measures are necessary to try to prevent further attacks, do they really make us feel safe?  When the security guard is talking to his buddy about last night’s game instead of watching the x-ray monitor, do you really feel safer?

While we may never be at peace or feel that we are completely safe in a physical sense in this world, there is a peace and safety that comes from the Lord.  This peace allows us to pillow our heads at night and sleep, without having to worry about what will come in the night.  As David wrote, “I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8 NKJV).

If we are in a right relationship with God, if we are in obedience to His will and His word, if we have put our trust in Him, then we can have peace.  We have a peace of mind, even if we don’t live in a world that provides us with much hope of physical safety (John 14:27).  We can have that peace, because we know that if anything happens to this earthly body, our eternal soul will be in the hands of a God who loves us.  If you want that peace too, you can have it by seeking God and obeying what He has told us to do.