Category Archives: Salvation

2023, Acts, Christian Living, Gospel of John, Gospel of Matthew, Holy Soap Box, Questions, Repentance, Salvation

Wrong, Following

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Hello Friends, What a lovely Tuesday it is here in Lower Alabama and I hope it stays lovely to the end of the day and this post.
With that said, I offer this caveat: if this post goes as I suspect it will it shall not be a favored one for persons easily offended.
Blunt and to the point is on its way to this page I think.

Every day, day after day and night after night the people of this world shout with clenched fits thrust upward that GOD is wrong, and they are right.

How do the peoples of Earth do this?
Sin.

Every act of adultery says GOD, You are wrong!
Every act of fornication says GOD, You are wrong!
Every act of homosexuality says GOD, You are wrong!
Every act of gender confusion (as it is termed) says GOD, You are wrong!

Every lie, every theft, every covetous thought, every murder, every rape, every malicious word, every calloused action, every unholy thought we entertain, and every ungodly act we perform says GOD, You are wrong!

GOD, You are wrong!

How could we?!

How could HE?!!
How could He not immediately drop us all into Everlasting Torment?
Do you ever wonder that or are you still of the mind that your sins are not that bad?

That was me for many years.
So I can’t fault you for it,  but I can tell you it is wrong and deadly.

What’s the answer?
Repentance and FOLLOW JESUS.

And that my Friends brings me to another convicting string of thoughts.

The Disciples of The Gospel, found in Scripture, FOLLOWED JESUS. Even when they were not physically in His Presence, they followed Him because they did what He instructed them to do. Read the Gospels and you will see what I mean.

What Would JESUS Do? Do you remember that saying? It was written on bracelets, plastered on billboards, and voiced from pulpits. Even today we are told to “love like JESUS”.
But are we given practical steps to do that?
And how could “man” give us practical steps to love like JESUS anyway?
What does man know about loving like JESUS?

The Disciples FOLLOWED JESUS.
Are we getting that? They FOLLOWED.
What does follow mean?

Let’s look at this:  1.a. To come or go after; proceed behind: b. To go after in pursuit c. To keep under surveillance
2. a. To move along the course of; take b. To move in the direction of; be guided by

What do you take away from this?
I see the Disciples literally following JESUS around all over Judea, wherever He went they went.
featured-upper-room-jesus-riding-donkeyAnd when He gave them instructions to go and do they went and did.  i.e. get the colt. Prepare the upper room.

And we might say, Well, we don’t have JESUS physically here with us, we can’t follow Him around.

Is that true?
Do we have HOLY SPIRIT living within us?
Can we not follow HIM? Can we not be guided by Him?
John 14:26 and Acts 1:8

It’s a NEW picture playing on the screen of my mind too.
But I like it!
I am eager to see how He helps me consistently FOLLOW JESUS.
I figure it will take some time to get this revelation seated and consistently operating but I want it!

That’s it. That’s what I came to say.

Oh wait, I need to tie these two points together, don’t I?
In SIN we say, GOD, You are wrong. This means one thing: we are NOT following JESUS.

Terribly offensive, isn’t it?
BUT GOD has made a way —

Until next time ~~~ Shalom, Kathie

2023, Christian Living, Gospel of Matthew, Questions, Repentance, Salvation

The Word Knew – Who Knew?

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I am eager to share with you this late morning what I believe. 

Are you familiar with this passage of Scripture? Matthew 7: 21-23.

It’s important. It’s strong. 

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’  source 

This Scripture tapped on my thoughts last night and settled in with what I am about to share with you.

Here YESHUA tells that in the times to come people are going to recite to Him reasons they should be allowed into Heaven. However, they will be denied entry. 
Why will they be denied? 
Hear His Words: 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ 

I never KNEW you, He said and will say. 

How could GOD, who knows ALL not know them? 

This KNEW is not the knew you and I use in our everyday English; it’s not the knew we use when we say oh yeah I knew them. 

It’s the knew of the Hebrews.  Here are two links. I invite you to compare.
yâdaʻ    ginṓskō

The knew JESUS used here is from the knew in Genesis 4:1.

This KNEW means intimacy. It means covenant. It means these people even though they had done some good works, their good works produced NO intimacy with JESUS. Blood CovenantThere was no BLOOD COVENANT applied to them. 
HE did not KNOW them.
He never KNEW them.
They never came to Him in surrender.
They never came seeking His Righteousness — they figured they had their own righteousness.
They figured WRONG. 
And the road to hell they began on? They stayed on.
They remained the Workers of Lawlessness. They never came to Him for rebirth.
Again I say, there was no intimacy. No communion. No Family Gatherings.

But this is not the case for us; for we who are KNOWN by Him. 
We are in covenant with Him (we know Him, He knows us) and because of the blood covenant, we will enter in. Heaven is our eternal home. BloodCovenant

Do you know people whose lives give no evidence that they have a blood covenant with JESUS? 
I do too. Keep praying. Keep proclaiming. Keep praying they will yet be KNOWN by Him. 

Until next time — Shalom, Kathie

2023, For What It's Worth To You, Forgiveness, Gospel of John, Repentance, Salvation, What does GOD Want to do for me?

Cuss Word

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I have spent the majority of my life having no desire to injure the feelings or the walk of others. Mainly as a Disciple of JESUS, my aim and my hope are to give godly counsel and encouragement to anyone who is willing to read any piece that I write.  Obviously, I am imperfect in this endeavor. I started writing devotional material in 2003. I have said many things. Some I regret. Most, I don’t. I’ve made it my goal, to be honest – often telling on myself as I write and seriously trying to NOT tell on others. I prize the privacy of others and guard against revealing matters that are not mine to tell. If I fail in that, it grieves me.

What’s this all about today?
Well, I’m here today to talk about hell.  And why would I want to write about that?! Because I genuinely care about people. I don’t want anyone to spend eternity there and I do mean anyone! I really want to warn people and give people the Good News that they don’t have to go there. It’s the same Message that was given to me and I said YES, I accept.
I want ALL people to accept and believe the Good News.

So, I have questions.
If JESUS did not come to save us from hell, what did He come to save us from?

And if He did come to save us from hell why are we to NOT tell people they are on their way to hell?

Why not ask people are you going to hell when you die?
I know why I have not.  I’m scared. It’s uncomfortable.

And on the heels of that, my question is how uncomfortable will they be in eternity if they die without getting off that road to hell? I mean don’t we get it, People ARE on their way to hell?
It’s a fact.

Look. It’s not us judging them to tell them hell is their destination unless they change their direction. No. It isn’t.  John 3:16-19
If they have not been born again they already ARE destined for hell.
They are on their way now and are one heartbeat from dropping right into that GOD-forsaken place.

What are we supposed to do?

Just be quiet about hell and hope the SINS they love will somehow become not fun anymore? Then what?  I wonder how well our timidity of warning about hell is curtailing the stream of people dropping into it daily?

How can we trust that today’s people even believe there is a hell when it is polled that most professing Christians don’t even believe there is a hell?

Yes, I have heard — Build relationships.
Some people don’t have enough time left for us to cultivate a 3-year relationship with them before we proclaim The Gospel to them.

There’s got to be a way for the Followers of JESUS to talk about hell as much as He did.
JESUS did not come here to give us a better life HERE.
He came to rescue us from HELL and to train us HERE for LIFE in Heaven (eternity). Check it out, dig into your Bible, and prove to yourself how much He talked about hell in three (3) short years of Proclaiming the Good News.
JESUS talked more about hell than He did about heaven.

You see it takes a nanosecond to actually transfer us from a destiny in hell (from the kingdom of darkness) into HIS KINGDOM of LIGHT but it takes a lifetime to get the hell-bent nature in us to die.

I’m not suggesting we go after people like a bull in a china shop.bf8df83a381a352ddc07093e1a9b8ec2

I’m suggesting we study the Real JESUS and do it His way, not the way we have been taught He did.

The woman taken in adultery? The woman at the well? As far as we can tell from Scripture that was their FIRST meeting, both women.
Read how bold He was with the woman at the well.

Preachers usually pick the woman caught in adultery – neither do I condemn you they preach. Sometimes they go further and say He said go and sin no more. Sometimes they don’t.

He didn’t have to condemn her. She was already condemned. So is every unrepentant unbeliever you and I will ever meet.
Condemned to hell already they are.
Because of their sins? No. Did I get your attention?
People are not sinners because they sin.
People sin BECAUSE THEY ARE SINNERS.
And it is this state of being a sinner that must be changed to avoid hell.

When are we going to get this?
When are we going to grasp that people are doomed to hell if they do not get a re-born, new Nature? Saying a prayer, saying they are sorry for their sins is not going to get the job done.
They actually have to meet the REAL JESUS via HOLY SPIRIT and get a BLOOD TRANSFUSION.
When is the last time you heard that preached, hell or no hell?

I get it. Talking about hell is offensive and uncomfortable so if we don’t want to ask them if they are going to hell, can we at least ask, Are you RIGHT with GOD?

HOLY SPIRIT, PLEASE MAKE ME BOLD ENOUGH TO AT LEAST ASK THAT!

Are you hearing me?
I’m as scared as you are.
I’m as uncomfortable as you are with this. Even so, I know we must start talking to people about hell and not just use the word as a Cuss word.

If you have made it this far in your reading of this lengthy, uncomfortable post, I commend you! Will you now decide to at least pray about it? And pray for me while you are at it — I need HOLY SPIRIT boldness and deep, deep Godly love.
Thank you, dear Friends.

Shalom, Kathie