Category: Salvation

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The Sun Stopped Shining

Luke 23 44-45Today, North America will experience a full solar eclipse. The moon will pass between the sun and the Earth, blocking out all or part of the sun for up to about three hours, with the moon completely blocking the sun for about two minutes and forty seconds (nasa.gov). The last time the U.S. saw a total eclipse was in 1979. Some schools have decided to close, some offices are allowing employees time to see the eclipse, and communities are having viewing parties. If you plan to see it, be sure to have the correct, ISO approved glasses to avoid serious damage to your eyes that could cause blindness in the future!

The Bible tells us about another day where it was about noon and darkness covered the land until three in the afternoon because the sun stopped shining. (Luke 23:44-45a) On that day, Jesus Christ hung on a cross, bearing the sins of every person throughout all time. As he bore our sin, God could not look upon his own son as he suffered for you and for me. In that moment, God turned his back on his son. As a mother with a 21 year old son, there is no way I could ever turn my back on my child and certainly not in his biggest moment of pain and suffering. Yet, God did because he loves you and me enough that no matter what sin we may have committed or currently are involved in, He wanted to have a relationship with us. Our sin, however, keeps us separated from Him because He is Holy. Jesus willingly endured the torture of the cross and willingly gave His life to pay the penalty for our sin.

Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Our sin has consequences and there is a price to be paid for it. Just as you are paid a wage for the work you do each week, God has a paycheck to give you for the sins you commit and that paycheck is…death. But don’t panic yet!

There is good news! Jesus took payment we earned on himself in our place. Jesus’s death on the cross covered that debt and because he died in our place, he is able to offer us the gift of eternal life. If I hold in my hand a beautifully wrapped present and extend my hand to you, how does the gift become yours? Because it is a gift, you can’t earn it. You did nothing to earn the gift and if you pay me for it, it ceases to become a gift. There is only one way the gift can become yours. You must reach out and accept it.

How do you accept the free gift of eternal life? You must receive it by faith. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace are you saved through faith; and it’s not of yourselves: It is the gift of God: not of works, so nobody can boast.” You begin by acknowledging that you have a sin problem. Romans 3:23 say, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” That little word all means you. It means me. It means every single person that has ever lived with the exception of Christ. It is because he lived a sinless life that made him able to offer his life in place of ours.  Ephesians 2:1-3 says, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.” Deserving of God’s wrath. Our problem is sin.

Like any other problem, there is an answer. Ephesians 2:4-10 gives the answer. “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” The answer is God’s grace extended to us through the death, burial and resurrection of his only son, Jesus Christ. John 3:16 tells why God allowed Jesus to die for us. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” God loves all of us. It doesn’t matter what color skin we have, what our past looks like or what our present life looks like. It doesn’t matter how “big” your sin is because we are the only ones that puts value on sin. To God, a little small sin as just as big as the worst sin you can think of. Sin is sin and only one will keep you from eternal life. But because of his love and grace, he allowed his Son to take the punishment we deserve. The Bible says, “Christ died for our sins…and rose (from the dead) on the third day” (1 Corinthian 15:3,4). “But God showed His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) It also tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that God made Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us so that we can be made righteous in the sight of God and this is what makes eternal life possible.

Just as the only way you could possess a wrapped present from me is to reach out and take it, there also has to be a response from you towards the gift that God offers you. You reach out and accept His gift of eternal life by acknowledging your sin, asking him to forgive you of your sin and placing your faith and trust in Christ alone. Act 16:31 tells us, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” In John 6:47, Jesus said, “Truthfully I say unto you, He that believes on Me has everlasting life.

For Christians, I hope that the eclipse we experience today will be a reminder to you of what it cost Christ for your gift of eternal life. For non-Christians, I hope that as you experience the eclipse, you will think of this other moment in time when the sun did not shine as Jesus hung on a cross in payment for your sin.

If you wish to accept the free gift of eternal life right now, you can simply pray the prayer below with a sincere heart and God will hear you.

“Dear Lord, I know that I am a sinner and need your forgiveness. Right now, in this moment, I trust you as my Savior. I believe that you died for me and rose from the dead as payment for my sins. I accept your free gift of eternal life. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

If you prayed that prayer, let us know in the comment sections or send us a note through the contact us page. Also, find a local evangelical church in your area and talk with the pastor and let him know of the decision you have made. He can then help you as you follow in obedience to God and grow as a Christian.

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Hell is Real and So is Heaven: Which will you choose?

Hell is a real place. It’s made of stuff that is worse than your worst nightmare! 1 John 1:9 says, “God is love.” But if God is love, then why does He send people to Hell? The answer is he doesn’t.

Hell was created for Satan who once was an archangel in Heaven, named Lucifer. Lucifer became jealous of God and decided he wanted to be God. As a result, he and one-third of the angels in heaven attempted a coup in Heaven. Only, they were defeated. God created hell for Lucifer and his followers. Lucifer is more commonly called, the Devil or Satan. In the Bible he is also called the Great Deceiver. His followers are known as demons. God created Hell for Satan and his demons.

When man sinned, a great divide was created between a holy and righteous God and sinful man. God created man to have fellowship with us. Yet, when man sinned, God’s holiness could not look on sin and God had to judge sin. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. Just as a child has consequences for disobeying his or her parents, so there are consequences when we disobey God. As a result, we are all dead in our sin. One of the most amazing concepts is that when God created man, He knew man would sin. He also knew that because of that sin, He would have to send His only begotten Son to this earth to pay our sin debt. Even knowing what it would cost Him, he created us anyway.

Yes, God is love. We know He is love because even when he knew from before the world was created he knew that you and I would be here. He knew every sin of our entire lives. He knew that we would need someone to save us from those sins and so in his love and mercy, he sent his son to die a horrible, cruel death in our place so that we would not have to spend eternity in hell.

Why then do people go to hell? Because they reject the free gift of Christ’s sacrifice and payment of our sin debt. They turn away from it. Revelation 21:8 says, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and the murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” Sinners do not want to be confronted with their sin. They would rather create laws that will legalize sin than to confess their sin. However, no law of man would over over-rule God’s law and when we stand before God at the end of our lives he will judge us. At that time, he will either see you covered in the blood of Christ which cleanses you from all unrighteousness and you will spend eternity in Heaven with him or the sins of your entire life will be exposed and you will hear God say the worst words you could ever hear: “Depart from me for I never knew you.” My friend, God does not send people to hell. They send themselves.

What is hell like? Pastor Rick Warren describes it like this:

In human terms, it’s tough to define Hell. It’s like trying to explain the Internet to an ant.

But Jesus actually talked more about Hell than Heaven. And to read how Jesus — and others in the Bible — described it, we don’t want to have any part of it, and we don’t want anyone we know to have any part in it.

So what does the Bible say about Hell?

  1. It’s a place of torment. Luke 13:28 says that in Hell, “You will cry and be in extreme pain” (GW). We get our visions of fire and agony in Hell from the Bible.
  2. It’s a place of complete separation from God and other people. That’s the worst part of Hell. Go through your whole life saying you don’t want to have anything to do with God, and you’ll eventually get your way. Hell means total separation from God. “If anyone does not love the Lord, let that person be separated from God — lost forever!” (1 Corinthians 16:22a ERV)
  3. It’s a place without love. The Bible tells us that God is love. Without God, we’ll spend forever without his love in Hell. The Bible also says, “There is no fear in love; perfect love drives out all fear” (GNT). What’s it like to live without God’s love? It means you’re scared to death all the time.

Everyone who goes to Hell chooses to do so. They’ll get what they always thought they wanted — a life away from God. You don’t want that! You don’t want Hell.

The Bible says that Hell is place for wicked souls; it is referred to as a fiery furnace, a place of unquenchable fire; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, constant and eternal torment; there will be no rest; there is condemnation and destruction; you will be eternally separated from God; it is a place of outer darkness; it is a lake of burning sulfur; and there will be eternal suffering. Yet any description we give it, will not compare the just how horrible spending eternity in hell will be.

How do you not spend eternity in hell? By placing your faith and trust in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. His death on the cross paid your sin debt. Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” He died in your place so that you do not have to spend eternity in hell.  In 1974, a movie was made and shown in churches across the country. “The Burning Hell” is a 58 minute film created by the evangelist Estus Pirkle. This film is Pirkle’s interpretation of what the Bible has to say about hell and you can watch it on YouTube here.

Heaven or hell….the choice is yours. Eternity in hell….or eternity in heaven. What is heaven like? A river, clear as crystal, will flow from the throne of God and of the Lamb [Jesus] down the middle of the city. On each side of the river there will be a tree of life, yielding twelve kinds of fruit every month. The streets will be pure gold, like transparent glass. The walls of the city will be adorned with every kind of jewel, emerald, onyx, amethyst, topaz, etc. There will be no need for a sun or moon, and no need for a temple or church. The presence of the Lord will be its light. There will be no sickness or pain, no death, no tears or sorrow.

Just as our human mind cannot accurately envision the horrors of hell, so can we not fully imagine the splendor and glory of heaven. Yes, my friend, God is love and He invites you right now to spend eternity in heaven with him. Romans 10:13 says, “Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

“Whosoever” that means you!

If that is your heart’s desire, then you can pray the following prayer:

“Dear God, I know I’m a sinner, and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son. I believe that He died for my sin and that you raised Him to life. I want to trust Him as my Savior and follow Him as Lord, from this day forward. Guide my life and help me to do your will. I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.”

If you just prayed this prayer, please let us know through the contact us page. You will also want to find an evangelical church and talk with a pastor so that he can lead you through the next steps, being baptized, and growing as a Christian. If you just prayed that prayer, then welcome to the family of God! I look forward to meeting you in Heaven one day.

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A Destined Meeting at the Well

by Julie Bruce

The story about the Woman at the Well is one of my favorites. Imagine with me for a moment….

It’s in the middle of the day…the hottest part of the day…and a lone woman lifts a clay jar and sets it on her shoulder and heads for the well to draw water. The time of day is important because usually the women came in the early morning, when it was cooler. Also, all the women in a village would go to the well together; laughing, telling stories, catching up with each other, gaining advice and wisdom from older women. But not this woman. She was the outcast in the village and she avoided the other women. Perhaps they turned their nose up at her or maybe they called her names. Her life was different than theirs and she didn’t fit in. But her life is about to change!

Not too far off a group of men were on their way to Galilee and their leader says, “I must go through Samaria.” The twelve men with him all suddenly stop and look at each other. “Master, through Samaria? Are you sure?”

You see, the Jews had nothing to do with the Samaritans. Long-standing religious differences created racial divides to the degree that the Jews would consider themselves unclean if they associated with a Samaritan. The disciples could not understand why Jesus wanted to go through Samaria. But look again at the verse in John 4:4. It wasn’t that it was a quicker route or one easier to travel. He had to go. Why? Because he had a divine appointment with the outcast woman on her way to the well to draw water and he was going to give her living water that never runs dry.

Is your life feeling a little dry? Thirsty? Maybe your life is being talked about to the degree that you want to avoid other people. For just a few moments, can I take your hand and lead you to the well that never runs dry?

Maybe you have already given your life to Christ, but you’re still feeling dry and thirsty. If so, can you honestly say you love Him with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all our mind (Luke 10:27)? The Bible also says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Luke 12:34). When we treasure something (or someone), we spend time with it, we show it off, we talk about it, we post pictures on Facebook, we tweet about it, our face lights up when the person walks in the room. How much time are you spending with God? Just enough to grant you fire insurance to save you from the pit of hell? Where are your priorities? What do you spend the majority of your time doing? This will give you a good indication of where your treasure and your heart is. If you are already a Christian, and still feeling dry then perhaps you need to come back to the well and recommit your life to Christ and begin growing an intimate relationship with Him.

If you have not ever had that moment of discovering Christ’s love for you, then let’s look back at the woman at the well and see the unfailing love of Christ.

As the woman approaches the well, Jesus had already sent his disciples into town to buy food and he says to the woman, “Give Me a drink.” Remember the animosity between Jews and Samaritans? His request must have startled her and she replied, “How is it that You, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” In his human body, Jesus probably was thirsty after walking from Judea to Samaria. However, his reply was “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would ask Him, and He would give you living water.”

Can you see the confusion on her face? She looked at his hands, on the ground, the ledge of the well and said, “Sir, you don’t even have a bucket and the well is deep. So where do you get this ‘living water’?

Am I the only one that notices she doesn’t get hung up on the idea of “living water” and she is only concerned that he doesn’t have a bucket? Regardless, Jesus used the reason she had come to the well to draw her towards belief in Him. In verse 13-14, Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. 14 But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again—ever! In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up within him for eternal life.”

She still doesn’t get it. In her mind she must have thought, “Wow…if I never get thirsty again, I will never have to come to this well again and lug this heavy pot of water back home. I will never have to come here in the heat of the day to avoid the other women.” Listen to her reply in verse 15. “Sir, give me this water so I won’t get thirsty and come here to draw water.”

Jesus then goes to the deepest shame in her life. He says to her: “Go call your husband, and come back here.”

 “I don’t have a husband,” she answered.

“You have correctly said, ‘I don’t have a husband,’” Jesus said.  “For you’ve had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

So here is a man, a Jew, whom she never met before and he knows about her past husbands and that she is living with a man to whom she is not married. Isn’t this the reason she came to the well in the heat of the day? To avoid these accusations? The Bible doesn’t tell us what happened to the five husbands, but maybe after be married five times she felt like, “What’s the point? I’ll just live with a man.” In our world today, there isn’t much thought given to men and women living together outside of marriage, but in Bible times, it was not acceptable.

So again, imagine her astonishment and her hurt that her messy life is so well known that a stranger just stopping at the well for a drink of water knows all her business. She tries to change the subject and surmises that he must be a prophet to know so much about her. She says: “Sir, I see that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, yet you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”

How often are we like this woman and want to change the conversation when our faults are being sat out for display? Jesus addresses this religious debate but also uses it to get to the point. Jesus told her, “Believe Me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.  You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

She must have still been confused or else just didn’t like his answer because she answered him saying, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will explain everything to us.”

He gets to the whole reason he was here….to introduce her to himself. He says, “I am He, the One speaking to you.”

Her response was to drop her water pot and run back to the village and say, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could this be the Messiah?” As a result the entire town came to meet Jesus…and because of her story, this unnamed woman is still brining people to Jesus today.

You see, Jesus cared for this one Samaritan woman enough to go to the “taboo” Samaria and meet her at the well. He introduced her to himself so that she could, would, and does have living water which is eternal life that we have once we place our faith and trust in Him. Where can Jesus meet you at today so He can offer you living water, and will you accept?

Yes, this is one of my favorite stories in all the Bible…because even knowing ALL the sins of this woman, Jesus still sought her out…and even knowing all my sins he sought me out. He still went to the cross. He still spent three days in a borrowed tomb. He still rose from the grave. He still conquered death, sin, and the grave. And he loved the woman at the well enough that he would have done it even if she had been the only sinner on earth. Just as he would have if I were the only sinner on earth. And just as he would have if you were the only sinner on earth. 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord…is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” My sweet friend, the good news is that you (no matter your sins) are included in that word “all.”

Come to the well. Jesus is waiting for you. Are you ready to drink from His living water? If so, the prayer below is guide. There are no magic words to use just three basic steps:

  1. Admit that you are sinner. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” None of us are exempt. None of us could ever live a perfect life or do anything to “earn” our way into heaven and eternal life. The good news is that Jesus has already done the work for us through his life, death, and resurrection. The only thing we have to do is…
  2. Believe. We must believe that Jesus is the sinless, only son of God who was born of a virgin and as such, he is both fully 100% God and 100% man. As a man he was tempted just as you and I are, but he never sinned. Because he was sinless he was the sacrifice that shed His blood in our place when he was beaten and nailed to a cross. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Wages…its what we earn. Our sins have earned us death. But, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) He willingly laid down His life in our place, taking our wages upon Himself, so that we could have eternal life….even knowing all our sins. All you have to do to accept his free (unearned, unmerited) gift is to reach out and take it by….
  3. Confessing. I John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Confession is simply acknowledging what God already knows to be true.

If you are ready, you can pray this prayer, or one similar on your own.

Lord, I admit that I am a sinner and need your forgiveness. I believe that you are the only son of God who came to earth as both God and man, lived a sinless life and offered your life as payment for my sins and that you died, was buried, and rose on the 3rd day and are now seated on the throne in Heaven. Please forgive me of my sins and come into my life as my Lord and Savior. Thank you for meeting me and giving me living water that never runs dry. Thank you for loving me and showing all the things I have done and introducing yourself to me. Help me to grow in you and learn to serve you.

If you prayed that prayer, your next step is to find a local evangelical church to join and talk with the pastor about being baptized.