Let’s just get to the point. Russia is currently setting up outside Ukraine. China has been threatening Taiwan. Iran is enhancing its nuclear capacity and openly expresses its unacceptance (to put it mildly) of Israel and the United States. The Middle East in general is continuously in some level of conflict.
If you haven’t done this yet, it’s time to make sure your ETERNAL future is in the place of your choosing, because you may not end up where you expect. You need to make a decision and take action now. So here are 12 questions to know where you may end up and find out what you need to do if you don’t get the answer you want:
Do you believe that JESUS is the ONLY way that you can be in eternity with God? (You can’t be “good enough” based on your own actions.) Yes or No?
Are you familiar with the 10 Commandments? Yes or No?
Do you admit that you break God’s commands? Yes or No?
Do you know the following is prohibited by God and those who continually do this (and don’t change these ways) will not enter God’s eternal kingdom? (sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, theft, lying, slander, “magic” such as seances, astrology, mediums, practice of witchcraft, spiritist, interpreting omens, casting spells, anger, getting drunk, sexual perversion, false teachers of religion, false prophets of religion, pride, a person who stirs up conflict in the community, a person who loves and practices any false teaching, hypocrites, taking advantage of other people, practicing homosexuality, slave traders, anyone who speaks against God’s Spirit (the Holy Spirit), being conceited, prioritizing money or wealth) Yes or No?
Have you rebelled against/sinned against God by doing anything in #3 or #4? Yes or No?
Have you asked God for forgiveness and subsequently made an effort to avoid all things listed in #3 or #4? Yes or No?
Have you told God that you want and intend to be obedient to Him by not breaking anything in #3 and #4, even though it is hard to do and you will mess up occasionally, but not regularly? Yes or No?
Do you ask God for forgiveness then change the behavior if, or when, you do anything listed in #3 or #4? Yes or No?
Have you publicly shown your commitment and surrendered to God and without hesitation state your belief in Jesus being the Son of God, the Messiah, who made it possible for you to be in eternity with God by being Baptized? Yes or No?
Have you asked Jesus for God’s spirit (the Holy Spirit) to help you live according to God’s will? Yes or No?
Do you know God personally? Do you have a personal relationship (ie. pray, read the bible, study the bible) with God? Yes or No?
Is the Spirit of God residing in you? Yes or No?
If you honestly answered “Yes” to ALL the questions above, you can know that you will have eternal life with God. If you answered “No” to any of the questions above, then you have work to do if you want eternal life with God.
Here are some (but not all) links to scripture validating the questions above:
Christians have very different view points on this subject: some never heard of it, some don’t believe it, some think the “rapture” will happen before “the tribulation” occurs, some think it will happen in the middle of “the tribulation” and some think it will happen at the end of “the tribulation”- before God’s wrath occurs. In my opinion, the timing doesn’t matter, but a person’s knowledge about this event and preparation does matter. As we know, the Bible is open to interpretation and people present compelling reasons for their beliefs, but the truth will exist (despite any erroneous beliefs), so on this subject (because it is not a Heaven or Hell topic, but could be), it’s important to know about it and consider all views, look into it yourself, pray about it and most of all be prepared no matter what interpretation turns out to be correct on the timing. The “Rapture” event is in the Bible, I can confirm that!
NORTH AMERICAN(the Rapture)(according to some millenarian teaching) the transporting of believers to heaven at the Second Coming of Christ.
When I first heard it explained I heard that it was derived from the Latin word which had the meaning “snatch, carry off” which is where “rapture” came from. In scripture, the Greek word is harpazō which is defined as:
to seize, carry off by force
to seize on, claim for one’s self eagerly
to snatch out or away
raptura ( Latin)
rapturus ( Latin) Future active participle of rapiō (“snatch, carry off”).
So that is how the word “Rapture” came about, and Yes, it (the event) is in the Bible.
Jesus was crucified, was dead for 3 days, then rose from the dead and visited numerous people, it was reported that he had been seen (alive again) by a group of over 500 people over a series of days. (1 Corinthians 15:6) He then ascended, was “carried up” while he was giving a blessing to his disciples. (Luke 24: 50-51), (Mark 16:19) (Acts 1:9) In a similar way believers will ascend. Enoch was also believed to have experienced this, maybe that’s why Paul refers to Jesus as the “first fruits” (plural) because Enoch also went this way; and fruit, seeds, growing, and harvesting is a commonly used symbol used throughout the bible.
Secondly, where is “The Rapture” of believers mentioned in the Bible?
BABY CHRISTIAN. Before I read and began studying the Bible, I never heard of “the Rapture”, yet I called myself a Christian. I was a little shocked at what I found in the Bible: so many things I never heard about, nor remember being taught. Not knowing much of what is the Bible, besides the “famous” Bible stories of Noah’s Ark, The “edited” 10 Commandments, Miracles, The Last Supper, the Crucifixion, and I was raised “Christian.” What I realized is that I was “a baby Christian“- at least that’s what I call it now! I didn’t understand what a true Christian/Believer meant or entailed. But I think this is very common, Paul refers to it in the Bible! I believed in Jesus and I knew I was supposed to “be good” and I hoped in the end, God would decide that I lived my life “good enough” to make it to Heaven. I now know those beliefs are not correct, according to the Bible: we can know right now if we WILL or we won’t be in eternity with God: it is a simply a heartfelt DECISION (decide to love God, prioritize Him, ask Him to guide your life, give your “control” to Him/surrender, willingly accept His commands with the intent to abide by His commands) we choose and by the grace of God, a “gift” made possible by Jesus’s death and resurrection, we are offered eternity, because God loves us that much! A hugeamount of anxiety goes away when a person finally comprehends this! We can be “saved” while we are still broken, imperfect people, working towards improvement, if we simply choose God, prioritize God in our life, believe the information found in the Gospels about Jesus.
Places that mention “the Rapture” (being taken, caught up)
Matthew 24: It’s important to read and pay attention to every statement in this chapter in regards to the timing of the rapture. It tells us “one will be taken and the other left” when Jesus returns. I believe Jesus will take the one who prepared and leave the one who is not prepared, as the wrath will occur next. Also in Revelation 14, One like the Son of Man (Jesus) gathering his people, the “good grapes” (the earth was harvested) and then leaving the remainder for the angels with the sickle. Logically thinking when a harvest occurs, the good is gathered and the rest is left to perish, right?
1 Corinthians 15: especially verses 23 and 52, this is when the resurrection occurs for those “who belong to Him” meaning those who have surrendered/given/chose to give their life to Him
1 Thessalonians 4: this tells us those who have died (as Believers) will rise first, then those true believers who are still alive will be “caught up to “Jesus in the clouds when he returns (the Second Coming)- I think this happens to protect the true believers during the Wrath of God. This is very interesting because this could be something we experience!
What are the various beliefs about when it happens and why do people believe what they do? Here is an excellent resource (link) for detailed thoughts and opinions about this question: www.gotquestions.org
Are the Rapture and the return of Jesus are the Same Event? To be honest, this is my thought/opinion. I have a different view from the Got Questions link: I believe the second coming and the rapture ARE the same event after reading the bible, I don’t think the rapture is kept “secret,” because it is revealed in the Bible, for any of us who read it. It is only “a secret” for the people who don’t read the Bible, they will not know about this, that’s where the “secret” is. There are many “secrets” about the universe that only those who read scripture learn. After reading the Bible, my opinion is that Believers will go through Tribulation, but will not go through God’s Wrath, I believe the rapture is the first resurrection described in Revelation. (Revelation 20: 4-6) and because in Daniel 7:21-22: The “saints” are being persecuted by the AntiChrist (described as the “horn”) so how could the saints be persecuted if they were already raptured? In Daniel 7:25 the saints/holy people are persecuted for 3.5 years (a time, times and half a time)- just prior to Jesus’ return. Revelation 13:7-8 this says that the saints will be at war with the beast that was “given authority” through the power of Satan, the ruler of the air- the saints are those whose names are written in the book of life.
Defining Saint. It’s probably important to define the word “saint” because I understood through the religion I grew up with there was a special process that had to be done to determine if someone was a saint and there were miracles involved typically, but today, I believe differently, yes those are definitely saints but so are more people than those who were involved with miracles, there is much to study in the original scripture to arrive at this conclusion: (link here) from this, I believe that “saints” or “holy people” are all those who have surrendered their life to God; those who have God’s spirit residing in them as a result of surrendering their life to God. As Jesus once said, “only God is good” meaning we are all sinners, there is not one person who is “good” naturally, it is a choice that someone makes; therefore all people have the ability to be a “saint” or “holy”. It is a choice and when a person chooses to live their life according to God’s commands, God sends his spirit to help that person (God’s spirit resides within a person), therefore they are a “saint”. Revelation 7:13 also seems to explain this: those who have washed their robes (ie. symbolically made themselves “clean/holy” by changing their natural ways, deciding to live by God’s commands).
Defining Tribulation. As I mentioned, my opinion is Believers will go through Tribulation, but not Wrath. So what is the Tribulation? Everything that happens before Jesus returns (Matthew 24: 29-30) John 16: 33: Jesus warned everyone that in this world we will face trials, trouble, etc. known as tribulation (but it is temporary). Tribulation is the persecution, trouble, affliction caused by evil people/Satan, not punishment from God prior to Jesus’ return. The Great Tribulation is the final test of faith that God allows to happen, just like he allowed a test of faith with Job, just like he allowed with Abraham and Issac, just like he did with Noah and the flood, just like he did with Moses coming out of Egypt and the manna. Why should we think we will avoid all tests when some of the most faithful in the Bible were tested? We need to be prepared. If we are certain that we will avoid the Tribulation, then what happens if we see these things occurring? Will we doubt God’s promise? Will we think we are not in the Book of Life? Will we loose faith? No, we shouldn’t. We should keep this possibility in the back of our mind (or in the forefront ideally), we could very well be here during the Tribulation, but remember it is only a test of our faith; it is not punishment from God. We just need to endure it, persevere, don’t loose faith, because Jesus forewarned us about this.
Defining Wrath. As I mentioned, my opinion is Believers will go through Tribulation, but not Wrath. So what is the Wrath? Wrath is God’s punishment. Here is a link to wrath references. God is not going to punish His people (the people who have committed to Him; made Him a priority; agree to live by His commands, have His spirit residing in them)! God’s wrath is pretty intense. Here is a link, if you want to know about it.
1 Thessalonians 1: 10: This tells us Jesus will deliver the saints from wrath, not from Tribulation.
1 Thessalonians 4: 13-17: This happens with the sound of the Trumpet (and this is usually a warning signal)
In summary. The Bible is clear to me that the “Rapture” will occur. There are many differing opinions which I shared and explained my personal opinion too. Ultimately when it happens doesn’t matter as much as being prepared PRIOR to it happening. That means seek God, reconcile/make up with Him, don’t be an enemy of God, tell Him you choose to give Him the rest of your life, ask Him for the Holy Spirit to help you through the rest of your life, then you/we have nothing to worry about! The rest is in His very capable and powerful hands. We will be “fine”, and better than “fine”, once Jesus returns! After God’s wrath, it is going to be AWESOME. This is what God has planned: Revelation 21
The end of the year is a logical time to reflect on life: What did we learn? Do we notice a pattern? What good happened? What are we grateful for? What do we want to change? What will our goals be heading into the New Year?
If you’ve read any of my prior blogs, you will understand this: our lives have a purpose, we are where we are for a reason. Do you know your purpose? Do you know the reason your life is the way it is right now?
I went through most of my life not thinking about this until my life was “shaken” in 2015 by an untimely death. That caused me to question everything in life: purpose, reasons, etc. I had no answers, only questions. I was confused about life and wanted answers, started searching. It led me to evaluating and making significant changes in life, taking action, but without knowing my purpose or the answers to the “reason.” I was lost, but moving, aimlessly, seeking, wanting life to be better but not knowing how to make it better.
2016 was continued seeking, transitioning to a “changed life.” I began praying more than I ever did in the past and in 2017 “surrendered” my life to Jesus, wanting his guidance. I was lost, I needed guidance, I didn’t have the answers, but I knew my way of doing things wasn’t effective; it was lacking. 2017 was a year of mild turbulence: ups and downs and I was wondering why since I surrendered but I kept my trust in God. 2018 seemed to be the turning point, everything seemed to be falling in place and I was grateful. 2019 brought a noticeable “dark cloud” into my life but I still trusted in God and went to Him for answers. I was led to the Bible and read it front to back for the first time and it literally made me want to change my life even more. My eyes were opened. I realized I was not living as God wanted me to. I decided to try to live better. I was hopeful heading into 2020. (LOL) I don’t need to explain 2020 to anyone; I think we all had the same year! But that’s when I “woke up” I realized what was happening in the world. I continued to go to God for answers to my questions and He revealed the answers in the Bible. It was amazing to experience this “communication” from God through prayer and the Bible.
2021 in summary was probably the worst year I’ve experienced in life, but not in every way: God was all I had to help me through it and He did. God is truly all I needed. When the Bible says God is faithful, God provides, God protects – all that is true. Throughout these past 6 years, I’ve learned to fully trust God. I’ve learned the answers to most of my questions (through the Bible). I have a different outlook on 2022, than I have in past years. In past years I looked forward to the hope of a better year. I don’t have that outlook this time. I don’t expect a better year. I actually expect a more challenging year, but I have all I need: God.
I have a mindset very different from a few years ago. I foresee the years ahead as getting tougher, but I KNOW (not just guess) this is only a transition to the greatest years of all time ahead, and I look forward to that with much anticipation. This is a time for endurance and perseverance. I don’t yet know how many future years ahead, but my intuition is that it won’t be too far away. Stay strong, stay connected with God and we will make it through.
“Interesting” things seem to keep happening to me and it makes me wonder, is this God revealing, communicating through scripture, or strange coincidences? I’ve been telling people close to me about these occurrences when they happen, but I may start writing about them since they seem so frequent lately and if it’s only a strange coincidence, then it’s entertaining/intriguing (at least to me, maybe to someone else?).
Earlier this week, I opened up to a random page in the Bible after praying that God “speaks to or shows” me something from the Bible when I read it. If I don’t make an immediate connection, sometimes I think it’s meant for someone else possibly? This is how I often decide what I post on my “Faith” Instagram account when I don’t have a topic on my mind as soon as I wake up in the morning. As I was reading, my dog hops onto the couch, right next to me and puts his paw on the Bible. I just thought he looked cute, so I took a picture and laughed at him, then sent the picture to a few people I’m close to, who know this dog’s funny personality and might laugh. Here’s the picture:
This was one text response I received (posted with permission):
(Message about the picture I texted)
So that was on Monday, I thought nothing of it, didn’t make a connection with anything, but read it wondering what significance it might have, if any? Tuesday was busy, I ended work at 8 pm and then caught up on “news,” which was informative, but discouraging at the same time. I found a few Instagram accounts posting current events and pointing out biblical connections when appropriate, so I followed those accounts because I’ve been noticing some of that on my own (when I was reading “prophecies” in the Bible and started seeing current world events relating to them) so this would be interesting to me to see what they find. After that, I decided I had enough for the day and went to bed; I was exhausted.
Wednesday morning after I opened to a random page and posted the scripture from it like usual, I looked through the feed on my faith account. (I only follow the accounts of people or entities that I learn something from, or who have contributed to my growth in learning more about Christianity on my faith account.) The accounts I follow are “resources” that I’ve found in alignment with what I found in the Bible, not any particular denomination, more of a variety, with the exception of the “news” sources I just recently followed. Anyway, in the Instagram feed I saw a recent discovery by Israeli archaeologists with the inscription: ‘Jerubbaal’ believed to be from about 3,100 years ago and reading further the post states “after he broke down the altar of Baal”. This triggered my memory: I just read about that: it was in the picture with my dog! So of course I had to let the person I was texting with know about this update after we had been joking/laughing about me “being shown” something while reading the Bible! (Even though this does happen; I didn’t think this was one of those times.) But this gets even more personal later…
First, here is what I saw in the feed:
So this is the scripture my dog was covering:
So that connection was worth exploring more now: the photo with my dog was in the book of Kings, not Judges, but part of the account was about the Baal Temple destruction. Then I noticed “Joash” in the title of the next chapter, Chapter 11. I wondered, how many Joash are in the Bible? Is Joash, the son of Gideon mentioned by the archaeologist the same as this Joash? So I looked that up too: here’s what I found. There certainly appears to be a connection, even though it’s not the same book from the Bible. So the person I was texting with said, I just searched Baal and this popped up: The Largest Baal Worship Service on the Planet is in America. Of course I had to read that article because when we read the Bible about stuff like this (worship of idols/false gods) we always think, that was back then, people don’t do this now! Well this article hits even more personally to me as I read it further. In reading this, I am acknowledging: this is someone’s opinion, but at the same time, this is eerie too! Here is a factual account of this event (link).
Next is how it becomes personal to me: if you’ve been following my blog, or if not, you can even go back and look at prior posts, in 2017, I decided to “Surrender to God” (which for me meant praying every day, but I didn’t really change my lifestyle too much at first). I noticed shortly after I “surrendered” all sorts of “bad” things started happening to me, then “good” things, then “bad”, then “good” again. It was like wave after wave and it was tough. Anyway, in 2017, I was in this “baby stage” as a Christian, probably our most vulnerable time, in hindsight. And I also think this was the start of God testing my faith but also revealing things too and disciplining me. If you read my posts from 5 years ago you will see this. In 2017, I was always going somewhere and one of the events I happened to go to was an art festival with music (one of my favorite hobbies): “Burbs Music and Art Festival”…here are links to the photos from my personal Instagram account taken in August 2017, the same month and year of that linked article above (scary):
UFO by Gateway Burners, local chapter of Burning Man
When I realized the connection to Burning Man and Baal Worship after reading the article, I initially thought: I’m going to delete those posts! But then I reconsidered: we can’t change the past, I went completely ignorant to what was talked about in that author’s opinion, I was intrigued by the art and music festival. If the festival happened again, I wouldn’t go because of that article I read, which makes me question all of it. But it also made me think about all the “subliminal” things we are exposed to unknowingly. It also made me wonder how many other people are “innocent” to this in participating and what influence, if any this has on our lives? From the bible we are told we are the subjects of “spiritual warfare” It really makes me think, maybe we shouldn’t be so naïve to this? Maybe we shouldn’t brush this off as “meaningless, unimportant, not impactful?” Do we really know? Jesus told his followers they couldn’t understand earthly things he was trying to tell them about, so how could he tell them about the spiritual world, despite the fact that his followers actually witnessed demonic possessions in their travels along with miracles and healing. Because of all of this, I tend to think there very well could be subtle spiritual deception in our lives working for a greater purpose later on. Again, I think it’s good to be aware of this, don’t be “blind” to this. There are blatant things happening in our world right now that are completely against God. How we live is a personal choice we make, and this is between God and each of us; no one should judge anyone else because we honestly don’t know everything. But we should have a clear conscience with God about how we are living our lives, if we don’t, it may be the reason for a personal change, if we choose God’s Kingdom.
Also this morning, while getting ready, I listened to Tim Keller’s Gospel in Life: The Robber’s House (another good one!) when he said: as Christians we are either “all in” or “all out” it made me think about that statement in relation to how I live my life. He’s right. Jesus had that warning to one of the churches in Revelation, about people being “lukewarm” and if they didn’t change he was about to figuratively “spit them out” or “extinguish their lampstand.” It gave me much to think about today.
So what do you think about all these events? Is God communicating or is this a strange coincidence?
The answer to this question depends on which word is emphasized: Is it “Proof” that’s being questioned? Is “Jesus” being questioned as our Savior? or is “Saved” being questioned? I’ll address each of these:
PROOF.
Proof always ties to a belief system whether we like to admit it or not. So the simple answer to this question is yes, it can be proved just like science is proved, but we will still choose “belief” or “unbelief” based on our personal mindset and what we personally choose to believe. We all make our own conclusions based on what we hear, see, experience, study, etc. and if those beliefs are strong, rarely does something change our minds. I’ve personally found that so many opposing beliefs can be “proved” by very educated people, data, statistics, etc. Data and information can be used to support opposing viewpoints and can be equally, strongly supported with opposing facts. It truly comes to choice: what do you want to believe? There ultimately is a truth, not every viewpoint can be the truth, but if our own personal beliefs are strong, we may hold on to those beliefs forever and may not truly have “the real truth”.
What is our source for TRUTH? If we are going to provesomething it has to begin with identifying the source of the Truth we hold. Agree? Our personal truth typically begins with what we have been taught. When we come into this world at birth, we are taught everything we know by experience and through education. Our belief system begins at that point, sometimes it remains throughout our life but often it changes as we gain new information. I’m fascinated by science, it was one of my favorite subjects in school and it still fascinates me, but what I’ve found over time is new discoveries often disprove concepts that we held as truths! Simply put: We don’t have all the answers and even some of our scientifically proven assumptions are later proven fallible through science, as education evolves. If we are honest, we will admit this. We learn from people, from the past, from books, from research, from experiences, but what we CHOOSE to believe is based on our own personal belief system. I often see a strong polarization between those who base personal beliefs on Science vs. God, but there are also some who believe in both. Here’s the question for us: when it comes to choosing between science and God, which do we believe in? Which one do we choose? When there is a conflict between science and God, which prevails? This is our choice and indicates our belief. As for me personally, I choose God as my priority; because God is infallible, never changing (prove through history) and God cannot be “unproven” by anyone, as our creator. Yes, there are people that say creation started with a “big bang”, but they can’t explain how those particles came into existence to create the “big bang,” can they? If you say something just “came into existence,” how does science explain that? It can’t be explained, but God explains it: He is eternal and has communicated with people since sometime around 2,000 BC according to biblical records. It was significant enough to those early people who experienced this communication to record it and pass it on to generations. Another point, a good portion of the Old Testament follows the ancestry of Jesus. It shows us how, starting with Adam, Jesus came to be through every generation. Also documented in the BC times, were the books of the prophets who told of future events, some are yet to happen, but significant to the topic of Jesus, many of them spoke of Jesus 500 – 700 years BEFORE Jesus was born; they told that the Messiah would be a descendant of David and even gave a timeframe (the book of Daniel the prophet) all prophecies of which were fulfilled/PROVED (except for the future event of Jesus’ return, which remains). I believe what the Bible tells us. So to me, the Bible represents the only reliable source of truth to follow.
How does a person become saved by Jesus? Jesus told us: 1. Repent, 2. Believe what Jesus taught while He was here on earth and 3. Be baptized Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples, one of the original 12 apostles, repeats this: Repent and be baptized. Jesus also told Nicodemus (a person who was faithful in following the religious law of that time): that people must be “Born of the Spirit” to enter God’s future Kingdom. (Read the entire conversation here) We need to receive the Holy Spirit to be saved and we receive the Holy Spirit by first repenting (recognizing our sins, wanting forgiveness and changing our future ways), then believing what Jesus told us about God’s future Kingdom. This belief becomes the motivation to get baptized. Baptism is the symbolic representation that we have surrendered our natural born tendencies/ways of living and made a personal choice CHOOSING God’s way/Jesus’ shown way to live life, putting into practice what he taught while He was here. But since we are human and not perfect, we need help; that help is the Holy Spirit (who provides wisdom, self-control, peace, power, spiritual gifts and more). Once we have been baptized, we can pray and ask for the Holy Spirit, which God will not withhold (as long as our intentions are “good”) and this helps us endure to the end of our earthly lives or until Jesus returns, whichever comes first? Believing in Jesus means more than believing he exists; even demons believe He exists. Believing means more, it is faith with action, faith shown by our actions, faith shown by how we are living our life. Jesus’ brother, James, tells us that point. Getting back to Baptism and the “surrender” part is also important. In surrendering we are acknowledging a submissive place/role to God. This is important for a couple reasons that come to mind, the first is it eliminates Pride; Pride (being “haughty“) is one of the 7 things God hates. We realize that we will never be capable of being “good enough” to enter God’s Kingdom/Eternity and the only way this was made possible was by Jesus’ death on the cross, the substitutionary sacrifice of His own life exchanged for the lives of those who choose to be saved. This last part is challenging to comprehend because the concept of “sacrifice” involves spiritual laws that I don’t fully understand. For some reason, unknown to me there is a universal law that requires sacrifice to become holy to be in God’s presence and Jesus was that only acceptable sacrifice. It’s talked about throughout the Old Testament, first with animal sacrifices. But over and over again, people made bad choices, fell back into sinful life styles, continuing with animal sacrifices, until God put an end to that because He loves people so much: He sent His Son, Jesus, to make the final required sacrifice making it possible for those who choose to be saved: to live eternally (in new bodies) with God in His future Kingdom, that will come to earth in the future.
Being “SAVED” is all about our personal choice. God gave us the gift (Jesus’ substitutional sacrifice made it possible) but we have that choice available to us. Eternity with or without God is a PERSONAL choice/decision. Each person has to make this choice on their own. God is love; Love involves choice; therefore God gave us that choice.
So yes, to me, based on the statements above and the bible; I am proving that Jesus saves.
Please share this with someone if you think it might make a difference in their life! Thank you!
ADDITIONALRESOURCES.
If you are interested in learning more about the conflicting viewpoints between science and the bible, there are educated scientists who dedicate their time addressing these questions and providing answers. Here is a website resource: Answers In Genesis
I want to emphasize the word “friends” because recently this has been on my mind quite a bit. I’ve wanted to reach out to you because of all the craziness happening in the world, but I haven’t because this is a sensitive subject and awkward to bring up out of nowhere. So I decided to make this post instead and those who choose to read it may and for those who don’t, we won’t be in an awkward “in person” situation! The only reason I want to say this to you, is because I care about you. You should know me by now that I’m not a “pushy” person about anything, I believe in choices and if it’s a fit, it is, and if it’s not, it simply isn’t.
If you regularly read this blog, you will know the impact reading the bible has had on me. Completely unexpected for me, but it’s absolutely changed my way of thinking. If you don’t regularly read this blog, then I’ll update you: I read the bible for the first time in 2019 and have been studying it since then. As the years go by, I comprehend more of what I initially read and also see how closely the Old Testament and the New Testament align and tell us the same thing.
Recently I’ve been studying/re-reading the prophetic books (currently on Daniel, with more to follow): Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggia, Zechariah, and Malachi, looking towards the future events that have not yet happened. As I was doing this, I’ve realized how long ago the prophets spoke of the Messiah (Jesus, as I believe, fulfilled this). Currently in the world, there is a movement about so many “religions” believing in the same God, but by different names, but this is not entirely true, partially true, but not entirely for some of the world religions. The main differentiator is Jesus and what people believe about him and who he is.
Before I loose your interest entirely, my reason is just for an awareness although it may also benefit you in the future, if things in this world keep continuing in the way they are, at this rapid pace. This is solely because I care about you. I will not bring this up to you in person, but I am available, if YOU want to bring it up to me. I ask those of you who are open minded and willing to “investigate both sides” of a subject (Jesus) before completely ruling him out as “wrong” to take a look at “One for Israel”…I’ve watched or listened to many of their publications, productions, etc.. This one is the first one I saw (published 6 years ago), and it was so concise and well done I’d love for you to spend less than 10 minutes to see or hear what they have to say, here is the link: Two Israeli Jews explain the gospel in Jerusalem like you’ve never heard before!!! and here is the link One for Israel’s website, if you are curious who they are, what they are about, etc.
That’s all I have to share with this post. I pray that God reveals and guides all of us!
S.A.I.L. 