In the handful of years I've been here,
I've been EXTREMELY BLESSED by posts ~ mostly the ones written over just the
past few months!!
There are times that a person wears
down, ya' know? And starting to get weary & worn, & even thinks
about sneaking out the back door. But then, there are those who earnestly
contend for the faith!
And *kudos* especially to Frank Molver
who blesses me day after day after day with his posts! {Frank, a
much, MUCH better prize is waiting for you in heaven! But for now, I
just wanted to recognize your efforts.}
Way cool!!
I "cracked up" when you hit a homerun
with your, "Trust and Obey" post -- I forgot just how you worded it, but it was
a good'n!!
I've got to say that the only thing I
tended to disagree on (not dogmatic one way or another -- still studying and
asking for the Lord's guidance) ~ but I truly HOPE that baptism by immersion is
NOT required for a Christian to be raptured.... because sigh, that would
definitely leave my husband out. [He was "sprinkled" as a baby ~ RCC] and
he's just never felt like he needed to go on & be immersed. I hounded
him for years about it. But finally, I realized I could no longer nag him
on the subject, as this was just pushing him further away.
BTW, a point of interest: the one
& only time he looked into being immersed, he asked if it was okay
to do in a Baptist Church. Weeeellll..... "no", not unless you will put
your MEMBERSHIP "here"!! {sigh!} He belonged to another
church at the time & was not willing to do that. But long story
short: probably a good thing, as it would come out in the news a few years
later that the pastor there was blatently gay..... and oooof, I'd just as soon
not be baptized by a "fake" Christian. Um, thank you ~
NO!!
Anyway ~ Frank &
others:
The OSAS'ers & those who
think Christians can live just any ol' lifestyle & just be swooped into
heaven ~ [and generally their minds are set in concrete: all mixed up
& hardened!] :) But OSAS believers who led immoral
lives will be the majority, IMO, who will be told by the Lord Himself, "Depart
from Me, I never knew you" [Let me say that I
realize that, for those committed Christians whose lives manifest the fruit of
the Spirit and who continue to abide in Christ "until the end", OSAS is not even
an issue.]
But the ones who think they can live
ANY WAY they desire -- and mingle & blend in with the world & turn
the grace of God into laciviousness, they'll be like [having the audacity
to stand before God & ARGUE with Him!!] ~ "well, did we not DO this &
this & this FOR You!!"
{um, just LIKE CAIN!! ~ who did not do
thing's GOD'S WAY ~ but attempted to branch out, "be creative" {perhaps "do
church" his own way} and came up with his own creative offering ~ of which
he expected God's blessing, but was cursed instead.}
Okay, let's forget MY paraphrase (ha!)
~ and go right to THE source of Scripture ~ here's what these people
will really happen: (from Matt 7) 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall
enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day,
‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name,
and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me,
If OSAS were “true”, then the MANY of Matt.
7:21-23 could not be true because they CALL Him,
“Lord, Lord”!! (they OBVIOUSLY believe in
Him!! Nonbelievers would not refer to Him as
“Lord”~ nor would they have spent
their earthly lives casting our demons in Jesus’ name or
prophesying in His
name!!) Soooo why does
Jesus tell these people who call Him Lord on Judgment
Day to depart from Him? The
REASON that these BELIEVERS are told this on Judgment Day:
they
refused to “depart from iniquity”. (regardless of the fact that
they BELIEVE
in
Jesus”)
<<<How much clearer can it
get??>>>
Matt 7:23 from diff. Translations explains WHY Jesus tells
them to depart from Him:
· AMP And
then I will say to them openly (publicly), I never knew you; depart from Me, you
who
act wickedly [disregarding My commands].
· NLT: But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get
away from me, you who break God’s
laws.’
· KJV: And then
will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work
iniquity.
YLT: and
then I will acknowledge to them, that -- I never knew you, depart from me
ye who are working
lawlessness.
The Word is
clear that everyone who names the name of Christ is to depart from
iniquity.
2 Timothy 2:19 (to STOP purposely sinning against Him!) We are to not only “be sorry” for
our
sins, but we are to turn FROM them by our behavior as well (also called
the “new birth”)... by
PUTTING ON THE NEW MAN.
Yes, yes, YES OF COURSE, we have freedom from "the Law" (the Mosaic
Law!!! Read Leviticus ~
and be GLAD we do not have to keep that!) but even NT
Christians are expected to follow and OBEY
the Lord's commands!! This is "counting the cost" of
following Him & those not willing to do it .....
well,
they will NOT fare well on judgment day.
There
are many people going around today believing in Jesus & yet practicing what
I call “the sin of the month club”, thinking they can live just any way they
please & walk right past the Lord through the pearly gates & on into
Paradise. Just because they believe in Him, their
lives do not reflect that they BELONG to Him. The
Bible says: “Such
people CLAIM they know God, but they deny him by the way they live.
They are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything
good.” Titus 1:16
Quite frankly, to SUM IT UP: do we
LOVE Jesus or not?? Because IF we love Him, we WILL obey
Him!! I challenge anyone to search Scripture out for
yourselves. Good places to start: John 14:15 John 14:21 John 14:24 Luke 6:46 1 John 2
Does this mean we're "perfect"? No. Does this mean we
have no room to stumble? No. BUT it does mean that are not to
"wallow around in sin" ON PURPOSE!! Or purposely lead "worldly
lifestyles" found in Gal 5:19-21; 1 Cor 6:9; and Rev 21:8 which
sentences a person to hell ~ forever & ever ~ I don't care who you are or
HOW MUCH you believe in Jesus. [Who's in hell? Rev. 21:8 ~ check it
out! ~ it's NOT just unbelievers ONLY!!]
For
the times real Christians do stumble ~that is what 1
John 1:9 and DAILY FOOT WASHING is
for!!
Oh Lord!!!! Help Your people
to WANT to love You, honor You, and obey You!! ~ pleasing
You
with our lifestyles! We know we'll stumble, we'll fall, we'll disappoint
ourselves as we WANT to
obey
You & follow You everywhere. And at those moments, help us to not hide
from You in disgust
and
shame, but to QUICKLY confess to You that we've missed the mark, and to FREELY
accept
Your
cleansing! Thank You for washing our feet -- which makes us clean all
over, so that we CAN
have a
part of You!! John
13:8 John
13:10
So, I hope you’ll say with me: Let’s love
Jesus & continue abiding in the Vine till He
comes!
Boy, didn't mean to turn my "how I love Doves" letter into a
sermon!! heheh ... but we can all use a little BIBLICALLY
BASED sermon once in a while, I expect!
Reva
Titus 2
13 Looking for that blessed
hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
The rapture is a blessed hope to the Christian. Watching for and expecting
the rapture is a blessed hope that encourages a person to stay close to the
Lord. A person watching daily for the rapture will go on with life but be
constantly looking for the return of the Lord each day. This blessed hope also
has a purifying effect. A person will not get caught up in worldliness or wrong
things if he thinks His Lord could come back at any moment. ~ Alan
Yusko
The **RAPTURE** will bring on
simultaneous worldwide DISAPPEARANCES
.... it is soooo close
now!!