Q: Can’t I still be a Christian and _________________? How much can I get away with and still be saved?
A: If the question “Can’t I live however I want (listen to whatever I want, hang out with whomever I want, watch whatever I want, treat people however I want, do whatever I want with my boyfriend, etc.) and still be a Christian?” is still crossing your mind, the answer is no. Remember, to be a Christian, or Christ follower, means that you repent of (turn away from) your sin-you hate it, and want to be rid of it. You are no longer your own master-Jesus has paid for your Salvation, and your life is now His to serve and please Him as 1Corinthians 6:19-20 says: “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and your spirit which are God’s.”
Don’t be fooled into thinking you can just ask God to forgive you later; this shows what’s truly in your heart-the desire to sin and enjoy it rather than to please God. If you told a store owner you were sorry for shoplifting in his store, then turned around and shoplifted again the next day, were you really sorry that you did it, or only sorry that you got caught? Obviously, the store owner will know that you never really repented of your wrong deed. In the same way, God is not fooled if your tell him you are repenting of your sin and you are sorry for living in rebellion against him, then immediately sin in the same way again (justifying yourself by saying God will forgive you) and tell Him you’re sorry again.
In Romans 6, Paul asks, “What then? Shall we continue to sin that grace may abound [so God can keep forgiving us]? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”
Yes, as Christians we are free from living in obedience the law, but using that freedom as a license to sin shows a complete lack of understanding in what it means to be a Christian and a devaluing of what Jesus suffered to pay for your sins. To be a Christian is not to follow the law perfectly and please God by doing that; it is to trust that Jesus has followed the law and pleased God perfectly in your place, then to bring yourself under the Lordship of Christ and say, “Jesus, you have control over my music, my movies, my friends, etc.” The question then becomes how you can best glorify God with your life, not how much can you get away with and still be a Christian.
Listen to how Romans 10:9 says we are saved: “That 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.” It is not simply by believing God raised Jesus from the dead, but also accepting him as Lord over your body (the things you do) and your spirit (the thoughts you think: the influences-people and media-you bring yourself under) which are now His.
If your focus is constantly on living however you want and asking God to forgive you later (or not at all), I think you have serious cause to doubt whether you really are a Christian. Yes, all Christians will make mistakes, but this is more of where your desires lie-sinning and enjoying it, or seeking to please God.
Romans chapter six gives a more complete understanding of the Christian’s relationship with sin. Go ahead and put this down and read it!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Questions Campers Ask Part 12- Why doesn't God always answer my prayers?
Q: Why doesn’t God always answer my prayers?
A: There are two verses most people have in mind when they ask this question: “And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” (Matthew 21:22) “If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:14) So we see in these verses that God promises to answer prayer, but we also see that there are three parameters within which God answers prayer:
Requests…
-Must be asked in faith
-Must be asked by a repentant heart
-Must be according to God’s will and timing
So then, there are three reasons why God may not be answering your prayers:
One- God doesn’t hear your prayers. God will not hear your prayers if you have not turned from your rebellion against God to trusting Jesus for Salvation, or if you are a follower of Jesus and you have sin in your life that you will not confess or turn from. We see this in the following three verses: “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.” (Psalm 66:18) “The Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save, nor his ear heavy that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:1-2) There is one thing you must remember, though. “But on this one will I [God] look: On him who is poor and of a contrite [repentant] spirit, and who trembles at My Word.” You do not have to clean your act up before you come to God, admitting you are a sinner in need of His Son Jesus’ sacrifice to pay for your sin. If you are truly repentant (sorry for disobeying God), God will hear you and answer you, forgiving your sin, and giving you eternal life.
Two-You are not asking in faith. “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose he will receive anything from the Lord.” (James 1:6-7) If you continue to pray, doubting that God can change anything, He may answer once to show you His power and make His glory known, but don’t expect him continue to answer your prayers. He won’t.
Three-God IS answering but not with the answer you want to hear-‘no’ or ‘wait’. Three biblical stories come to mind that illustrate each of these answers. When David’s son became ill, David begged God to save his life, but God had other plans and said no. When the Israelite slaves cried out to God in Egypt, he heard them, but answered, ‘wait’; the timing wasn’t yet right to where God would receive incredible glory. When Peter was in prison facing death, God answered the apostle’s prayers with a ‘yes’ and miraculously freed Peter. God will do whatever will bring Himself the most glory and us the most good, even when we don’t understand at the time.
Once we are sure we are praying within those three parameters, we can pray with confidence, as I John 5:14 says, knowing that God will do what is best!
A: There are two verses most people have in mind when they ask this question: “And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” (Matthew 21:22) “If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:14) So we see in these verses that God promises to answer prayer, but we also see that there are three parameters within which God answers prayer:
Requests…
-Must be asked in faith
-Must be asked by a repentant heart
-Must be according to God’s will and timing
So then, there are three reasons why God may not be answering your prayers:
One- God doesn’t hear your prayers. God will not hear your prayers if you have not turned from your rebellion against God to trusting Jesus for Salvation, or if you are a follower of Jesus and you have sin in your life that you will not confess or turn from. We see this in the following three verses: “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.” (Psalm 66:18) “The Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save, nor his ear heavy that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:1-2) There is one thing you must remember, though. “But on this one will I [God] look: On him who is poor and of a contrite [repentant] spirit, and who trembles at My Word.” You do not have to clean your act up before you come to God, admitting you are a sinner in need of His Son Jesus’ sacrifice to pay for your sin. If you are truly repentant (sorry for disobeying God), God will hear you and answer you, forgiving your sin, and giving you eternal life.
Two-You are not asking in faith. “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose he will receive anything from the Lord.” (James 1:6-7) If you continue to pray, doubting that God can change anything, He may answer once to show you His power and make His glory known, but don’t expect him continue to answer your prayers. He won’t.
Three-God IS answering but not with the answer you want to hear-‘no’ or ‘wait’. Three biblical stories come to mind that illustrate each of these answers. When David’s son became ill, David begged God to save his life, but God had other plans and said no. When the Israelite slaves cried out to God in Egypt, he heard them, but answered, ‘wait’; the timing wasn’t yet right to where God would receive incredible glory. When Peter was in prison facing death, God answered the apostle’s prayers with a ‘yes’ and miraculously freed Peter. God will do whatever will bring Himself the most glory and us the most good, even when we don’t understand at the time.
Once we are sure we are praying within those three parameters, we can pray with confidence, as I John 5:14 says, knowing that God will do what is best!
Monday, April 18, 2011
Questions Campers Ask Part 11- How do I know the Bible is true?
Q: Where did the Bible come from, and why is it so important? How do I know it’s really true?
A: Those are really three questions, and all three are very important! If the Bible is just another book full of stories, how can we know who God is and what He’s like? So let me answer those questions!
1-Where did the Bible come from? The Bible is a combination of 66 books written down by over 40 authors over a time period of about 1500 years. However, the Bible wasn’t written by men; the Bible was written by God. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.” (2 Timothy 3:16) God didn’t physically write the Bible with His fingers, but He did write it in another sense. Peter describes this process when he said, “holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit (God) told men what to write, and they wrote it down. The Bible claims over 3,000 times that its words are from God. No other holy book even claims to be written by their god, but only by one of their gods’ followers.
The earliest manuscripts we have today with parts of the Old Testament date all the way back to the Second Century B.C. The Bible was finished being written in the first Century A.D. after Jesus died and the apostles and a few others finished writing up historical accounts of what happened while Jesus was on earth and how the churches were to act and live now in light of how their life had been changed because of Jesus. After the Bible was written, it was translated into many different languages, and within those languages, the language of the Bible has been updated in different “versions”. For example, in the English language we speak, one of the earliest translations (but not the very first) was the King James Version. Watch how the wording changes in the following verse (James 4:3) from the 1611 King James Version to the 2001 English Standard Version:
“Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.”
“Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.”
2-Why is the Bible important? The Bible is important because without it, we cannot know God or grow to be more like Him. The Bible tells us how we can know God-through His Son, Jesus. Through every verse of the Bible-in every historical account, song, etc.-God shows us just a little more of Himself, who He is and what He likes and dislikes. And when we see His character, we see who He wants us to become-more like Himself.
3- How do I know the things written in the Bible actually happened and are God’s words? Excellent question! The Bible is made up of history, poetry, songs, wisdom literature, prophecy, and instructions for how followers of Jesus are to live. But how are we to know someone didn’t just make up the stories? There are three ways I’ll discuss:
1: The historical events described in the Bible actually happened. Every secular history account and archeological record we have found has completely backed up rather than refute the historical people, places, and events recorded in the Bible. For instance, the rise and fall of Greece and Rome recorded in the book of Daniel is read in school history books to this day. Additionally, Tyre and Sidon’s destruction was mentioned in Isaiah, and those ruined cities have been found by archeologists.
2: Science backs up the Bible. The Bible is not a science book. However, whenever it makes a scientific statement, that statement proves to be true. For example, many years ago scientists believed they could disprove the Bible because it said the stars could not be numbered, and they believed they had numbered and charted all the stars. However, when more powerful telescopes were invented, they realized the Bible had indeed been correct. There was no way man could have known that the stars were innumerable before that point, but God knew how many stars there were because he had created them.
3: The prophecies made in the Bible actually happened. The Bible was not all written at one time, as I explained earlier. From as far back as the first book of the Bible, God told men future events that would happen, and all those events (except those in Revelation which will happen at the end of the world) have occurred. For example, there were 48 prophecies concerning the Messiah, Jesus, prophesied hundreds of years before He was born. A few are that he would be born in Bethlehem, be betrayed by a friend for thirty pieces of silver, have his hands and feet pierced, be silent before his accusers, enter Jerusalem on a donkey, and have his garments divided and cast lots for. Every single prophecy in Scripture concerning the Messiah was fulfilled in Jesus. A mathematician calculated that the odds of all those prophecies being fulfilled in one man are 1 to the 157th power. In other words, it is impossible. Yet Jesus fulfilled them all! Truly, God must have inspired those prophecies!
Despite all these proofs, the Bible is questioned more than any historical book. When you read Plato’s speeches, do you doubt that Plato was a real person? Do you doubt that he actually wrote the things he said he did? What about Abraham Lincoln and the Gettysburg address? Obviously not! It’s history! It’s substantiated by other history and archeology! There were eyewitnesses! So why do we look at the Bible, God’s Word, and question whether God is real or whether He really wrote all the things He said He did? The fact that the Bible is God’s Word and Jesus was a real person who was fully God and fully man and died on a cross, then rose from the dead, are historical facts. There were over 17 historical eyewitness accounts (outside the Bible) that have been found recording the crucifixion of Jesus, and over 500 people saw Him alive after His resurrection. So why is there so much doubt?
Ultimately, you must decide whether you will have faith and trust that the Bible is real and God is who He says He is and has done for you what He says He has done, or that the Bible is just a fairy tale, and God is not knowable.
A: Those are really three questions, and all three are very important! If the Bible is just another book full of stories, how can we know who God is and what He’s like? So let me answer those questions!
1-Where did the Bible come from? The Bible is a combination of 66 books written down by over 40 authors over a time period of about 1500 years. However, the Bible wasn’t written by men; the Bible was written by God. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.” (2 Timothy 3:16) God didn’t physically write the Bible with His fingers, but He did write it in another sense. Peter describes this process when he said, “holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit (God) told men what to write, and they wrote it down. The Bible claims over 3,000 times that its words are from God. No other holy book even claims to be written by their god, but only by one of their gods’ followers.
The earliest manuscripts we have today with parts of the Old Testament date all the way back to the Second Century B.C. The Bible was finished being written in the first Century A.D. after Jesus died and the apostles and a few others finished writing up historical accounts of what happened while Jesus was on earth and how the churches were to act and live now in light of how their life had been changed because of Jesus. After the Bible was written, it was translated into many different languages, and within those languages, the language of the Bible has been updated in different “versions”. For example, in the English language we speak, one of the earliest translations (but not the very first) was the King James Version. Watch how the wording changes in the following verse (James 4:3) from the 1611 King James Version to the 2001 English Standard Version:
“Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.”
“Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.”
2-Why is the Bible important? The Bible is important because without it, we cannot know God or grow to be more like Him. The Bible tells us how we can know God-through His Son, Jesus. Through every verse of the Bible-in every historical account, song, etc.-God shows us just a little more of Himself, who He is and what He likes and dislikes. And when we see His character, we see who He wants us to become-more like Himself.
3- How do I know the things written in the Bible actually happened and are God’s words? Excellent question! The Bible is made up of history, poetry, songs, wisdom literature, prophecy, and instructions for how followers of Jesus are to live. But how are we to know someone didn’t just make up the stories? There are three ways I’ll discuss:
1: The historical events described in the Bible actually happened. Every secular history account and archeological record we have found has completely backed up rather than refute the historical people, places, and events recorded in the Bible. For instance, the rise and fall of Greece and Rome recorded in the book of Daniel is read in school history books to this day. Additionally, Tyre and Sidon’s destruction was mentioned in Isaiah, and those ruined cities have been found by archeologists.
2: Science backs up the Bible. The Bible is not a science book. However, whenever it makes a scientific statement, that statement proves to be true. For example, many years ago scientists believed they could disprove the Bible because it said the stars could not be numbered, and they believed they had numbered and charted all the stars. However, when more powerful telescopes were invented, they realized the Bible had indeed been correct. There was no way man could have known that the stars were innumerable before that point, but God knew how many stars there were because he had created them.
3: The prophecies made in the Bible actually happened. The Bible was not all written at one time, as I explained earlier. From as far back as the first book of the Bible, God told men future events that would happen, and all those events (except those in Revelation which will happen at the end of the world) have occurred. For example, there were 48 prophecies concerning the Messiah, Jesus, prophesied hundreds of years before He was born. A few are that he would be born in Bethlehem, be betrayed by a friend for thirty pieces of silver, have his hands and feet pierced, be silent before his accusers, enter Jerusalem on a donkey, and have his garments divided and cast lots for. Every single prophecy in Scripture concerning the Messiah was fulfilled in Jesus. A mathematician calculated that the odds of all those prophecies being fulfilled in one man are 1 to the 157th power. In other words, it is impossible. Yet Jesus fulfilled them all! Truly, God must have inspired those prophecies!
Despite all these proofs, the Bible is questioned more than any historical book. When you read Plato’s speeches, do you doubt that Plato was a real person? Do you doubt that he actually wrote the things he said he did? What about Abraham Lincoln and the Gettysburg address? Obviously not! It’s history! It’s substantiated by other history and archeology! There were eyewitnesses! So why do we look at the Bible, God’s Word, and question whether God is real or whether He really wrote all the things He said He did? The fact that the Bible is God’s Word and Jesus was a real person who was fully God and fully man and died on a cross, then rose from the dead, are historical facts. There were over 17 historical eyewitness accounts (outside the Bible) that have been found recording the crucifixion of Jesus, and over 500 people saw Him alive after His resurrection. So why is there so much doubt?
Ultimately, you must decide whether you will have faith and trust that the Bible is real and God is who He says He is and has done for you what He says He has done, or that the Bible is just a fairy tale, and God is not knowable.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Questions Campers Ask Part 10- How can God be good when He lets so many bad things happen?
Q: How can God be good when He lets so many bad things happen? Where is God when I’m hurting? Why doesn’t God just destroy Satan and evil?
A: I think all of us wonder at one time or another why God allows certain pain or hard things into our lives. I’ve had girls ask me, “If God loves me, why does he let my dad hurt me?” or “If God is good, why did he let __________ die?” or “If God really wants the best for my life, why did he let ______________ happen?” or “How could a good God let so many innocent people die in that earthquake?” Sadly, I don’t know the perfect answers to all those questions. I wish I did. I wish I could end your suffering and pain. When we’re hurting, it’s hard to see anything but the pain we feel so deeply. And the thing that makes what we’re going through even harder, is that God doesn’t have to tell us all the reasons He does things, and He rarely does.
However, there are three things the Bible tells us we can know and hold onto in the midst of pain:
1: Evil, pain, and suffering are the result of sin, and one day God will destroy Satan and rid the world of evil. When Satan tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and they disobeyed God, sin entered the world, and with it, the consequence God had promised-death. If any of us get something other than death and pain in life, it’s because of God’s great mercy. So why do people hurt you? Because they have chosen to rebel against God and not love you as they should. God’s laws are set up for our good. Breaking them messes up everything.
Don’t give up hope, though. The book of Revelation describes a day when Jesus will come back to earth and take His followers with Him to the home He has prepared for them in heaven. Satan and his followers will be cast into the lake of fire, and Jesus will rule His followers in a place where there will be no more “sadness, death, crying, or pain.” (Revelation 21:4) Why won’t Jesus come back now and destroy Satan and all evil? It is actually God’s mercy that allows suffering to continue and Satan to destroy for the moment. How? Because God wants to give more people time to turn from their sin and turn to Him.
2: God uses evil for His own glory and our own good. When Moses tried to free the children of Israel from slavery to Pharaoh in Egypt, Pharaoh hardened his heart and not only would not let them go, he gave the Israelite slaves more work to do and beat the slaves when they could not finish the work. What sort of a plan would God have in letting Pharaoh do that?
“For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.’ What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory?” (Romans 9:17,22-23)
God wanted to show his glory and power to the Israelites through signs and wonders so they and all the nations of the world would know for sure that He was the one and only true God. When they went to fight the people of the lands God gave them to dwell in, the people were terrified of them because they had heard of their God’s power and the ways He had worked for them in Egypt. God raised Pharaoh up and hardened His heart for that very purpose.
A lot of people want to ask why bad things happen to good people. But the truth is that none of us is good. Each of us- the terrorists who crashed the planes into buildings on 9/11 and the five-year-old who disobeys his parents -deserves to be struck down immediately for rebelling against God. But God is patient with us as He was with Pharaoh. He did not immediately strike him down so He could use Him to accomplish His purpose.
3: God’s in control and knows what He’s doing, and His plans for us are so much better than we could even dream possible. “’For my thoughts are not your thoughts,’ says the Lord. ‘Neither are your ways My ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my thoughts higher than your thoughts, and My ways than your ways.’” (Isaiah 55:8-9) Sometimes, we think we know what is best for our life. So when God does things in our life that are hard or takes things or people from us, we ask, “why?” But God knows more than we do. He has a “bird’s eye” view of our lives because He sees the end of our story and knows the best way to make that ending good. There are three stories that instantly come to mind as I write this. Two of them are biblical, and one is personal. I think they’ll do a better job explaining this than I can.
Joseph was a young man who had everything going for him. Life was good and easy, and as an added plus, out of all his siblings, he was his dad’s favorite. But then things started to spiral out of control. Joseph’s brother grew jealous of him and sold him as a slave. If that wasn’t bad enough, as a slave, his master’s wife lied about him, and Joseph ended up in prison. In prison, Joseph interpreted another man’s dream correctly, but when the man was released, he forgot to pass on the message to his boss, Pharaoh, that there was an innocent man in his prison. Joseph might have been tempted at this point to wonder how God could possibly use all that hurt in his life for a good purpose. But God was still in control, and knew exactly what He was doing. Pharaoh had a dream a few years later, and when no one could interpret it, Pharaoh’s servant suddenly remembered Joseph. Joseph was still in prison, so they were able to easily find him, and he was able to interpret his dream and warn him that God was sending a famine that they needed to prepare for or else they all would die. God brought Joseph far from his home and family, into slavery, into prison, and then left him forgotten and betrayed in prison all to save the world from starving. Joseph obviously couldn’t see that when it was happening and he was suffering, but God did!
Hezekiah was an Old Testament king. When God came to him and told him he was about to die, Hezekiah begged for more time. God allowed him to live an extra 15 years, but in that time, he bore a son-Manasseh. Manasseh was the evilest king to ever rule Israel. Hezekiah thought the best thing for himself would be to live longer. But the result of God allowing him to live longer was more suffering and pain for the people. God knows what he’s doing when he chooses the time of someone’s death.
That leads into my third story; Daniel was a young man my family knew who sincerely loved God with all that was in him. He lived every day of His life working hard at knowing God well and making him well-known. His money was spent sacrificially giving to those in need and buying 1,000 Bibles to hand out to everyone in his city. When Daniel felt distant from God, he quit his job to have more time to study the Bible. Daniel was an incredible young man. I say ‘was’ because last May, Daniel was in a bike accident that cost him his life. Daniel is now with Jesus. When he died, I wondered why God would take him. He was doing so much good for God. I knew Daniel was now experiencing complete joy with Jesus as he walked and talked with Him face-to-face, but I was upset that God would take someone who was doing so much good on earth. Daniel was bringing so much glory to God. What sort of plan could God have in taking him? But God did. Through Daniel’s funeral and the incredible story of his life, many people have come to follow Jesus deeper, and the newspaper article printed about his death lead to requests from unbelievers in the city to ask for one of those Bibles Daniel had bought and only begun to distribute. God had a plan in the timing of Daniel’s death, even when it did not match my own plan and timing!
Let me try to answer those top three questions more directly now: How can God be good when He lets so many bad things happen? By “bad things” if you mean people hurting people, that is the result of living in a world of sinners. But don’t worry-God will one day judge all sin and avenge those wrongfully treated. If you mean natural disasters, that is only what we deserve for breaking God’s law. No innocent people die in natural disasters-only guilty ones, because we all are guilty. If a judge let someone who was guilty of breaking the law go free without punishment, he wouldn’t be a good judge. We have all broken God’s law, and the punishment for breaking that law is death. If God just lets us off the hook, he is not a good judge. This is where we see God’s great mercy in not destroying all of us in natural disasters, but instead, in coming to earth as a man, living a perfect life, and dying, taking the punishment for our sin Himself. Where is God when I’m hurting? Right there by your side, working everything out for your good and His glory. Why doesn’t God just destroy Satan and evil? He will as soon as the time is right and those who are going to be saved have accepted Jesus as Savior.
So how should you respond to evil and suffering?
1- Look to heaven! God uses suffering and death to help us focus on heaven. In heaven, we will not have to experience any sadness, death or pain. Instead we will live in perfect fellowship with God. Living with God for eternity, we will experience complete joy.
2- Trust God! He is working for our good and His glory even when we can’t see it. Don’t be afraid; Satan can do nothing without God’s permission. God is never surprised by tragedy or suffering in your life. It is all a part of His perfect plan.
“’For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you: plans to give you a future and a hope.’” (Jeremiah 29:11)
A: I think all of us wonder at one time or another why God allows certain pain or hard things into our lives. I’ve had girls ask me, “If God loves me, why does he let my dad hurt me?” or “If God is good, why did he let __________ die?” or “If God really wants the best for my life, why did he let ______________ happen?” or “How could a good God let so many innocent people die in that earthquake?” Sadly, I don’t know the perfect answers to all those questions. I wish I did. I wish I could end your suffering and pain. When we’re hurting, it’s hard to see anything but the pain we feel so deeply. And the thing that makes what we’re going through even harder, is that God doesn’t have to tell us all the reasons He does things, and He rarely does.
However, there are three things the Bible tells us we can know and hold onto in the midst of pain:
1: Evil, pain, and suffering are the result of sin, and one day God will destroy Satan and rid the world of evil. When Satan tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and they disobeyed God, sin entered the world, and with it, the consequence God had promised-death. If any of us get something other than death and pain in life, it’s because of God’s great mercy. So why do people hurt you? Because they have chosen to rebel against God and not love you as they should. God’s laws are set up for our good. Breaking them messes up everything.
Don’t give up hope, though. The book of Revelation describes a day when Jesus will come back to earth and take His followers with Him to the home He has prepared for them in heaven. Satan and his followers will be cast into the lake of fire, and Jesus will rule His followers in a place where there will be no more “sadness, death, crying, or pain.” (Revelation 21:4) Why won’t Jesus come back now and destroy Satan and all evil? It is actually God’s mercy that allows suffering to continue and Satan to destroy for the moment. How? Because God wants to give more people time to turn from their sin and turn to Him.
2: God uses evil for His own glory and our own good. When Moses tried to free the children of Israel from slavery to Pharaoh in Egypt, Pharaoh hardened his heart and not only would not let them go, he gave the Israelite slaves more work to do and beat the slaves when they could not finish the work. What sort of a plan would God have in letting Pharaoh do that?
“For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.’ What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory?” (Romans 9:17,22-23)
God wanted to show his glory and power to the Israelites through signs and wonders so they and all the nations of the world would know for sure that He was the one and only true God. When they went to fight the people of the lands God gave them to dwell in, the people were terrified of them because they had heard of their God’s power and the ways He had worked for them in Egypt. God raised Pharaoh up and hardened His heart for that very purpose.
A lot of people want to ask why bad things happen to good people. But the truth is that none of us is good. Each of us- the terrorists who crashed the planes into buildings on 9/11 and the five-year-old who disobeys his parents -deserves to be struck down immediately for rebelling against God. But God is patient with us as He was with Pharaoh. He did not immediately strike him down so He could use Him to accomplish His purpose.
3: God’s in control and knows what He’s doing, and His plans for us are so much better than we could even dream possible. “’For my thoughts are not your thoughts,’ says the Lord. ‘Neither are your ways My ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my thoughts higher than your thoughts, and My ways than your ways.’” (Isaiah 55:8-9) Sometimes, we think we know what is best for our life. So when God does things in our life that are hard or takes things or people from us, we ask, “why?” But God knows more than we do. He has a “bird’s eye” view of our lives because He sees the end of our story and knows the best way to make that ending good. There are three stories that instantly come to mind as I write this. Two of them are biblical, and one is personal. I think they’ll do a better job explaining this than I can.
Joseph was a young man who had everything going for him. Life was good and easy, and as an added plus, out of all his siblings, he was his dad’s favorite. But then things started to spiral out of control. Joseph’s brother grew jealous of him and sold him as a slave. If that wasn’t bad enough, as a slave, his master’s wife lied about him, and Joseph ended up in prison. In prison, Joseph interpreted another man’s dream correctly, but when the man was released, he forgot to pass on the message to his boss, Pharaoh, that there was an innocent man in his prison. Joseph might have been tempted at this point to wonder how God could possibly use all that hurt in his life for a good purpose. But God was still in control, and knew exactly what He was doing. Pharaoh had a dream a few years later, and when no one could interpret it, Pharaoh’s servant suddenly remembered Joseph. Joseph was still in prison, so they were able to easily find him, and he was able to interpret his dream and warn him that God was sending a famine that they needed to prepare for or else they all would die. God brought Joseph far from his home and family, into slavery, into prison, and then left him forgotten and betrayed in prison all to save the world from starving. Joseph obviously couldn’t see that when it was happening and he was suffering, but God did!
Hezekiah was an Old Testament king. When God came to him and told him he was about to die, Hezekiah begged for more time. God allowed him to live an extra 15 years, but in that time, he bore a son-Manasseh. Manasseh was the evilest king to ever rule Israel. Hezekiah thought the best thing for himself would be to live longer. But the result of God allowing him to live longer was more suffering and pain for the people. God knows what he’s doing when he chooses the time of someone’s death.
That leads into my third story; Daniel was a young man my family knew who sincerely loved God with all that was in him. He lived every day of His life working hard at knowing God well and making him well-known. His money was spent sacrificially giving to those in need and buying 1,000 Bibles to hand out to everyone in his city. When Daniel felt distant from God, he quit his job to have more time to study the Bible. Daniel was an incredible young man. I say ‘was’ because last May, Daniel was in a bike accident that cost him his life. Daniel is now with Jesus. When he died, I wondered why God would take him. He was doing so much good for God. I knew Daniel was now experiencing complete joy with Jesus as he walked and talked with Him face-to-face, but I was upset that God would take someone who was doing so much good on earth. Daniel was bringing so much glory to God. What sort of plan could God have in taking him? But God did. Through Daniel’s funeral and the incredible story of his life, many people have come to follow Jesus deeper, and the newspaper article printed about his death lead to requests from unbelievers in the city to ask for one of those Bibles Daniel had bought and only begun to distribute. God had a plan in the timing of Daniel’s death, even when it did not match my own plan and timing!
Let me try to answer those top three questions more directly now: How can God be good when He lets so many bad things happen? By “bad things” if you mean people hurting people, that is the result of living in a world of sinners. But don’t worry-God will one day judge all sin and avenge those wrongfully treated. If you mean natural disasters, that is only what we deserve for breaking God’s law. No innocent people die in natural disasters-only guilty ones, because we all are guilty. If a judge let someone who was guilty of breaking the law go free without punishment, he wouldn’t be a good judge. We have all broken God’s law, and the punishment for breaking that law is death. If God just lets us off the hook, he is not a good judge. This is where we see God’s great mercy in not destroying all of us in natural disasters, but instead, in coming to earth as a man, living a perfect life, and dying, taking the punishment for our sin Himself. Where is God when I’m hurting? Right there by your side, working everything out for your good and His glory. Why doesn’t God just destroy Satan and evil? He will as soon as the time is right and those who are going to be saved have accepted Jesus as Savior.
So how should you respond to evil and suffering?
1- Look to heaven! God uses suffering and death to help us focus on heaven. In heaven, we will not have to experience any sadness, death or pain. Instead we will live in perfect fellowship with God. Living with God for eternity, we will experience complete joy.
2- Trust God! He is working for our good and His glory even when we can’t see it. Don’t be afraid; Satan can do nothing without God’s permission. God is never surprised by tragedy or suffering in your life. It is all a part of His perfect plan.
“’For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you: plans to give you a future and a hope.’” (Jeremiah 29:11)
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Questions Campers Ask Part 9- What about those who have never heard?
Q: What happens to people who haven’t heard about Jesus when they die?
A: This one’s tough. It bothered me a lot when I was in junior high and high school. I wanted a clear heaven or hell answer, but I’ve since realized that isn’t possible. To be able to say that all people in remote parts of the world who have never heard of Jesus go to hell or heaven, I would have to be able to see every individual heart. Obviously, I can’t. Here’s what I know, though:
1-“For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes have been clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and godhead, so that they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20) In other words, God doesn’t let people off the hook for merely not hearing of Him. They “have no excuse” because of God’s attributes that are clearly visible in creation.
2-“For when Gentiles who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves. Who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves, their thoughts accusing or else excusing them on the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.” (Romans 2:14-15) Those who have not heard of Jesus have broken God’s law, and they know this because God has given them a conscience-the ability to know right and wrong. Their own thoughts will accuse them on judgment day.
3-“Nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37) If God wants (and I have heard stories of this happening) He can appear in a vision to anyone and make himself known to them. Remote regions of the world do not stop God from saving whomever He wishes to save. “Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.” (Romans 9:18)
4-“What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.” (Romans 9:14-16) God is not unjust or “unfair” in sending those who have never heard of Him to hell. God is, however, unfair in mercifully not sending some of us to hell. We all deserve hell. That’s what is fair for any of us because we all sin, and that is the fair punishment for our sin. We haven’t done anything to deserve heaven, and no desire or effort on our part can save us. It’s crazy to think that God would be unfair to some of us and grant us eternal life with Him. But He does.
5-“For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. One of you will say to me: Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? (Romans 9:17-23) God is crazy about one thing-His own glory. He will use each of us in the best way possible to ensure His own glory. For some, this will include further hardening their hearts which they have already hardened. For others, this will mean crazy, undeservable mercy. God used Pharaoh’s already hardened heart by further hardening it to show His great power and make His great glory known to the children of Israel and every other nation on earth so all people knew that He was truly God. God made us, so He has the right to do with any of us as He pleases. Who are we to question what He does?
So how should we respond to all this? Jesus tells us: “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send our laborers into His harvest.” (Matthew 9:37-38) All sinners are guilty, deserving hell. Simply not hearing of Jesus does not change this fact. This should bother you. It bothers me. What are you going to do about it? There are three things you can do. 1- Pray for people to go tell them. 2- Give, providing for others to go tell them. 3- Go yourself and tell those who have never heard the good news of Jesus.
A: This one’s tough. It bothered me a lot when I was in junior high and high school. I wanted a clear heaven or hell answer, but I’ve since realized that isn’t possible. To be able to say that all people in remote parts of the world who have never heard of Jesus go to hell or heaven, I would have to be able to see every individual heart. Obviously, I can’t. Here’s what I know, though:
1-“For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes have been clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and godhead, so that they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20) In other words, God doesn’t let people off the hook for merely not hearing of Him. They “have no excuse” because of God’s attributes that are clearly visible in creation.
2-“For when Gentiles who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves. Who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves, their thoughts accusing or else excusing them on the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.” (Romans 2:14-15) Those who have not heard of Jesus have broken God’s law, and they know this because God has given them a conscience-the ability to know right and wrong. Their own thoughts will accuse them on judgment day.
3-“Nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37) If God wants (and I have heard stories of this happening) He can appear in a vision to anyone and make himself known to them. Remote regions of the world do not stop God from saving whomever He wishes to save. “Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.” (Romans 9:18)
4-“What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.” (Romans 9:14-16) God is not unjust or “unfair” in sending those who have never heard of Him to hell. God is, however, unfair in mercifully not sending some of us to hell. We all deserve hell. That’s what is fair for any of us because we all sin, and that is the fair punishment for our sin. We haven’t done anything to deserve heaven, and no desire or effort on our part can save us. It’s crazy to think that God would be unfair to some of us and grant us eternal life with Him. But He does.
5-“For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. One of you will say to me: Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? (Romans 9:17-23) God is crazy about one thing-His own glory. He will use each of us in the best way possible to ensure His own glory. For some, this will include further hardening their hearts which they have already hardened. For others, this will mean crazy, undeservable mercy. God used Pharaoh’s already hardened heart by further hardening it to show His great power and make His great glory known to the children of Israel and every other nation on earth so all people knew that He was truly God. God made us, so He has the right to do with any of us as He pleases. Who are we to question what He does?
So how should we respond to all this? Jesus tells us: “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send our laborers into His harvest.” (Matthew 9:37-38) All sinners are guilty, deserving hell. Simply not hearing of Jesus does not change this fact. This should bother you. It bothers me. What are you going to do about it? There are three things you can do. 1- Pray for people to go tell them. 2- Give, providing for others to go tell them. 3- Go yourself and tell those who have never heard the good news of Jesus.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Questions Campers Ask Part 8- How can I reach out to my "cool" friends without looking like a "loser"?
Q: How can I reach out to my “cool” friends without looking like a “loser”?
A: That is an incredibly good question! When you hear a good joke or funny story or watch a good movie, you want to tell or show someone else. It’s natural! It’s the same way when you come to know Jesus. After Jesus becomes our Savior, one of the natural first steps we should take is to tell our family and friends what has happened and how they can come to know Jesus, too! This is the best news ever! We are all sinners, condemned to spend eternity separated from God, but Jesus came to earth and died in our place, taking our punishment. That’s way better than any joke, story, or movie!
There are at least three reasons to share your faith or “reach out” to friends:
1.)For your friends! Revelation 20:15 says, “And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Why tell your friends? To save them from an eternity separated from God in the lake of fire, hell. Would you really be a good friend if you didn’t warn your friend about what happens when we die? If you knew your friend was sleeping in a burning building, would you try to warn her? I hope so! I hope you’ll do the same with your friends’ eternal destiny!
2.)For yourself! God has commanded that Christians “go into all the world and preach the gospel [the good news of Jesus] to every creature.” (Mark 16:15) That includes your friends-all of them! Jesus said that sharing Him with the world was not optional: “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33) Will you deny Jesus in your friendships? If so, you don’t really know Him, and He will one day deny you before His Father.
3.)For God! When the Lord appeared to Isaiah in Isaiah 6, He asked, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” And Isaiah replied, “Here am I, Lord, send me!” For whom was Isaiah going to the people? For the people, to save them from hell? No! For God-to declare His glory to the people so the “earth may be filled with the glory of the Lord”! Our love for people will run dry and not always motivate us. We have to share for the glory of God-to make Him known and share how amazing He is!
That question was good and very important; however, it is not a valid question. What would you tell me if I asked: “How can I learn to breathe without using my lungs?” I’m pretty sure you would tell me that yes, knowing how to breathe is important, but I can’t breathe if I’m not willing to use my lungs. In the same way, learning to reach out to our friends is important, but we can’t share our faith with our “cool” friends if we’re not willing to look like a “loser”. “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But He who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 10:22) Following and obeying Jesus is hard and may cost you friends! Jesus never said it would be easy.
I think a more valid question then would be “How can I reach out to my cool friends?” My answer? The same way you would reach out to your “uncool” friends! Tell them what Jesus did for you, invite them to church or a youth group activity, then share Jesus with them. Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort have an acrostic to help you remember how to share Jesus: WDJD.
W-Would you consider yourself to be a good person? Most people will say yes. The Bible disagrees, so keep going!
D-Do you think you’ve kept the 10 commandments? You’ll probably be told that they have… mostly, or that they think so. Ask if you can walk through a few. Ask if they’ve ever lied. When they say yes, ask them what that makes them (a liar). Ask if they’ve ever stolen something and what that makes them (a thief). It doesn’t matter how big the thing they stole was. Ask if they’ve ever disobeyed their parents. When they admit they have, tell them those are just three of the ten commandments (you can walk through more if you want to) and the Bible says the only thing we have to do to be guilty on judgment day is break one (James 2:10).
J-If God judged you using the 10 commandments on judgment day, would you be innocent or guilty? If they say innocent, take them back to the 10 commandments and show them again that they have broken God’s law and are therefore guilty. When they admit they are guilty, ask, “Would you go to heaven or hell?” They should say hell. If not, remind them that the Bible says the punishment for sin is death-separation from God forever in hell.
D- Does that concern you? At this point, if they say no, they are obviously not ready to hear the good news of Jesus and what he has done for them. Tell them you care about them and will pray for them. If they say yes, you can tell them all that Jesus has done for them and how if they turn from their sin (repent) and trust that what Jesus did for them on the cross was enough to pay for their sin, God will forgive their sin and give them the free gift of eternal life along with the Holy Spirit who gives us the desire and strength to live for God.
Your friend will most likely not respond the first time you talk to them. That’s ok! Keep sharing Jesus not only with your words, but also by the way you live your life. If they see you are a hypocrite, they won’t want anything to do with ‘your Jesus’. Pray for them no matter what, and be patient, not pushy.
I had a friend a few years ago who was not a follower of Jesus. Her name was Jen, and as much as I valued our friendship, I knew she needed Jesus. So I told her about Jesus and how He had died to pay the penalty for our sin. She had a really hard time believing that, and kept pushing all my talk about God away. I never gave up on her, though. I continued to be her friend and show her Jesus by the way I lived and shared Him with her every chance I got. This went on for several years, and then one day, I found out that she had died. She was only 16 years old. It was hard for me to hear that, because I don’t know if she ever trusted in Jesus for Salvation. But I know it would be so much harder for me if I had never shared Jesus with her.
So be bold for Jesus! Don’t be afraid of what your friends will think of you. You wouldn’t worry about that if they were in a burning building, would you? “And do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)What’s the worst that can happen? You may be made fun of or laughed at. You may be called a “loser”. But Jesus tells us that whoever “loses” his life for the gospel, will find true life, and that those who are persecuted, or made fun of for their faith, will have great reward in heaven. (Matthew 5:12)
Matthew 10:19-20 tells us not to even be afraid that we don’t know what to say- “Do not worry how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.” God will give you words!
After reading this, by still refusing to reach out to your friends, you’re saying two things about what’s really true in your heart:
1: You don’t think your friend is worth the risk of being laughed at.
2: You don’t think God is worth the risk of being laughed at.
1 Corinthians 15:33 warns us, “Do not be deceived: evil company corrupts good morals.” If your friendship with your “cool” friend is more important to you than your friendship with God, maybe your morals have already been corrupted. Maybe it’s time to stop being such close friends with that friend. Yes, I realize that is radical, but Matthew 5 tells us we should go so far as cutting off parts of our bodies if they are keeping us from God. “It is better that one of your members [or friendships!] should perish than for your whole body to be cast into hell.” (Matthew 5:25)
Jesus took your friends’ eternal destiny so seriously that He died for them. I pray you will get serious, too.
A: That is an incredibly good question! When you hear a good joke or funny story or watch a good movie, you want to tell or show someone else. It’s natural! It’s the same way when you come to know Jesus. After Jesus becomes our Savior, one of the natural first steps we should take is to tell our family and friends what has happened and how they can come to know Jesus, too! This is the best news ever! We are all sinners, condemned to spend eternity separated from God, but Jesus came to earth and died in our place, taking our punishment. That’s way better than any joke, story, or movie!
There are at least three reasons to share your faith or “reach out” to friends:
1.)For your friends! Revelation 20:15 says, “And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Why tell your friends? To save them from an eternity separated from God in the lake of fire, hell. Would you really be a good friend if you didn’t warn your friend about what happens when we die? If you knew your friend was sleeping in a burning building, would you try to warn her? I hope so! I hope you’ll do the same with your friends’ eternal destiny!
2.)For yourself! God has commanded that Christians “go into all the world and preach the gospel [the good news of Jesus] to every creature.” (Mark 16:15) That includes your friends-all of them! Jesus said that sharing Him with the world was not optional: “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33) Will you deny Jesus in your friendships? If so, you don’t really know Him, and He will one day deny you before His Father.
3.)For God! When the Lord appeared to Isaiah in Isaiah 6, He asked, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” And Isaiah replied, “Here am I, Lord, send me!” For whom was Isaiah going to the people? For the people, to save them from hell? No! For God-to declare His glory to the people so the “earth may be filled with the glory of the Lord”! Our love for people will run dry and not always motivate us. We have to share for the glory of God-to make Him known and share how amazing He is!
That question was good and very important; however, it is not a valid question. What would you tell me if I asked: “How can I learn to breathe without using my lungs?” I’m pretty sure you would tell me that yes, knowing how to breathe is important, but I can’t breathe if I’m not willing to use my lungs. In the same way, learning to reach out to our friends is important, but we can’t share our faith with our “cool” friends if we’re not willing to look like a “loser”. “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But He who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 10:22) Following and obeying Jesus is hard and may cost you friends! Jesus never said it would be easy.
I think a more valid question then would be “How can I reach out to my cool friends?” My answer? The same way you would reach out to your “uncool” friends! Tell them what Jesus did for you, invite them to church or a youth group activity, then share Jesus with them. Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort have an acrostic to help you remember how to share Jesus: WDJD.
W-Would you consider yourself to be a good person? Most people will say yes. The Bible disagrees, so keep going!
D-Do you think you’ve kept the 10 commandments? You’ll probably be told that they have… mostly, or that they think so. Ask if you can walk through a few. Ask if they’ve ever lied. When they say yes, ask them what that makes them (a liar). Ask if they’ve ever stolen something and what that makes them (a thief). It doesn’t matter how big the thing they stole was. Ask if they’ve ever disobeyed their parents. When they admit they have, tell them those are just three of the ten commandments (you can walk through more if you want to) and the Bible says the only thing we have to do to be guilty on judgment day is break one (James 2:10).
J-If God judged you using the 10 commandments on judgment day, would you be innocent or guilty? If they say innocent, take them back to the 10 commandments and show them again that they have broken God’s law and are therefore guilty. When they admit they are guilty, ask, “Would you go to heaven or hell?” They should say hell. If not, remind them that the Bible says the punishment for sin is death-separation from God forever in hell.
D- Does that concern you? At this point, if they say no, they are obviously not ready to hear the good news of Jesus and what he has done for them. Tell them you care about them and will pray for them. If they say yes, you can tell them all that Jesus has done for them and how if they turn from their sin (repent) and trust that what Jesus did for them on the cross was enough to pay for their sin, God will forgive their sin and give them the free gift of eternal life along with the Holy Spirit who gives us the desire and strength to live for God.
Your friend will most likely not respond the first time you talk to them. That’s ok! Keep sharing Jesus not only with your words, but also by the way you live your life. If they see you are a hypocrite, they won’t want anything to do with ‘your Jesus’. Pray for them no matter what, and be patient, not pushy.
I had a friend a few years ago who was not a follower of Jesus. Her name was Jen, and as much as I valued our friendship, I knew she needed Jesus. So I told her about Jesus and how He had died to pay the penalty for our sin. She had a really hard time believing that, and kept pushing all my talk about God away. I never gave up on her, though. I continued to be her friend and show her Jesus by the way I lived and shared Him with her every chance I got. This went on for several years, and then one day, I found out that she had died. She was only 16 years old. It was hard for me to hear that, because I don’t know if she ever trusted in Jesus for Salvation. But I know it would be so much harder for me if I had never shared Jesus with her.
So be bold for Jesus! Don’t be afraid of what your friends will think of you. You wouldn’t worry about that if they were in a burning building, would you? “And do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)What’s the worst that can happen? You may be made fun of or laughed at. You may be called a “loser”. But Jesus tells us that whoever “loses” his life for the gospel, will find true life, and that those who are persecuted, or made fun of for their faith, will have great reward in heaven. (Matthew 5:12)
Matthew 10:19-20 tells us not to even be afraid that we don’t know what to say- “Do not worry how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.” God will give you words!
After reading this, by still refusing to reach out to your friends, you’re saying two things about what’s really true in your heart:
1: You don’t think your friend is worth the risk of being laughed at.
2: You don’t think God is worth the risk of being laughed at.
1 Corinthians 15:33 warns us, “Do not be deceived: evil company corrupts good morals.” If your friendship with your “cool” friend is more important to you than your friendship with God, maybe your morals have already been corrupted. Maybe it’s time to stop being such close friends with that friend. Yes, I realize that is radical, but Matthew 5 tells us we should go so far as cutting off parts of our bodies if they are keeping us from God. “It is better that one of your members [or friendships!] should perish than for your whole body to be cast into hell.” (Matthew 5:25)
Jesus took your friends’ eternal destiny so seriously that He died for them. I pray you will get serious, too.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Questions Campers Ask Part 7- What about other religions?
Q: What about other religions? What makes Christianity the real and only one? Can’t all religions be true?
A: There are thousands of religions in the world. The one thing they all have in common is that they are all created by men. But what kind of a god is a god that man makes? If we make our god, doesn't it show that we are stronger than our god? I'm so grateful my God, the true God of the Bible, is powerful and created me and all things. I did not create my God; He created me! I love what Psalms 135 and Psalm 96 say about all other gods and religions that are man-made:
"The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. They have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens."
Believing in a religion that is made by man isn't just silly because creators are stronger than the things they create, and man would then have to be stronger than God, and what is a god but a Being who is all-powerful? It is also silly because:
All other religions:
-Were founded by a man who died
-Teach you must improve yourself and be good enough to earn their god's favor, when we all continually mess up, no matter how hard we try. None of us can be perfect! That's why the message of Jesus Christ is such good news; Jesus was good enough for us. He lived a perfect life, then died, taking the punishment we should've had to take.
-Have holy books written by men, rather than God. Men lie and cannot be fully trusted. God can never lie.
Wanna see? Let’s take a look at the three main religions of the world and their problems, followed by an explanation of Christianity.
Hinduism:
-Worship thousands of gods
-The Hindu's life goal is to be reunited with the "World Soul"- All people, all of nature and even their gods are part of this World Soul. They believe that they are born from the World Soul into a body and go through continual stages of death and reincarnation until they finally live a perfect life, good enough to be reunited with the World Soul.
-One of the earliest known official religions (founded by Persians in Arya in about 1300 B.C. ) outside of Christianity which was founded at the creation of the world when God made all things, including man.
Problems:
-There cannot be multiple gods. A God must be infinite, and there cannot be more than one infinite Being, because an infinite Being can lack nothing. For there to be different gods, they must be different from each other in some way, and for a god to be different than another, he would have to lack something the other god had, and thus no longer be infinite.
-Cannot be true, because no one can ever live a perfect life. The only One to ever do so was Jesus, who was God, who lived, then died and rose again to pay the price for our sins.
Buddhism:
-Started by a man who didn't like the fact that Hinduism meant for him that he couldn't be reunited with his World Soul at death because he hadn't been born into the right family, meaning he wasn't good enough.
-The man changed his name to Buddha, meaning "enlightened one", claiming he had become enlightened about the meaning of life through meditation.
-Buddhism is founded on the principle that by doing good works, man can overcome his desires which cause evil, and stop his suffering, which is all he believed life was about.
-Buddha taught that if you were always kind to people, behaved well, and meditated on good things, you would be happy and would not have to be reincarnated at death. You would just cease to exist.
Problem:
-Too bad for followers of Buddhism that none of us is always kind, meaning none of us can escape "continual reincarnation". Also doing the right thing doesn't always make us happy; sometimes it can be really hard to stand up for what's right, as Jesus taught (Luke 6:14-33).
Islam:
-Founded in 610 AD (after the death and resurrection of Jesus) by a man named Muhammad who claimed to have seen an angel in a dream who told him that Allah, one of the Arab gods, wanted him to start a new religion, with him as Allah's prophet.
-Muslims (followers of Islam) follow the teachings found in the Koran, a book Mohammed wrote from the messages he claimed the angel in his dreams gave him.
-The Koran teaches that a person goes to heaven or hell based on whether they are a good person or not.
Problem:
-Mohammad claimed that Allah and the true God of the Bible were the same. He claimed Allah/God had sent many prophets to the world: Abraham, Noah, Adam, Moses, Jesus, and finally him: Mohammad. This could not be true, because then, God would be a God who changes or lies, since the Bible says that a person is not saved through doing good or being good enough but by trusting that Jesus lived a perfect life and was good enough to pay for their sin (Titus 3:5, Ephesians 2:8). The Bible also says that Jesus was God, but Mohammad said he was just another prophet. The Bible teaches God cannot lie or change (Numbers 23:19), so obviously, Mohammad's dreams of an angel were just that-dreams.
Christianity:
-Founded by God at the creation of the world. God, who is perfectly holy, has always existed and exists in three persons- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He created man in his own image to glorify Him and enjoy fellowship with Him.
Problem:
-God gave Adam and Eve one rule, with the punishment being death and separation from fellowship with God, and Adam and Eve broke that rule. The Bible calls disobeying God sin, and says we all are sinners. The punishment for sin is death.
Solution:
-Unless a perfect person paid the price for our sin (death) for us, we would be separated from God forever. Jesus, who was God, came to earth. Being God, He lived a perfect life, then was killed to pay the price for our sin and take the punishment we deserved.
-The Bible teaches that all who trust what Jesus did as being enough to pay for their sin and get them to heaven, then choose to turn from their sin to follow Jesus will receive the free gift of eternal life.
Problem?
Does this mean the founder of Christianity died, too, just like all other religions? Yes and no. Yes, Jesus died, but no, He is not dead. He is the God who CREATED death, so He is stronger than it. He rose from the dead and was seen by over 500 people. The truth of Jesus' resurrection is not just found in the Bible, there are numerous historical records (at least 17) of people who saw Jesus alive after His resurrection.
Some people, after hearing all this will say, “It doesn’t matter what you believe or who you believe in as long as you’re sincere. You can believe what you want to believe, and I’ll believe what I want to believe. We each can take our own path to get to God.” Can all those religions be true? Can there be more than one way to get to God?
Logically, that doesn’t make sense. If I sincerely believe that 2+2=5 and you sincerely believe that 2+2=4, we can’t both be right, can we? No! There is only one correct answer to 2+2 and only one way to get that answer.
Jesus claimed to be the only way to God: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me.” (John 14:6) Others also claimed he was the only way to God: “Nor is there Salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
Mark Cahill tells a story of how he was talking to a couple people from other religions who told him there are many ways to get to God. They compared getting to God like climbing a mountain. At the top of the mountain, they pictured God. All around this mountain are many different paths that people choose to get to the top of the mountain to get to God. They believed that it didn’t matter which path someone took to get to “the top of the mountain”, or God, as long as they worked hard and got there.
Mark turned the illustration around, though, and asked them, “What if I told you that instead of us trying to work our way up to the top of the mountain to God, God came down from the mountain to where we are?” “That would be incredible!” the other men replied. But that’s exactly what God has done for us: “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” (Galatians 4:4-5)
We could never be good enough to get back to God, so God came to us in the form of a man-Jesus. Jesus can take us up the mountain and get us back to God because he has already done the work of living a perfect life, and he has already paid for our Salvation.
After reading all this, you can see that Christianity makes sense and Jesus is the only way to get to God. But that’s not enough; you must decide what you really believe. You can read more about this in “How can I become a Christian?”
A: There are thousands of religions in the world. The one thing they all have in common is that they are all created by men. But what kind of a god is a god that man makes? If we make our god, doesn't it show that we are stronger than our god? I'm so grateful my God, the true God of the Bible, is powerful and created me and all things. I did not create my God; He created me! I love what Psalms 135 and Psalm 96 say about all other gods and religions that are man-made:
"The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. They have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens."
Believing in a religion that is made by man isn't just silly because creators are stronger than the things they create, and man would then have to be stronger than God, and what is a god but a Being who is all-powerful? It is also silly because:
All other religions:
-Were founded by a man who died
-Teach you must improve yourself and be good enough to earn their god's favor, when we all continually mess up, no matter how hard we try. None of us can be perfect! That's why the message of Jesus Christ is such good news; Jesus was good enough for us. He lived a perfect life, then died, taking the punishment we should've had to take.
-Have holy books written by men, rather than God. Men lie and cannot be fully trusted. God can never lie.
Wanna see? Let’s take a look at the three main religions of the world and their problems, followed by an explanation of Christianity.
Hinduism:
-Worship thousands of gods
-The Hindu's life goal is to be reunited with the "World Soul"- All people, all of nature and even their gods are part of this World Soul. They believe that they are born from the World Soul into a body and go through continual stages of death and reincarnation until they finally live a perfect life, good enough to be reunited with the World Soul.
-One of the earliest known official religions (founded by Persians in Arya in about 1300 B.C. ) outside of Christianity which was founded at the creation of the world when God made all things, including man.
Problems:
-There cannot be multiple gods. A God must be infinite, and there cannot be more than one infinite Being, because an infinite Being can lack nothing. For there to be different gods, they must be different from each other in some way, and for a god to be different than another, he would have to lack something the other god had, and thus no longer be infinite.
-Cannot be true, because no one can ever live a perfect life. The only One to ever do so was Jesus, who was God, who lived, then died and rose again to pay the price for our sins.
Buddhism:
-Started by a man who didn't like the fact that Hinduism meant for him that he couldn't be reunited with his World Soul at death because he hadn't been born into the right family, meaning he wasn't good enough.
-The man changed his name to Buddha, meaning "enlightened one", claiming he had become enlightened about the meaning of life through meditation.
-Buddhism is founded on the principle that by doing good works, man can overcome his desires which cause evil, and stop his suffering, which is all he believed life was about.
-Buddha taught that if you were always kind to people, behaved well, and meditated on good things, you would be happy and would not have to be reincarnated at death. You would just cease to exist.
Problem:
-Too bad for followers of Buddhism that none of us is always kind, meaning none of us can escape "continual reincarnation". Also doing the right thing doesn't always make us happy; sometimes it can be really hard to stand up for what's right, as Jesus taught (Luke 6:14-33).
Islam:
-Founded in 610 AD (after the death and resurrection of Jesus) by a man named Muhammad who claimed to have seen an angel in a dream who told him that Allah, one of the Arab gods, wanted him to start a new religion, with him as Allah's prophet.
-Muslims (followers of Islam) follow the teachings found in the Koran, a book Mohammed wrote from the messages he claimed the angel in his dreams gave him.
-The Koran teaches that a person goes to heaven or hell based on whether they are a good person or not.
Problem:
-Mohammad claimed that Allah and the true God of the Bible were the same. He claimed Allah/God had sent many prophets to the world: Abraham, Noah, Adam, Moses, Jesus, and finally him: Mohammad. This could not be true, because then, God would be a God who changes or lies, since the Bible says that a person is not saved through doing good or being good enough but by trusting that Jesus lived a perfect life and was good enough to pay for their sin (Titus 3:5, Ephesians 2:8). The Bible also says that Jesus was God, but Mohammad said he was just another prophet. The Bible teaches God cannot lie or change (Numbers 23:19), so obviously, Mohammad's dreams of an angel were just that-dreams.
Christianity:
-Founded by God at the creation of the world. God, who is perfectly holy, has always existed and exists in three persons- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He created man in his own image to glorify Him and enjoy fellowship with Him.
Problem:
-God gave Adam and Eve one rule, with the punishment being death and separation from fellowship with God, and Adam and Eve broke that rule. The Bible calls disobeying God sin, and says we all are sinners. The punishment for sin is death.
Solution:
-Unless a perfect person paid the price for our sin (death) for us, we would be separated from God forever. Jesus, who was God, came to earth. Being God, He lived a perfect life, then was killed to pay the price for our sin and take the punishment we deserved.
-The Bible teaches that all who trust what Jesus did as being enough to pay for their sin and get them to heaven, then choose to turn from their sin to follow Jesus will receive the free gift of eternal life.
Problem?
Does this mean the founder of Christianity died, too, just like all other religions? Yes and no. Yes, Jesus died, but no, He is not dead. He is the God who CREATED death, so He is stronger than it. He rose from the dead and was seen by over 500 people. The truth of Jesus' resurrection is not just found in the Bible, there are numerous historical records (at least 17) of people who saw Jesus alive after His resurrection.
Some people, after hearing all this will say, “It doesn’t matter what you believe or who you believe in as long as you’re sincere. You can believe what you want to believe, and I’ll believe what I want to believe. We each can take our own path to get to God.” Can all those religions be true? Can there be more than one way to get to God?
Logically, that doesn’t make sense. If I sincerely believe that 2+2=5 and you sincerely believe that 2+2=4, we can’t both be right, can we? No! There is only one correct answer to 2+2 and only one way to get that answer.
Jesus claimed to be the only way to God: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me.” (John 14:6) Others also claimed he was the only way to God: “Nor is there Salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
Mark Cahill tells a story of how he was talking to a couple people from other religions who told him there are many ways to get to God. They compared getting to God like climbing a mountain. At the top of the mountain, they pictured God. All around this mountain are many different paths that people choose to get to the top of the mountain to get to God. They believed that it didn’t matter which path someone took to get to “the top of the mountain”, or God, as long as they worked hard and got there.
Mark turned the illustration around, though, and asked them, “What if I told you that instead of us trying to work our way up to the top of the mountain to God, God came down from the mountain to where we are?” “That would be incredible!” the other men replied. But that’s exactly what God has done for us: “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” (Galatians 4:4-5)
We could never be good enough to get back to God, so God came to us in the form of a man-Jesus. Jesus can take us up the mountain and get us back to God because he has already done the work of living a perfect life, and he has already paid for our Salvation.
After reading all this, you can see that Christianity makes sense and Jesus is the only way to get to God. But that’s not enough; you must decide what you really believe. You can read more about this in “How can I become a Christian?”
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Questions Campers Ask Part 6- Who is Jesus?
Q: I’m confused about Jesus. Who was He really? A good man? God? God's Son? The Messiah?
A: Jesus is God and Jesus is the Son of God who is the Messiah or Christ who God promised from Old Testament times would come and save the people from their sins, providing the only way back to God.
All right, let’s break that sentence apart and explain that answer.
“Jesus is God”-Jesus is way more than a good man-Jesus is God in the flesh. There are many verses that tell us that Jesus is God. Here are a few: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) Who was this “Word” who has existed with God throughout eternity past and IS God? “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) Jesus is God!
“[Jesus said] I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30) Jesus and God are one and the same. Jesus is God!
One more passage of verses (my favorite!) teach this all important truth that Jesus is God: Revelation 4-5. I won’t type the whole passage here as it is rather long. The scene in those chapters takes place in the throne room of God-in heaven, where there can be no sin. God has commanded that no one is to bow down and worship any but Him (Exodus 20), yet we see the angels in heaven turning from worshipping God, to worship Jesus. Truly, Jesus is God!
“Jesus is the Son of God”- There are many verses in the Bible that teach that Jesus is God’s Son, and since God wrote the Bible and God cannot lie, we know the Bible is true. Here are some of the verses that talk about Jesus being the Son of God:
[The book of Mark tells about Jesus' life on earth. This is how it begins.] Mark 1:1 "The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God."
[Before Jesus was born, the angel Gabriel came to Mary, who would be Jesus' mother, and spoke the following to her about how Jesus would be born.] Luke 1:35 "The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born [Jesus] will be called the Son of God.'"
[The reason the Jews killed Jesus was because he claimed to be the Son of God. In these verses Jesus talks about His claim to be the Son of God, and the Jewish leaders accuse Him of the same thing to Pilate, the man who orders Jesus' death.]
John 10:36 [Jesus said,] "'Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?'"John 19:27 The Jewish leaders insisted, 'We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he [Jesus] claimed to be the Son of God.'"
[The Jews did not like that Jesus said He was God's Son and had come to save them from their sins, because they thought they were pretty good people and could be good enough to save themselves. But nothing we do can be good enough to earn our way to heaven. That's why God sent Jesus as He says in my favorite verses about Jesus being God's Son.] John 3:16-18 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son [Jesus], that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son [Jesus].
Jesus is most definitely God’s Son!
“Who is the Messiah or Christ who God promised from Old Testament times”- Many people see Christ after Jesus' name in the New Testament and wonder if Christ is Jesus’ last name. It's not! Christ is a description of who Jesus is. Christ is the Greek word for the Jewish word Messiah. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden, God punished them, then promised a future day when He would send a deliverer to save them from the punishment of their sin.
“Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. ” (Matthew 16:16) In some versions of this verse, Messiah reads Christ. When Peter calls Jesus Messiah and Son of God, Jesus agrees and tells him that God has shown Peter this. Since we have already shown that Jesus is God, and we know from Numbers 23:19 that God cannot lie, we know that Jesus must be the Messiah promised form Old Testament times.
So, what does all this have to do with us? Why is it so important to know who Jesus is? The last part of our description will help.
“Would come and save the people from their sins, providing the only way back to God”- Isaiah 59:2 tells us that our sins have separated us from God and hidden His face from us so He will not hear us. We have all sinned, and are all thus separated from God. This means that when we die, we cannot spend eternity in heaven in the presence of God who created everything beautiful and perfect. We are condemned to an eternity separated from God in hell.
We all sin, so none of us can get back to God and get in right terms with Him by anything we do. “Therefore, by the deeds of the law, [obeying God’s commands: doing good] no flesh will be justified [declared righteous, good enough for heaven] in His sight.” (Romans 3:20) We need someone who has never sinned to be willing to come and die in our place. The only problem is, all people sin.
So God came to earth in the form of a man. Since He was God, although He was tempted, He never sinned (Hebrews 4:15). But Jesus was also the Son of God, fully human, and fully capable of dying. He died and was able to pay for our sins, because He had none of His own to pay for. But the great thing is that Jesus didn’t stay dead; He was God, so He was stronger than death. Three days later, he rose from the dead, signifying that He truly was God and the son of God, the Messiah or Christ promised from Old Testament times who would come and save the people from their sins, providing the only way back to God to those who repent or turn from sin and look to Jesus as the perfect sacrifice for their sin.
You can read more about this in "How can I know I'm truly a Christian" or "How can I become a Christian".
A: Jesus is God and Jesus is the Son of God who is the Messiah or Christ who God promised from Old Testament times would come and save the people from their sins, providing the only way back to God.
All right, let’s break that sentence apart and explain that answer.
“Jesus is God”-Jesus is way more than a good man-Jesus is God in the flesh. There are many verses that tell us that Jesus is God. Here are a few: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) Who was this “Word” who has existed with God throughout eternity past and IS God? “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) Jesus is God!
“[Jesus said] I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30) Jesus and God are one and the same. Jesus is God!
One more passage of verses (my favorite!) teach this all important truth that Jesus is God: Revelation 4-5. I won’t type the whole passage here as it is rather long. The scene in those chapters takes place in the throne room of God-in heaven, where there can be no sin. God has commanded that no one is to bow down and worship any but Him (Exodus 20), yet we see the angels in heaven turning from worshipping God, to worship Jesus. Truly, Jesus is God!
“Jesus is the Son of God”- There are many verses in the Bible that teach that Jesus is God’s Son, and since God wrote the Bible and God cannot lie, we know the Bible is true. Here are some of the verses that talk about Jesus being the Son of God:
[The book of Mark tells about Jesus' life on earth. This is how it begins.] Mark 1:1 "The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God."
[Before Jesus was born, the angel Gabriel came to Mary, who would be Jesus' mother, and spoke the following to her about how Jesus would be born.] Luke 1:35 "The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born [Jesus] will be called the Son of God.'"
[The reason the Jews killed Jesus was because he claimed to be the Son of God. In these verses Jesus talks about His claim to be the Son of God, and the Jewish leaders accuse Him of the same thing to Pilate, the man who orders Jesus' death.]
John 10:36 [Jesus said,] "'Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?'"John 19:27 The Jewish leaders insisted, 'We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he [Jesus] claimed to be the Son of God.'"
[The Jews did not like that Jesus said He was God's Son and had come to save them from their sins, because they thought they were pretty good people and could be good enough to save themselves. But nothing we do can be good enough to earn our way to heaven. That's why God sent Jesus as He says in my favorite verses about Jesus being God's Son.] John 3:16-18 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son [Jesus], that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son [Jesus].
Jesus is most definitely God’s Son!
“Who is the Messiah or Christ who God promised from Old Testament times”- Many people see Christ after Jesus' name in the New Testament and wonder if Christ is Jesus’ last name. It's not! Christ is a description of who Jesus is. Christ is the Greek word for the Jewish word Messiah. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden, God punished them, then promised a future day when He would send a deliverer to save them from the punishment of their sin.
“Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. ” (Matthew 16:16) In some versions of this verse, Messiah reads Christ. When Peter calls Jesus Messiah and Son of God, Jesus agrees and tells him that God has shown Peter this. Since we have already shown that Jesus is God, and we know from Numbers 23:19 that God cannot lie, we know that Jesus must be the Messiah promised form Old Testament times.
So, what does all this have to do with us? Why is it so important to know who Jesus is? The last part of our description will help.
“Would come and save the people from their sins, providing the only way back to God”- Isaiah 59:2 tells us that our sins have separated us from God and hidden His face from us so He will not hear us. We have all sinned, and are all thus separated from God. This means that when we die, we cannot spend eternity in heaven in the presence of God who created everything beautiful and perfect. We are condemned to an eternity separated from God in hell.
We all sin, so none of us can get back to God and get in right terms with Him by anything we do. “Therefore, by the deeds of the law, [obeying God’s commands: doing good] no flesh will be justified [declared righteous, good enough for heaven] in His sight.” (Romans 3:20) We need someone who has never sinned to be willing to come and die in our place. The only problem is, all people sin.
So God came to earth in the form of a man. Since He was God, although He was tempted, He never sinned (Hebrews 4:15). But Jesus was also the Son of God, fully human, and fully capable of dying. He died and was able to pay for our sins, because He had none of His own to pay for. But the great thing is that Jesus didn’t stay dead; He was God, so He was stronger than death. Three days later, he rose from the dead, signifying that He truly was God and the son of God, the Messiah or Christ promised from Old Testament times who would come and save the people from their sins, providing the only way back to God to those who repent or turn from sin and look to Jesus as the perfect sacrifice for their sin.
You can read more about this in "How can I know I'm truly a Christian" or "How can I become a Christian".
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Questions Campers Ask Part 5- How do I know for sure that God is real?
Q: How do I know for sure that God is real?
A: There is no way to perfectly prove there is a God just as there is no way to perfectly prove there is no God. To be able to say for certain that there is no God, you must have all of the knowledge in the Universe stored in your brain. Believing in the existence of God and trusting that He truly did send His Son Jesus to come to earth, live a perfect life, die in our place, then rise from the dead three days later, perfectly defeating death, must ultimately depend on faith. However, there are significant, convincing proofs that point to the existence of God. Here are two of them:
Look at our cabin here at Barakel. What would you say if I told you that no one made it?
A. I am very intelligent.
B. I am very dumb.
That would be silly to think that something as beautiful as our cabin could just build itself. Every building has to have a builder! Or what would you say if one day for cabin inspections, the inspector came in to inspect our cabin, and thought, "Wow, this cabin cleaned itself pretty well!"
A. The inspector is very intelligent.
B. The inspector is very dumb.
Of course the inspector wouldn't think that the cabin cleaned itself! They would know for something to be so organized, someone must have organized it.
It's the same way with the world! Look around you and see the beautiful way it is made and organized. Every single animal and person was carefully designed and planned to be able to live and survive in the world. What would you say if someone told you no one designed and created the world?
A. They are very intelligent.
B. They are very dumb.
For everything created, there must be a creator. For everything organized, there must be an organizer. If someone tells you that there is no God, then there must be no Creator of the world. That'd be just as silly as thinking no one made or cleaned our cabin!
The Bible puts it this way: “For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible attributes have been clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.” (Romans 1:20) In other words, it’s obvious to see that there is a God just by looking at creation! Psalm 19:1 tells us that the heavens declare the glory of God. All the beauty and order of creation point to the fact that there is a God. That's one way we can know God is real!
Another way we can know God is real is by looking at the moral law. Every law must have a law giver. Since there is a moral law (right and wrong written in all of our hearts: we know when we’re born that lying, stealing, and killing are wrong), there must be a moral Law Giver. Who is the creator of this moral law then who decides what is right or wrong? This points directly to God as well! If there is no God, than right or wrong is only a matter of opinion, and it would not be wrong for me to kill you! I’m glad there is a God who set up right and wrong!
A: There is no way to perfectly prove there is a God just as there is no way to perfectly prove there is no God. To be able to say for certain that there is no God, you must have all of the knowledge in the Universe stored in your brain. Believing in the existence of God and trusting that He truly did send His Son Jesus to come to earth, live a perfect life, die in our place, then rise from the dead three days later, perfectly defeating death, must ultimately depend on faith. However, there are significant, convincing proofs that point to the existence of God. Here are two of them:
Look at our cabin here at Barakel. What would you say if I told you that no one made it?
A. I am very intelligent.
B. I am very dumb.
That would be silly to think that something as beautiful as our cabin could just build itself. Every building has to have a builder! Or what would you say if one day for cabin inspections, the inspector came in to inspect our cabin, and thought, "Wow, this cabin cleaned itself pretty well!"
A. The inspector is very intelligent.
B. The inspector is very dumb.
Of course the inspector wouldn't think that the cabin cleaned itself! They would know for something to be so organized, someone must have organized it.
It's the same way with the world! Look around you and see the beautiful way it is made and organized. Every single animal and person was carefully designed and planned to be able to live and survive in the world. What would you say if someone told you no one designed and created the world?
A. They are very intelligent.
B. They are very dumb.
For everything created, there must be a creator. For everything organized, there must be an organizer. If someone tells you that there is no God, then there must be no Creator of the world. That'd be just as silly as thinking no one made or cleaned our cabin!
The Bible puts it this way: “For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible attributes have been clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.” (Romans 1:20) In other words, it’s obvious to see that there is a God just by looking at creation! Psalm 19:1 tells us that the heavens declare the glory of God. All the beauty and order of creation point to the fact that there is a God. That's one way we can know God is real!
Another way we can know God is real is by looking at the moral law. Every law must have a law giver. Since there is a moral law (right and wrong written in all of our hearts: we know when we’re born that lying, stealing, and killing are wrong), there must be a moral Law Giver. Who is the creator of this moral law then who decides what is right or wrong? This points directly to God as well! If there is no God, than right or wrong is only a matter of opinion, and it would not be wrong for me to kill you! I’m glad there is a God who set up right and wrong!
Monday, April 4, 2011
Questions Campers Ask Part 4- How can I know if I'm truly a Christian?
(Note: this is taken almost entirely from an earlier blog post: N.T. reflections-Matthew 7)
Q: How can I know if I’m truly a Christian?
A: The whole book of I John was written to answer this question, as John says in 5:13: "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God."
First John has three tests for those who want to know whether they're saved: The doctrine test, the moral test, and the love test. Let’s take a look at each.
First test: The doctrine test. Do I believe Jesus is God and also the Messiah, the Son of God sent to die for my sin? "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." (I John 5:1) "Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ [Messiah]? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. If what you heard from the begining abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father, And this is the promise he has promised us-eternal life." (I John 2:22,24-25) "Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God." (I John 4:15) What's so significant about believing Jesus is God and also the Messiah? If Jesus was not fully God, He would not have been perfect. If He had not been perfect, His death would mean nothing to us: it would have no saving power. The only reason Jesus could pay for our sins, is because he had none of his own to pay for. Had he not been God and been a sinner, his death would have been what He deserved, and He would not have been able to be the substitute sacrifice for our sins. But what's this about a Messiah? Why do we have to believe that? The Messiah or Christ was the one God had promised since Adam who would come and die in the people's place, ending the animal sacrifices which were only a symbol of Jesus. If we don't believe Jesus was truly the Messiah, the one whose death paid for our sin so we don't have to, then we end up trying to pay our own way to heaven by being good enough, and that won't work. If I do not believe Jesus is God and Jesus is the Messiah who paid the punishment I deserved for my sins, I am not a Christian.
Second test: The Moral Test. Do I see a change in my desires and the way I live my life that has come as a result of what I believe about who Jesus is? "Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, 'I know Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar...But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in Him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk as He walked." (I John 2:3-6) "No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God." (I John 3:9-10) The key word in those last two verses is 'practice'. If you are practicing volleyball and try to serve the ball, and it hits the volleyball net and doesn't go over, it would be a dumb thing for me to say, "Oh, you must be playing basketball!" I can tell what you're practicing no matter how many times you mess up. In the same way, it should be clear in your life what you are practicing: sin or righteousness, no matter how many times you mess up. Check your desires. What is your deeper desire: to sin and enjoy the fun in it, or to please God and enjoy the lasting joy we will have in heaven? Does sin bother you or make you happy? One speaker last summer used the anology of what pigs and kittens do after you clean them. A pig jumps right back into the mud. He loves mud! But a kitten tries to stay clean, and even if she does get dirty, she cleans herself as quickly as possible. Same with a Christian and someone who is not a Christian. Someone who has not trusted Jesus for Salvation loves sin and has no desire to follow God and "stay clean", while those who HAVE trusted Jesus are those who John talks about in 3:3 "Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He [Jesus] is pure." If I do not see a change in my desires and the way I live my life that has come as a result of who I believe Jesus is, I am not a Christian.
Third Test: The Love Test. Does the way I live my life show that I have real, sacrificial love for others? "If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen." (I John 4:20) "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death." (I John 3:14) "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love." (I John 4:7-8) "My little children, let us not love in word or tongue, but in action and in truth." (I John 3:18) These verses aren't just talking about saying we love people, according to this last verse; they're asking us to show and PROVE we love them by our actions. Love is loving people even when it hurts us or even when they're different from us. But what does that really mean? How can we do that? God gave us all these commands we're supposed to follow AND on top of that He wants us to love people? Actually, the reason God gives commands in the Bible is just to explain what it means to love Him and love others. The first four of the 10 commandments teach us how to love God, and the last six teach us how to love others. Jesus taught this in Matthew 22:36-40 when he said that the greatest commandment is to love God, and the second greatest is to love others, then He said that all the laws in the Old Testament and things the prophets said are summed up by those two laws. John agrees-"By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments." (I John 5:2-3) If I do not see new love for others and love for God in my life as a result of what I believe about Jesus, I am not a Christian.
When testing ourselves by the love and moral tests, we have to make sure to look at our desires (does sin make us happy or bother us?) and what we're 'practicing', since no one can follow God perfectly. How can we even follow God at all? I certainly don't have the strength to obey Him and love others. I John has the answer again! (If you couldn't tell before now, I love this book!) "We love Him because He first loved us. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him."" (I John 4:9-11, 16, 19) God's requirement for anyone to get to heaven is that they must live a perfect life. Unfortunately for us, we all mess up. But God loved us so much, He provided a way out of that mess- He sent Jesus! Jesus lived the perfect life we should've lived, then died a painful death, taking the punishment we deserved. Now if we trust His payment for our sin to be enough to get us to heaven, then turn from sin to follow Him, He will give us eternal life AND the desire and strength to follow and obey Him.
This may cause you to wonder, so how can I grow as a Christian? I trusted Jesus for Salvation this week, how can I change when I go home?
Great question! Keep reading!
Q: How can I know if I’m truly a Christian?
A: The whole book of I John was written to answer this question, as John says in 5:13: "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God."
First John has three tests for those who want to know whether they're saved: The doctrine test, the moral test, and the love test. Let’s take a look at each.
First test: The doctrine test. Do I believe Jesus is God and also the Messiah, the Son of God sent to die for my sin? "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." (I John 5:1) "Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ [Messiah]? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. If what you heard from the begining abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father, And this is the promise he has promised us-eternal life." (I John 2:22,24-25) "Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God." (I John 4:15) What's so significant about believing Jesus is God and also the Messiah? If Jesus was not fully God, He would not have been perfect. If He had not been perfect, His death would mean nothing to us: it would have no saving power. The only reason Jesus could pay for our sins, is because he had none of his own to pay for. Had he not been God and been a sinner, his death would have been what He deserved, and He would not have been able to be the substitute sacrifice for our sins. But what's this about a Messiah? Why do we have to believe that? The Messiah or Christ was the one God had promised since Adam who would come and die in the people's place, ending the animal sacrifices which were only a symbol of Jesus. If we don't believe Jesus was truly the Messiah, the one whose death paid for our sin so we don't have to, then we end up trying to pay our own way to heaven by being good enough, and that won't work. If I do not believe Jesus is God and Jesus is the Messiah who paid the punishment I deserved for my sins, I am not a Christian.
Second test: The Moral Test. Do I see a change in my desires and the way I live my life that has come as a result of what I believe about who Jesus is? "Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, 'I know Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar...But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in Him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk as He walked." (I John 2:3-6) "No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God." (I John 3:9-10) The key word in those last two verses is 'practice'. If you are practicing volleyball and try to serve the ball, and it hits the volleyball net and doesn't go over, it would be a dumb thing for me to say, "Oh, you must be playing basketball!" I can tell what you're practicing no matter how many times you mess up. In the same way, it should be clear in your life what you are practicing: sin or righteousness, no matter how many times you mess up. Check your desires. What is your deeper desire: to sin and enjoy the fun in it, or to please God and enjoy the lasting joy we will have in heaven? Does sin bother you or make you happy? One speaker last summer used the anology of what pigs and kittens do after you clean them. A pig jumps right back into the mud. He loves mud! But a kitten tries to stay clean, and even if she does get dirty, she cleans herself as quickly as possible. Same with a Christian and someone who is not a Christian. Someone who has not trusted Jesus for Salvation loves sin and has no desire to follow God and "stay clean", while those who HAVE trusted Jesus are those who John talks about in 3:3 "Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He [Jesus] is pure." If I do not see a change in my desires and the way I live my life that has come as a result of who I believe Jesus is, I am not a Christian.
Third Test: The Love Test. Does the way I live my life show that I have real, sacrificial love for others? "If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen." (I John 4:20) "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death." (I John 3:14) "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love." (I John 4:7-8) "My little children, let us not love in word or tongue, but in action and in truth." (I John 3:18) These verses aren't just talking about saying we love people, according to this last verse; they're asking us to show and PROVE we love them by our actions. Love is loving people even when it hurts us or even when they're different from us. But what does that really mean? How can we do that? God gave us all these commands we're supposed to follow AND on top of that He wants us to love people? Actually, the reason God gives commands in the Bible is just to explain what it means to love Him and love others. The first four of the 10 commandments teach us how to love God, and the last six teach us how to love others. Jesus taught this in Matthew 22:36-40 when he said that the greatest commandment is to love God, and the second greatest is to love others, then He said that all the laws in the Old Testament and things the prophets said are summed up by those two laws. John agrees-"By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments." (I John 5:2-3) If I do not see new love for others and love for God in my life as a result of what I believe about Jesus, I am not a Christian.
When testing ourselves by the love and moral tests, we have to make sure to look at our desires (does sin make us happy or bother us?) and what we're 'practicing', since no one can follow God perfectly. How can we even follow God at all? I certainly don't have the strength to obey Him and love others. I John has the answer again! (If you couldn't tell before now, I love this book!) "We love Him because He first loved us. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him."" (I John 4:9-11, 16, 19) God's requirement for anyone to get to heaven is that they must live a perfect life. Unfortunately for us, we all mess up. But God loved us so much, He provided a way out of that mess- He sent Jesus! Jesus lived the perfect life we should've lived, then died a painful death, taking the punishment we deserved. Now if we trust His payment for our sin to be enough to get us to heaven, then turn from sin to follow Him, He will give us eternal life AND the desire and strength to follow and obey Him.
This may cause you to wonder, so how can I grow as a Christian? I trusted Jesus for Salvation this week, how can I change when I go home?
Great question! Keep reading!
Questions Campers Ask Part 3- How can I live and grow as a Christian?
Q: I made the decision to follow Jesus this week, but what do I do when I go home? No one in my family is a Christian and I have no Christian friends. I don’t know how to even live for God. How can I live and grow as a Christian?
A: Wow. That’s tough. First of all, let me tell you that you are not alone. Jesus will follow you home, even though I can’t. “I [Jesus] am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) I can and will, however, pray for you and give you some tools to help.
So where do you start now in following Christ? If you’ve read the answer to “How can I be a Christian?” and “How can I know I’m really saved?”, you’ve read that your life will change when you trust Jesus for Salvation.
So how does it change? How do we know what to change? “Be imitators of God as dear children.” (Ephesians 5:1) According to this, we are to act like God and live as He would. How can we know what God is like and how to live like Him? By reading the Bible and obeying what we read! In learning to live for God, we can look to Jesus who is our ultimate example. He was God in the flesh and lived a perfect life of obedience to the Father. Hebrews 4:15 says “He was tempted in every way, just as we are, yet without sin.” Jesus knows what it’s like to live on earth and be tempted to sin. He knows what it’s like to feel alone in following God. He’s gone through every pain and rejection and betrayal we go through, so He can perfectly sympathize with our weaknesses. Turn to Him for the strength, desire, and knowledge to live for Him!
Just like a baby needs milk to grow, Christians need the Bible. “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word that you may grow thereby.” (2 Peter 2:1) When we read the Bible, the Holy Spirit will convict us of sin and show us how we can please God with our lives. He will teach us how to put our music, movies, TV, friends, etc. under God’s control. A great way to study the Bible is by reading a chapter or two every day and writing down one thing God teaches you through what you read and how you can live that out.
Another important step to growing as a Christian is by talking to God in prayer. “Call to me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things that you do not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3) God listens and answers when we pray to Him! You don’t have to worry about having the right words when you pray to God. Just talk to Him as you would a friend. He wants to hear from you!
A third final step for growth is finding a good church and making good Christian friends. “And let us not forsake meeting together as some are in the habit of doing. But let us encourage each other...” (Hebrews 10:24-25) God knew we would need encouragement to keep living for Him, so He created the church. Church is a place where we can learn more about God as we hear His Word taught; make Christian friends who will encourage us to live for Him; serve God; praise and worship God; and pray for others and be prayed for ourselves. I know it will not always be possible to get to a church if your parents won’t take you, but try to find someone who will.
Is this how we are saved? By reading our Bible and trying to obey it, praying, and going to church? No! It’s only by trusting Jesus. “For by grace [God’s kindness] you have been saved through faith [trusting in Jesus’ sacrifice for your sin], and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God [we don’t save ourselves; He has already done all the work necessary for Salvation]-not of works lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) But then look what happens AFTER you trust Jesus- “For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works…” (Ephesians 2:10)
Once we trust Jesus for Salvation, we begin to walk like him. Have you ever seen a baby learn to walk? This last year, I got the chance to nanny for a baby who learned to walk. When he took his first step, I didn’t scream and cheer, then tell him to stop trying to walk and go back to crawling. I encouraged him to keep trying to walk! He needed to be encouraged to keep learning how to walk, not how to go back to crawling. That’s what I encourage you to do!
So many people will try to tell you that the Christian walk or life is just one step-trusting Jesus for Salvation. They’ll try to tell you that you just need to pray a prayer and then you keep living your life however you were living before. But just like a baby learning to walk doesn’t just take one step and then go back to crawling, we have to keep taking steps to become more and more like Jesus. And just like a baby, we’ll fall sometimes, but should we stay down? No! Like a baby, we have to get back up! We can’t be perfect! That’s why we need Jesus to be perfect for us. But once we’ve trusted Jesus for Salvation, He gives us the strength to become more holy like Him.
How does He do this? Through the power of the Holy Spirit! When we trust Jesus for Salvation, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside us. I John 4:13 says, "By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit." The Holy Spirit gives us the power and desire to obey God. He's the one who does the work in us, making us more like Jesus. When we realize just how great His love is for us and how it drove Him to make the ultimate sacrifice for us, loving Him becomes easier. Loving Him in action looks like loving the people He made, and loving the people He made looks like obeying His commands. But it all starts with what God does for us. We don't love God and others and obey Him to become a Christian and get to heaven; we love Him because He has saved us already. We are saved by trusting that Jesus' death on the cross was enough to get us to heaven, THEN we are driven to love God and live to please Him.
A: Wow. That’s tough. First of all, let me tell you that you are not alone. Jesus will follow you home, even though I can’t. “I [Jesus] am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) I can and will, however, pray for you and give you some tools to help.
So where do you start now in following Christ? If you’ve read the answer to “How can I be a Christian?” and “How can I know I’m really saved?”, you’ve read that your life will change when you trust Jesus for Salvation.
So how does it change? How do we know what to change? “Be imitators of God as dear children.” (Ephesians 5:1) According to this, we are to act like God and live as He would. How can we know what God is like and how to live like Him? By reading the Bible and obeying what we read! In learning to live for God, we can look to Jesus who is our ultimate example. He was God in the flesh and lived a perfect life of obedience to the Father. Hebrews 4:15 says “He was tempted in every way, just as we are, yet without sin.” Jesus knows what it’s like to live on earth and be tempted to sin. He knows what it’s like to feel alone in following God. He’s gone through every pain and rejection and betrayal we go through, so He can perfectly sympathize with our weaknesses. Turn to Him for the strength, desire, and knowledge to live for Him!
Just like a baby needs milk to grow, Christians need the Bible. “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word that you may grow thereby.” (2 Peter 2:1) When we read the Bible, the Holy Spirit will convict us of sin and show us how we can please God with our lives. He will teach us how to put our music, movies, TV, friends, etc. under God’s control. A great way to study the Bible is by reading a chapter or two every day and writing down one thing God teaches you through what you read and how you can live that out.
Another important step to growing as a Christian is by talking to God in prayer. “Call to me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things that you do not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3) God listens and answers when we pray to Him! You don’t have to worry about having the right words when you pray to God. Just talk to Him as you would a friend. He wants to hear from you!
A third final step for growth is finding a good church and making good Christian friends. “And let us not forsake meeting together as some are in the habit of doing. But let us encourage each other...” (Hebrews 10:24-25) God knew we would need encouragement to keep living for Him, so He created the church. Church is a place where we can learn more about God as we hear His Word taught; make Christian friends who will encourage us to live for Him; serve God; praise and worship God; and pray for others and be prayed for ourselves. I know it will not always be possible to get to a church if your parents won’t take you, but try to find someone who will.
Is this how we are saved? By reading our Bible and trying to obey it, praying, and going to church? No! It’s only by trusting Jesus. “For by grace [God’s kindness] you have been saved through faith [trusting in Jesus’ sacrifice for your sin], and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God [we don’t save ourselves; He has already done all the work necessary for Salvation]-not of works lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) But then look what happens AFTER you trust Jesus- “For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works…” (Ephesians 2:10)
Once we trust Jesus for Salvation, we begin to walk like him. Have you ever seen a baby learn to walk? This last year, I got the chance to nanny for a baby who learned to walk. When he took his first step, I didn’t scream and cheer, then tell him to stop trying to walk and go back to crawling. I encouraged him to keep trying to walk! He needed to be encouraged to keep learning how to walk, not how to go back to crawling. That’s what I encourage you to do!
So many people will try to tell you that the Christian walk or life is just one step-trusting Jesus for Salvation. They’ll try to tell you that you just need to pray a prayer and then you keep living your life however you were living before. But just like a baby learning to walk doesn’t just take one step and then go back to crawling, we have to keep taking steps to become more and more like Jesus. And just like a baby, we’ll fall sometimes, but should we stay down? No! Like a baby, we have to get back up! We can’t be perfect! That’s why we need Jesus to be perfect for us. But once we’ve trusted Jesus for Salvation, He gives us the strength to become more holy like Him.
How does He do this? Through the power of the Holy Spirit! When we trust Jesus for Salvation, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside us. I John 4:13 says, "By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit." The Holy Spirit gives us the power and desire to obey God. He's the one who does the work in us, making us more like Jesus. When we realize just how great His love is for us and how it drove Him to make the ultimate sacrifice for us, loving Him becomes easier. Loving Him in action looks like loving the people He made, and loving the people He made looks like obeying His commands. But it all starts with what God does for us. We don't love God and others and obey Him to become a Christian and get to heaven; we love Him because He has saved us already. We are saved by trusting that Jesus' death on the cross was enough to get us to heaven, THEN we are driven to love God and live to please Him.
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