I was talking to the pastor and another friend recently about 'our J.O.B. in general, being: Worship and Praise the Lord God in Heaven, And share the Message of the Gospel thru the KJV Bible as much as we possibly can.
And Hey! We all have our own stories of Salvation and how we came to "Know the Lord." That is usually a spectacular drama/ time of personal 'soul searching' with a happy ending, we hope! That is called, 'Our Testimony.' We don't just share it with anyone, because it is "Holy" --- that means, "Set aside for a special reason/ purpose." See: Matthew 7:6. [tossing your pearls to swine..]. The subject came up, :"What about those nice, loving relatives who have done so many mercies and acts of kindness for us in our lives -- but refused for one reason or another to bend knee to Jesus our LORD for Salvation ? ?" The short article below gives us a simple answer from the Bible, which is true, but also sad. How can WE ever get to know God's mind on matters? Answer: READ THE BOOK !! In a way, I guess we could also compare this subject to "Preppers" and survivalists these days. Personally, I am not too worried about ghosts and goblins, but I do know a bit about the Financial world, and our Economic Melt down that is sure to hit us all in the neck. I think that it is "man-made" and perhaps it's possible to take a different radical course, even now! Get rid of certain bad people and stupid organizations, like the IRS, and the Federal Reserve, etc. Unfortunately, that won't happen, for a number of reasons.... sorry folks.
You see, going back to the book of Genesis, we see the same old story of greed and selfishness, violence and murder... people are just not content with worshiping the One, True God, Jehovah! God's only begotten Son, Jesus had to come to Earth to Save all mankind -- except that all mankind don't WANT TO BE SAVED ! They love the way things are going, even today!! Go figure. That is why everything is "coming together right now" making people so stressed out, and the devil Satan is surly stirring up the pot too! But friends, isn't it better to know the exact REASON why things are going bust and will get much worse?? Once we know the real truth, things are easy to deal with, because we then know that they won't last forever. The Lord WILL COME, and soon ! 'Let's hang on !'
Right now it's 'TAX SEASON' and we have to pay big money to 2 States this year because we both moved to Michigan $$$ ! So, add a little bit more stress... LOL ! You know what? I am dang glad that we had a big beef steak cook out this past week for 2 families who are close friends with us. Because if we would have waited longer, things might have not been available, or materialized. Sometimes you just have to grab the 'bull by the horns' and DEAL with the situation. Prayer helps US a lot, IMHO. Let us give a mighty THANKS for what ever we have. PTL.
Yet, 'WE' --Tom and Terri, can still count ourselves BLESSED for our new roof, transportation [POV's], meat and bread, barely enough money to pay our bills, and a good bed to sleep and dream upon. But... just ponder, and think about the horrible possibility that we may not be Saved ! All would be for NOT! Thankfully, we ARE Saved, and therefor know, for sure, where we are going when we die or get Raptured! But how about our friends and relatives who just work too hard, are too busy, indifferent, willfully ignorant?? Our sons and daughters who are too busy with their own families and lives, work and goofy leisure activities, TV, etc ?? We have to know how hard to push, and never stop praying or setting a good example in front of them, along with working on or own personality flaws. Can we just take a step back, or go to bed early tonight -- to pray and ponder-- if there is something we just may have forgot, how to witness to our kids, relation, friends, or do a special kindness for someone? Are we asking God to show us the way to help someone who really needs a friend, or the Word, or a Bible tract ? Think about it, please.
And now, a Fairy Tale just flashed into my head... about someone who could spin gold out of straw, to pay their taxes. "The Taxman cometh!" And how does our 'man in the WH' spend all our hard earned money and taxes ??? Ha! Don't go there !!
Will Good Unbelievers Be Punished Less Severely?
Q. Because my sister is a non-believer, and accordingly will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven, my question is will she know WHY she’s in Hell and understand that had she just accepted Christ as her personal savior she would be in Heaven? And because she’s a good, kind, generous, and giving person, will her punishment be less than say someone who murders or molests children? I continue to pray daily for her salvation because I know what’s coming.
A. John 6:28-29 clearly states that the only work God requires of us is to believe in the one He sent, who is Jesus. This is confirmed in several other places in the Bible, and everyone who stands before God will know whether or not they’ve met this requirement. Since that’s the only work God requires of us I think it will be the only basis for judgment. Lacking that basic requirement none of a person’s other “good” works are worth anything in the sight of God.
The Bible also says that no one on Earth is righteous. (Romans 3:10) The idea that there are relative degrees of good and bad come from man, not God. Just as there are no degrees of salvation for believers, there are no degrees of punishment for unbelievers. Keep praying.
A. John 6:28-29 clearly states that the only work God requires of us is to believe in the one He sent, who is Jesus. This is confirmed in several other places in the Bible, and everyone who stands before God will know whether or not they’ve met this requirement. Since that’s the only work God requires of us I think it will be the only basis for judgment. Lacking that basic requirement none of a person’s other “good” works are worth anything in the sight of God.
The Bible also says that no one on Earth is righteous. (Romans 3:10) The idea that there are relative degrees of good and bad come from man, not God. Just as there are no degrees of salvation for believers, there are no degrees of punishment for unbelievers. Keep praying.
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