Date: 12/7/2010
As we remember what happened at Pearl Harbor on its yearly anniversary, we usually remember all the heroes that were lost, or the ones that lost parts of their body for their country. Many lost family and friends in that devastating attack, but there were losses on both sides. Both Japan and the U.S. lost people in that fight, but each side tends to remember and be concerned about the loss on their side of the fight.
Whether it be Japan or the U.S., each side considers the ones that died for their kingdom to be the heroes. The people of United States don’t consider the Japanese people bombing our ships to be heroes, because they were the enemy. The Japanese don’t consider the United States people that died and fought in that fight to be heroes, because the U.S. was their enemy. From each “kingdom’s” point of view, the heroes are the ones that fought to preserve and expand their kingdom’s way of life. Each kingdom in this fight had their heroes and their enemies, even though the other side’s enemy was the other side’s heroes. How people look at things is always a matter of perspective.
So why are all these people called heroes? They all have something in common. Even today’s war heroes have this same thing in common. The thing they all have in common is that they were willing to sacrifice and leave the comforts of their own homes and fight for their kingdom. They left what they considered the good things of their kingdom and fight to preserve or expand those good aspects of their kingdom for others. The US soldier fights to preserve the freedom and what that soldier thinks is good. The U.S. soldier is also willing to fight to expand this kingdom of freedom to other countries. Each soldier, on each side of the war(s), is willing to give the ultimate sacrifice of their own physical life. They are willing to give up all what they understand to be good in their life and never experience it again, so that their kingdom can expand and/or other people of their kingdom can keep experiencing that good. For instance: even though the Japanese clearly won that fight at Pearl Harbor, all those Japanese pilots knew they would not survive the attack. All these pilots were instructed to release their torpedoes and ammunition and then use their own plane to kamikaze into an enemy ship. They had no plans of returning back to the Japanese ships that they were launched from. From my understanding only a few planes returned back to the ships and the planes were not even equipped to land back on the ships. The Japanese saw Pearl Harbor as a great victory for them, but their heroes knew when they took off from those ships that they would not come back. They died with honor, but never to experience the “good” they were fighting for. Each kingdom fights for what they understand to be good, even though the enemy thinks the enemy’s good is the evil they need to fight. They do this to preserve or expand what they think is good.
Fighting for temporary or eternal kingdoms:
Now, let us put these worldly kingdoms that heroes have sacrificed and died for over the many centuries in perspective. For the most part all these earthly kingdoms are temporary. They are not eternal. There are only two kingdoms that are eternal, which is God’s kingdom and the devil’s kingdom. A person can argue that some of these earthly kingdoms are more evil than good and some are more good than evil, but they are all temporary.
Why is it that people will temporarily or forever give up the things that they see as good in this life and go out and fight to preserve or promote those freedoms and earthly good things and not sacrifice and fight for the eternal good of God’s kingdom? It is sad to say, but many of these heroes that have died for the temporary earthly kingdoms, which they have left behind, only come to find out that they were not fighting for the kingdom that has eternal life. Instead they realize they were tricked by the devil’s kingdom by loving the temporary things. God is not a respecter of people or earthly kingdoms. Earthly kingdoms usually get in the way of people realizing God’s eternal kingdom. Jesus said His kingdom is not of this world. So why do we keep stressing about the different kingdoms of this world? It is because the devil wants to keep us busy with the concerns of this world. In that way we keep our minds on protecting the temporary good things of this world and forget about the eternal good things of God’s kingdom. If the devil keeps us protecting and cherishing even the godly temporal things of this world, then the devil wins by default, because our attention has been diverted from the important eternal good things of God’s kingdom.
We have to realize that even if something is considered godly and good in this world, it doesn’t mean we need to acquire or have it. If our goal is to have and work for what is considered good in this world, then we will not fight for what is eternally good, which is God’s kingdom. Even if it seems that something in this world is godly and every person should have it, our goal should not be on attaining it or preserving it for ourselves. Even the things that are considered good and godly can feed our selfish interests and take us away from God and His eternal work for Him. Even the godly good pleasures of this world will bind us to the devil’s kingdom by loving the things of this world instead of God Himself. The way of attaining God’s kingdom is attaining God Himself by the way of Jesus Christ.
God’s kingdom is spiritual and the worldly kingdoms are temporal and of the devil’s kingdom. The only things that are eternal are of the spiritual realms. The only things that enter heaven or hell are of the spiritual nature. Since the spiritual realms are the only things that are eternal, then that is where we should do our fighting. We can’t let ourselves be bogged down by any physical things of this earth, no matter how good they might seem. Don’t let yourself be fooled into thinking that God has blessed you with many good things of this world, when in the spiritual reality; it is the devil that has sidetracked you into loving the world and God’s creation instead of loving only God Himself. Be a hero for God’s kingdom and not for a temporary worldly kingdom.
As Christians we are called to fight, to preserve and expand God’s eternal kingdom, not physical kingdoms. The only way to expand God’s kingdom is to bring more souls into it. This is what God’s plan is. Is God’s plan also your plan? Are you willing to forsake even the temporary good things of this world in order to grow God’s eternal kingdom. God’s says we are to store up treasures in heaven. Well, the only things we can store up in heaven is our soul and the spiritual souls of others. There is nothing else that we can store or bring with us. No matter how good and/or amazing God’s created things are, the only things that enter His eternal kingdom are the spiritual things. So, if you are working to acquire God’s physical created things instead of His spiritual eternal things, then the devil has tricked you. We must not worship or desire the created things, but instead worship and desire the creator.
Michael W Reid
Showing posts with label eternal kingdom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eternal kingdom. Show all posts
Monday, April 18, 2011
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
The Promise
Most people calling themselves Christians today have a belief that the hope we have in Christ is the hope of getting to heaven some day. Even though heaven is a place we look forward to, that should not be our hope as Christians. So what is our hope and what is the promise of God?
Today MOST churched people's hopes are to get to heaven. This is not what our main hope should be or what we should strive for. If our main hopes and striving are to get to heaven then we are only trying to save ourselves from hell.
The scriptures say the deposit of the "Holy Spirit" into us is the GUARANTEE of our heavenly inheritance. This is true.
Eph 1:13-14 - In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. NKJV
2 Cor 1:21-22 - Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. NKJV
So once we are totally filled with the Holy Spirit (the promise), then we are guaranteed heaven as long as we don't willfully sin after that point. So the hope we need to go for is the promise that God will fill us with His Holy Spirit AFTER we have come to a point of total obedience (out of love for Him). Once we have the fullness of the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Truth) in us, we no longer have a hope of being in His eternal kingdom, because we are already in His eternal kingdom. There is not a hope of heaven anymore, it is a for sure thing as long as we don't reject His Holy Spirit by willfully sinning against Him. If we willfully sin after being totally filled with the Holy Spirit (the promise), then we have committed the unforgivable sin. Let me explain this with scriptures.
After we have done the will of God we receive the promise (the Holy Spirit).
Heb 10:36 - For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the PROMISE NKJV
Abraham's offspring are the people that have received the promise of the Holy Spirit.
Rom 9:8 - In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. NIV
God pours out the Holy Spirit into all that have been obedient to the will of God. Then they are the sons of God and exalted to the right hand of God. A son of God is exalted to His right hand when that person has shown himself worthy of the Holy Spirit's filling. This needs to happen in our physical lifetime.
Acts 2:33 - Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the PROMISE of the Holy Spirit , He poured out this which you now see and hear. NKJV
God saves us from the power of our sinful nature to enable us to become the sons of God by eventually receiving the promise of the Holy Spirit after we have done His will.
Gal 3:14 - He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. NIV
Only if we are totally devoted to Christ are we considered Abraham's seed and enjoy in the promised Holy Spirit.
Gal 3:29 - If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. NIV
Life in Christ is the Holy Spirit in a person. Holy Spirit = Life in Christ.
2 Tim 1:1 - ...according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, ... NIV
Once anyone has been fully filled with the Holy Spirit and has become a son of God, then they have been enlightened and have experienced God's eternal kingdom and the powers of that eternal kingdom. If they ever decide to fall away by willfully sinning against the Holy Spirit that is within them, then they are judged unworthy of the Holy Spirit and God's Holy Spirit is taken away from them forever.
Heb 6:4-6 - For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the HEAVENLY gift, and have become partakers of the HOLY SPIRIT, and have tasted the good word of God and the POWERS of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. NKJV
Now one important thing to remember when understanding these scriptures, when a person comes to the saving grace of God and says that first sinners prayer, they don’t receive the Holy Spirit at that time unless they were able to die to all their selfishness at that time. They receive Jesus as their High Priest, but for most people today, they don’t receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit until they die to all their selfishness and be obedient and do the will of God. It is through the power of God’s grace working through Jesus Christ being their High Priest that they have the power to overcome all sin, but they have to make the choice to die to every sinful thing in them. God will not make anyone die to their own selfish nature, but He gives you the power to do so if that is a person’s earnest desire.
When a person receives the Holy Spirit, they receive the knowledge of the truth. The truth is written on their hearts. God's very Word is written on and in their hearts by the Holy Spirit. So, after this happening, if they ever willfully go against that truth that has filled their heart, they will be doomed to an eternal fiery judgment.
Heb 10:26-29 - For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? NKJV
If we keep and stay within God's promise (the Holy Spirit) we are assured a new heaven and a new earth full of righteousness.
2 Peter 3:13 - But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. NIV
For the people, the true sons of God, the ones that have been filled with the Holy Spirit, that have partaken in the heavenly gifts and powers of the heavens (the powers to come), they are already in His eternal kingdom. The only difference that happens after physical death for a true son of God is that they don't have to live in both a righteous and un-righteous world any longer. They will live only in a pure, holy, and righteous world for eternity. Before a true son of God physically dies, they are already living a pure, holy, and righteous life already, but having to endure an un-righteous world until they physically die.
So I say all this to indicate that our salvation has to happen in our physical lifetime (before physical death). When someone says "Completed salvation is not until we reached the other side into heaven", this is an incorrect statement. This is what people want to believe and backs up MOST people's beliefs that we can never be perfect, pure, holy, and/or righteous this side of heaven, which a lie of the devil.
A true son of God has already been judged and found worthy to receive God’s promise of the Holy Spirit, because they have sacrificed all to Him. Once having received the Holy Spirit, we are then worthy to enter and be in God's eternal kingdom. It is the Holy Spirit of Christ that is the key to God’s eternal kingdom. All true sons of God have been judged in this life already and will never be judged again unless they commit the un-forgivable sin of rejecting the Holy Spirit that had totally filled their heart.
If anyone is judged by God after their physical death - it is too late for them. They are destined for the eternal fire.
May God’s truth encourage you to finish the race,
Michael W Reid
Today MOST churched people's hopes are to get to heaven. This is not what our main hope should be or what we should strive for. If our main hopes and striving are to get to heaven then we are only trying to save ourselves from hell.
The scriptures say the deposit of the "Holy Spirit" into us is the GUARANTEE of our heavenly inheritance. This is true.
Eph 1:13-14 - In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. NKJV
2 Cor 1:21-22 - Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. NKJV
So once we are totally filled with the Holy Spirit (the promise), then we are guaranteed heaven as long as we don't willfully sin after that point. So the hope we need to go for is the promise that God will fill us with His Holy Spirit AFTER we have come to a point of total obedience (out of love for Him). Once we have the fullness of the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Truth) in us, we no longer have a hope of being in His eternal kingdom, because we are already in His eternal kingdom. There is not a hope of heaven anymore, it is a for sure thing as long as we don't reject His Holy Spirit by willfully sinning against Him. If we willfully sin after being totally filled with the Holy Spirit (the promise), then we have committed the unforgivable sin. Let me explain this with scriptures.
After we have done the will of God we receive the promise (the Holy Spirit).
Heb 10:36 - For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the PROMISE NKJV
Abraham's offspring are the people that have received the promise of the Holy Spirit.
Rom 9:8 - In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. NIV
God pours out the Holy Spirit into all that have been obedient to the will of God. Then they are the sons of God and exalted to the right hand of God. A son of God is exalted to His right hand when that person has shown himself worthy of the Holy Spirit's filling. This needs to happen in our physical lifetime.
Acts 2:33 - Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the PROMISE of the Holy Spirit , He poured out this which you now see and hear. NKJV
God saves us from the power of our sinful nature to enable us to become the sons of God by eventually receiving the promise of the Holy Spirit after we have done His will.
Gal 3:14 - He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. NIV
Only if we are totally devoted to Christ are we considered Abraham's seed and enjoy in the promised Holy Spirit.
Gal 3:29 - If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. NIV
Life in Christ is the Holy Spirit in a person. Holy Spirit = Life in Christ.
2 Tim 1:1 - ...according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, ... NIV
Once anyone has been fully filled with the Holy Spirit and has become a son of God, then they have been enlightened and have experienced God's eternal kingdom and the powers of that eternal kingdom. If they ever decide to fall away by willfully sinning against the Holy Spirit that is within them, then they are judged unworthy of the Holy Spirit and God's Holy Spirit is taken away from them forever.
Heb 6:4-6 - For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the HEAVENLY gift, and have become partakers of the HOLY SPIRIT, and have tasted the good word of God and the POWERS of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. NKJV
Now one important thing to remember when understanding these scriptures, when a person comes to the saving grace of God and says that first sinners prayer, they don’t receive the Holy Spirit at that time unless they were able to die to all their selfishness at that time. They receive Jesus as their High Priest, but for most people today, they don’t receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit until they die to all their selfishness and be obedient and do the will of God. It is through the power of God’s grace working through Jesus Christ being their High Priest that they have the power to overcome all sin, but they have to make the choice to die to every sinful thing in them. God will not make anyone die to their own selfish nature, but He gives you the power to do so if that is a person’s earnest desire.
When a person receives the Holy Spirit, they receive the knowledge of the truth. The truth is written on their hearts. God's very Word is written on and in their hearts by the Holy Spirit. So, after this happening, if they ever willfully go against that truth that has filled their heart, they will be doomed to an eternal fiery judgment.
Heb 10:26-29 - For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? NKJV
If we keep and stay within God's promise (the Holy Spirit) we are assured a new heaven and a new earth full of righteousness.
2 Peter 3:13 - But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. NIV
For the people, the true sons of God, the ones that have been filled with the Holy Spirit, that have partaken in the heavenly gifts and powers of the heavens (the powers to come), they are already in His eternal kingdom. The only difference that happens after physical death for a true son of God is that they don't have to live in both a righteous and un-righteous world any longer. They will live only in a pure, holy, and righteous world for eternity. Before a true son of God physically dies, they are already living a pure, holy, and righteous life already, but having to endure an un-righteous world until they physically die.
So I say all this to indicate that our salvation has to happen in our physical lifetime (before physical death). When someone says "Completed salvation is not until we reached the other side into heaven", this is an incorrect statement. This is what people want to believe and backs up MOST people's beliefs that we can never be perfect, pure, holy, and/or righteous this side of heaven, which a lie of the devil.
A true son of God has already been judged and found worthy to receive God’s promise of the Holy Spirit, because they have sacrificed all to Him. Once having received the Holy Spirit, we are then worthy to enter and be in God's eternal kingdom. It is the Holy Spirit of Christ that is the key to God’s eternal kingdom. All true sons of God have been judged in this life already and will never be judged again unless they commit the un-forgivable sin of rejecting the Holy Spirit that had totally filled their heart.
If anyone is judged by God after their physical death - it is too late for them. They are destined for the eternal fire.
May God’s truth encourage you to finish the race,
Michael W Reid
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
God Will Not Be Mocked - Message 3
Gal 6:7 - Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.
The mark of the beast revealed
As always I want to start out emphasizing how God wants His creation to see the full depth of His love for us, but since most people (including most believers) are so emerged in loving themselves, they can’t see or even understand God’s agape love that He has for us. These people are still filled and consumed by their own selfishness and that is the subject of this message.
God’s Word teaches us that there will be a time when most people will be deceived and will receive the mark of the beast, which is “666” on their hand and/or forehead. I want to inform you that we are and have been living in that time already. Most people have already received this mark of the beast and don’t even realize it.
In order to understand this mark of the beast and what it actually is, we must first come to a basic understanding of the “Things of God” and the “things of the devil”. These “Things of God” are in a specific order (ordered by God) and are numbered and always have to be used when we try to figure out all of the numbers in the symbolic scriptures of God’s Word. I would like to share more about the fuller meanings of God’s number system (the Things of God), but for now we are only going to concentrate on one “Thing of God” which is SELFLESSNESS and “one thing of the devil” which is SELFISHNESS. Below are the “Things of God” and the devils corresponding opposites which are the “things of the devil”.
Things of God
#1 – Longsuffering (patient)
#2 – Mercy (leniency or compassion)
#3 – Contentment (satisfied)
#4 – Humility (willing to be humbled)
#5 – Gentleness (kindness to others)
#6 - Selflessness (thinking of others first)
#7 – Peace (state of harmony)
#8 – Goodness (moral excellence)
#9 – Joy (great delight and rejoicing)
#10 – Forbearance (self control thru faith)
#11 – Hope (hope of winning thru grace)
#12 – Love (Perfection of all Things)
Things of the devil
#1 – Instant gratification
#2 – No leniency or compassion
#3 – Never satisfied
#4 – Prideful (unwilling to be humbled)
#5 – No kindness shown to others
#6 – Selfishness (thinking of self only)
#7 – No harmony with self or others
#8 – Totally unmoral values
#9 – Draining of any delight or rejoice
#10 – No faith or control over one’s self
#11 – No hope of winning or finishing
#12 – Hate of all good things
Notice above that #6 in the “Things of God” represents “Selflessness” and #6 in the “things of the devil” represents “Selfishness”. So when we talk about the beast’s mark, we are then talking in the realm of the “things of the devil”, since the beast represents the evil or the devils spiritual realm. We can now understand from this that the number “666” represents the forms (or realms) of selfishness since all the numbers in the number of the beast contain all 6’s. But how do these numbers go together or add up?
To understand how these three 6’s combine or go together we must now look at the makeup of the spiritual realm of God and the corresponding opposite spiritual realm of the devil. Below are the two spiritual realms.
God’s spiritual realm
Blood – Physical flesh realm
Water – Loving heart of man
Spirit - Heavenly spirit in man
Glory – Kingdom of God
The mark of the beast revealed
As always I want to start out emphasizing how God wants His creation to see the full depth of His love for us, but since most people (including most believers) are so emerged in loving themselves, they can’t see or even understand God’s agape love that He has for us. These people are still filled and consumed by their own selfishness and that is the subject of this message.
God’s Word teaches us that there will be a time when most people will be deceived and will receive the mark of the beast, which is “666” on their hand and/or forehead. I want to inform you that we are and have been living in that time already. Most people have already received this mark of the beast and don’t even realize it.
In order to understand this mark of the beast and what it actually is, we must first come to a basic understanding of the “Things of God” and the “things of the devil”. These “Things of God” are in a specific order (ordered by God) and are numbered and always have to be used when we try to figure out all of the numbers in the symbolic scriptures of God’s Word. I would like to share more about the fuller meanings of God’s number system (the Things of God), but for now we are only going to concentrate on one “Thing of God” which is SELFLESSNESS and “one thing of the devil” which is SELFISHNESS. Below are the “Things of God” and the devils corresponding opposites which are the “things of the devil”.
Things of God
#1 – Longsuffering (patient)
#2 – Mercy (leniency or compassion)
#3 – Contentment (satisfied)
#4 – Humility (willing to be humbled)
#5 – Gentleness (kindness to others)
#6 - Selflessness (thinking of others first)
#7 – Peace (state of harmony)
#8 – Goodness (moral excellence)
#9 – Joy (great delight and rejoicing)
#10 – Forbearance (self control thru faith)
#11 – Hope (hope of winning thru grace)
#12 – Love (Perfection of all Things)
Things of the devil
#1 – Instant gratification
#2 – No leniency or compassion
#3 – Never satisfied
#4 – Prideful (unwilling to be humbled)
#5 – No kindness shown to others
#6 – Selfishness (thinking of self only)
#7 – No harmony with self or others
#8 – Totally unmoral values
#9 – Draining of any delight or rejoice
#10 – No faith or control over one’s self
#11 – No hope of winning or finishing
#12 – Hate of all good things
Notice above that #6 in the “Things of God” represents “Selflessness” and #6 in the “things of the devil” represents “Selfishness”. So when we talk about the beast’s mark, we are then talking in the realm of the “things of the devil”, since the beast represents the evil or the devils spiritual realm. We can now understand from this that the number “666” represents the forms (or realms) of selfishness since all the numbers in the number of the beast contain all 6’s. But how do these numbers go together or add up?
To understand how these three 6’s combine or go together we must now look at the makeup of the spiritual realm of God and the corresponding opposite spiritual realm of the devil. Below are the two spiritual realms.
God’s spiritual realm
Blood – Physical flesh realm
Water – Loving heart of man
Spirit - Heavenly spirit in man
Glory – Kingdom of God
devil's spiritual realm
Blood – Physical flesh realm
Water – Evil heart of man
Spirit – Evil spirit in man
Babylon – devil’s kingdom
You will notice from the above listings that God’s spiritual kingdom and the devil’s spiritual kingdom both contain the “Blood – Physical flesh realm”. This is where these two spiritual realms meet. These two spiritual realms meet in the fleshly realm which is why the spiritual warfare is fought out beginning within the flesh realm. After or underneath the “Blood – Physical flesh realm”, you will notice that these other spiritual realms are opposites of each other when you compare God’s spiritual realms with the devil’s spiritual realms.
Number place holder
Blood – x1 (ones place)
Water – x10 (tens place)
Spirit – x100 (hundreds place)
Glory/Babylon – x1000 (thousands place)
Now I want you to take a close look at the number place holder column. Each one of these opposing spiritual realms has a corresponding number place holder for God’s spiritual numbering system. For example: the “Water” realm of both opposing spiritual realms share the number place holder of “x10 (the tens place holder)” and this number place holder represents a spiritual realm of either a spiritual realm of God or a spiritual realm of the devil. The spiritual realm to be used (God’s or the devil’s) is determined by the context of God’s Word from where the scripture is being taken from.
Anyone that understands what I have stated above can now interpret what the number “666” really means and in turn understand what the mark of the beast really is.
6 = x1 (ones place holder) = A selfish fleshly body
+60 = x10 (tens place holder) = A heart filled with selfishness
+600 = x100 (hundreds place holder) = A spirit filled with selfishness
------
666 = A person filled with selfishness in their body, heart, and spirit
The mark of the beast is a spiritual mark and not a physical mark. The mark of the beast represents any person controlled by total selfishness (sinful nature). These selfish souls belong to the devil. God’s Word says the mark of the beast “666” will be on the hand or forehead. Again this mark represents a person filled with total selfishness and isn’t a visible mark on the hand or forehead. God’s Word says it is on the forehead because this represents our brain and what we think. God’s Word also says it can be on our hand because this represents our works that we do with our hands. A person that has the mark of the beast will think selfishly and all his/her works with also be selfish.
I want to inform everybody that has ears to hear, that the devil’s evil beast has been given authority to deceive the nations, even the believers.
Rev 13:14 - Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth.
In the past and for many hundreds of years, the devil’s deceptions had been restricted by God to let His church grow without undo influence by the devil, but now the devil has been allowed to deceive all the people of all the nations. These deceptions of the devil have been going on already for many, many years. God is not surprised by the world being taken over by the devil and his evil forces. God is allowing it to happen. God has authorized all of this evil for the testing of souls and to bring His plan to completion. God is allowing the devil to deceive who ever will be deceived in order to weed the weeds out of His harvest.
Rev 22:11-13 - Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy." "Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
Gal 6:7-9 - Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
God’s judgment is coming soon to everyone. God is allowing this evil to go on for a time, but this time of evil will come to an end. But before this time of trial and testing ends, it will get much worse. Get ready and then stay ready until Christ’s return. Evaluate yourself and let God search your soul. Are you sealed with His mark of Love (#12 – Love – God’s perfection) or are you marked by the devil with his mark of “666”. Selfishness can be overcome, but only by God’s grace through His Son (Christ Jesus) by the power of God’s love.
Your servant in Christ – Michael Reid
Thursday, April 10, 2008
What Will Jesus Do With You When He Returns
Jesus says only the ones that have overcome the world will enter His eternal kingdom.
Rev 2:7 - He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
Rev 2:11 - He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.
Rev 3:4-5 - He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels
Rev 3:12 - Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem,
Rev 3:21 - To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.
Rev 21:7-8 - He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars — their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."
1 John 5:4 - for everyone born of God overcomes the world.
Who will inherit the eternal kingdom of God?
Matt 19:29 - And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.
Mark 10:17 - Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Mark 10:21 - Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
Luke 10:25-28 - "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" He answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
1 Cor 6:9-10 - Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
Gal 5:19-21 - The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
James 2:5 - Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?
Here are some other scriptures to consider.
John 5:39-40 - You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
John 10:25-28 - The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life.
John 12:25 - The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Rom 2:7-8 - To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.
Rom 6:22 - But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
Gal 6:7-8 - A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
1 John 2:24-25 - See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us — even eternal life.
1 John 3:15 - Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
So where is your heart and soul at today?
If he comes today, are you ready?
What about others around you, are they ready?
Rev 2:7 - He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
Rev 2:11 - He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.
Rev 3:4-5 - He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels
Rev 3:12 - Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem,
Rev 3:21 - To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.
Rev 21:7-8 - He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars — their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."
1 John 5:4 - for everyone born of God overcomes the world.
Who will inherit the eternal kingdom of God?
Matt 19:29 - And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.
Mark 10:17 - Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Mark 10:21 - Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
Luke 10:25-28 - "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" He answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
1 Cor 6:9-10 - Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
Gal 5:19-21 - The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
James 2:5 - Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?
Here are some other scriptures to consider.
John 5:39-40 - You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
John 10:25-28 - The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life.
John 12:25 - The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Rom 2:7-8 - To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.
Rom 6:22 - But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
Gal 6:7-8 - A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
1 John 2:24-25 - See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us — even eternal life.
1 John 3:15 - Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
So where is your heart and soul at today?
If he comes today, are you ready?
What about others around you, are they ready?
Thy Kingdom Is Here And There
There has been much confusion about the kingdom of God and when is it going to come or has it already come.
First I would like to talk just a little about the future kingdom that everybody has hope for. True born again believers will go to heaven after we leave this physical body and we will go to live with our loving God forever. God has promised with many scriptures that the eternal heaven will be glorious. God also says this is when we enter His rest.
Rev 14:13 NIV - Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them."
Let us also remember that for any that do not have the faith to listen and obey His teachings and warnings, there will be eternal unrest for their souls.
Heb 3:16-4:1 NIV - Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.
Since the future eternal kingdom is the kingdom that most preachers and teachers teach on, I want to concentrate instead on Jesus’ kingdom that is here now, a kingdom that every true born again believer is part of. If people only hear about the future eternal kingdom and not the kingdom that is here and now, people will be mislead to believe that they have to wait to be made “Christ like” until after they physically die. On the contrary, we have to be made Christ like before we physically die and we must be part of the kingdom of God here on earth while we are still in our fleshly body before we can transfer to God’s eternal kingdom.
The kingdom of God that every born again believer is part of, is a spiritual kingdom. Since people have a hard time understanding anything they cannot see or feel, we sometimes have a hard time understanding anything in the spiritual since we can’t see it to analyze and reason it out with our minds or logic. In this message I will attempt to simplify what many have made very complicated.
I would like to start with defining what a kingdom is. A kingdom is where you have an absolute ruler, a king or lord, and the kingdom having people as subjects to that king. For any person willing to live in the area in which that king has rule, that person must agree to be totally subject to the presiding king’s laws and rules. So when did this happen for God’s kingdom here on earth? We need to take a look at scripture to find this out.
Mark 1:14-15 NIV - After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!"
Matt 12:28 NIV - But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
In Mark 1 the scriptures are telling the story about how John the Baptist was proclaiming the coming of our savior and after Jesus was baptized Jesus went into the nearby town of Galilee and started proclaiming that the time had come for the kingdom of God. Jesus said “The kingdom of God is near”. In Matt 12 we see Jesus telling the Pharisees that “the kingdom of God has come upon you”, meaning it was there when Jesus spoke those words to the Pharisees. Some people will say how can that be, there was no absolute rule or totally obedient subjects for the kingdom. We have to understand that Jesus Christ is the king and where ever Jesus Christ is, there the kingdom is also. Jesus could say the kingdom of God had come because He was the King and Lord and He had a totally committed subject, which was himself, since He was both God and also a human. So since he was human and was totally committed and obedient to His Father’s will, He was His own subject.
Anytime Jesus Christ was on this earth doing His ministry, the kingdom of God was also on earth with Him. After Christ was crucified, the kingdom of God left the earth until Jesus Christ was resurrected. After Christ’s resurrection, Jesus spent 40 days with His 11 disciples and during this time the kingdom of God was also on earth since Jesus Christ was on earth. After these 40 days with His disciples, Jesus ascended into Heaven and the kingdom of God went with Him. After 10 days the kingdom of God returned to earth again through the Spirit’s filling of the disciples at Pentecost. This time the spiritual kingdom of God was here to stay on earth until Jesus’ final return. It was to be a kingdom within the hearts of men. Christ would now rule the hearts of men from the inside of their very souls.
Luke 17:20-21 NIV - Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you."
Remember - Jesus Christ is the king and where ever Jesus Christ is, there the kingdom is also. We can say that the kingdom of God is within us because the very Spirit of Jesus Christ is in us, that is if anyone is a true born again believer. If we have been baptized by His Spirit, then we have been given a totally new heart filled with His love and desires and Jesus Christ Spirit is within us.
John 3:6 NIV - Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
John 15:5 NIV - “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit”
John 14:19-21 NIV - Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
When we are a true born again believer, our heart has been totally transformed. The old man or sinful nature which is comprised of any selfishness in us has totally been replaced with the new man or God’s Spirit which is comprised of only love. Since no sin can originate out of true love, we only have desires to love and please God and love our fellow man. It is this total change of heart that drives our every desire and action. It is with Jesus Christ’s Spirit and love inside of us that God rules our lives. Our heart’s desires are in turn the same as God’s desires. Because of the love He has put in us, we only have the desire to obey His commandments and full heartedly go about doing His will.
Jesus Christ is now our high priest, Lord and King while we are living in this fleshly earthly body, but when we leave this earthly body, He is no longer our high priest because we won’t need any priest to intercede for us anymore. We will have already made our decision before we die, which will decide where we spend eternity. If we have chosen the way of Jesus as our Lord, then we will spend eternity with our brother Jesus Christ and Jesus’ Father as our Father for ever and ever. They will be the constant loving light we will continue living by and praising forever and ever.
If we have died to our selfishness and have spiritually been born into His kingdom while we are here on earth, we will never spiritually die; we will just transition from Christ’s earthly reigning kingdom to God’s eternal kingdom.
John 11:25-26 NIV - Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
In His Kingdom by faith - Michael Reid
First I would like to talk just a little about the future kingdom that everybody has hope for. True born again believers will go to heaven after we leave this physical body and we will go to live with our loving God forever. God has promised with many scriptures that the eternal heaven will be glorious. God also says this is when we enter His rest.
Rev 14:13 NIV - Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them."
Let us also remember that for any that do not have the faith to listen and obey His teachings and warnings, there will be eternal unrest for their souls.
Heb 3:16-4:1 NIV - Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.
Since the future eternal kingdom is the kingdom that most preachers and teachers teach on, I want to concentrate instead on Jesus’ kingdom that is here now, a kingdom that every true born again believer is part of. If people only hear about the future eternal kingdom and not the kingdom that is here and now, people will be mislead to believe that they have to wait to be made “Christ like” until after they physically die. On the contrary, we have to be made Christ like before we physically die and we must be part of the kingdom of God here on earth while we are still in our fleshly body before we can transfer to God’s eternal kingdom.
The kingdom of God that every born again believer is part of, is a spiritual kingdom. Since people have a hard time understanding anything they cannot see or feel, we sometimes have a hard time understanding anything in the spiritual since we can’t see it to analyze and reason it out with our minds or logic. In this message I will attempt to simplify what many have made very complicated.
I would like to start with defining what a kingdom is. A kingdom is where you have an absolute ruler, a king or lord, and the kingdom having people as subjects to that king. For any person willing to live in the area in which that king has rule, that person must agree to be totally subject to the presiding king’s laws and rules. So when did this happen for God’s kingdom here on earth? We need to take a look at scripture to find this out.
Mark 1:14-15 NIV - After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!"
Matt 12:28 NIV - But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
In Mark 1 the scriptures are telling the story about how John the Baptist was proclaiming the coming of our savior and after Jesus was baptized Jesus went into the nearby town of Galilee and started proclaiming that the time had come for the kingdom of God. Jesus said “The kingdom of God is near”. In Matt 12 we see Jesus telling the Pharisees that “the kingdom of God has come upon you”, meaning it was there when Jesus spoke those words to the Pharisees. Some people will say how can that be, there was no absolute rule or totally obedient subjects for the kingdom. We have to understand that Jesus Christ is the king and where ever Jesus Christ is, there the kingdom is also. Jesus could say the kingdom of God had come because He was the King and Lord and He had a totally committed subject, which was himself, since He was both God and also a human. So since he was human and was totally committed and obedient to His Father’s will, He was His own subject.
Anytime Jesus Christ was on this earth doing His ministry, the kingdom of God was also on earth with Him. After Christ was crucified, the kingdom of God left the earth until Jesus Christ was resurrected. After Christ’s resurrection, Jesus spent 40 days with His 11 disciples and during this time the kingdom of God was also on earth since Jesus Christ was on earth. After these 40 days with His disciples, Jesus ascended into Heaven and the kingdom of God went with Him. After 10 days the kingdom of God returned to earth again through the Spirit’s filling of the disciples at Pentecost. This time the spiritual kingdom of God was here to stay on earth until Jesus’ final return. It was to be a kingdom within the hearts of men. Christ would now rule the hearts of men from the inside of their very souls.
Luke 17:20-21 NIV - Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you."
Remember - Jesus Christ is the king and where ever Jesus Christ is, there the kingdom is also. We can say that the kingdom of God is within us because the very Spirit of Jesus Christ is in us, that is if anyone is a true born again believer. If we have been baptized by His Spirit, then we have been given a totally new heart filled with His love and desires and Jesus Christ Spirit is within us.
John 3:6 NIV - Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
John 15:5 NIV - “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit”
John 14:19-21 NIV - Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
When we are a true born again believer, our heart has been totally transformed. The old man or sinful nature which is comprised of any selfishness in us has totally been replaced with the new man or God’s Spirit which is comprised of only love. Since no sin can originate out of true love, we only have desires to love and please God and love our fellow man. It is this total change of heart that drives our every desire and action. It is with Jesus Christ’s Spirit and love inside of us that God rules our lives. Our heart’s desires are in turn the same as God’s desires. Because of the love He has put in us, we only have the desire to obey His commandments and full heartedly go about doing His will.
Jesus Christ is now our high priest, Lord and King while we are living in this fleshly earthly body, but when we leave this earthly body, He is no longer our high priest because we won’t need any priest to intercede for us anymore. We will have already made our decision before we die, which will decide where we spend eternity. If we have chosen the way of Jesus as our Lord, then we will spend eternity with our brother Jesus Christ and Jesus’ Father as our Father for ever and ever. They will be the constant loving light we will continue living by and praising forever and ever.
If we have died to our selfishness and have spiritually been born into His kingdom while we are here on earth, we will never spiritually die; we will just transition from Christ’s earthly reigning kingdom to God’s eternal kingdom.
John 11:25-26 NIV - Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
In His Kingdom by faith - Michael Reid
Becoming a Christian is a process
As I write these messages, I am very concerned that these Biblical truths are not being accepted as God’s truth like they were in the days of Christ’s apostles. The Gospel of Christ has been so watered down that most people can no longer accept the true Biblical truth because they have been taught and believe another truth (really deception) and believing it for many years, in most cases for generations. Back in the day of the apostles, people believed in part because of the miracles they saw the apostles and other Spirit filled believers do. So I’m praying for a miracle from God that would open up the eyes and ears of our current day church leaders and all the Christians around the world. A real revival back to God’s truth is needed.
As I was recently giving a message at a church service, I said “In the Old Testament, God worked most of His miracles in plain view of His people so they would believe, but in the New Testament, God works most of His miracles on the inside of man so each one of us will believe by feeling Him and His power on the inside of us”. This made me realize that there is a miracle I can talk about to help you realize what I am saying is the truth. It is the miracle that has happened in my life. How God has completely regenerated the sinful man in me into being Christ like. Everything I have written in my previous writings has happened to me and is so alive in me that I cannot hold it in; I have to proclaim this to anyone that will listen. I know this sounds prideful to some people, but this was not of my doing, it was only of God’s power. He has done it all. I want to tell you that I am a nobody, again I say I am a nobody that God has raised up to do His will through His Spirit. So if he was willing to use me, a nobody, He can do this for anybody willing to submit to His Lordship. This is what God has called all Christian to become and do.
In getting back to the process of becoming a Christian, we must know what the final result is, and that is becoming a real or true Christian. As stated in my previous writings a true Biblical Christian is totally devoted and sold out to God. He/she has committed everything that they hold valuable and has sacrificed it to God’s glory and work. A true Christian is a willing slave to God’s will. He/she is no longer having any selfish desires, but only loving desires toward God first and then to all people. A true Christian is always working at bringing others to a true relationship with God (making disciples). He/she loves God with all their heart, soul, and mind. True Christians know the only way to God’s eternal kingdom is through Christ, so they are fervently proclaiming the Gospel with the gifts they have been given. They know that people that are receiving a deception instead of the true Gospel is devastating to those people God loves. It is a spiritual life and death situation with eternal consequences. True Christians are not friends with the world, lovers of money, lovers of things, or lovers of themselves. True Christians always think of others needs above themselves. They are praising God the Father and Jesus continuously through out their day.
So, now knowing what a Christian is, we must admit that most of us aren’t at this holy or sanctified point at the time of our first acceptance of Christ. We must be made holy and perfected to being Christ like through a process call “sanctification”. Our society has been called the microwave society; we want everything to happen right now, no waiting, instant gratification. This is not how God usually works or what we can usually be able to do. When we first accept Christ as our savior, we usually can’t accept Him as total Lord of our life. The Bible says we must accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. The savior part is easy to accept because we are looking forward to receiving eternal life, but God’s Lordship of our life is required to be a true Christian and to really have eternal salvation. Lordship of our life is what most of us will not relinquish to anyone, even God. Some churches only preach and teach of Jesus being our Savior and not having to have total Lordship over our lives. This is a big and devastating deception. If Jesus is not allowed to have total control or Lordship over every part of a person’s life, there is no salvation for that person until he/she does. This is the reason God always puts the word Lord before Savior in the Bible.
This sanctification process to become a true Christian (born again) can take many years, sometime most of our life. Some people only come to this right before they die. Some people, even though they are in this process, never come to the point of becoming a true Christian and are lost to the devil because of their unwillingness to submit to Jesus’ total Lordship over their lives.
How long it takes to become a true Christian (born again) is totally dependent on our amount of faith in God and how much baggage we’ve have picked up in our life that we have to get rid of or let go of. When we are a child, especially in a Christian home, we have no baggage or only a little baggage to get rid of and when our parents tell us about Jesus through gospel messages and stories, we can easily have the faith to come to Jesus as Lord and Savior, because we believe what ever our parents tell us because we totally trust them. This is why Jesus says we must come to Him as a child.
If we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior as a child, we still have to persevere at keeping Him as our Lord and Savior. If we don’t, we must then get back to that point of submission or we still might be lost.
When we come to Christ as an adult, we already have a lot of sinful baggage. By this time we have already learned we cannot trust anyone, including God. We have learned to be very selfish through our sinful nature controlling us. The older we are when we come to Christ, the more excess sinful baggage we have to get rid of. All this selfish baggage that has been wound up into our life has to be unwound and this takes time and the power of God Holy Spirit to do it. This baggage must be gotten rid of by the process of sanctification and repenting. The flight to God’s eternal heaven does not carry any sinful baggage. We must let go of all this baggage before we board the flight. If we stay bound to our sinful baggage, we will not be allowed on the flight to heaven, but we will be picked up with the multitudes and thrown into the fiery bottomless pit, baggage and all.
May God’s grace be with you – Michael Reid
As I was recently giving a message at a church service, I said “In the Old Testament, God worked most of His miracles in plain view of His people so they would believe, but in the New Testament, God works most of His miracles on the inside of man so each one of us will believe by feeling Him and His power on the inside of us”. This made me realize that there is a miracle I can talk about to help you realize what I am saying is the truth. It is the miracle that has happened in my life. How God has completely regenerated the sinful man in me into being Christ like. Everything I have written in my previous writings has happened to me and is so alive in me that I cannot hold it in; I have to proclaim this to anyone that will listen. I know this sounds prideful to some people, but this was not of my doing, it was only of God’s power. He has done it all. I want to tell you that I am a nobody, again I say I am a nobody that God has raised up to do His will through His Spirit. So if he was willing to use me, a nobody, He can do this for anybody willing to submit to His Lordship. This is what God has called all Christian to become and do.
In getting back to the process of becoming a Christian, we must know what the final result is, and that is becoming a real or true Christian. As stated in my previous writings a true Biblical Christian is totally devoted and sold out to God. He/she has committed everything that they hold valuable and has sacrificed it to God’s glory and work. A true Christian is a willing slave to God’s will. He/she is no longer having any selfish desires, but only loving desires toward God first and then to all people. A true Christian is always working at bringing others to a true relationship with God (making disciples). He/she loves God with all their heart, soul, and mind. True Christians know the only way to God’s eternal kingdom is through Christ, so they are fervently proclaiming the Gospel with the gifts they have been given. They know that people that are receiving a deception instead of the true Gospel is devastating to those people God loves. It is a spiritual life and death situation with eternal consequences. True Christians are not friends with the world, lovers of money, lovers of things, or lovers of themselves. True Christians always think of others needs above themselves. They are praising God the Father and Jesus continuously through out their day.
So, now knowing what a Christian is, we must admit that most of us aren’t at this holy or sanctified point at the time of our first acceptance of Christ. We must be made holy and perfected to being Christ like through a process call “sanctification”. Our society has been called the microwave society; we want everything to happen right now, no waiting, instant gratification. This is not how God usually works or what we can usually be able to do. When we first accept Christ as our savior, we usually can’t accept Him as total Lord of our life. The Bible says we must accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. The savior part is easy to accept because we are looking forward to receiving eternal life, but God’s Lordship of our life is required to be a true Christian and to really have eternal salvation. Lordship of our life is what most of us will not relinquish to anyone, even God. Some churches only preach and teach of Jesus being our Savior and not having to have total Lordship over our lives. This is a big and devastating deception. If Jesus is not allowed to have total control or Lordship over every part of a person’s life, there is no salvation for that person until he/she does. This is the reason God always puts the word Lord before Savior in the Bible.
This sanctification process to become a true Christian (born again) can take many years, sometime most of our life. Some people only come to this right before they die. Some people, even though they are in this process, never come to the point of becoming a true Christian and are lost to the devil because of their unwillingness to submit to Jesus’ total Lordship over their lives.
How long it takes to become a true Christian (born again) is totally dependent on our amount of faith in God and how much baggage we’ve have picked up in our life that we have to get rid of or let go of. When we are a child, especially in a Christian home, we have no baggage or only a little baggage to get rid of and when our parents tell us about Jesus through gospel messages and stories, we can easily have the faith to come to Jesus as Lord and Savior, because we believe what ever our parents tell us because we totally trust them. This is why Jesus says we must come to Him as a child.
If we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior as a child, we still have to persevere at keeping Him as our Lord and Savior. If we don’t, we must then get back to that point of submission or we still might be lost.
When we come to Christ as an adult, we already have a lot of sinful baggage. By this time we have already learned we cannot trust anyone, including God. We have learned to be very selfish through our sinful nature controlling us. The older we are when we come to Christ, the more excess sinful baggage we have to get rid of. All this selfish baggage that has been wound up into our life has to be unwound and this takes time and the power of God Holy Spirit to do it. This baggage must be gotten rid of by the process of sanctification and repenting. The flight to God’s eternal heaven does not carry any sinful baggage. We must let go of all this baggage before we board the flight. If we stay bound to our sinful baggage, we will not be allowed on the flight to heaven, but we will be picked up with the multitudes and thrown into the fiery bottomless pit, baggage and all.
May God’s grace be with you – Michael Reid
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