5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
James 1:5-8 English Standard Version (ESV)
During our Sunday worship at Lakeview Baptist Church, our pastor asked us some questions as a part of the sermon.
- Are you ready for Christ’s return?
- If you knew Jesus was coming back at 12:15 PM tomorrow, what would you do?
- Would you focus on getting your affairs in order?
- Would you call that person that you hurt?
- Would you call that family member that has not accepted Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior?
- Would you go out urgently and speak to your next-door neighbor about the GOSPEL?
- DO YOU KNOW THE GOSPEL (Good News)?
- God created us to be with Him. (Genesis 1-2)
- Our sins separate us from God. (Genesis 3)
- Sins cannot be removed by good deeds. (Genesis 4 – Malachi 4)
- Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)
- Everyone who trusts in Him alone has eternal life. (John)
- Life with Jesus starts now and lasts forever. (Acts – Revelation)
- DO YOU KNOW THE GOSPEL (Good News)?
- Would you urgently seek out that one person you know that does not know the GOSPEL or refuses to believe in it and try one last time?
My first thought was I have not lived with any urgency that Christ is about to return and my second thought was Why? I believe the Bible to be the true word of God, so why would I not take the book of Revelation at its word. Many times throughout Revelation John tells us Christ will return. In Revelation 22:7, we are told “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” The challenge our pastor presented to us is to live in 2020 as if Jesus is coming back tomorrow. I will try my best to do just that.
I am self-aware that it is difficult for me to speak to random people about anything, so bringing up their salvation will be a challenge. For those individuals, I already know do not know Christ it may be less challenging, but I struggle with those individuals that say they are a Christian but live fully in the world and show no fruits. How do you share the GOSPEL with these? Our pastor says you have to get them lost to get them saved; maybe I need to learn more about this? It could also be that my own path to salvation is clouding my point of view in this area.
Over the past few months, I have talked a lot with an individual about the GOSPEL, Bible, and various denominations in general. One thing the individual asked me that stuck out was could I give them a 100% guarantee everything in the Bible was true? They argued the Bible has so many translations and was written over thousands of years that it has to flawed or untrue.
I told them I can give them a 100% guarantee that Melinda and I believe the GOSPEL to be 100% true. Could some translations be off a few words or meanings? I guess they could, but we have more copies of the books of the Bible than any other writings in all of history. When they found the book of Isaiah among the Dead Sea Scrolls it was almost identical to versions of Isaiah we have today. It strengthens my belief that God used people to make sure his WORDS were kept as accurate as possible for us today.
I was not really sure what to say about different denominations or even churches within the same denomination. It seems that so many churches are starting to accept ideas of the world and teach those ideas as facts. Many clearly do not teach the truth of the entire Bible. Just one example is Romans 1:18-32; it clearly identifies sins that many today argue are not sins. In my opinion, as long as a church is teaching the truth of the entire Bible and the GOSPEL of Jesus Christ the differences around others things like musical instruments yes or no, dunking vs. sprinkling, length of sermons, etc should not divide us. We should all be one in Christ. After all the first church was not in any building. I concluded my conversation with the individual by saying it is not up to us to convince people of the GOSPEL; the Holy Spirit will do that, our job is to just spread the GOSPEL to everyone.
Personally, I have to constantly remind myself of Matthew 18:3 and 22:37-39. I believe that if I can have child-like faith, love God with all my heart and soul, and love my neighbor as myself every day that 2020 will be a great year. When I forget these things I get sucked into the world which is not where God wants me or I need to be. Can you imagine what the world would be like if everyone did just these three things or even just the last and loved their neighbor? Yes, I know it is hard to love some people, even people like me, but why not give it a try in 2020.
Today, January 1st, 2020 starts a new year and a new decade. I resolved about ten years ago to not make any more New Years resolutions. It is the only resolution I have ever been successful at keeping; however, there are people and actions in 2020 I will be praying for…
FOR ME
I pray that the LORD helps me continue on my health journey I started two years ago. It has been an up and down battle, especially with my weight. I would say I have been slowly losing the battle over the last three months with the stress of work and home taking its toll and me eating things I shouldn’t; even if it is dirty KETO, I need to eat it instead of SAD. I pray that I have the courage to tell more people about the GOSPEL. I pray that I will grow stronger in my relationship with Jesus. I pray that I will be able to make it to more church events, especially the men’s prayer meetings. I pray that work continues to be a blessing as they have worked with me on my schedule through Melinda’s cancer. I pray that Jesus would return soon. In the meantime, I pray he continues to comfort me as he did in church on Sunday when he gave me a hug and whispered in my ear, “I have Melinda, Do not worry.”
FOR BRIAN
We pray that Brian finishes his Master’s in May from TAMU and that he does not stress so much over it this spring. We praise God that he already has accepted a job offer in Houston and will start soon after he graduates. We pray that he finds a place to live in Houston and we can get him moved with no issues. We pray that he spends 2020 seeking God’s guidance for his life, especially as he starts this new chapter. We pray that he finds a church home that teaches God’s Word and he shares the GOSPEL with others.
FOR MEGAN
We pray that Megan continues to grow in her faith with Jesus. We pray that her small group continues to be there for her and help her grow in Christ. We pray that her church, Christland, continues to teach the Word and spread the GOSPEL. We pray that God continues to bless her as she tries to be a light for Jesus to the world. We pray that she can stay on track to graduate in May 2021. We pray that she finds a place to live for the next school year with roommates that follow the LORD. We pray that her summer internship gives her direction on what she may want to do with her life in regards to earning a living.
FOR MELINDA
I pray for Melinda daily as I know many of you do. We can not say enough thank you’s for all those prayers. We did not really get the results of the MRI. The radiologist said he did not get it from Providence just the report. He said the report mentioned inflammation so he went ahead and subscribed a steroid for her to take. We will most likely not know anything until the week of the 13th when we meet with Oncology. We pray for the doctors, nurses, and others that we have encountered along the way. We will continue to pray that God’s will be done. We pray that God uses this situation for his Glory. We pray that God’s plan is to heal her. Cancer is a terrible disease. I have seen its effects on way too many people. We 100% believe GOD IS IN CONTROL, he has a plan, and we will honor him no matter what. We both believe in a 100% guarantee that the Bible is true and that this world is temporary. We suffer because of original sin, but that suffering will be short because we will soon be going home to live with Jesus in our forever home. We pray for the lost. We pray for our church and those in our Sunday school class. We pray for you. I pray that I can continue to say We instead of I. I thank GOD daily for another day with Melinda. It allows us to read his word and praise him a little longer. We thank God, for sending his son Jesus to die for our Sins. Jesu’s sacrifice lets us know that without a doubt she and I are both saved and will join him in heaven.
I leave you with this one last thought as you enter this New Year? If the Bible is not true; Is my life any worse off for believing in the Bible and living by its principles than a person who does not, after all, we will all die one day and what harm was it to love my neighbor and live by the principles of the Bible, on the other hand, if the Bible is true what does it mean for you or that person that refused the GOSPEL?
We pray that you will find Jesus in 2020 if you do not know him and if you do we pray that you “..walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:10)
