Random Thoughts on the Really Good News

"At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me …” (II Timothy 4:16). Paul was on trial for sharing the message given him by Jesus which was unpopular with the establishment.  At his trial he had no one to stand with him before the Roman court. Even though alone, he didn't complain because... "Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me …" (II Timothy 4:17). The Lord is all he needed. Earlier in this letter to Timothy he had lamented... "… All they who are in Asia are turned away from me…only Luke is with me …" (II Timothy 1:15). Paul was willing to walk alone for the sake of the truth. He did not walk away from the message that Jesus had commissioned him to share with mankind, even when it meant losing his religious status with lifelong friends... "For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ" (Philippians 3:8) And what was the message that had...

My two year old grandson has a friend from daycare who is to blame for all his woes.  When something goes wrong and he is asked what happened?  His response is always "Donnie did it".  Sounds like the fake news blame game for all the problems of the world - "Trump did it"! 😀 ”God has shut up ALL in disobedience so that He may show mercy to ALL. Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways...For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:32-36) God takes responsibility for the disobedience of mankind because He is our creator.  And He tells us why He made people disobedient sinners...so that he can show us His MERCY! Paul says ALL things are “from Him and  through Him and  to Him” . I admit that I have a hard time with God showing Mercy to some men. Fortunately for them, I am not God...and neither are YOU. I try no...

“…Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst…” (1 Timothy 1:15) How did Jesus get the worst sinner to believe in him? “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul!” (Acts 1:6) OK, that would do it - and Paul believed. Sooo, how is God going to get the rest of the really bad sinners to believe? “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened…” (Revelation 20:11-12) That should do it! It is at the great white throne when all the worst sinners "confess" that Jesus is Lord and "believe" that God did indeed raise him from the dead - and are "saved" . "If you confess ...

“...in Adam all die…it is appointed unto men once to die” (1 Corinthians 15:22; Hebrews 9:27) All people are to die once, not twice. “...and I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God… and they were judged, each one according to their works…if anyone was not found written in the scroll of the life, he was cast to the lake of the fire - this is the second death…” (Revelation 20:7-15) Everyone will die and be resurrected where they will be "standing before God" .  The "lake of fire" is the "second death" , not some eternal torture chamber conceived in the mind of religions. In death, people "know nothing" . “For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing … For there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going” (Ecclesiastes 5-10). "if anyone was not found written in the scroll of life, he was cast into the lake of fire."   It does not say there are any who are not written the...

Jesus told his followers... “... I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you...In that day you will not question me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in my name, He will give it to you...I am leaving the world again and going to the Father...In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world. ” (John 16:16-33) Jesus was speaking of his return at the close of this age. Only at that time will joy be permanent and only then will we ask of the Father and it will be done. NOTE, asking for and receiving all that we ask is for that time, NOT IN THIS AGE. He told them that in this age they will have " tribulation " ...but the problems of this world and age are temporary and when all the ages are concluded John says... “And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be H...

Success...what is it? " What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then He will reward each person according to what he has done. " (Matthew 16:26-27) Mankind measures success by accumulated wealth and power.  Most of us, however, are just average people trying to do the best we can with whatever we have. And when Jesus returns success will be measured by how we treated our family for the most part under the circumstances we were given in this age by God. Worldly success is "meaningless" ... “I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind…A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil… Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love...For this is your lot in life…” (Ecclesiastes 1:14; 2:24; 9:...

"For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.…" (1 Timothy 2:5-6) Jesus never said he was God. He is the Son of God and came to mankind as the “image” of the invisible God. “No one has ever seen God. The One and Only Son-- the One who is at the Father's side-- He has revealed Him...he is the image of the invisible God..."   (John 1:18; Colossians 1:15) Many intelligent, rational, and thinking men drift away from institutional religions to focus solely on the potential of mankind apart from God. But if they studied the Jesus of the Bible they would find that  “the man Christ Jesus”  is the very man that they propose we all can and should be.  And Jesus  is the "image" of what all mankind will eventually become… "And God said, let us make mankind in our image.” (Genesis 1:26)

There are some people who will be alive when Jesus returns. We should live with joy that it may be us - like little children! "It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners...a ransom for all..." "Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed...." (1 Timothy 1:6-2:7; Corinthians 51-54) After I had discussed the wonder of his salvation and this coming change with one of my grandsons a few years ago he said "I can't wait to get to heaven". My first action was to silently pray "please God, keep him from those who would rob him of that JOY". As a child I had felt that joy when my Mom would tell me about Jesus my Savior and the heaven we are destined for. But by the age of 15 I had been baptized...

"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sin according to the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3) "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross..." (1 Peter 2:24) The bible does not say sin is a debt that needs to be paid to God, but a result of bad behavior. All die as the result of sin - there are no exceptions, not even Jesus. But Jesus did not die for his own sin, but “for our sins" . He “ bore our sins in his body on the cross".  Jesus IDENTIFIED himself with sinful men to demonstrate God’s love for sinners. "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."  (Romans 5:8). In the resurrection of Jesus God has revealed that the death of a sinner will be "swallowed up in Victory"  when resurrected - a free gift. "The wages of sin is DEATH but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our LORD.”  (Rom...