How to Have Your Debt Paid in Full

The current national debt of the Untied States is an amount so staggering, few can grasp it. It’s one of the big reasons why national help with health care is so hotly debated, and people worry so much about Social Security.

There is an even bigger debt, though, than the tens of thousands of dollars owed by each man, woman, and child in the United States. And, it, too, is a debt each person owes.

What is that debt? When we see someone do something wrong, we all like to think “They’ll get what’s coming to them.” That faith helps us overcome the incredible evil that is all around us. It is a debt that wrongdoers owe. In fact, people released from prison are sometimes said to have “paid their debt to society.”

The problem is, we all commit wrongs, called sins. We all have a debt – and the combined total of that debt is great far greater than the U.S. National Debt. Think about all the lies that have been told. With so many people in the world, there are far more lies per second than the amount the National Debt increases per second. That’s not even counting the number of times people steal, hurt others, act mean, and so on. This sin debt grows higher and higher every day.

We can pay off credit cards bit by bit. Sometimes, we can agree to pay a certain amount, and a case will be closed. But, in order to do this, you have to not charge any more, right? You can’t pay a minimum balance of $100 on a credit card and then spent $150 per month on that card. It wouldn’t make sense. The debt would never be paid. And, this doesn’t even take into account the interest on that debt. More must be going to pay the debt than the amount added to the debt, in order to spend it down.

In order to get out of debt, we have to work to manage things so we are spending less than we take in. that includes interest. And, we need to manage thigns so we aren’t racking up so much interest we can’t repay.

Think about that debt that we owe because of our human nature, then. Each of us owes a debt because of those things we say, think, or do that are wrong. They’re usually not like the “debt to society” that is paid for with prison. Most of them are things that need a simple apology, or something else. But, even that is not enough to pay off the debt of sin.

It’s important to apologize sincerely, of course. It helps a lot when we do. But, the problem is, by the time we apologize for a particular sin, things have been added to that sin, like interest. For instance, let’s say we have told a lie, and later apologize and change our heart attitude, so we don’t tell that same lie anymore. In the meantime, someone found out that we lied. An amount of trust will have vanished, that had been there before. It will take more effort to build that trust back up. That trust is like an interest payment for the debt that we took on when we sinned. In a way, then, that lie indirectly causes something to be stolen, as well. And, it isn’t even the only thing that can be lost. Someone may act on that lie, and wind up losing money, losing a relationship, or something else based on it, when that thing should never have been lost.

As much as we try, we can’t be perfect. Even if a person sins 3 times a day – and even if you believe you’re a “good person,” I’m sure you’ll accept that there are 3 times a day – that’s over 1,000 sins a year.

Think about it. We get cut off in traffic, and we curse the person even though they could have a sick relative they’re rushing to visit in the hospital. We say something to hurt or tear others down instead of building them up. We rush to selfishly do something instead of thinking of others first. We commit adultery in our heart through how we look at another. As we can see, then, the debt of sin is huge.

It’s one we can’t repay. We can’t even repay the sin debt on each individual sin. But, to make matters worse, we add to that debt every day. We add to it through mean-spirited things, gossip, selfish thinking, and many other things that not only hurt people, they hurt God. What an enormous debt we owe!

Our debt to society isn’t paid with prison, though. The wages of sin is death. It’s separation from God’s perfect love and goodness forever., in a horrible place filled with sin. God, in His justice, must keep sin from His perfect Heaven, because in His love, He provides a perfect place once this life is over. It’s a place filled with goodness, where there’s no pain, no suffering, and no tears.

But wait, you ask: If the wages of sin is death, if we have all this sin, how can we reach that place? How can that debt be paid?

Thankfully, the story doesn’t stop there. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. It’s a free gift.

See, that debt was so huge, that no person could pay it. No person could pay it, because each person would have to pay his or her own sin debt. So, god came to this world, in form of a man. Jesus Christ was 100% man and 100% God while here on Earth. He paid all your sin debt when He died on the cross for you, and rose from the dead.

Think about it. It wouldn’t do to be 51% good and 49% bad, because that sin debt would still be there. Yes, we should try to be good. But, you can’t repay a debt just by promising to not go any further into debt. The debt will still be there. But, that’s what people do when they trust in being good. They try to ignore those little debts and just focus on not having any more debt. But, that debt still has to be paid. No amount of good work can cause that debt to be paid. Thankfully, the sin debt has been paid in full. Jesus Christ is God in flesh. He, God the Father, the Holy Spirit, all His disciples (though they were tortured and killed for it), Jesus’ miracles, and the Old Testament all testify that He is the sinless one, who became sin for us.

That’s how he took on our debt. He marked it “Paid in full” when He shed His perfect blood, as the sacrifice for our sin. All the lambs that were sacrificed from the very beginning were a sign of what Jesus Christ would do someday. He was the sinless Lamb of God. He laid down His life so we could be saved from our sin debt. And then, He rose from the dead the third day.

Archaeology confirms so much of the Bible. The testimony of people like John Newton, author of “Amazing Grace,” who have been radically changed, proves that it’s possible, and it happens. Most importantly, His Holy Spirit moves in peoples’ hearts to tell them how much God loves them.

See, God is just, but He is also a God of mercy and forgiveness. God wants to forgive your sin debt. He hung on that cross, suffering agony for hours as He endured the wrath of God the Father, as the sinless substitute for each of us. Then, as He died, He cried out, “tetelestai,” which means “It is finished!” The entire debt had been paid!And, he rose again the third day; He had defeated death, so all who believe can rise with Him.

That repayment must be accepted, though. If you knew it was free, you wouldn’t refuse a person’s offer to pay off all your credit cards and other debts, right? And yet, until that person paid them off, you would still have debt, because you wouldn’t have accepted it.

In the same way, Jesus paid all your sin debt for you. And, He just needs you to accept that He did, and receive it by simple faith. God is love. He wants to pay your sin debt. You just need to:

Accept you’re a sinner, that your sin debt keeps you from His perfect Heaven, that no amount of good work can get you there;

Believe that He is God in flesh, that He died on the cross and rose from the dead for you, personally, to take all your sin debt away;

Choose to turn away from your sins, and trust Him to save you from your sin and forgive you, and to come live in you through His Holy Spirit.

That’s all it takes. It’s a free gift. I know it can be hard for some, but that’s okay; He understands. He knows You, and loves You. He’ll help you have faith if you just trust Him to; before trusting Him to forgive your sin debt, just call in your heart, “ Lord, I’m not sure if you’re out there, but I’m giving this a try, and I trust that if You are real, You will hear and answer.”

Of course, once we receive Him as our Savior, and He comes to live in us, we still sin. We have a human nature that causes us to sin. But, we have Jesus Christ living in us so we can turn to Him and get help, so we don’t sin. And, whatever happens, He will forgive and cleanse us, if we just confess our sin to Him.

The Holy Spirit living is us is His guarantee that He will never leave us, nor forsake us. He will keep working in us to get us to be good. He might have to work pretty hard to get some peoples’ attention if they wander far away in sin. But, He will always lovingly guide us back, and watch over us, and help us. Because, God is love. And, He loves you. He wants you to be totally free from the burden of sin.

First Haiti has a devastating earthquake. Then, a large quake hits near Japan. Now, Chile has one of the largest in recorded history, at 8.8! The number of major quakes in recent years seems to be increasing. These three came in just 2 months. An enormous 2004 quake not only caused the Asian tsunami, it sped the earth’s rotation momentarily. It’s enough to make people wonder if the end of the world is near.

Earthquakes are scary, as unlike bad weather, they come without warning. Aftershocks can occur for days, weeks, sometimes months. They cause terrible destruction. The increase in intensity in recent years is much like that of birth pangs that a woman feels before giving birth. Interestingly, Jesus uses the same analogy when he speaks of the end. And, “earthquakes in diverse places” – very different places, some of which don’t normally have them, thouhg some will – are one of the signs.

In Matthew 24, Jesus tells his disciples of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. They ask Him several questions. First, they ask when that destruction would happen, and then they ask about the signs of the end of the world. Jesus takes much more time on the second question than the first. He knew He would inspire His Word to be written, and that it was much more important to answer the second. Matthew 24-25 and Luke 21 each cover different aspects of what Jesus said.

Notice, first, that He answers the part about the destruction of Jerusalem in Luke 21:9. This is important because it gives us context to assure us that Matthew 24-25 is about the future, His coming and the end of the world. There are false Christs now, but there were also false Christs back then. There was lots of commotion, but the end – that is, the end of the world – did not come in 70 AD. Luke 21 talks more about the end, but also says that “before these things” – before the great earthquakes, famine, etc. – the disciples would be persecuted, and there would be a time of great trouble in Jerusalem.

However, the destruction of Jerusalem was horrible, but it was not the worst ever in history, as Mat. 24:21 says the end will be. That event in 70 AD was a picture of something that would happen in the future. We know because Matthew 24:15 says that before the end – during the Tribulation – there will be another temple. An abomination – a horrible, blasphemous thing – will be set up in the temple. That didn’t happen in 70 AD. Quite the opposite, in fact; no stone was left upon another. (The “Western Wall,” or “Wailing Wall,” now in Jerusalem is from an old Roman fort built after that.)

There’s another reason we know Jesus is speaking of the end of the world in Matthew 24. the first word of Mat. 25 – “Then” – shows Jesus is talking about the same subject. He’s drawing an analogy to situations in the end times. Yes, the parable of the talents later in that chapter has numerous spiritual applications for the Church, but there is a plain, literal meaning to Scripture, too.

“So, wait,” you ask, “you mean these earthquakes in diverse places are a sign we’re definitely near the end of the world?” Not quite. We are close – I don’t know how close. It is not given to us to know the day or the hour.

But, other signs also point to us being near, if not in, the end times: Famines, pestilence (major diseases), iniquity (lawlessness) running rampant, the love of many becoming cold (we talk about love, but that true, unconditional love isn’t there), and so on. These things are increasing more and more, just like birth pangs. There is, in fact, a site called “Rapture Ready” with a “Rapture index” that measures all of these. (The entire site is filled with good material, and forums, for those who wish to know more.)

“So, wait,” you ask, “are we really that close to the end? How do I prepare?” Like Jesus with His disciples’ questions, I will only gloss over the first, because the second is most crucial. Yes, we are getting close, but unlike a sonogram, these “birth pangs” can only be estimated. We just know they keep growing.

As for how to prepare, be confident that the Church has not replaced Israel. There will be another temple – in fact, Israelis have been preparing for it for years. God will once again deal with his chosen people as a nation, not just as individuals. Before He does this, though, something will happen which you can prepare for: The Rapture. “For the Lord Himself will descend with a shout, and the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then, we which are alive and remain shall be caught up with them in the clouds, to be meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (1 Thess. 4:16-17)

To know you’ll be caught up with Him, it’s as easy as ABC.

Admit you’re a sinner, that you fall short of God’s perfect glory. When sin was brought into the world through man’s disobedience, it spread everywhere, and caused all things to start decaying. We all fall short of His perfection through our sin. We don’t’ always mean to sin, and some people try really hard to be nice al the time. But, we can’t; we’re not perfect. That sin keeps us out of Heaven, except a price was paid to get us in.

Beleve that Jesus Christ died for your sins and rose from the dead. He is God in flesh, and he paid that price to get you into Heaven. It was the perfect sacrifice, the just for the unjust. He took the punishment you and I and everyone else deserves for our sin – for the fact we fall short of God’s perfection.

Choose to receive Him as your Savior by simple faith. That means heart knowledge, not just head knowledge. Call on Him to save you from your sins, receiving what He did by simple faith, as being for you personally. Because, He died for each of us personally. He had each person on mind who ever lived when he died on that cross, and frose again. All you have to do is receive Him.

If you do, He will come into your heart and change you on the inside, helping you be more like Him in His love, compassion, goodness, peace, and so many other wonderful things. He’ll give you peace so you wojn’t have to worry about all the problems of this world, and so you can get through them with His help. Because, we don’t know how long it will be before He comes for us. But, whether we rise first, or meet Him in the air, we have His promise that He will come for us before things get as horrible as it will in the Tribulation.

These things we see here, these massive earthquakes and such, are only the beginning of sorrows. But, Jesus has promised to help us through, if we just trust Him – with our souls, and then with our lives. And, if He says it’s our time to leave this world, by knowing Him as Savior, we can be certain that we will be forever with Him, in that awesome place where there is no pain, no suffering, and no tears.

The recent apology from Tiger Woods had been debated by many. While he has convessed what he has done, he still has quite a few sponsors who are leery at best and ignoring him at worst.

Can he recover his legacy? And, will (or can) he be forgiven?

the answer to both lies in the public. Forgiveness is something people seem rather willing to give if it is sincere. One thing that is important to remember is this: Forgiveness doesn’t mean saying something was right. In fact, in saying it needs forgiven, it’s flat out saying it was wrong.

There are, of course, different levels of wrongdoing. What Tiger Woods did was to sin – committing adultery – on a mass scale. There were no crimes involved. However, it was still an incredible breech of trust. While very few have committed crimes, a much larger percentage of people have at least looked on other adults with lust in their hearts, committing adultery in their hearts, as our Lord Jesus Christ says. Indeed, all of us need forgiven – if not for that, for some other sin.

We can do nothing to earn that forgiveness ourselves, just as Tiger Woods can do nothing to earn our forgiveness. Forgiveness is something that must be given freely. It is not earned or deserved. It is always a free gift. For by grace ar eye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. One must receive what Christ did for them by simple faith – trust that Jesus Christ, God in flesh, lived a perfect life and died on the cross to take the punishment for your sins, as your substitute, and that He rose from the dead the third day. He did all that was needed to get you to Heaven.

A person can work to regain trust, of course, and that will be important. it’s a hard thing to do – which is why the Apostle Paul warns of the need to finish well in the Christian life. It looks as though Tiger Woods wants to do that. But, the Bible doesn’t tell us to trust others. It says to forgive one another, as God for Christ sake hath forgiven us.

Trust must be earned by showing oneself trustworthy in small things first, so they can be trusted in larger things. A young teen I know is mature enough to watch her siblings. She would like to babysit outside the family, for anyone. But, she is just now working to earn her parents’ trust with those younger siblings. Once she does that, she will have the privilege of watching other peoples’ children. As she gets a larger resume and more references, more people will trust her, if she does a good job.

But, if she were to mess up – let’s say she takes her eye off a younger child and he gets hurt – she will be forgiven right away. that is, her parents will still love her. They might decide she’s not ready yet to be trusted with certain responsibilities, but that doesn’t mean they will love her any less.

This is an important concept when it comes to rebuilding his legacy, and Tiger being forgiven. Whenever he plays again, he is going to have to earn that trust. It’s up to the public to decide to put their trust in him again. In the cynical world we live in, it’s easy to wonder what people we can trust, but we can’t just refuse to trust anyone. it will take time for Tiger Woods to rebuild his legacy, but it seems quite possible for him to do so. The public, though cynical at times, does seem ready to let him build that trust up with them again. It’s just like in the Bible, when the Apostle Paul started out, just after his conversion. It took him a while to be trusted by those in Jerusalem, till Barnabas was willing to take a chance. However, that doesn’t mean the early apostles didn’t forgive the former Saul of Tarsus. It just means that they understood only God could be trusted completely.

However, forgiveness – which is also up to the public – is something that isn’t earned or deserved. In fact, true forgiveness means forgiving Tiger Woods before he ever made his apology; just as Jesus called out ont he cross, “Forgive them, Father, they know not what they do.” He certainly can be forgiven; because all of us have sinned and need forgivness, which was given to us through the wonderful cross, and the shed blood of Jesus, as the remission for our sins.

The Apostle Paul seems to have been a sports fan. He likely followed the ancient Olympics, just as we follow the modern Games. In several places, he compares the Christian life to sports. He speaks of people who strive for mastery of various things, as one would strive to excel at Olympic events. He speaks of not wanting to become disqualified. And, writes of how all run, that one may attain the prize, and tells us to run that way, though we shall all obtain that prize.

How should we do that? Obviously, life is not totally about athletics. In fact, Jesus Christ cared deeply about the handicapped of his day, those who couldn’t do much physically. It is, however, a valid comparison, as we consider the things anyone can do, and the things to avoid, as well as the ultimate goal of life.

First, we see that people strive for mastery. The Bible is telling us to work at obtaining the qualities of a strong Christian, as though we were trying to make it into the Olympics. This is vital, because we have a great adversary, the devil, who is constantly going around seeking to devour people. We must put on the “whole armor of God” each day, and practice doing that constantly. Ephesians 6:11-18 tells us about that – the faith, righteousness (not our own, but Christ’s), and so on which allow us to stand. It’s just like one stands at the podium to earn that medal.

Not everyone can do everything. But, everyone can work on the fruits of the Spirit, for instance, in Galatians 5:22-23. By cultivating those, one can grow to be more and more like Jesus, which will allow others to see His goodness in us. And, we can do those things, to the best of our abilities, that mark a good Christian – reading the Bible, praying, giving (time and talent, as well as money), fellowshipping with other believers, witnessing of what Christ as done for us, and so on. Not everyone will be great at first. But, everyone can work on those things some, to the point where they get better each day.

We must, however, not cut corners, Paul warns of not wanting to be disqualified. This can happen in two ways. First, a person could be disqualified by cheating. Think of a runner in the marathon skipping a few miles of the course. They never really finish, and if they train that way, that shortcut means they won’t be as effective. They can also simply fail to meet the necessary requirements. This means they wouldn’t even be able to enter the competition. It would be like an ice skater who never practiced with the music he or she wanted to use. When they try to qualify, they would be so out of sync they wouldn’t get anywhere close to Olympic entry.

Both are seen in the problem of Christians who won’t grow spiritually. They trust Jesus to save them, but ignore the Holy Spirit calling them to improve. They have no limitation that keeps them from giving, or prayinbg, or reading the Bible, or anything like that. They just pay too much attention to the world. Some even fall into sin that harms their own team, like a hockey player who just goes around picking fights with teammates instead of just sitting back and letting them play and try to win.

Finally, Paul advises that – though we shall all obtain the prize – we should focus as it we wanted to finish first.

This verse is not saying to be prideful. It’s merely saying that one must put one’s whole focus on himself or herself, and not pay attention to how others are doing. It doesn’t matter if someone else is pursuing their calling in a different way, or how well they are doing at it. Yes, we must stand fast against sin. However, we should not put such emphasis on others that we ignore our own walk with Christ.

So, how does one become an Olympic-style Christian, and get the most out of life. First, one must commit to those things that draw us near to God. Yes, the Bible says that He who hath begun a good work in you will complete it. It’s His job to guide and direct you. However, let’s say you’re walking a dog. What’s easier? When that dog is well heeled and walks right with you? Or, trying to walk when your dog is pulling after a squirrel or something in the totally opposite direction? Of course, it’s the first one. We need to stay close to God, so it’s easier on us and on Him. This is why Paul warns us not to quench the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is how He guides us toward a Godly path.

We must not let our path become one of self-righteousness, nor let it become a path of sin. Either one can cause us to become disqualified for that race. It might mean a lost chance at some blessing or reward, or it might mean that God will nto hear our prayer because we regard sin in our hearts. It will never mean we lose our salvation, but imagine the shame just as getting to Heaven, and learning you could have done so much more with what you had. That you wasted your life on things that never mattered. That, in itself, would be horrible, and is the reason Paul was so concerned.

Because, you see, while we must keep an eye on our own running, we have the duty to be an example of Christ for others. In that way, our eyes should be all around us, even though we run the race as if we wanted to finish first.

In another respect, of course, we can’t totally run it to finish first. It’s not just because we must be humble, and give God the glory, rather than credit our own accomplishments. It’s because all receive the same crown who have trusted Christ as Savior. That crowning achievement is the eternal life which was purchased for us through the shed blood of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is a pice which can be received by anyone by simple faith. For we are saved by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.

See, so much in life is going to disappear at the end. The only thin we take with us are souls; Jesus is preparing a place for as many as will receive Him. Everything will be taken care of up there. He just wants as many as possible to receive Him.

So, run the race, keeping your mind on the fact that to get the most out of life, you need to first of all know that you have eternal life. That’s done by simply putting your whole faith in Jesus Christ, receiving what He did on the cross as having taken the punishment for your sins. Then, trusting that He rose from the dead for you, too.

Next, your focus needs to be on things above. And, you need to cultivate those fruits of the Spirit, remain close to God through faith, prayer, and so on, and work toward telling others about Jesus so that as many as possible can join you in heaven someday. Not to get any credit for it yourself, but so that God may be glorified.

Then, if you have trusted him as Savior and faithfully served Him, He can say those words that will mean so much more than any gold medal, so much more than any anthem at a podium. He, the Creator of the Universe, the one by whom all things consist, can say to you, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” That is better than any medal – hearing Him tell you that you did a good job.

That’s the way to get the most out of life. It’s by making sure you have received Jesus Christ as your personal savior. Then, having plenty of others that you have won to Christ by planting seeds – through kindness, love, witnessing, and son on – that lead to them getting saved and/or growing closer to Christ themselves. That is how to be an Olympic-level Christian.

After the terrible devastation of the earthquake in Haiti, many are taking a new look at major regions in the United States that could see quakes, those being California, the New Madrid fault line, and, lately, at the “earthquake swarm” in Yellowstone National park. And, people are wondering – can it happen here?

Earthquakes are very scary. Unlike tornadoes, hurricanes, forest fires, and other disasters, which provide at least a *little* warning, quakes provide none. (Some speak of hints like sea lions leaving San Francisco, but that is just a coincidence, as they had left well before the 1989 quake.) This makes them seem much more scary. The supervolcano that is also under Yellowstone make that one appear quite frightening to many.

Unfortunately, we can’t know for certain when the next quake will hit, but we know that they will come sometime. Will it be in our lifetimes? We don’t know for sure. However, one day there will be an earthquake so large, it will be larger than any that has come before it. The Bible which is God’s love letter to us – warns us of that humongous, 20-on-the-Richter-scale quake just before the Battle of Armageddon. That’s just before his Second Coming.

Why does a “love letter” warn of such things? Because any loving person will want to warn their loved ones of impending doom, so they can escape. Jesus did the same thing when He warned His disciples of the year 70 A.D. destruction of Jerusalem decades before it happened He then jumped straight to the end times, which they had asked about, so as to answer their original question; this is why the church age in between is ignored in Matthew 24-25. He wants us to be prepared.

See, God made this world perfect. There weren’t supposed to be any natural disasters. But, something happened when man, by his own free choice (because god didn’t want us to be mindless robots) chose to bring sin into the world. That sin was like an infection, which infected all the earth. It wasn’t just that man faced spiritual death, and would one day face physical death as well. All of creation was infected. Hence, Romans 8:22 tells us that the whole world groans and travails in pain. In fact, “earthquakes in diverse places” is one sign of the end being near.

Thankfully, one day, God will make a new Heaven and a new earth, where there will be no more pain, no suffering, no tears. But, there can be no sin there, either. So, how do we make sure we get there, and how does this help us prepare?

How do we get to that new Heaven and earth?

Each of us has that same “infection” called a sin nature. We have all sinned, and come short of the glory of God. God Himself is just like His perfect Heaven – we must be perfect to approach Him. The wages of sin – what we earn for that sin, that time when we go against His will and choose our own way – is death. That’s a separation from God forever in a place of suffering called Hell, which was only created for the devil and his angels which rebelled. God doesn’t want people to go there.

So, God made a way for us to get to heaven. He came into this world in the person of Jesus Christ, who was fully God and fully man. He was perfect. And, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He died for our sins, was buried, and then He rose again the third day. And, the wonderful thing is, that as many as receive Him by simple faith, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that beleve on His name.

It’s only by simple faith in what He already did that we can get to Heaven. We can’t do it ourselves. Each person must put his or her trust in Jesus Christ to forgive them and save them from their sins, and come make them new on the inside. For if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold, all thigns are become new. Then, he will live in us and help us to grow closer to Him in our love, compassion, and so on. We’ll still have that fleshly nature, but one day, those who receive Him will be changed totally, so they are without in once they die or are raptured. Then, eventually, God will make that new Heaven and earth, and Heaven itself shall descend to that world, and God will dwell with man, as told in Revelation 21.

Okay, so it will come, but not for a long time, right? It probably won’t come for a long while. However, here’s what to do to prepare.

First, pray God saves your soul

The most important thing is to receive His free gift of salvation, by faith in what He did for you on the cross as having taken all the punishment for your sin.

You might die in some other way than a quake, after all. You need to be prepared. That means that when the church age ends, you will be caught up in the air with Him – either as one of the dead in Christ which rise first, or one of those who remain living on Earth.

Second, pray God holds it off

First, the major earthquake the Bible speaks of occurs in the Tribulation period. This doesn’t mean there *can’t* be a major quake before then. But, you can certainly pray that God will hold off the Big One in California, the Yellowstone supervolcano, and so on until the Tribulation period.

See, the church age ends at the start of the Tribulation. Events on Earth during the Tribulation are spoken of in Revelation 6-19. Once the Rapture happens, things will get a lot worse, as far as natural disasters, plagues, and so on, as well as sin.

Right now, there is a lot of sin in the world’s people. And, creation is groaning more and more. It’s not because of anyone’s particular sin. To continue our earlier analogy, it’s just part of that “infection” that has been spreading throughout the world, infecting all of nature with decay. God is all-powerful, He can hold things off. But, that “infection” has an effect. And, God – being just as well – must allow the laws of cause and effect to run their course, unless He intercedes in a miraculous way. If there were no cause and effect, the world would be an even worse place; nobody would know what to expect when anything happened.

Third, pray God helps you through

If there would be a major quake, you can pray that God helps you through it. He gives us grace to help with everything in time of need, but that last word is very important. He provides us with our daily needs, not just those things we want. Having a couple weeks of supplies in event of a major disaster is always wise. Having a couple years is foolish. It’s not trusting in God. Remember, He tells His disciples to seek first the Kingdom of God, and its righteousness, and all these things (food, shelter, etc.) would be added unto us.

Fourth, pray God gives you discernment

This is a vital part of the Christian life. It means knowing when something is of God, and when it’s not.

Stories of looting and such in Haiti can make one worry about what would happen in event of a disaster here. However, that spirit of fear is actually ungodly. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (2 Tim. 1:7) When the Bible says to “fear God,” it means to hold Him in great reverence, to realize His awesome power and what He could do if He wanted, which helps us realize his great mercy by which He saved us even more. He doesn’t want to destroy us. He never takes joy in punishing, He loves us unconditionally. So, that term never means to be frightened.

First, note that God lives in us through His Holy Spirit , which is fully god just like God the Father and God the Son, Jesus Christ. This is the Spirit we can listen to so we can be guided through life. He doesn’t want us to be afraid and worry all the time about earthquakes, or any other disasters. He wants us to use His Spirit.

It’s a Spirit of peace that passes understanding, of goodness, of mercy. And, it’s one where people should look at us and see a difference. When someone sees a Christian, they should see Christ inside them, and say, “Wow, I wish I had that Spirit of peace.”

It’s wonderful to have that Spirit. But, the same Spirit that lives in us and gives us peace, and the ability to get through all the problems of life, is God. That means He is all-knowing. As such, He can tell us, in our hearts, what is right and what is wrong.

When the Bible says we should not be as little children, tossed to and fro with every doctrine, it’s talking mostly about sound Biblical doctrine. It’s saying, “Don’t just keep changing with whatever man teaches, follow the Bible, which is forever.” However, there is another application which can be made, too.

So often, we hear stories about massive supervolcanoes, or fault lines like New Madrid, or rumors about things like the San Francisco sea lions, and we start to worry. Those little worries become big ones, and eventually we get so anxious that we don’t know what to do. Then, just as that one crisis ends, the next one begins – maybe it’s the H1N1 virus, maybe it’s economic woes, maybe it’s something else.

God doesn’t want us to be tossed about like a little boat on a raging sea. He wants us to have a peace that passes understanding. He wants us to feel safe, so we can know what’s important, and what isn’t. He knows the future, so He can guide us as to what to watch out for, what to just keep track of but not be too concerned, and what we can ignore. God cares for your well-being. It’s not just eternal life in Heaven someday He promises us. It’s eternal life with Him starting the moment you trust Him as your Savior! Hallelujah!

So, when you hear stories about earthquake swarms, or whatever else the media brings up, trust in god to keep you, because He will. This world has a huge infection called sin, which has all of creation groaning and travailing. However, if you receive Him as Savior, you can have Him guiding you through it all; you only have to turn to Him and ask for that help, for He has promised, “I will never leave you, norm forsake you.”

Baseball great Yogi Berra’s “déjà vu all over again” quote will likely appear often, as Brett Favre threw another interception at the end of a conference championship game, just like in January of 2008. Will he retire, or not? And, if he retires, will he stay retired? Between him and Conan O’Brien, who list the battle with Jay Leno over the 11:30 time slot, future employment will be in celebrity news for weeks or even months.

Interesting that, in each case, they likely want to do something. It’s doubtful O’Brien will give up comedy, though he could with his severance package. As for Favre, pro athletes are so used to competition and cheering, it would be hard to imagine him spending his whole life golfing and fishing, even if we think we would with his millions.

The reason it’s hard to imagine is, we are born with a desire to do something. Even the first man, Adam, didn’t just sit around doing nothing. His job was to till the garden in Eden, to dress it and keep it nice. This was a much easier job before the Fall, of course.

When Adam and Even sinned, things changed. To use our present examples, a Brett Favre can’t play quarterback without 300-pound guys clobbering him. The old adage is that football is not just a contact sport, it’s a collision sport. Because sin came into the world, these collisions cause Favre to get banged up, and to age to the point where someday, he’ll realize his body can’t take it. Similarly, Conan O’Brien is in a job where jokes fall flat sometimes. Sometimes, communication fails, and there can easily be someone better who can take that job.

These are the “thorns and thistles” of their jobs, the problems of working that have existed since sin entered the world. Tilling the garden would have been easy for Adam. But, because sin was brought into the world, with his job came problems. And, the ground would produce thorns and thistles. (Genesis 3:18)

Every difficulty we encounter, no matter what our work, can be traced back to these thorns and thistles. Every task that seems fruitless, every attempt to get something done that fails, comes because of this. Favre’s interceptions, his many bruises and aches, come because this world is not the perfect place it was created to be. Conan’s struggles with his employer, as well as times when any comedian is “just dying out there,” are the consequences of sin having been brought into the world back at the dawn of time.

Of course, work has success, too. God promises that success will come in that verse, when He tells Adam he shall eat the herb of the field. What he is saying, though, is that that herb is going to be hard to come by, much harder than if sin were not present. And, in the same way, Favre and O’Brien have each tasted great success in their jobs. Favre is a surefire Hall of Famer who increased his prestige with an incredible season. Conan O’Brien is seen by many as a great comedian, even with his problems.

Some jobs bring more difficulties than others, of course. In some, it’s the location – a house in a poor market might not sell for months, even with the best seller. Ratings are dependent on the competition and “lead in” viewers. A quarterback can struggle mightily with no supporting cast. At times, it’s the nature of the job. Favre’s successor, Aaron Rodgers, saw an incredible playoff game go to waste because of defensive struggles. And, the best doctor can’t save every patient. Even in a field where that doctor would rarely ever see something bad, there will always be that one case that turns out to be an untreatable cancer. Thorns and thistles come up in every field.

And yet, when all is said and done, that agent can find someone to buy, if the price is low enough. The surgeon in the busiest emergency room, with the worst accidents, will be able to save some. A truly great quarterback can still get noticed by the Hall of Fame eventually, and a great comedian can get laughs from someone. The herb of the field will come. It will just be with a lot of effort, a lot of toil, and a lot of sweat.

That toil and sweat of the brow comes at us just as it came at Adam, and just as it comes for Favre and O’Brien – whatever they choose to do. However, the next verse, Genesis 3:19, points to what Favre and O’Brien must both consider. Eternal rewards are the only ones that will last, and they must start to earn these, instead of only Earthly ones. To get those, we must receive Christ’s forgiveness.

Consider Adam’s situation. He learns that he will have to work much harder to get any yield from the land. He will do this in sorrow his whole life, realizing what once was. Yes, he would be able to get the herb of the field eventually. But, even when he did, it would seem so fruitless at times. The toil and sweat of his brow would make labor so tiring. And, after all that labor, what would he get? A physical body that would grow old, decay, and die. Just as Brett Favre and Conan O’Brien – and all of us – have.

God knew this. He didn’t want any of us to be surprised. The fact that Adam would have to toil and sweat was an implied part of that warning back in Gen. 2:17 that he would surely die. This phrase, literally translated, says, “dying, you will die.” In other words, the process of death would begin right away, and would continue until, at long last, Adam returned to dust. Gen. 3:19, then, is telling Adam just how that would happen. Just as we will turn to dust someday and so will celebrities like Favre and O’Brien.

Of course, some work is more joyful than others. When Paul Harvey, the great radio commentator, passed away, there was a clip of him stating something to the effect that he’d never “worked” a day in his life. It was always so much fun. Just as Favre, when he looks at it, keeps coming back to the thrill of the game. (And, thus, keeps coming out of retirement.) And, just as O’Brien keeps looking at the thrill of doing stand-up comedy. Sure, it takes a lot of toil and sweat, as it did for Mr. Harvey. But, if you ask them, they’d probably echo his sentiments.

This is an element of God’s grace. It shows that God, in His perfect love, has created each of us with interests that, if we hone them, will grow into lifelong work that we’ll love. We’ll love it because God has matched us to that work. Paul Harvey still worked, of course. But, he had found that one specific thing which he could do that brought him pleasure. Just as Favre and O’Brien no doubt have.

This is not a sign of salvation per se; plenty of saved people toil in unhappy situations, and plenty of unsaved love their jobs. What it means is that God loves us, and it’s one of the ways He shows that love to us. There is always that reminder – through how we age – that our bodies are but dust. However, he provides us with grace, so we can have life, and have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)

However, Adam was still mortal, as we all are. He would return to the ground. Even if someone is the greatest ever at what they do, all the things they do in this life build treasures on earth. Ones that moth and rust can corrupt, and thieves can break forth and steal. (Matt. 6:19) That frail, physical body simply returns to the dust.

Yet, Adam could receive God’s forgiveness for his sin – that means forgiveness for falling short of God’s perfect glory. And, so can anyone. We must each accept that we’re sinners, in need of a Savior. Simply receive, by simple faith, God’s forgiveness, through what Jesus Christ, God in flesh, did on the cross. He was sinless, yet He became sin for us. He was the substitute, he took the punishment for our sins, when He died on the cross, and then he rose from the dead, just as we who receive Him will be raised someday. To as many as received Him, gave He the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name. (John 1:12) This means trusting Him by simple faith to forgive us for our sins.

Once a person trusts in Jesus Christ as their Savior, they are assured of a home in God’s perfect Heaven, where there is no pain, no suffering, no heartache. One can only get to heaven by receiving that forgiveness, because when we do, God makes us a new creature on the inside; He comes to live in us and guide us to becoming more like Him.

When a person has received Christ as their Savior, they can earn rewards in Heaven, by serving the Lord. A person can serve the Lord in a secular job, of course – you don’t have to be a missionary to serve Him. But, to build treasure in Heaven, a Christian must live with an eye toward doing things that glorify and honor Him and draw others to Him.

It is vital that we lay up treasures in Heaven, where they can’t decay, grow old, or be stolen. (Matt. 6:20) This applies just as much to us as it did to Adam. We, too, have physical bodies that will return to the ground. However, we also have that promised Redeemer, Jesus Christ. He longs for us to turn to Him. He longs for us to be born again, through what He did for us on the cross, dying and rising from the dead. And, then, He longs for us to build those treasures in heaven, so we don’t have to be empty-handed when we approach the throne of God. We can have crowns to lay at His feet. We can have wonderful, eternal blessings that go beyond this world, into eternal rewards.

These rewards are what Favre and O’Brien should seek. Favre can’t play quarterback as long as O’Brien can do comedy. Both must realize that – while God has been gracious in giving each something that fills them with joy, no matter what they do, if they seek only Earthly gain, it will all be wasted. They can’t last forever. But, if they receive Christ, they can live forever, and they can serve the Lord in whatever He provides for them, that will glorify and honor Him.

Have you noticed how much we hear about our hearts these days?  We’re frequently reminded we should reduce the stress in our lives, eat properly, exercise regularly and have yearly check ups.  Doctors believe if we do these things we will keep healthy.

Of course, if problems arise, we can choose to ignore their advice and risk the consequences, or we can make whatever changes are necessary for a healthy heart. It is really up to us to decide.

Our “spiritual hearts”—our relationship with God, need to be taken care of as well.  Some people have very healthy spiritual hearts, but for others, there is bad news.  Their “spiritual EKG” shows severe sin problems in desperate need of forgiveness.  There are only two options available to them:  They can ignore their condition, in which case they will “die in their sin,” or they can take the healing advice of “God, the Great Physician,” and get well.  It seems like an easy decision to make, but it’s amazing how many people make the wrong one.

The Physician has a “file” about all people with unhealthy hearts.  It is entitled, The Book of Romans. It’s a book in the Bible.  Contained within its pages is complete information about the patient, along with a diagnosis and recommended treatment.  It’s a very important file.  This is some of the information contained within it:

The Physician’s Diagnosis:

There is a condition known as sin.  It is defined as not measuring up to God’s standard of perfection in our thoughts, words, or deeds.  Sin entered the world because of one person’s behavior (Rom.5:12 NIV).  That was Adam.  Since then, all people have sinned (Rom.3:23 NIV).  Sin separates each person from a relationship with God, results in physical and spiritual death, and condemns each one to a place of eternal torment called Hell (Rom.6:23 NIV).  This is a world-wide epidemic, and is the most serious and deadly problem known to humankind today.

Treatment and Cure:

The treatment and cure for this problem is available from only one source—Jesus Christ, the Great Physician.  Although Jesus never sinned, He showed His great love for us by taking the punishment for our sins—a cruel and painful death.  It is the punishment we deserve (Rom.5:8, 17-18 NIV).  After three days, God raised Jesus from the dead. Verbally confessing Jesus is Lord, and believing in ones heart that God raised Jesus from the dead is the treatment for a sinful heart condition (Rom.10:9-10 NIV). Anyone who asks for the treatment will receive it (Rom.10:13 NIV). Then, no longer sick in your sins, you will be able to give yourself “whole heartedly” to God (Rom.6:16-18 NIV).  Nothing will ever be able to separate you from God’s love for you (Rom. 8:35-39 NIV).  This is truly good news!

With this treatment the patient will soon realize his heart has been cured.  By daily “feeding” on God’s Word, the Bible, and “exercising” one’s prayer life, a good check up with the Physician is guaranteed.  This treatment will also result in a less stressful life because cares can be given to God, and it will cause one’s heart to beat in time with His.

A bright future is promised the patient who makes these changes.  When that person dies, a home in Heaven, with God forever, is guaranteed (Rom.3:23 NIV).  After Jesus arose from the dead, He went to heaven to prepare that home.  In fact He’s working on it right now.

Imagine being able to live with the Physician forever in a place prepared especially for you.  With Him, there will be no more tears, no more aches and pains, no more sin-sick hearts.

The Physician has never had a malpractice suit filed against Him, nor even a complaint from any of His patients.  He has a great bedside manor, and even makes house calls. With His “health plan,” there’s no waiting to see the Physician, no paper work to fill out, and no co-payments.  Best of all, anyone can afford it—because it’s free for the asking.

Avatar is a blockbuster movie about a fabulous utopia. One might wonder, is it possible that there could be an even better place?

Not only is there a wonderful place of perfect peace, with no suffering, but you can have your ticket punched to go there someday.

The Bible promises that in Heaven, there will be no pain, no suffering, no tears, no heartache, no sorrow. Imagine, a world where you won’t have to suffer anymore.

Avatar sounds like a cool movie, but it’s over after a while. Heaven, however, is forever! And, it’s the most beautiful and fabulous place you can imagine! Nobody has seen, heard, or even imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love Him. He wants you to be ther esomeday.

In this world, we have problems, though. Life is short, and full of trouble. Why? Because of sin.

God made this world perfect, but He gave people free will. People chose to sin. Becuase of that sin, death was brought into the world. Things are so corrupt here. they decay, they grow old, they get ruined. Pople, animals, even the planet itself has problems.

The problem is, we all have sin in us, too. but, God made a way for us to get rid of the sin. he came to this world to suffer and die on the cross for your sin, for mine, for everyone’s. Then, He rose fromt he dead.

he rescues us from 3 potent p’s when we receive Him by simple faith, believing that He took the punishment for our sins when He died on the cross, and then he rose from the dead, conquering that great spiritual death that haunts us. What are those 3 potent p’s He saves us from when we receive Him?:

1. He saves us from the penalty of sin. Because of our sin, we can’t get to heaven. Heaven would cease being perfect if *any* sin were allowed in it. Just thikn – if anyone could be mean to someone, or hurt them, or anything bad, it would stop being perfect. Remember, Pandora had problems because of the threat. But, Heaven will have no problems.

The penalty for sin is separation from god’s love and goodness forever, in a place of outer darkness, with wailing and gnashing of teeth. it’s full of all the people who rejected God’s perfect love over the years, and all those who received his perfect justice becuase of their sins.

You don’t have to go there, though. You can be saved from the penalty of sin by trusting in Jesus Christ to forgive you right now.

2. He rescues us fromt he power of sin. We all have sin natures. But, when Jesus saves you, he comes to live in you through the Holy Spirit. then, He can guide you to do what’s right, to live a Godly life where you keep away from sin.

You won’t always succeed, becuase of that fleshly nature. that’s why this world still isn’t perfect. We should be making it better. Christians should be known by their love. However, we are not here to save the world from sinners. We are here to save sinners from a lost and dying world.

And, the benefit is that you will still be in this world, so you can make this world better while you are here. But, you will be doing it to glorify God. And, if you mess up and you do sin, then we have the promise that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

That’s Jesus saving us from the power of sin – the closer we stay to Him through prayer, Bible reading, etc., the further we’ll be from sinning. We will be as protected from the power of sin as we want to be on this world, until we go to the next. There is where…

3. We will be rescued from the presence of sin.

that is the promsie of Heaven. That one day, we will be rescued fromt he very presence of sin! No more suffering, no more pain, no more heartach,e no more death, no more of any of that bad stuff. You will have eternal life, that will never end! That is so amazing!

Pandora is a wonderful, fictional world. But, it’s nothing compared to the wonders that await us in heaven. Are you going? If you have ever chosen to let Jesus Christ forigve you for your sins, you can receive Him right now, by simple faith.

And, one day, you can go to that real life Heaven, which is more incredible and amazing than the most imaginative person could invent!

“And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that ye are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” Matthew 24:6

Over the years we have seen many wars among the nations of the earth. Wars have been fought over lands, natural resources and even politics. However, more wars have been waged because of religion than any other subject in the world. It has been said that the two subjects that people can never agree upon are religion and politics.

Which religion is correct? Where do we worship? Better yet, whom do we worship? One could make an argument for any religion, and all points of views will seem to be the correct one. The reason is because all religions have some truth, and all religions (including Christianity) have controversial elements to them.

The fact is, the only way to determine which religion is correct is to put the God of that religion to a test. Challenge God, you say? The idea of challenging God might seem a bit sacrilegious, but it is a practice that has been used throughout the generations of men. The most prominent case is that of the prophet Elijah in 1 Kings 18:17-40.

King Ahab had allowed the nation of Israel, God’s people, to go down a path of worship to the god Baal, and other gods. Elijah’s solution was to challenge these false gods to a duel, of sorts. Both sides were to build an altar of worship and make a sacrifice to them. The god that responded to the sacrifice by consuming the sacrifice by fire would be the god that all agreed to serve. The challenge was accepted and the rest is history. The false prophets were eliminated and their altars were torn down. The people then bowed down to worship the True and Living God.

But, what about today? What type of challenge can we issue to the world that would prove that Jesus Christ is the way? Animal sacrifices have been done away with, so that is not an option. I have come up with (I believe) a suitable challenge to issue to the religions of the world, and so I present it here. I challenge you to watch this short video and ask yourself, “Can my God do this?”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpJu7Tlhz-Y

The video you just saw is just ONE of the things our God, Jesus Christ, can do. Here are some other points to ask yourself about your god.

Can your god manifest himself in human form by way of a virgin birth? Ours did. (Mt. 1:18-25)

Can your god present himself as a perfect sacrifice to take away the sin of the entire world? Ours did. (John 1:29)

Can your gods give his life on the cross, be buried, and raise himself up after 3 days in a sealed tomb? Ours did. (Mt. 27:33-28:7)

Finally, will your god return one day to judge the world of sin? Ours will. (Rev. 20:11-15)

The big question is, where will you stand on that day? Will you be still clinging to a religion that has no power to save, or will you have received the God who is able to forgive all sin and make one righteous? The choice is yours. Choose wisely; we only get one shot at this.

“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27)

Jonathan E. Rudd

jonathanrudd@hotmail.com

http://tubsgroup.com

http://integrityptr.com

Miley Cyrus has been a superstar, and a great influence on perhaps millions of girls through her hit show, “Hannah Montana.” It was recently announced that her show will end production, allowing her to go on to other things.

So, what should she do, and what will she do? That is the question a lot of girls – and their parents – will ask themselves. Perhaps Ms. Cyrus, too, is asking herself this. It’s my prayer

First, while the performer is not the character, that line is blended to a certain extent even in normal situations. Even an actor who is very well known for two roles – Andy Griffith as Sheriff Andy Taylor and Ben Matlock, for instance – finds most fans associating him with one or the other most of the time.

That line is blurred to a much greater extent with Miley Cyrus, because Hannah Montana was produced to be very similar to her career. Not only that, but viewers’ ages means they will connect Miley to Hannah a lot more.

So, what should Miley Cyrus do? What will she do? Let’s look at a few things with regard to entertainment in today’s culture. Because, she has a choice to make, and should consider that she may be here for such a time as this.

What time is it? It is a time when many connect adult entertainment with vulgarity. There is little good, wholesome entertainment.

Viewers of TV and film, and readers of books, are drawn by conflict, of course. That’s not always a bad thing. The four main types – Man versus man, man versus nature, man versus himself, and man versus God – can be done in a very wholesome way. Consider the story of the Prodigal Son, for instance. The “man versus man” part is found in the actions and words of several people. “Man versus nature” is when the Prodigal struggles trying to live and eat with the pigs. (One could also include the struggle with sin nature.) “Man versus himself” is his inner struggle and decision to finally return to his father. His open rebellion, of course, is just like us, with our sin nature, rebelling against God.

I’ve never seen Hannah Montana, but I would guess that, unlike most entertainment, it is probably much closer to the model shown in Philippians 4:8 – “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” This is a good list to consider when focusing on anything, of course.

So, the general answer is that Miley Cyrus should focus on things in the above verse. There are certainly plenty of good parts in movies, TV series, and what have you that focus on these things. Obviously, not all characters in every story will have excellent morals. However, the key is that entertainment should focus on the fact there is an absolute right and wrong that has existed since the foundation of the world. (Whatever things are true.) There doesn’t have to be a big moral lesson hanging over every episode or every movie. Some things are just fun, or silly, or meant to project simple things. But, ideas such as people being more important than things, compassion and kindness being important, and so on should be apparent.

Take love, for instance. This is something that will likely be a big part of some of Miley Cyrus’ roles.

True love is unconditional. It is very deep. People who are truly in love give of themselves for the one they love. They accept that it means sacrifice. They give the other person input in decisions. Obviously, in parent-child situations, the relationship is different. But, the parent still considers the child’s best interests with things, not the parents’. In the same way, those who love each other are always thinking of the one they love. True love is forever. True love is God’s love.

The world’s system, however, is different. The world’s system is full of vulgar things, and the lusts of the flesh. The world’s system says to love selfishly, so that you are only trying to please your flesh. The world’s system is all about getting whatever you can take, and not caring about the other person. The world’s system is about tearing others down, not building others up like God’s system. The world’s system says love is fleeting, that it can’t last forever. But, true love is forever.

There are many things one can do, many parts one can play, while keeping true to this ideal. Story arcs can find people growing from a physical, selfish love into a wonderful, dynamic love where the couple cares for each other and always puts the other first. Individual stories can show a young couple that feels true love, but one or both are tempted to be selfish. In the end, they accept that they were wrong and recommit to each other and to that ideal of unconditional love. Those in a relationship where they are selfish toward each other can find justice prevailing, as they lose because of their selfishness. (Whatsoever things are just.) Or, the couple that feels true love can just be in a situation that doesn’t threaten that love, but instead finds them together as they experience some life event. They could be mourning a loss, celebrating something, or just something silly like getting lost on a trip. I could name quite a few other plots, where this couple is either a major or minor part of them.

Love is only one example of the things Miley Cyrus will face in her future roles. She will face many choices. She should make the decision now to commit to Philippians 4:8 as a means of testing what should be done. This means no vulgarity, true love, building others up, and many other good thigns that she can be part of in her future rules.

So, what will Miley do? A good way to judge any life choice is the “Four C’s”: 1. Consider the choice; 2. Compare it to God’s Word; 3. Commit to following Godly principles; 4. Count on God’s protection and provision.

Whether she follows this pattern is up to her. She has professed Christ as her Savior. What having Christ as Savior means is, you accept that you’re a sinner,a nd fall short of God’s perfect glory. You can’t save yourself and thus can’t get to that perfect heaven, where there is no suffering, no sorrow, no pain, because of that sin. But, Jesus Christ, God in flesh, took the punishment for your sins, just as He did for all of us, when He died on the cross, the just for the unjust. Then, He rose bodily from the dead. The only way to heaven is to receive what Christ did on the cross as having taken all the punishment for your sins.

From what I’ve heard, her testimony seems genuine. But, like everyone, she will face temptation. She will face temptation to follow the world’s system in the roles that she chooses. She will face temptation to choose lots of money over roles that may pay less, but which will keep her reputation intact.

Because she is human, therefore, her fans should focus on the One who was perfect, Jesus Christ. He was the sinless substitute for our sins. His perfect life is one we should all pattern ourselves after.

However, we should also pray for Miley Cyrus. Prayer does work wonders. The temptations she faces will be huge, and she will need the Holy Spirit inside her to guide her toward things that fit that Philippians 4:8 profile. She will need prayer to have her eyes constantly opened to the fact that she can play adult roles while still holding fast to the absolute right and wrong which she professes. She can be a great adult performer with no swearing, violence, really sensual scenes, etc.. She can have great success this way.

She will be sorely tempted, because the devil would like nothing more than to steal her reputation and tarnish her image. That could lead a lot of fans to follow after things of the ungodly world’s system, instead of after things of God.

However, hopefully, Miley Cyrus will continue to be a great example of Jesus Christ for others. As Paul Harvey used to say, “If that’s not the way to bet, that’s the way to pray.” Pray that she be encouraged to follow the Lord with everything, and not be tempted by what the world says “adult” means when it comes to entertainment. Who knows – maybe she’ll even find this blog somehow, and be encouraged. If God wills it, he can do it.

However, while Miley Cyrus is very popular, the one to truly pattern yourself after is Jesus Christ. He can help us through anything. There is no temptation which He can’t overcome, if you have his Holy Spirit in you, and He will provide a way out each time, so we don’t have to fall for sin.

This, as above, is something everyone can count on who receives Jesus and lets Him make them new creatures on the inside. And yet, when we mess up, thankfully he is just and faithful to forgive us of our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The idea of fairness comes from when we’re really little. As our minds grow, “fair” means different things.  To a toddler, it means they get their own way.  To an elementary school child, it often means everyone is treated the same. As we get older, we develop a sense of right and wrong that helps us define fairness.

When people say “life isn’t fair,” why kind of fairness are they talking about?  And, is there a solution; a way to make life fair?  In fact, what is fair?

First, since “fairness” means different things to different people, those who say “It’s not “fair” can mean different things, too.

One kind of “It’s not fair” complaint is because someone did something wrong; let’s say that they cheated you out of some money.  That’s true – it isn’t fair.  Cheating is wrong.  However, we also see that justice will be served. The Bible promises that the wicked will be tormented day and night, forever and ever.  It also promises a place, called heaven, where there will be no pain, no suffering, no sin at all.

“Okay, great,” you might say. “But, what about fairness here?”  Well, it’s true, those who do wrong should not do wrong.  The point is that there will be consequences.  People will, at the least, lose blessings and rewards in Heaven for their mistreatment of others.  They may face eternal punishment, though.  Which one will happen will depend on something we’ll get to a bit later.

Thus, we see that it’s wrong to just mistreat someone and say, “Well, life isn’t fair.”  It’s like the toddler example, where a child takes another child’s toy and says, “So? Life isn’t fair.”  That child must be taught right from wrong, so they don’t just go around taking other peoples’ things, right?  Of course.  We can’t just excuse our behavior by saying “Life isn’t fair” if we have a chance to behave in a way that will treat others with the kindness, compassion, and so on that they need.  This is where the Golden Rule comes from – “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  It’s wrong to blindly act without concern for others and just say “Life’s not fair,” in the same way that you would feel it wrong for someone else to mistreat you and say “So?  Life’s not fair.”

We see, then, that we have a duty to act fairly.  Also, we can be satisfied that those who are unfair in their stealing, lying, mistreatment, etc., will not prosper forever.  However, that doesn’t answer the whole question of fairness. Because, there is another definition of fairness that people often use when they say “It’s not fair!”

This definition of fairness says, “It’s not fair because things aren’t going the way they were planned.”  This is the definition used when someone, for example, eagerly awaits a very special vacation, then suffers all week with the flu. It means that things were “supposed” to go a certain way because that’s what seemed best.

I had a grandfather like that.  He volunteered for World War Two, and served in Lubbock, texas.  He spent around a year preparing; he loved the idea of flying, and was so anxious to fly for his country in the U.S.Army Air Corps. He’s spent so much time training and flying, and then, after all that work, 2 weeks before his flight group’s first flight, he came down with a very painful disease called pleurisy.  He was grounded, and never allowed to fly.  All that time had been wasted!

He was really sad and frustrated for all of two weeks.  Then, his crew took off on their first test flight in New Mexico.  The plane suffered a malfunction and crashed.  There were no survivors.

He lived over 54 years longer because of what he thought at the time was “rotten luck,” but what turned out to be the grace of God.

“Okay, wait,” you say.  “That’s an obvious one.”  But, some people died then, too?  What about why some people get a longer life and others don’t?  That’s not fair, is it?”

It’s not right that some people live longer than others, it’s true.  But, God didn’t mean it to be that way.  He made this world perfect, so everyone could live perfect lives.  However, they had what was known as “untested creature holiness.”  That’s a fancy term that means they had free will; they had the choice to do right or to do wrong.  It’s the choice God gives each of us.  And, man chose to do wrong.  This plunged for world into sin, because suddenly, the world wasn’t perfect.

That’s why we have all the natural disasters too, as well as all big problems – like why not everyone lives the same amount of time – all the way down to the smallest – like why that traffic light you hate so much always takes so long to turn green.  It’s because man brought sin into the world.  The world, in a sense, became broken.

I know, you’re probably thinking, “Well, God should have made them so they had to obey.”  But, then He couldn’t have given you free choice, either.  Just thinking, you wouldn’t be able to choose anything.  You also would have no choice but to follow the rules, or you’d be destroyed.  That wouldn’t be nice, would it?  Isn’t freedom much better?

Yes, freedom is great!  That’s why God gives us the freedom to choose.  He gives us the freedom to make decisions.  However, while you can certainly decide which restaurant to eat at this weekend, and it won’t hurt anyone, there are other choices you might make that can hurt others.  For instance, you might decide to get angry at some waitress in that restaurant, even though she’s only distracted because a loved one was just in a horrible accident and they’re worried about them.

You would expect people to understand if you were in that situation, right?  In fact, I dare say you would probably consider it mean for someone to get extra angry at a waitress if she was suffering like that.  Of course.  That’s a small thing compared to some sins, of course.  But, it’s still sin.  And, it causes us to fall short of the glory of God.  We all get that way sometimes.  But, we only do because we’ve got sin natures.

In fact, because of that sin, those things we do that “just aren’t fair,” we deserve that punishment, just like those who aren’t fair to us.

Thankfully, God made a way for us to get to Heaven, anyway.  See, He came to this world, in the person of Jesus Christ – Jesus was 100% God and 100% man.  He took the punishment for all the world’s unfairness.  He suffered a horrible death on the cross for our sins, and then he rose bodily from the dead.  He did that because we can’t save ourselves.  We have sin natures, and we can’t get to that perfect Heaven.  We would each face eternal punishment, separated from the love of God, if it wasn’t for God’s perfect love in taking our sins upon Himself.  We each have a sin nature, we can’t save ourselves.

God made it very easy, too.  You see, He made it so that we are saved by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God.  Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9)  Think how fair that is.  People who are richer don’t have an advantage in giving over poor ones.  People who are handicapped don’t have a disadvantage over those who can do more physically.  Isn’t that a wonderful and fair way to get everyone saved who wants to be saved from that eternal torment?

All a person has to do to be saved is to “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” (Acts 16:31) That means to put one’s whole trust in Jesus Christ’s finished work on the cross, to receive what He did as taking the whole punishment for your sins.  He was sinless, yet He became sin for us.

Once we trust Him to save us, He saves us from all our sins, past, present, and future.  A person who rebelled and didn’t come to Christ till he or she was, say, 50, will have lost many chances to earn blessings and rewards, which they would have had if they’d been saved at age 20, for instance.  However, they will still be saved. (And, we don’t know when we’ll die, so it’s better to get saved now, for now is the day of salvation.)

When we get saved, God comes to live inside of every believer through the Holy Spirit, and He works in us to help us to be more like Him in hwo we treat others, what we do, and so on.  It’s a free choice.  And, we can choose to follow our own path afterward.  But, guess what?  While we still get to Heaven, we lose blessings and rewards.  I could have chosen to play a game like Strat-O-Matic baseball instead of writing this blog, for instance, but I’d have lost the blessing of someone being encouraged by it, or even of someone trusting Christ to save them through it.  I chose to write this blog of my own will, because I want to glorify God and make Him known.

So, will life only be fair when we get to heaven?  Yes, because we live in a sinful world.  But, there is forgiveness for that sin.  And, wonderfully, one day Jesus will come again, and there will be a reign of Christ where fairness will be the norm.  He will “rule the nations with a rod of iron.”  His perfect love and compassion will be matched by his perfect justice.  And still, there will be those who rebel in their hearts because of that sin nature.  We can never create a perfect world here on this earth.  However, we can trust God to one day make a “new Heaven and a new earth.” (Rev. 21:1)  Then, fairness will be the norm again, just as it was meant to be in the beginning.  And, those who dwell there will be either those who died before they were old enough to choose (these go to heaven because it’s Christ alone saving us, not any of our works), or those who made a conscious choice to receive what Jesus Christ did for them as taking the whole punishment for their sins, when he died on the cross for them and rose from the dead.

How to Save Our Country – Taking America Back

No matter where you are on the political spectrum, you know this country has problems.  Violence, unemployment, poverty, and many other things are causing many to wonder what’s wrong, and how our country can be saved.

Before I answer that, let me ask a question.  Could imperfect man ever build a perfect system?  No, not totally perfect.

The Bible tells us that “If my people, which are called by My name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, and I will forgive their sin, and I will heal their land.” (2 Chron. 7:14)  Now, this promise was for Israel specifically – America is not called by God’s name.

We are, however, very blessed, and we have had great Revivals in the past. The question is, how do we have them again? We can find things in that verse, and apply them to us, because God is rich in His mercy. We are not a chosen nation. Still, those in our country who have put their trust in Jesus Christ as personal Savior can rest on one important thing. God is unchanging. And, He has blessed us despite our sins before this.

That unchanging nature, and his gifts before this, show why we know He can come to help now; it’s not the verse that tells us that.  The verse simply guides us toward how we must be to cause Him to hear.

My people

In this case, we apply it to mean Christians.  We must take back America the only way possible; on our knees.  Only God can fix what’s wrong.  Only His people, who have the indwelling Holy Spirit, can have their prayers heard to do that. Christians are called by his name, so we can pray for this land.

Humble ourselves and pray

We must never go to God insisting on our rights. We are to go boldly before the throne of grace (Heb. 4:16), but we must also be humble, asking in faith but trusting in God’s perfect will to be done. Remember that God will always resist the proud, and give grace to the humble. We must accept we don’t have all the answers. Imperfect man can never build the perfect system.

When we humble ourselves, we must do like in Daniel chapter 9.  We must accept that we have sinned as a nation – but not just in the last few years.  We sinned as a nation for 200+ years.  See, here is the difference between the liberals and Godly people. Liberals want to keep bringing up the past.  God wants to forgive us, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  But, in order for God to forgive us, we must *want* Him to forgive us.  That means accepting that we sinned greatly against Him in our treatment of others, our culture was one that often only spoke of Godliness on the outside, though inside our hearts were wicked.  We were selfish in some of the things we sought.  Yes, of course, we sent missionaries to the ends of the earth.  But, we twisted doctrine selfishly to support our own views.  The “curse of Ham,” for instance, was a lie straight from the pits of Hell.  Canaan was the one cursed, he was a part of Ham’s line, and his line got wiped out when the Israelites took the land.  Canaanites had drifted into horrible idolatry, even practicing child sacrifices!  They were judged by God, and that was the end of that curse.

Imagine if Bible believing Christians, 150 years ago, had insisted on Godly behavior toward other races.  We sinned against God, but He wants to wash our sins away.  He wants us to humble ourselves and pray, asking forgiveness for the sinful, selfish attitudes.  He doesn’t want it to be held against us. He wants to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)  In that and other areas, we need to humble ourselves, and admit we are *not* the perfect nation, and never have been.  We’re a *great* nation, but greatness is not perfection.

Seek His face

Next, God says to seek His face.  That means seek who He is – *not* who we think He is – with His Word.  Instead of all the modern Bibles, we can go back to the original King James Version and ignore all the liberal scholars who try to change it so often while removing thousands and thousands of words.  But, we must remember something else.

Seeking His face means that we seek Him for who He is.  He is all-present, but there is a difference between His being everywhere and His being everything.  His being everywhere is just the attribute of omnipresence.  His being everything is a false doctrine that we must get rid of.  We need His Spirit to cleanse us and get false doctrine out, but He can do it.  Only if we seek His face, though.  He is not a pantheistic deity.  He is the Triune God, Who shows Himself in three persons – Father, Son, and Spirit.  He can be talked to directly through prayer.  He lives in each believer through the Spirit.  We should *never* mistake other religions for Christianity.  Christianity really isn’t a religion like others, because all religions are about man trying to reach up and please god.  However, true Christianity is about God reaching down to us, sinful people for whom He died for our sins and rose bodily from the dea! Hallelujah!

Turn from our wicked ways

We must put God at the center of our hearts, as individuals, and as a nation.  We must repent, and let Him change us on the inside, and then seek for Him to do the same to others, and for others, in this land.

What do we repent of?  We need to ask the Lord to touch our hearts, and show us *every* problem area, and we must commit to changing that to conform to His will, which is perfect.  We must also seek Him for every area of our nation’s sins, and cry out for His forgiveness there.

Now, He won’t tell us to give up everything; each person is called to do something different, and someone whose ministry is on the Internet will surely be called to stay in it – but they should still dedicate that computer or whatever to the Lord.  Others, who use the Internet for sinful purposes, will feel called to give it up.  But, remember, God will give them something far more satisfying in the long run.

See, this is all about accepting that He is sovereign, and knows what’s beat for each of us.  He wants us to follow Him, but He doesn’t want us to be mindless robots.  He wants us to have free choice.

But, He’s also telling us that by refusing to turn from our wicked ways, we sacrifice blessings and rewards.

Part of those wicked ways is in our attitude.  It’s not just an attitude that we put other things ahead of God, it’s that we selfishly put ourselves before anything.  We must remember the old Sunday School acrostic – true joy is in this order – Jesus, Others, You. We must act that out in our lives, and show others who Jesus is in our actions.

And, if we do all this, praying without ceasing – alays being in an attitude of prayer – we can call upon the Lord, in faith, and expect Him to:

1. Hear from heaven.  He gives grace to the humble.  He’ll hear that prayer, because the person is praying from an attitude of true need.

2. Forgive their sin.  If we confess our sin, He is just and faithful to forgive us of our sin, and cleanse uf from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)  When he forgives, He remembers it *no more*

3. Heal their land: And, this one is really special.

See, the Holy Spirit was not free to roam in Old Testament times because the curse of sin hadn’t been broken.  But, when Jesus died on the cross, the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom, and the Glory of God was free to spread around the world. (Matt. 27:51)  What this means is, He is freer today than He was.

We need to pray not just for our land to be healed, but for a great repentance revival to break out.  We must pray for hearts to be changed.  We can pray for so much more now, and He will give us, as in the past.

See, the Great Awakenings that came in the past, all the great repentance revivals, came about *despite* our nation’s sins.  God is unchanging.  We should never go to God and insist on something.  But, we can certainly humbly note that as we speak to God about our sins, and the sins of the nation as a whole.

And, above all, pray without ceasing for that repentance revival.  Pray without ceasing for the unsaved to get saved, and pray with specifics about each situation you can think of.  But, let it begin with us.

WHAT’S YOUR ANSWER TO THE CHRISTMAS EVE QUESTION?

How quickly Christmas has come and gone.  Decorations are once again hibernating on their shelf in the garage.  Two potted poinsettias, like silent sentinels, still “stand guard” by the front door, the only visible reminder Christmas has ever been here.

Swirling in my head is one last reminder of Christmas and I cannot put it away just yet. It is the question the pastor asked at the church service on Christmas Eve.  Whatever else he said that evening is now forgotten, but the question lingers.  It is not for me alone.  Humankind has always wrestled with it and now I ask it of you even as I ask it of myself.

“How close do you want to come to the manger?”

Look past the shepherds and the sheep, past the wood and the straw.  Do you really see the baby in the manger?  He is no ordinary child. He is God, deliberately inhabiting a human body.  He will live about thirty-three years, and will face temptation, rejection, persecution, and death.  Because He is God in heaven before coming to earth, He knows how difficult His life on earth will be.  He also knows the sinless life He will live makes Him the only One qualified to pay the penalty for the sins of all people.  To do that, He will have to die an agonizing death on a cross, but because He loves us so much, He will do so – willingly.  He did not come into the world to condemn it, but to give us an opportunity for a relationship with Him. And so I ask.

“How close do you want to come to the manger?”

Do you want to come close enough for a quick glimpse of the baby and acknowledge He was really born?

Do you want to come close enough to see the baby and believe He is God, but continue to ignore Him and any influence He might have on your life?

Or do you want to come so close you can embrace Him, ask Him to forgive your sins and take Him into your heart?  This is what He would like you to do!  This is why He came to earth, for a relationship with you.

Right now He lovingly whispers in your ear, “What is your answer to the Christmas Eve question?  How close do you want to come to the manger?”

Reprint: This article has appeared in the Church of God Evangel Magazine, December 2005 and in Purpose Magazine (date in the future)

He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

-John 1:8-13

John the Baptist was not the Light. He was not the Messiah and never claimed to be so, but he came into the world to testify concerning the Light who was coming. The true light was not John the Baptist but was Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. And coming into the world the true Light is said to enlighten every man. The meaning of this particular statement is hard to determine. There are many good commentators who have written learned things about this statement. The one which seems most within the context of the passage is this: Verse 4 of John 1 reads: In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. Perhaps it can be concluded through this statement that enlightens every man is equivalent to gives life to all men. He is the one who sustains life for all men, who upholds life for all men, and who provides life for all men. This interpretation seems to be most well aligned with the next verse. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. Without Christ nothing that is made would be made, the entire world was made through Him. Yet, when He came to His own (the world), not even His own Jewish people received Him.

To those who receive Him and believe in His name, the right is given to them to become children of God. Ponder the depth of that statement: children of God. Even though man rebels against the One who sustains him, he is still able to be given the right to be a child of the most high God. The way in which a man is born and becomes a child of God is this: not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. The point here is that man does not become a child of God because he is a descendant of some special man, because he wills it, or because another man should will it. A man is saved because God wills it.
 

We live in a world which is filled with people who do not know Him. The world we live in abhors God so much that they would rather believe they are descendants of apes than give glory to their Creator. Even more amazing is this: that men blaspheme the very One who sustains them. Just as John starts his gospel by describing the Light who sustains creation, just as Paul opens his gospel proclamation to the men of Athens (Acts 17:25) with an account of creation, so believers would be wise to include creation in their proclamation of the gospel. And if it sounds absurd to it’s audience then it would be good to remember 1 Corinthians 1:18:

Verse 8- John reassures his readers that John the Baptist merely prepared the way.

Verse 9- “enlightens every man” — This is an interesting phrase that is sort of difficult to interpret. The “every man” is likely emphasizing that Christ came not just for the Jew, but also for the Gentile.

Verse 10- John re-emphasizes verse 3. He adds to verse three in saying that even though Christ sustains everything, the world did not recognize Him.

Verse 11- The first “own” refers to the whole world, the second “own” refers to the Jews (this is a bit more clear in the ESV translation).

Priceless Eternity Message Board Link

How to succeed in tough economic times – the right kind of treasure

Are we in a recession? A depression? Have you or someone you know faced hard times? You can still succeed, no matter what the economy does.

Let’s look at your worldview.  How do you see the world? I’m not talking about being a Pollyanna, ignoring every possible problem. But, I am talking about figuring out what things are important.

See, we live in a society where there is so much advertising, we tend to look at it and say, “Oh, if I have this latest gadget I’ll feel better.” Or, we think that, “I need a bigger home, bigger car, bigger everything.”  In other words, our worldview is partly shaped by that desire for the newest and best of everything.

But, who told you that newest was best?  Who told you that biggest was best?  Chances are, it was probably a combination of advertising and your friends, many of whom have a lot of that stuff. Or, had it, till the recession, depression, or whatever this is.

The way to succeed in these times is to change worldviews.

It’s really a sweet decision.  All those advertisers have been telling you that you have to have the latest gadget, and that only the newest things are the best, and so on.  You can tell them to forget about their things, which don’t last, which can be broken, lost, or stolen,and which grow old.  And, you can gain rewards that will never grow old, never wear out, never get stolen, and never lose value.

I’m not talking about gold, silver, or anything else here on earth, either.  I’m talking about building Heavenly rewards.  Because, only there can we really have satisfaction.

How do we get these rewards that are free from crashes, free from aging and inflation?  You might have even heard Matthew 6:20, “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.” But, you wonder how to do that.  Here are several basic principles, to help you build those treasures.

1. Have a home up in Heaven.

Think about it.  If you wanted to invest in the stock market, what would you do?  Pick out the right stocks?  Plan your investment strategy?  No, of course not.  You’d open an account.

In the same way, you need to open an account in heaven.  To do that, you need to receive His forgiveness for our sins.

Think of Heaven as a delicious human food, and sins as dog food.  Most people would never eat dog food if they had a choice, especially if it was between that and a delicious meal of whatever your favorite food is.  You’ve got that food all ready to be served, but there’s a problem.  Someone threw dog food into it.  You couldn’t touch that yucky stuff, right?  You’d throw it out in a hurry.

In the same way, anything we bring to the table in Heaven needs to be cleansed.  We need our lives cleansed from sin.  The only way to do that is to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior.  You need to “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” (Acts 16:30) It was “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)  So, you can’t do anything to get those sins cleansed yourself. You need to let Jesus do it for you.  And, you can’t add anything to it, because Jesus Christ saved you by dying on the cross, and rising from the dead, before you ever knew Him.  He had you on His mind when He went to the cross.

So, you need to receive what He did, by simple faith, as taking the whole punishment for your sins.  He shed His blood once, for all; the just for the unjust.  That’s how you have your sins cleansed. Once you’ve received Him as your Savior, you can start earning those rewards in heaven.  Because, you have an account up there.

And, that account can never be taken away.  You are sealed unto the day of redemption, with the Holy Spirit. (Eph. 4:30, 1:14).  That seal can’t be broken.  Nothing can separate you from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. (Rom. 8:38-39)

2. Put Jesus Christ first in your life, and serve Him.

Remember that dog food example, where we compared sin to it?  Your account is secure in Heaven.  That means you can build treasures there, like a chef makes a great meal.  However, sometimes, the “great meal” you build in Heaven have a little “dog food” in it yet.  Obviously, it’s no good then.  How does this happen? It happens when we don’t build in the right way; when we put something else ahead of Jesus.

The things we build here on earth won’t matter in Heaven.  There’s a famous joke that a very rich man, who had trusted Christ as his Savior, asked to bring something with him when he got to heaven.  He was told he could bring one bag, and so when he died, he had that bag stuffed, ready to take it with him.  When he got to the Pearly Gates, St. Peter checked the records, and said, “Okay, I see you were allowed to bring one bag, but I have to check inside.” He opened it, and said, in a shocked voice, “Of all the things you could bring, why would you bring pavement?!” the rich man had brought gold, but gold is useless as pavement up there; it’s what they pave the streets with in heaven!

First Corinthians 3:11-15 tells us the things we do will be tested, to see if they were really for Jesus, or for ourselves.  If you want to gain rewards that will last forever, your goal in life must be to be Christlike, and to glorify God in all you do.  That doesn’t mean that you totally ignore wealth.  If God has gifted you with the ability to make money as a good, honest businessman, you should.  But, what it means is that you use whatever wealth, talent, or time you have to help others, instead of always trying to please yourself.  And, that in helping others, your eye should not be on making yourself look good by doing so.  It should be on showing the love of Christ in helping others.

The beautiful thing is, these are treasures we can earn at any time.  Some people do better with little than they would with a lot.  You are where you are in life, because God has placed you there, or God has allowed you to be there through your choices, so that you can show Godly love, goodness, and so on to others.

These are things we can do no matter what the economy does.  The poorest person on earth could have untold riches in Heaven; but, so could a very rich person. The key is simple. Build your treasures in Heaven. This requires you to put them on the foundation of Jesus Christ, first of all, and to seek, in your heart, to glorify Him by showing others Who He is. Because, we are not here to save the world, though we should try to make the world better where we can.  We are here to save sinners from a lost and dying world.  This world of things will one day vanish. But, the rewards we build in Heaven will last forever.