"He who testifies about these things...."
Do you know the "He" that brings us His testimony? Jesus, Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Lord. Do you know Him?
For He is coming, and it will be soon. Whether I am here to see Him come in majestic glory to the earth or not, He is coming for me, and for everyone now living, soon. Our lives are just a vapor, and then....He is coming.
In praying for those I love who do not yet acknowledge Jesus as their Lord and Savior, I often repeat Jesus' prayer as relayed in John 14:24, “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world." I want all those that God has given me in this life to love the most dearly to be with me, and to see the glory of Jesus, bestowed upon Him by His Father. I cannot even imagine what that is going to be like, but I want to be there and I want all who I love to be there.
But, in writing this, I realize that I have been commanded to love everyone, as God has loved me. EVERYONE! Not only those that it comes naturally to me to love, but those that, in my human nature, I would choose to separate myself from and never consider entering into a relationship based on love. That's what sets Christianity apart in my eyes...the command that we have to choose to love ALL, and to see others as just as worthy as us to receive God's wonderful gift of life through Jesus.
Christian love, then, has to be about proclaiming the love of God. We cannot say that we love others if we are withholding THE WAY to everlasting life from them. What good is loving someone in this life if we are keeping them from eternal life when they leave this earth? And we all will leave...Jesus will come!
This is where it gets difficult. Loving so much that we cannot keep silent. And this is where, to some, Christianity becomes offensive. To say that there is one way makes some people cringe. It makes some people mad. And it makes some people shut down.
I recently heard an allegory that, to me, made sense. If you're on a plane that's about to certainly crash, and the flight attendant announces, "Listen to me...when this plane crashes, there is only one way to get out of it and live. Do what I say, and I will show you that way. No other way will get you out. If you choose another way, you will die." Is that flight attendant being narrow-minded? Are they being mean? Is it cruel of them to say that they know the only way? Or is it an act of supreme kindness and love to share with you the way to survival?
That is what God has done for mankind. He understood that we would grow confused about who He is and about what this life is about. He knew our minds were not capable of embracing His truth without seeing it and hearing it first-hand. He sent His Son, Jesus, to say, "I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life"....follow me and I will lead you out of this life and into the next. (John 10:1-18)
"He who testifies about these things says...."
Believe the testimony of Jesus. Read the Bible and hear His words to us. He came for us. He is coming again for us. Believe in His name and be saved....for He is coming soon.
Look unto me, and be ye saved , all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. Isaiah 45:22
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Mark 16:16
But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved. Acts 15:11
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Acts 16:31
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved . Romans 10:9
Do you know the "He" that brings us His testimony? Jesus, Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Lord. Do you know Him?
For He is coming, and it will be soon. Whether I am here to see Him come in majestic glory to the earth or not, He is coming for me, and for everyone now living, soon. Our lives are just a vapor, and then....He is coming.
In praying for those I love who do not yet acknowledge Jesus as their Lord and Savior, I often repeat Jesus' prayer as relayed in John 14:24, “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world." I want all those that God has given me in this life to love the most dearly to be with me, and to see the glory of Jesus, bestowed upon Him by His Father. I cannot even imagine what that is going to be like, but I want to be there and I want all who I love to be there.
But, in writing this, I realize that I have been commanded to love everyone, as God has loved me. EVERYONE! Not only those that it comes naturally to me to love, but those that, in my human nature, I would choose to separate myself from and never consider entering into a relationship based on love. That's what sets Christianity apart in my eyes...the command that we have to choose to love ALL, and to see others as just as worthy as us to receive God's wonderful gift of life through Jesus.
Christian love, then, has to be about proclaiming the love of God. We cannot say that we love others if we are withholding THE WAY to everlasting life from them. What good is loving someone in this life if we are keeping them from eternal life when they leave this earth? And we all will leave...Jesus will come!
This is where it gets difficult. Loving so much that we cannot keep silent. And this is where, to some, Christianity becomes offensive. To say that there is one way makes some people cringe. It makes some people mad. And it makes some people shut down.
That is what God has done for mankind. He understood that we would grow confused about who He is and about what this life is about. He knew our minds were not capable of embracing His truth without seeing it and hearing it first-hand. He sent His Son, Jesus, to say, "I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life"....follow me and I will lead you out of this life and into the next. (John 10:1-18)
"He who testifies about these things says...."
Believe the testimony of Jesus. Read the Bible and hear His words to us. He came for us. He is coming again for us. Believe in His name and be saved....for He is coming soon.
Look unto me, and be ye saved , all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. Isaiah 45:22
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Mark 16:16
But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved. Acts 15:11
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Acts 16:31
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved . Romans 10:9
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