Right Concept, Wrong Idea #2
We’re taking a look at some well-known thoughts that we tend to
misinterpret biblically.
“God is good, and God is love, therefore He
wouldn’t send anyone to hell.”
God doesn’t desire to send anyone to hell. That’s why He sent
Himself—in the human form of His Son, Christ, to die for our sins so
we wouldn’t have to spend eternity in hell.
Someone has to pay for your sins—either you or Christ.
God loves you so much, He offered to pay the death penalty for you
through Christ. But He won’t force you to accept His gift.
True love has boundaries.
A married couple can expect each to be faithful to sacred vows and
not commit adultery. True love is angry enough about evil actions and
reacts. Loving moms and dads protect their children from sexual
exploitation.
God’s love is true love. Therefore, His love also has boundaries.
He’s angry about evil that hurts His disciples.
And He does something about it.
He gives everyone a choice.
He has promised that all who seek Him will find Him:
“You will find me when you seek me, if you look for me in
earnest”
(Jeremiah 29:13 LB).
He DESIRES that we all choose Him! In fact, He begs us to choose
Him. Check this out:
“Oh, that you would choose life; that you and your children
might live! Choose to love the Lord your God and to obey him
and to cling to him. . . .” (Deuteronomy 30:20 LB).
He wants every person in the entire world to choose Him.
And, yes, He does make Himself known to everyone.
Need proof of this? Check out Romans 1:20 and Romans 2:12-16.
To NOT choose Christ is to choose hell.
And God will send those who reject Him to hell.
Is this fair?
We can be sure that God is absolutely fair and just. See Isaiah
30:18.
Thoughts?
Please pray for our services this weekend as I speak in Georgetown, TX.
Right Concept, Wrong Idea #1
Let’s take a look at some well-known thoughts that we tend to
misinterpret biblically.
“God loves me like I am.”
God accepts us as we are, and He saves us as we are.
But He loves us far too much to leave us where we are.
We’re born with sin. And while many Christians have a soft view on
sin, God definitely HATES it. Therefore, it’s spiritually dangerous
when we become tolerant of what God hates.
It seems we have forgotten 1 John 2:3-6:
“And how can we be sure that we belong to him? By
looking within ourselves: are we really trying to do what he
wants us to?
“Someone may say, ‘I am a Christian; I am on my way to
heaven; I belong to Christ.’ But if he doesn’t do what Christ tells
him to, he is a liar.
“But those who do what Christ tells them to will learn to
love God more and more. That is the way to know whether or not
you are a Christian.
“Anyone who says he is a Christian should live as Christ
did” (The Living Bible).
We often hear, “God loves me just like I am.”
God loves to SAVE us. But because we’re born with sin, He doesn’t
love us exactly as we are. And neither should we!
His desire is to change us, completely transform us and to bring us
into righteous alignment with Himself—a holy God.
Try memorizing this:
“. . . throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life,
which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit
renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature,
created to be like God—truly righteous and holy” (Ephesians
4:22-24 NLT).
Thoughts?
Please pray for God’s fresh anointing this weekend as I speak in
Sumter, SC.
I Can’t Wait!
It’s easy for me to get excited about spending eternity with Christ in
heaven. But I’m also excited about something that comes before that:
The Millennium. It’s the 1,000 years that we’ll get to live on earth with
Christ in charge.
Scripture tells us it will be a peaceful time.
Christ will set His foot (and establish His headquarters) on the Mount
of Olives in Jerusalem.
When we return with Christ to the earth at this time, we’ll have our
heavenly bodies. Remember after His resurrection when He
appeared to hundreds of people before He ascended? He had a
heavenly body. He wasn’t limited by physical obstacles such as
doors, walls or distances.
He simply appeared to the disciples.
He was suddenly in the room with them.
Then suddenly He wasn’t.
Then He appeared to groups of people.
Then the disciples again.
When we have our heavenly bodies and live with Christ on earth for
1,000 years, we won’t be bound by physical obstacles, either. And we
won’t get sick or tired.
Isaiah 11:6 tells us the animals will be peaceful toward each other.
“The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the
goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child
will lead them” (NIV).
Scripture goes on to say that cows and bears will graze the same
pasture and the lion will eat straw like an ox.
Animals won’t be fighting each other, because they’ll be vegetarians
during that time. They’ll simply eat off the land. Planet Earth will have
gone through cataclysmic and catastrophic changes during the
Tribulation. God will be creating a NEW earth.
Can you imagine such a new and peaceful earth?
“Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill on my holy mountain”
(Isaiah 6:8 The Message).
Isaiah 65:20 tells us that people will still be considered young at 100
years of age. Can you imagine this scenario? Johnny is still living at
home. His parents say, “Don’t you think it’s time you get your own
place”
His response: “Gimme a break. I’m only 100.”
We’re also told in Scripture that infants will play in the snake’s hole
and not be harmed.
What a day!
“The whole earth will be brimming with knowing God-Alive,
a living knowledge of God ocean-deep, ocean-wide”
(Isaiah 6:9 The Message)
And check this out:
“The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be
one LORD, and his name the only name” (Zechariah 14:9 NIV).
It will be glorious.
But even as amazing as that will be, heaven will be even better!
Beyond our imagination.
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what
God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9 NLT).
I can’t wait!
While many Christians disagree on the details of the end times, here
are two things we can ALL agree on:
1. Christ IS coming back.
2. We need to be sure our hearts are ready.
Go ahead and ask Him if there’s anything in your life that’s standing
in the way of your eternity with Him.
Thoughts?
Please pray for me as I speak in El Reno, Okla., this weekend.