RAPTURE? REALLY?

I base my belief on the Rapture on these scriptures:

The King James Version (Authorized)
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
4:16
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
4:17
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
4:18
Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

The King James Version (Authorized)
1 Corinthians 15 1 Corinthians 15:51-57
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The following verses pertain to the Rapture, the Antichrist, the Second Coming, and the Battle of Armageddon: The words "falling away" in verse 3 can be traced to the Greek word "Aphistemi" which has among it's definitions "cause to withdraw, remove", and "Histemi" with a definition of "to escape in safety". Using this definition the verse would read:

2 Thessalonian 2:3, 7, 8
2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a (removal to safety) first, and that man of sin (Antichrist) be revealed, the son of perdition; A removal of what? Christians.
Verse 7 and 8:
2:7
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he (Christians) who now (letteth) (hinders) will (let) (hinder) , until he be (taken out of the way) (raptured).
2:8
And then shall that Wicked (the Antichrist) be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: (His second coming at the Battle of Armageddon).

The difference between the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ is at the Rapture we will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and at His second coming He will actually come back to the earth and at that coming He's here to stay.

GOD CONTROLS THE POWER OF HIS WORDS!

In the last few years I've heard several ministers state that God cannot lie with the reasoning that if God says it it will happen and nothing can stop it, ie., "let there be light, and there was light". While I agree that God cannot lie, I don't agree with the assumption that He cannot control the power of His own words. An instance in the Bible in which God spoke something and it didn't happen is in Exodus 32:7-14. the Israelites sinned by having a golden calf created and worshipping it while Moses was on Mt. Sinai receiving the commandments of God for them, in verse 11 God said He would destroy them and make Moses a great nation, it didn't automatically happen because God spoke it, in verses 11-13 Moses intercedes for them and in verse 14, God changes His mind. Another instance is in 2 Kings 20:1-11, God told Isaiah to tell King Hezekiah that he would die and not live, but King Hezekiah prays and in verses 5 and 6 God tells Isaiah to tell him that He will heal him and add 15 more years to his life. He didn't die back in verse one in the instant God spoke it.

The Word made flesh, God in human form, the One Who was in the beginning with God and Who made all things and without Whom was nothing made that was made (John 1:1-3), the Master who spoke to the storm "peace be still" and the storm obeyed His voice, the one who healed the sick and commanded demons out of people, who raised from the dead Jairus' daughter, Lazarus, and the son of the widow of Nain with commands from His mouth, this same Jesus,in the Garden of Gethsemene spoke the words "let this cup of suffering pass from me", God spoke with God, Jesus prayed, but those words did not happen instantaneously, they didn't happen at all. Jesus loved us and was willing to accept this as God's way to save us, therefore Jesus bore the suffering of being beaten and abused, the One who never sinned became our sin, and He bore the curse of dying on a tree (the cross), He even went through hell for us. God the Son didn't lie when He spoke "let this cup of suffering pass from me", but thank God he went through with God's plan of redemption. The rest of the story is that God raised Him from the dead and He broke the power of sin forever for those of us who accept Him as Saviour and Lord.

MIRACLES IN THE STORMS

Winter is not my favorite season, I dread slick, icy roads, parking lots, and sidewalks. This season has threatened to be the worst we've seen in Oklahoma City for ice and snowfall, yet I've seen a number of miracles this winter. The first big winter storm came on Christmas Eve, the first miracle was that I was scheduled off work the week of the storm and for another week after the storm and for one reason or another so were every member of my family. The forecasters were saying it was going to last a long time and that more would come. I happened to read in my bible reading that God melts the snow and thaws the ice, I started confessing that, particularly when the weather reports were being aired. The day we were suppose to have the second round the weatherman said he really couldn't understand how the temperatures could stay above freezing with all the snow still on the ground but it did and we didn't get the devastation from the second round that was expected, soon everyone was able to get out and about and when we went back to work the main roads and parking lots were in good shape.

February was the next round. I went to work the morning it was to come, nothing was happening when I left, but by the time it was time to go home we had had ice, sleet, and snow. I was confessing and believing it wouldn't come so I didn't take any windshield de-icer with me. I asked to leave 15 minutes early that day and was on the same bus with the lady who was parked right next to me. Everything had been extremely icy and slick a little earlier in the day but it was sleeting when we left and the sleet gave enough traction to walk on it without slipping. I got in my car and turned on my defrosters full blast and was going to wait awhile till the car warmed up to start trying to scrape the ice off the windshields, the lady next to me just started spraying some of her de-icer on my windshields, it helped, and before long I had my windshields clear enough to leave. If I had left on time she would already have been gone and it might have taken longer to get my windshields cleared, another miracle from the Lord, despite my stupidity or lack of faith, whichever it was. The next miracle was the next day, which was Friday and extremely icy, my husband took me and dropped me off in a covered parking area that led right into the building. The snow was coming down heavily that afternoon so he asked me to ask my chief if I could leave early, and he allowed me to leave an hour and 45 minutes early. Monday was clear enough on the main streets and parking lots to get around without too much trouble.

The next storm the weatherman said that the cold air and the moisture never quite met so we didn't get the winter precipitation they were predicting, and everything else we've been getting recently have been rain.

My family and I didn't have a single vehicle accident or fall during some of the worst winter weather we've seen in our state. Praise to almighty God! Mark 11:22-24 states that if you speak to mountains to move they will move if you have faith. Jesus spoke to a storm and calmed it and He said we could do the things He did. I've taken baby steps in this area and have had some successes and failures (on my part, not God's), but I won't stop trying to do what the bible says I can do. I speak to storms, and I don't intend to stop.

EGYPT WAS JOSEPH'S PROMISED LAND

Joseph had a dream that the sun, moon, and eleven stars would bow down to him, these represented his father, Israel, his mother, and his eleven brothers. No one believed him, not even his father. The many obstacles meant to destroy Joseph and his dream only brought him to the fulfillment of it. His jealous brother's sold him to slave traders, who in turn sold him to Potiphar, the captain of the guard for Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, his brothers told their father that he had been killed by wild animals. In Egypt he was promoted to Potiphar's personal attendant, but Potiphar's wife falsely accused him of trying to rape her and he was put in prison, there he was put in charge of the other prisoners. Pharaoh's chief cup-bearer and chief baker had also been put into prison and Joseph interpreted dreams each one had, the cup-bearer's dream revealed he would be restored to his former position, the baker's dream revealed he would be executed. The cup-bearer was released and restored to his former position as Joseph had said, but he forgot Joseph for two years until Pharaoh had two dreams no one could interpret. The cup-bearer then told Pharaoh how Joseph had interpreted his dream about being restored to his position. Pharaoh summoned him, and Joseph said with God's help he would tell him what the dreams meant, no one else had been able to do this. God revealed the interpretations to Joseph, which was that their would be seven good years and seven years of famine throughout Egypt and the entire region, he suggested Pharaoh put an intelligent and wise man in charge and Pharaoh decided Joseph was that man. Joseph became second in command in Egypt. His family was forced to come to him for food during the years of famine, and later, after testing them he revealed to them that he was Joseph, and eventually gave his family the choice land of Goshen. Joseph kept his position as second in command to Pharaoh for the remainder of his life, Egypt was his promised land, his dream had been fulfilled. He did, however, request when they left Egypt for their own promised land, that they take his bones with them.

Eventually, after his generation had died off, Joseph was forgotten, and the Israelites were feared, the new Pharaoh made slaves of them. The land that been their salvation became their prison. Egypt was not the land God promised the children of Israel, and God groomed Moses to lead them to their promised land.

THE PUZZLE MASTER

Recently I've had some dilemmas. I felt like I had a huge puzzle to work out, I thought I knew what the final picture should look like. I took a piece while the Puzzle Master looked on, it looked like it would fit perfectly, the right color, the right shape, but it didn't fit, surely it had to fit, I tried to turn it, force it, but it just wouldn't fit. Over and over again the different pieces I thought were perfect just didn't fit. Frustrated I turned to the Puzzle Master, you know I need to put this puzzle together, please help me. He smiled and took a piece I wouldn't have thought would fit at all and slipped it neatly into place, then another and another. He hasn't finished the puzzle yet but the picture's starting to look clearer, and I've learned just to leave it to the Puzzle Master.

www.word-truth.com

THE RESHAPING

Megan's grandpa had just heard a newscast that upset him quite a bit. "What in the world are they doing to our country?" he muttered to himself. Faith and Megan decided to take a little break from studying for a test for their political science class. Grandpa called them over and asked if he could tell them a story, Grandpa loved telling stories, and the girls loved hearing them. "A long time ago a group of people called Landers came to a large island and decided to make it their home. In this place everyone would be free to worship The Three, His Highest Majesty, His Son Logos, the King of the Realm of Peculiar People, and The Comforter, or not worship them as they pleased. The place would be called Freedom Land. They built and grew and after some struggles and even a war they became firmly settled in their new country. They began calling themselves Citizens. The Leading Citizens soon decided it was time to develop the laws of the land and met together and established "The Document" which contained the basis for all other laws, and all the Leaders signed it. Eventually it became necessary to add some "Rules" to "The Document". Besides being the basis for the laws of the land, The Document also provided for the organization of their government. Everything went well for a long while. The Keepers made sure the laws that were inforced were based on The Document. As time went by things began to change, the Reshapers began to question what The Document really meant in various areas, many Keepers, Informers, and Citizens joined with the Reshapers. The Loyals maintained a view of The Document that the Leaders had intended, but the Reshapers and the Keepers and Informers (who were also Reshapers), pressed hard their point of view. The Reshapers, who secretly knew the true content of The Document, decided it would be in the best interest of the Citizens to "reshape" the text to best suit "the needs of the Citizens". With the help of the Informers who anounced daily the views of the Reshapers, and of the Keepers who were willing to bend and twist the words of The Document to their own advantage, the Citizens began to believe these reshapings and twistings of The Document as facts. The Loyals, who also had among them some Keepers and Informers, pressed to keep the truths of The Document intact, but the damage was done. Many Citizens had been won over by the Reshapers. Some of the Loyals, wishing to please the Citizens, became Shifters and Drifters. The Shifters shifted over to the Reshapers side, the Drifters, drifted to whichever side was the most popular to the Citizens at any given time. Lax interpretations of The Document began to have a profound effect on Freedom Land. The Reshapers, Shifters, and Drifters, started finding all kinds of things to do with the Citizens money, and collected from them as much as they saw fit. The freedom to worship The Three became sadly restricted, especially in the learning places of children, in public places, and in work places. Where once people could say what was on their mind, now caution had to be taken with words spoken for fear of being penalized. Employing Citizens who had ingenious ideas and developed them, hiring many other talented Citizens, to help with their production, came under strict regulation and scrutiny of the Reshapers, who had been given charge of Freedom Land, and had to let many Citizens go because they could no longer afford to keep them. Freedom Land was losing the very thing she was established for: Freedom." Grandpa got up from his big easy chair and started to walk toward the kitchen. "Wait Grandpa; is that the end of the story?" Megan asked, seeming quite frustrated. "No," Grandpa answered, "your parents, you girls, I, and every good Loyal can change the ending of this chapter; it's still a work in progress". "Getting The Three involved wouldn't hurt a bit either". "How do we get them involved?" Megan asked. "I can answer that," chimed in Faith, "just ask." "Right you are girl, right you are," Grandpa said, smiling at Faith. "Oh, and by the way, the end of the whole book has already been written, and we win," Grandpa concluded and went on to the kitchen.

http://www.word-truth.com/

THE TREES

CONSUMING DEATH

Genesis 2:8-3:24 God gave Adam one restriction, not to eat from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, when God gave Eve to him Adam instructed her as well, but they were tempted, the fruit looked so good, better than any of the other fruit in the garden, and they would know things they had never known before, they would know what God knew, they would be like God. Eve ate and then Adam, but there was death in the fruit, their spiritual and physical death, and ultimately the death of the Son of God. They had digested sin, now to save man sin would have to die.

CONSUMING LIFE

John 6:22-69 A crowd had followed Jesus because he had previously fed them by miraculously multiplying the fish and bread, He was their meal ticket. He tells them they should be more concerned about eating and drinking that which leads to eternal life. 53Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. This was offensive to many of them and they stopped following him.

THE CURSE

2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5) Galatians 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: (Galatians 3) Jesus, the Son of God, God in human flesh, became our sin, He took our curse, our punishment, our death, He went through Hell for us. Sin was placed back on the tree and died. But that's not the end of the story. The Father brought Him out of the tomb, He broke the power of sin and death forever. (Acts 2:24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. Acts 2:27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Acts 2:30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; 31He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. 32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.) He has the keys of death, hell, and the grave. He gives life to all who come to Him. He released the Holy Spirit upon the earth.

THE WORD

John 1:1-14 God created by Words, "and God said... and it was so", in the first chapter of John it is revealed that Jesus is the "Logos" or Word of God, He was always with God and was God and all things were made by Him. The Word became flesh. He lived among us, loved us, and taught us. The whole bible is His revelation, the old testament reveals our need for Him and preparation for His coming, in the new testament He came and fulfilled his purpose. When we acknowledge the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and accept Him as our Saviour and the Lord of our lives we partake of His Body and His Blood, He has become one with us, we are New Creations. We symbolically eat and drink of the body and blood of Christ when we partake of communion. When the Word of God becomes our meat and drink, when we read it, and consume it, are nourished and strengthened by it and live by it's Words, we are partaking of the life giving flesh and blood of the Logos of God. Just a thought, isn't it interesting that the pages of the bibles we have today come from trees!

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PLEASE LORD, WASH MY FEET

John 13:1-17

Jesus disciples couldn't really comprehend the fact that Jesus was going to die soon, they thought He was going to be a great military leader who would soon show His might against their Roman conquerors. They wondered who among them would be His highest officers. Jesus let them know His kingdom was different than that of this world, He taught them to be great in His kingdom they must be willing to be a servant of all, they must be willing to be as humble as a little child.

Jesus, because He loved His disciples, and knowing He would soon be put to death, now would teach them a lesson with practical as well as eternal implications. He took off His garments and put them aside and wrapped a towel around Himself. He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples feet. They were horrified. This was the Master, their teacher, their Lord, and He was doing only what the lowest of servants would be ordered to do. They had walked the unsanitary, vermin infested roads, covered with animal feces, and dead carcases. Their feet were filthy and the Master was going to wash them. NO, Peter objected, I will never allow You, my Lord and Master, to wash my feet.

Jesus loved the brash, outspoken Peter, but He let him know authoritatively that if Peter would not allow Him to wash his feet, Peter would have no part with Him. This was a startling revelation to Peter, then wash my hands and head also he pleaded. They had already bathed in preparation for the meal, they were clean except for their feet which had gotten dirty on their way there. Jesus told Peter there was no reason to wash what was already clean, only that which had gotten dirty. He then taught them a lesson about greatness and humility, if He as their Lord and Master would take on the responsibilities of a servant, if they wanted to be great it began by being willing to serve.

As Christians we're clean, but we live in a world that is not clean, some of the ideas and immoral attitudes of our secular world try to rub off on us. If we succumb we need only to come to the Father and confess our sins. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

www.word-truth.com

THE GREAT COMMANDER

Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-9

Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-9What was it about this Centurion, what did he see in Jesus that no one else in Israel saw, not even His own disciples? How did he obtain such great faith that it amazed Jesus? We know he heard about Jesus, but what was it he heard? Perhaps he listened in the courtyard while his servants spoke of this Jesus, how he healed people and delivered them from demon possession. Perhaps he heard of Levi the tax collector who was completely changed after one encounter with Jesus Christ. Maybe he heard the rumors of how Jesus turned water into wine in Cana. Perhaps he even led his soldiers to make sure the large crowds who gathered to listen to Jesus didn't get out of control and was astonished at the words, wisdom and authority of Jesus. "How is it that this Jesus heals?" he may have asked, he may have even seen himself. He commands was the response. Jesus didn't beg, plead or grovel, he didn't say lengthy prayers, he commanded people to be healed and they were, he commanded demons to come out and they did, and what did the demons say? "You are the Son of God!" Being a commander was something the Centurion totally understood, he had men he commanded and they had no choice but to obey. This Jesus didn't command men, he commanded in a realm that men could not see or understand, but the Centurion did, because whatever Jesus was commanding had no choice but to obey Him. Jesus, was his hope for the healing of his valued servant, but he felt unworthy to have such a great commander come to his home so he asked that Jesus just command the forces He controlled to heal his servant and the Great Commander honored his request.

SOLUTIONS

I'm a Speaking Spirit, I believe God has given His children the ability to speak to circumstances, situations and things and see change. I've done it and I've seen the results. It's still all in God's hands, after all he's the power behind the words, but sometimes He requires natural solutions to the problems we face. We might pray asking for a miracle but instead God gives a solution. A while back I spoke to a blinker that wasn't working and it started working again. About three weeks ago the blinker stopped working again, I spoke to it and it still didn't work. I talked to God about it, but it still didn't work when I spoke to it, I couldn't turn the bolts and wasn't sure what I was doing anyway so I finally took my car to a shop. I was told that since the blinker worked sometimes (which it did) it wasn't the bulb, it might be the wiring or something else, I went home without a solution. Soon my husband discovered my headlamp was also out and I couldn't even get to it to see if I could replace it myself, I took the car back to shop and was told since they would have to move some things to get to it, it would cost me around $70.00, I called my husband and he said not to do it. I was kind of upset with him because I wanted a solution now. I was driving around with my brights on at night and one of my back blinkers out. I was believing God not to let me get a ticket because I had at least tried to get it fixed, but my requests to God for a solution were still in His hands. When I went shopping at Wal Mart I got an oil change and asked if they could replace the headlamp, they did. The first shop I went to loosened the bolts on the taillamp and I was able to get it off, I went to an autoparts store, bought the bulb and replaced the blinker bulb myself, and that's all it was. The whole thing cost less than $20.00. With checking wiring, etc. it may have been well over $100 if God had not been involved in it.

Also I had a new clothes dryer that wasn't working efficiently, I talked to God and told Him I wanted my dryer to work, I spoke to the dryer and it still didn't work, then God gave me the thought that I should move the dryer out a little more, I did, now it works perfectly.

I spoke to an ice storm and told it it couldn't come, it came anyway, it caused my sister and her daughter to be in an accident which wasn't their fault, they weren't hurt but the car was badly damaged. I told God I wanted to get even with Satan for what he did to my sister. God did it for me, the insurance of the young man who hit them paid to get her car fixed, now it looks better than it ever did, inside and out, it didn't cost her anything. All negative affects of that ice storm were nullified as far as my family is concerned.

This may not sound like much but in these days when people are scared senseless about the economy, it would behoove all of us to invite God to be involved in our financial situations, to help us with our financial decisions, and keep us from making financial mistakes, to give us solutions to problems and miracles when we need them.

If these little things sound like nothing to you but ordinary solutions to ordinary problems then don't tell me about it, tell someone who has to be bailed out, my mortgage is paid off, and God is changing my ordinary house into the house I wanted.

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DUST

Quote:
Many have brought up the idea that God created humans through the dust of the Earth. Interesting concept since the dust of the earth is silicon dioxide and flesh is mosty caron, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen sulfur and phospherous. Not a heck of a lot of silicon.

Response:
"Beyond the grave – understanding human decomposition
Arpad A. Vass

All these processes together (autolysis, putrefaction and diagenesis) eventually result in complex structures composed of proteins, carbohydrates, sugars, collagen and lipids returning to their simplest building blocks –essentially dust to dust."

For the whole article click on this link:
http://www.sgm.ac.uk/pubs/micro_today/pdf/110108.pdf

YELLOW LIGHT - CAUTION!

A few days ago I was approaching an intersection and the light turned yellow. I had time to stop so I did. I started thinking about the person behind me, I imagined they were pretty irritated with me because I stopped, I wondered if they might hit me thinking I was going to run the light. On occasion when I've stopped at a yellow light I've had people get so angry with me that they quickly moved over to the next lane and zipped on across the intersection even though the light had already changed to red. So often anymore it seems that "caution" and "yield" mean nothing to people and "stop" means very little. It's common anymore to see several cars blatantly run the red light, putting themselves and the people who have the right-of-way at risk. I can remember a couple of occasions that I ran a red light or a stop sign. When I got across the intersection, realizing what I had done, I was shocked thinking "how could I have done that" but grateful that God kept me and everyone else safe.

As dangerous as ignoring traffic lights and signs can be, it is more dangerous to ignore the caution signs God has given us through his Word. Again, when it comes to the Word of God, many people blatantly run the red lights. The bible tells us there is only one way to be reconciled to God and that is through accepting His Son, Jesus Christ, as Saviour and Lord. The bible tells us the consequences of not confessing with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in our heart God raised Him from the dead. The caution sign is there, but they won't slow down, they run the red light. One day the fine will have to be paid. There are also other caution signs and red lights in God's Word that Christian's often ignore such as not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers, you might think "I can make it across, I'll be OK, and no one will be hurt", but people who run that light usually find that there is a fine to pay.

There are also those of us who run the red lights when we're not really paying attention to what we are doing. It's just as dangerous as running the light on purpose. We always need to be alert and cautious and determine that that we'll never run that light again. The bible says that Satan goes about like a roaring lion seeking those he might devour, he's looking for those who aren't cautious, who are not paying attention, or who are just blatantly reckless.

Read God's Word, find out what the caution lights and stop lights are, obey them and you'll always get across unharmed and without harming anyone else.

THE HIGHEST HIGH

I don't know what is like to be high on drugs, I've never been drunk. I have, of course, seen other people in these conditions. I notice they are never better afterwords than before. As a matter of fact after they come off the high they feel worse about themselves. The "high" seems to be their only purpose in life.

The high I have experienced is to come into the presence of Almighty God and Worship Him. It's the deepest, most satisfying experience a person can have because we were created with hearts meant to worship Him. This high leaves you feeling better about yourself, that you are priceless, and that you can accomplish anything with God's help.

WORD-TRUTH.COM

I had to be off for a while to work on taxes, etc., also I created a new website. Visit it if you get a chance. Click on the link below.

http://word-truth.com

THE MOST IMPORTANT DECISION OF YOUR LIFE!!!

THE MOST IMPORTANT DECISION OF YOUR LIFE!!!
At some point in your life you will have to make a decision about whether you will accept or reject God's free gift of salvation to you, if you will allow Jesus Christ to take the punishment for your sinful nature and give Him your life that He paid for with His blood. Other decisions may affect you for a lifetime, this decision will affect you for eternity.

This message contains a sample prayer you can pray when you are ready to accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord. Some things you need to acknowledge or be aware of before you make this decision are:

1. You were born with a sin nature, therefore you have sinned. Rom. 5:12 Rom. 3:23 1 John 1:10
2. The price of sin is death. Rom. 5:12. Rom. 6:23
3. Jesus Christ paid the price of sin for us. Rom. 6:23 Heb. 9:26-28
4. We only have access back to God through Jesus Christ. John 14:6
Romans 8: 1 - 39
5. You are not saved by confessing all your sins but by confessing with your mouth that Jesus is your Lord and believing in your heart God raised him from the dead. Rom. 10:8-13 Eph. 2:8,9

When you decide to accept God's free gift of salvation, you are doing much more than just repeating a prayer someone asks you to pray to "get saved", you are making a total life commitment. Confessing Jesus as Lord means that from now on obedience to Him and following His will for your life is your first priority and believing that God has raised him from the dead means that you understand that everything necessary for your salvation was accomplished in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. In death he took your place so you wouldn't have to die in your sins, he became your sacrifice; during His burial period He went into Paradise where all the righteous dead had gone, (Jesus told one of the thieves who was crucified with Him, and had acknowledged belief in Him, that he would be with Him is Paradise that day - Luke 23:39-43) but Jesus didn't stay there and no longer would they, He brought them out and took them to Heaven with Him (Eph. 4:8-10 and Matthew 27:52 and 53 states that after the resurrection of Jesus the graves of many saints were opened and they that slept arose, came out of their graves, went into the holy city, and appeared to many; in His resurrection He broke free, and set all who receive His salvation free, from every sin and bondage. Death and sin no longer had a hold on Him nor on anyone else who would believe in and accept Him as Saviour and Lord.

A PRAYER YOU CAN PRAY (or pray your own prayer from your heart)(Repeating these words won't save you, praying them to God and meaning them from your heart will change your life and your eternity.)

FATHER GOD, IN THE NAME OF JESUS I COME TO YOU TO ACCEPT YOUR FREE GIFT OF SALVATION. I BELIEVE THAT JESUS CHRIST DIED IN MY PLACE TO TAKE MY SINS AND MY SINFUL NATURE FROM ME, HE TOOK MY PLACE SO THAT I WOULDN'T HAVE TO DIE AN ETERNAL DEATH AND SO THAT I CAN LIVE WITH YOU FOREVER AS YOUR CHILD. HE PAID THE WAGES OF MY SIN, WHICH WAS DEATH. I BELIEVE WITH MY HEART THAT YOU RAISED JESUS FROM THE DEAD, THAT IN HIS RESURRECTION HE BROKE THE POWER OF SIN AND DEATH OVER MY LIFE, HE WAS THE FIRST ONE WHO COULD RIGHTFULLY ENTER HEAVEN TO LIVE WITH YOU, AND NOW BECAUSE OF HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION I CAN LIVE WITH YOU FOREVER. LORD JESUS I NOW ACCEPT YOU AS MY LORD AND SAVIOUR, YOUR SPIRIT WILL LIVE IN ME AND I WILL KNOW THAT I AM A CHILD OF GOD. FATHER, I BELONG TO YOU, I AM YOUR CHILD. I AM RESPONSIBLE TO BE OBEDIENT TO YOU AND YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE TO TAKE CARE OF ME AS YOUR CHILD. THANK YOU FATHER GOD AND MY LORD JESUS CHRIST FOR SAVING ME.

You were made righteous and became a child of God when uou confessed with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believed in your heart God raised Him from the dead, but you are a spiritual baby who will make mistakes, and your Father, God, has given to you God the Holy Spirit and a selection of many good bible believing churches to teach and guide you so you can learn and grow into perfection. You need to learn more about God, we need to read His covenant with us (The Holy Bible - especially the New Testament). You need to pray (Matt. 21:22 And all things, whatsoever ye ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.), God wants us to communicate with Him. You need to find a good church that believes the whole bible is the inspired Word of God and teaches you the truths from the bible, as a spiritual baby you need some help to learn and grow.

This is a link to a site where you can look up scripture references in many different versions of the bible: http://www.biblegateway.com/

THE INSPIRED WORD!

I found a great website for anyone for anyone who wants answers to their questions about the inspiration and accuracy of the bible:

http://www.allabouttruth.org/

"Bible Contradictions - Earnestly Investigate for Yourself! It's utterly fascinating how many people reject God's Word by focusing on a little list of alleged Bible contradictions. Yet, when presented with the miracle of the Bible's structure, survival, integration, historical veracity, archaeological evidence, scientific insights, outside corroborating records, and hundreds of fulfilled prophecies (each of which far surpass any other "holy book"), people look the other way. When viewed alongside other historical writings, the double standard in textual criticism is obvious. Remember, "God is not the author of confusion..." (1 Corinthians 14:33). If someone presents you with a supposed contradiction in the Bible, take a moment to earnestly investigate for yourself. "
http://www.allabouttruth.org/bible-contradictions.htm

CAN I PROVE GOD EXISTS?

Comment:
You can't possibly "know" God exists. You can't provide any evidence, failing to meet the criteria of "knowing." You believe God exists, have faith that God exists. Slight difference.

Response:
Can I prove God exists to someone who doesn't want to believe in Him? No! His word says He has to be accepted by faith. Everything God does for us and expects from us is by faith. Do I know He exists? Well either He does or I've lived a charmed life or have magical powers?

When I was young my family lived in an apartment on top of a building called the "Floor Store", one winter day I started down the stairs which were iced over and lost my balance, I was going to fall and there was no way to stop it, all of a sudden for no reason I could figure out I just straightened back up, I was just as amazed by that as I was frightened that I could have fallen to my death.

On my way to school once, I had a pack of dogs surround me growling at me, for no reason I could figure I just barked and the dogs scattered, I don't know why I barked, I don't know why they scattered??? (Other people might think I look like a dog but my husband doesn't and that's all that counts).

I came from a poor family and college didn't seem to be an option for me, but I graduated from an Assembly of God college and didn't have to pay much back on my loans because I taught for a while in low income schools.

I had never been to a dentist till I was in my 20s, before I went I prayed that I wouldn't have a lot of expensive dental work, after having my teeth cleaned the dentist was amazed not to find any cavities, I've since had only one and I think I should have gotten a second opinion about that.

When my husband and I decided to move from an apartment to a house we didn't have a lot of money, we kept going by a house that already had appliances, my husband was reluctant, but we decided to go for it anyway, we didn't have the down payment and we were not allowed to borrow the money because that would be another debt, there was no one to borrow it from anyway, before closing my husband got a letter about an insurance policy his mother took out on him as a child, he cashed it in, that covered the down payment, we bought the house in the 20s it's market value is now in the 90s and it's paid off. By the way we prayed for all these things.

My nephew got in trouble two or three times for drugs, before the last time he was told if it happened again he would go to prison, his mother and I prayed, his former lawyer who used to be a judge was pretty much through with him by the time he got in trouble again, all of a sudden he changed his mind and decided to help him, he spent a few months in county jail but didn't have to go to prison, no one, even the judge understood why everyone was being so lenient with him, anyway he decided he didn't like jail or prison and hasn't gotten in any more trouble and that's been two or three years ago.

God gave me a little bit of a computer program at work, that I worked at and revised with His help till I got all the forms I work with on one program and can fill them out from one data sheet, and I had no formal training that way at all. Other people also use them and depend on them now, they don't want to go back to typing the forms on the typewriter.

These are just a very few of the prayers God has answered for me and things He has helped me with. I may not be able to convince anyone there is a God, but no one will ever convince me there isn't one. There's just too much evidence in my life experiences that He exists and that He cares about me.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN GRAVITY?

Do you believe in the gravity? We've all heard the old saying "what goes up must come down" but you can't see it so how do you know it exists? You know because you experience it every moment of every day. The http://www.yourdictionary.com/ definition is : grav·i·ty [ grv-t ]n. Physics a. The natural force of attraction exerted by a celestial body, such as Earth, upon objects at or near its surface, tending to draw them toward the center of the body.

If someone told me they belonged to a group that didn't believe in gravity and to prove to the world it wasn't real they were going to jump off a cliff, I would plead with them not to do it, I would remind them that other people who jumped off cliffs did so with tragic consequences, I would even call the authorities to get them to prevent the person from jumping. I would do all this because I believe in the law of gravity even though I can't see gravity. I believe it because I experience it.

To other Religions of the world Christians are an infuriating lot. We don't just believe in God, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, we know They are real because we've experienced Their reality. I've had prayers answered down to details. I get directions and instructions from God in my Spirit and from His Word. Many tragedies have been averted in my life because I've placed my life in God's care. We can't be "politically correct" because the bible we read says that salvation is only available to us through Jesus Christ. Frankly there's just not enough time left to tiptoe around the subject trying not to offend anyone. We honestly don't want to offend anyone, we just don't want them to jump off the cliff.

WHO IS JESUS?

I'm a Christian, so of course, as a Christian, I recognize the New Testament as the living Word of God. It's the new and better covenant, it didn't do away with the old covenant, it perfected it. The New Testament is not "politically correct". Jesus is the spotless, sinless, lamb of God. The sacrifices of animals in the old covenant was a prelude to the ultimate sacrifice of the Son of God.
Hebrews 10. When Jesus says I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me John 14:6 He excludes any other belief or religion as a means of salvation.

Matthew 16:15-17 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. If Jesus is who He claims to be, the Son of the Living God, then instructions God inspired Paul to write in Romans about obtaining salvation ought to be taken seriously: Romans 10:8-10 8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9 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. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Who is Jesus?

He is the seed of woman:
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Galatians 4:3-5 3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: 4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

He is the Son of God, born of a virgin:
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (God with us)*.
Luke 1:26-35
26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named * * Nazareth, 27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. 29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31 and, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. 34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? 35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

He existed eternally with God:
John 1:1-18 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, * (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. 15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. 16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

He is the heir to David's throne:
Luke 1:30-33 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
OF JESUS: Revelation 5:5 5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of * the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

He is my Saviour, my Redeemer, my Advocate, my Lord, and my King.