Studying God's Word

There are several types of prayers to God, one of which is the seldom-used prayer of rejoicing. Bible affirmations are merely prayers of rejoicing meant to glorify God. I’ve learned that Bible affirmations are the best way for me to express joy in the Lord and also the best way for me to remain in fellowship with my creator. You can’t stray far from God if you speak daily Bible affirmations because they will keep your eyes on Jesus. I think it’ll work that way with everyone. Bible affirmations differ from other types of prayers because they are “set” prayers, as opposed to “extemporary” prayers. Now if you’re good at extemporaneous prayers and you have a photographic memory you don’t need Bible affirmations.

For those of us who don’t have that skill set Bible affirmations work well for us because they say what needs to be said. With Bible affirmations our prayers are consistent and we don’t forget anything. Using Bible affirmations is not weird. It makes perfect sense. God isn’t offended when you pray to him using prayers you’ve written down on index cards beforehand. Just because you wrote your prayer down on an index card doesn’t negate the fact that it’s still your personal prayer to God and therefore not a vain repetition in the eyes of God. God is still glorified by our prayers whether we read them off an index card or speak our prayers extemporaneously, as long as we speak the truth from our heart. The key thing is to speak God’s word before the throne of grace while also declaring obedience to God.

Bible affirmations may not be extemporary but they are nonetheless prayers to God that are personalized, thorough, and complete. That makes Bible affirmations the perfect repeatable prayer and we know repetition is one of the ways we train our mind and spirit in godliness. When we pray to God using Bible affirmations we’re saying “yes”, we’ll obey the commandments of God. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray what did Jesus do? Jesus taught them the Lord’s Prayer, which is a Bible affirmation and also a prayer of rejoicing (see Matthew 6:9-13). I don’t know of any believing Christian that hasn’t at some point in their life recited the Lord’s Prayer before God. I keep the Lord’s Prayer on my desk so I can pray it before God several times a week. The Lord’s Prayer is perfect and it makes me feel closer to God. The fact that we have the Lord’s Prayer in the Bible given to us as an example of how we are to pray to God the Father just confirms to me that we have God’s approval to freely use Bible affirmations in prayer.

MONDAY AFFIRMATIONS (continued):

Proverbs 14:25 – A true witness delivers souls, but a deceitful witness speaks lies.

Proverbs 11:30 – The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

James 5:20 – He who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death.

NOTE: In this particular Bible affirmation I’ve included three Bible verses because they say essentially the same thing but with different words. Taken together as a whole they help explain more fully what God is telling us to do. Proverbs 14:25 tells us Christian believers are true witnesses because Jehovah is the one true God and the followers of all the other fake religions and false gods sponsored by Satan are deceitful witnesses. A true witness speaks the truth of God, the gospel message of Jesus Christ, to save and deliver souls unto eternal life in heaven. By the same token, a deceitful witness does not tell the truth. He tells lies to hide the truth of God from nonbelievers so that their soul is taken down to the pit by Satan. If a deceitful witness actually thinks he’s telling the truth then he’s a fool according to God, because the truth of God is self-evident. All we have to do is look at the universe around us and read God’s word. How hard is that? The Bible describes God’s salvation plan for man, which calls for believers to save nonbelievers to heaven by their witness for Christ.

There are numerous scriptures where God refers to believers who save lost souls to heaven as being “wise.” God uses the metaphor of “fruit” to represent a soul saved for heaven. When God uses the term “righteous” he’s referring to saved Christians indwelt with the Holy Spirit. Sharing the gospel message of Christ is the “good works” believers are to do here on earth. Believers are commanded to “redeem” their time on earth by saving nonbelievers to heaven. The only pathway to heaven is through Jesus Christ; by accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior because he died for our sins. If anyone preaches a different gospel than this then he is deceitful and he is a liar who will face the wrath of God on the last day. James 5:20 makes it clear that God expects all believers to witness for Christ to turn sinners away from the error of their way which leads to the pit for all eternity. At our conception God gives each of us an eternal spirit so we become immortal beings in that instant. When God talks about us in his word, in spiritual terms, “life” means eternal life in heaven, and “death” means eternal death in hell. Believers witnessing for Christ to nonbelievers can save a soul from eternal death in hell and deliver that soul to eternal life in heaven. That is our job!

MY AFFIRMATION:

I will bless the Lord daily for allowing me to help save nonbelievers from death. With the help of Almighty God, I will deliver lost souls to the kingdom of heaven through my true witness for Jesus Christ. I will be wise in the eyes of the Lord by winning souls for God. As the righteousness of Christ, I will produce much fruit for heaven all the days of my life. May the Lord grant me forty years in his service or until Jesus comes in the air for his saints.

NOTE: Bible affirmations are personal to the individual and no two are alike. At the end of this Bible affirmation I’m making a request to God that has no reference to the verse or verses in question. I do this quite often. In my study of God’s word I noticed that during Old Testament times the Lord often allowed many of his prophets, priests, and kings to serve him for forty years. The number forty is important to God. I’m jealous of that because I was a backslider for forty years and I pray daily that God will let me serve him for forty years like his servants of old. If God grants my prayers I’ll live until I’m 92 years old (I’m 72 now).

Another problem is I’m a student of prophecy and a lover of the coming rapture of believers to meet Jesus in the air. I’ve calculated that Jesus will come in the air for his saints on Pentecost of 2033 or shortly thereafter. That’s only a short nine years away. I know it’s a fool’s errand to predict what God will do but I can’t help myself. I have always loved Bible prophecy and trying to figure out God’s timeline for the end of times. If my guess is correct, that means the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to the Mount of Olives will be seven years after the rapture (sometime in 2040). I’ve asked the Lord to bless my life so that I’m alive should my predicted rapture date be correct. I continually pray to God to let me be raptured alive to meet Jesus in the air to receive my glorified body, before I return to heaven to be with Jesus Christ forever. Basically, I’m asking the Lord to spare me the sting of death if he’s returning soon. Since I don’t know the end from the beginning, but God does, I’ve asked God to grant my prayers based on whichever scenario that I’ve just described comes first; because God knows the end from the beginning. God’s will is perfect. God’s timing is perfect. I have total trust is in the Lord to do what’s best for me because he loves me and wants the best for me. Praise God!

When you speak Bible affirmations before the Lord you’re saying “yes” to God that you will obey one and possibly all 129 commandments from God that are contained in the Bible, many of which are redundant. Wilmington’s Guide to the Bible has a complete list of the commandments of God, or you can do an internet search to find them. Either way, you have no excuse for not knowing what the commandments of God are. Being ignorant about what God requires of you is not an acceptable excuse before the Lord. To maintain fellowship with the Lord you need to keep saying “yes” to God every day if you can, but at least weekly.

In a loud and clear voice give your testimony before God that you will “obey” the specific commandments of God you’re mentioning in your affirmation. By your affirmation you’re swearing an oath of obedience before the throne of grace, the host of heaven, and Satan and his fallen angels. You’re making a very public promise to God before a spiritual audience, which is no small thing because God expects you to keep your promises. The Bible says we shouldn’t be making any oaths at all but if we do decide to make an oath we need to make sure our “yes” means “yes” and our “no” means “no.”

The Bible says that we’re saved by our lips but we’re also condemned by what we say. The Bible says we can have what we ask for in prayer as long as we believe that God will answer our prayers. That’s a promise from God and we know that God cannot lie. One of the spiritual truths of heaven is prayers don’t work without faith. Make sure you think before you open your mouth and then ask God for what you need, and then do what you say you’ll do or don’t say it at all. The spoken word is very important to God! In essence, you’re entering into a legally binding verbal contract with God.

In his word, God promises to bless all believers who obey his commandments. God decides who to bless and how much. God’s blessings are dependent upon our actions. God is generous to a fault and we get to keep what we earn for all eternity. The important thing for us to remember is that God is always good, constant, and ever faithful to forgive us of our sins and grant our prayers. God is never arbitrary or vengeful. That means God is consistent in his application of the blessings he dispenses. God is fair to everyone and God will fulfill all his promises. We can be sure we’ll get all the blessings we deserve from God both during our lifetime on earth and forever in heaven.

I have around sixty Bible affirmations I speak before the Lord. I wrote them on 4″ X 6″ index cards and I broke them down into five equal stacks; one for each day of the work week (Monday through Friday). I usually take a break at the weekend. Sometimes I get busy and miss a day here and there. But then I pick up where I left off so I may wind up mixing up my days quite a bit. The important thing is I do all my affirmations in the same order every week and the contents of each stack of affirmations are fairly consistent. However, the contents of my affirmations are always changing slightly over time and evolving as I speak them to God because I keep tweaking them to make them better.

When I glorify God by speaking his word after him (the holy Scriptures) I want to make sure my affirmation, first of all, fits the verse and, second, that the actions I promise to take are consistent with and obedient to the commandments of God. When speaking to God you never pray just once and think you’re done. Repetition is a good thing so keep praying without ceasing until God answers your prayers. God wants us to pray continually because God is glorified when we pray to him. Praying daily to God keeps us in fellowship with our creator. When you say something over and over, especially in prayer, it trains your mind and your spirit. When the human mind hears something over and over it accepts what it hears as the truth which is why we need to be careful what we feed our mind. I’m now going to review my Bible affirmations, one at a time, to see how they’ve changed since I last talked about them in my blog. I’ll start with my stack of Monday affirmations:

MONDAY AFFIRMATIONS:

2 Corinthians 5:18 – Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

NOTE: The above scripture is one of my favorite verses. I keep it on my desk so I can read it every morning while I drink my pot of coffee. 2 Corinthians 5:18 tells us pretty much all we need to know about God. From this scripture we know that God made us, the earth, and the entire universe. Notice the verse doesn’t say all things are “from” God; the verse says all things are “of” God. That’s an important distinction. It means God is inseparable from his creation. God can exist without his creation but God’s creation cannot exist without God’s guiding hand. The universe rotates and moves in perfectly synchronized motion, like clockwork, only because of God’s continuous involvement. That means we exist, live, and breathe only because of God’s favor by his upturned hand. The day that God withdraws his favor from man and removes his hand the universe will melt away into nothingness.

2 Corinthians 5:18 tells us man was separated from God by Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden. Adam was the first man on earth and his original sin broke his fellowship with God the Father, and this sin and broken fellowship was passed down to all men who came after Adam. We know that God sent his son Jesus Christ to reconcile man to God; to restore the fellowship between God and man by dying on the cross in our place so that the sins of man could be forgiven by a just and merciful God through our faith. We are saved to heaven when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. As a child of God, each believer is commanded to share the gospel message of Jesus Christ with all nations and all people.

The above verse says we are given the “ministry of reconciliation” from God, which is just another way of saying we are to “witness for Christ.” This is not a request from God; it’s a commandment from God. If we want to please God on the last day when we stand before the bema judgment seat of Jesus Christ believers must fulfill the Great Commission, which is to share the gospel message of Christ with all nations and all people. It’s the number one commandment from God to believers. It’s the thing dearest to God’s heart. Every single day millions of nonbelievers are dying and going straight to hell for lack of a witness for Christ. Keep in mind that 90% of the saints in heaven are there through faith in Jesus alone, never having saved even one person to heaven by their witness for Christ.

We are all creatures made by the hands of God, therefore every soul is priceless to God. Believers must do everything in their power to save at least one nonbeliever to the kingdom of heaven if they want to receive honor, glory, and riches from God on the last day. It stands to reason that if every soul is priceless to God then saving even one person to heaven will result in some level of honor, glory, and riches from God. How could it be otherwise? Saving one person puts you into the top 10% of the saints in heaven. Of course, God wants us to save as many people to heaven as we can but one will do. If you don’t save at least one person to heaven you’ll be like 90% of the saints in heaven and be a worker bee forever.

The more souls we save the higher up the pecking order we are in heaven and the more honor, glory, and riches God will bestow upon us. I don’t know about you but I want more of everything God has to offer and I’m willing to work for it because I know whatever I earn by my “good works” down here will last forever in heaven. I have a good pension because I worked hard all my life to achieve it. My pension ends when I die. When I work hard for the Lord the pension he’ll give me will last forever because I’ll never die. As believers, we can’t save everyone but we can save some. Some believers will save thirty people to heaven, some sixty, and some one hundred. God says a hundred people saved to heaven is a good harvest. One percent of the saints in heaven will save “many” nonbelievers to the kingdom of heaven and one day they’ll shine as the stars in the firmament like it says in Daniel 12:3.

As I’ve strived to save nonbelievers to heaven the last ten years the number 1000 kept popping up in my head as the goal I should shoot for. Did that number come from my mind or did it come from the Holy Spirit? I wasn’t sure so I prayed to God for months seeking the answer. God finally answered my prayers through another believer and confirmed to me that 1000 souls saved for heaven will qualify as saving “many” in the eyes of God. During my witness for Christ I calculate that I’ve saved over a hundred lost souls to the kingdom of heaven, to the glory of God. I used to keep track of how many people I’ve saved to heaven by my ministry. I don’t need to keep count anymore because I’ve already saved more than 100 people, which is more than 95% of the saints in heaven.

However, I’m not satisfied with only saving 100 people; not when there are millions of my nonbelieving brothers and sisters who are dying every day and going to hell for all eternity. Not on my watch! Somebody has to save them. So I keep my head down, working hard in God’s harvest every day. My mantra every single day is to save, “one more for Jesus.” It’s the first thing I think about every morning when my eyes open and it’s the last on my mind when I go to bed at night. I won’t stop until I reach the goal God gave me, which is to save 1000 nonbelievers to heaven.

I’ll run the race God has given me to run, with perseverance, until the Lord decides to take me home. Saving people to heaven is the only “good work” worth doing in this world and time is short. It’s the only thing that has any real impact on our eternal existence because our honor, glory, and riches in heaven will depend on how many people we save. In the book of Ecclesiastes King Solomon said life is meaningless apart from a right relationship with God and he was right. A right relationship with God is maintained when we witness for Christ as often as we can to save nonbelievers to heaven.

MY AFFIRMATION:

“Thank you God for creating the universe and making me who I am. Thank you Jesus for dying on the cross for my sins. I bless you Lord for calling me to salvation unto eternal life in heaven through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I’m grateful for the “good works” you have given me to do on earth. I’m blessed to have the privilege of working alongside my King in his harvest field to help save lost souls to heaven by my witness for Christ. With perseverance, I will spread the gospel seed of Christ “passively” through my two Christian blog sites and my Christian tract ministry to save “one more for Jesus” every day on my walk with God. O Lord, use the gospel seed I cast before you to save many nonbelievers to heaven through your Holy Spirit.”

NOTE: I always make sure my affirmation confirms the truth of every Bible verse I’m talking about as well as my obedience to God’s commandments. It glorifies God to speak his word after him just as it glorifies God when I also affirm my obedience. We need to thank God continually for calling us and saving us. Throughout human history God has only called about one out of every thousand people to heaven. If we find ourselves to be one of the lucky ones, the few going to heaven, we should thank God profusely every day of our life. If you’re saved unto heaven it’s like winning the ultimate lottery, the lottery of eternal life! God gives each of us a ministry whether we know it or not and I’m fortunate enough to know what my ministry is. Do you what yours is? Why don’t you ask God to tell you?

Long ago the Holy Spirit gave me the ministry of studying God’s word and giving my testimony. The Holy Spirit gave me an unquenchable thirst for God’s word, which has never left me to this day. Praise God! However, it took me a while to figure out what the Holy Spirit was trying to tell me. Over time my ministry has evolved into my Christian blog and my Christian tract ministry, for which I’m thankful to God. Saving someone to heaven is a partnership between man and the Holy Spirit, who is both in us and with us as we share our witness for Christ. God’s salvation plan for man calls for human hands to do the “good work” of God on this earth by our witness for Christ. But it’s God’s wisdom and guidance in us and with us that saves nonbelievers to the kingdom of heaven. All the glory goes to God.

Man does 20% of the work required to save someone and God does the other 80%. God does the heavy lifting. Our job is to plant and water the gospel seed by our witness for Christ, but the harvest, the increase, belongs to God. We are all merely vessels made by God for his pleasure. We are the care giver for our fellow man through our witness for Christ. God is the cure giver for all men because he gifts what we all desperately need, which is salvation unto eternal life in heaven. God saves whom he chooses to save, by his love, mercy, and grace. God doesn’t need us to save man. God graciously lets man help save others so he can give us honor, glory, and riches in heaven for our obedience.

As you share your witness for Christ with nonbelievers make sure you pray to God for his help before, during, and after your witness because God does the saving not you. Ask the Holy Spirit within you, your Helper, to help bring your prayers before the throne of grace in such a manner that they are acceptable to God and pleasing in his sight. Ask Jesus, as your Mediator, to argue your case before the court of heaven. I know that continuous prayers to God will exponentially increase the number of lost souls God will add to your account in heaven, for which you’ll be rewarded on the last day. Just don’t go before God empty-handed. Rejoice in the Lord, for he loves us!

This blog will be a discussion about the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost); who is referred to in the holy scriptures as our “Helper.” If we define some terms up front it’ll make it easier to understand my logic in this blog. In the dictionary the word help means to, “make it easier for someone to do something.” The word helper is a noun (person, place or thing) and the Holy Spirit is a person which changes the meaning of helper to, “the one who makes it easier for someone to do something.” The “someone” in this definition is believers. The “something” in this definition is saving believers to the kingdom of heaven. Biblically speaking, the word Helper means, “the Holy Spirit who makes it easier for believers to save nonbelievers to the kingdom of heaven.” We know that throughout the Bible God tells believers to do “good works” and we also know the number one “good work” we do for God is witnessing for Jesus Christ. That’s why in God’s word sharing the gospel message of Jesus Christ is called the Great Commission. It’s the thing dearest to God’s heart. All the other good works we do are complimentary and are meant to guide the nonbeliever to the light of God so they can be saved. God’s salvation plan for man calls for believers to share the gospel message of Jesus Christ with nonbelievers in order to save them unto eternal life in heaven, with the Holy Spirit as our “Helper.” The key to witnessing is asking for the Holy Spirit’s help so that we’re fruitful. That’s the primary reason the Holy Spirit lives inside us because without the Holy Spirit’s help nobody can be saved.

Acts 2:1-4 – When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they (the disciples) were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 1:8 – (Jesus) – But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

Matthew 11:11 – (Jesus) – Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist.

1 Thessalonians 1:5 – For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance.

God’s salvation plan for man calls for those who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to then give their witness of Christ to nonbelievers. This can only happen because believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. In Acts 1:8 God lets us know the Holy Spirit was sent to us for the express purpose of helping believers witness for Christ. If we don’t use this gift that God has given us our witness for Christ will be weak and cursory at best. The Holy Spirit is also “with” the believer in the world as he speaks God’s word while sharing the gospel message of Jesus Christ with nonbelievers. This is how God plans to populate heaven with his saints. The Holy Spirit helps us on the inside and also on the outside. As our designated “Helper” sent from God the Holy Spirit is indeed worthy of his moniker.

Matthew 13:23 – (Jesus) – But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Mark 11:24 – (Jesus) – Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask for when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

John 3:16 – (Jesus) – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Proverbs 11:30 – The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

After the resurrection of Jesus Christ, nobody has ever received an effective witness for Christ from man nor have they then been saved unto eternal life in heaven without the “help” of the Holy Spirit of God. It’s a spiritual truth of heaven that the Holy Spirit must be present for someone to be saved unto heaven. Why is this so? It’s the Holy Spirit who assesses the nonbeliever’s heart as they receive the testimony about God from believers to see if they’re ready to receive their salvation. You can’t fake God out by lying to him. It’s the Holy Spirit who convicts the nonbeliever of their sin and makes them aware that only God can forgive their sins and save them unto eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. It’s the Holy Spirit who is responsible for changing man’s eternal destination from hell to heaven. It’s the Holy Spirit who writes the new believer’s name in the book of life to be opened on the last day. Saving someone to heaven is a partnership between the Holy Spirit and man. We are commanded to share our witness for Christ with nonbelievers and then leave it up to the Holy Spirit to complete the redemption of their souls by a merciful God. The Lord will save whomever he pleases, because the Holy Spirit is God!

2 Corinthians 5:18 – Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation (witnessing for Christ).

John 15:5 – (Jesus) – I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him (the Holy Spirit), bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

Philippians 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (the Holy Spirit).

1 John 4:15 – Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him (the Holy Spirit), and he in God.

In the book of Genesis we learned that there is only one God, who exists as three distinct persons, all of whom are God (God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Ghost). We also learned that all three persons of the triune Godhead participated in the creation of the universe, which was made for God’s pleasure. In reviewing the Old Testament scriptures I find that all three persons of the triune Godhead were on the earth at various times in our ancient past and for various reasons. We see that before Pentecost in 33 AD Father God allowed the Holy Spirit to indwell only a few select individuals and then usually for a short period of time in order to complete a designated task given to them by God. The list of Old Testament saints who were briefly indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God includes the following: Othniel (Judges 3:9-10), Jephthah (Judges 11:29), Gideon, Bezalel, Sampson and King Saul. In the New Testament we learn that John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, is the only person who has ever been indwelt by the Holy Spirit from the womb (Luke 1:13). John was blessed by God and John saved thousands of people for heaven by his witness for Christ.

1 Samuel 10:6 – (Samuel) – Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you (Saul), and you will prophesy with them (the prophets) and be turned into another man.

Exodus 31:2-3 – (God) – See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship.

Judges 6:34 – But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon; then he blew the trumpet, and the Abiezrites gathered behind him.

Judges 13:24-25 – So the woman bore a son and called him Samson; and the child grew and the Lord blessed him. And the Spirit of the Lord began to move upon him at Mahan Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

In the Old Testament the only person who was indwelt by the Holy Spirit permanently was King David. David was indwelt by the Holy Spirit the moment he was anointed by Samuel to be the future King of Israel. The point I’m trying to make is the Holy Spirit was not always on earth prior to the coming of Christ nor was he inside every person who God deemed to be righteous. We’re so lucky to be living at this time in history because the Holy Spirit is in us (believers) and with us wherever we go. In the Bible the Holy Spirit is also referred to as the “restrainer” who keeps evil in this world in check until the end time tribulation period ( 2 Thessalonians 2:7). The Bible is God’s love letter to man (John 3:16). God’s word is the revelation of Jesus Christ coming to earth to save man from their sins. A spiritual truth of heaven is that not only did all three persons of the triune Godhead participate in creation, they also all have a hand in man’s salvation. Jesus died in our place, God forgives our sins, and The Holy Spirit saves us to heaven. The Holy Spirit does the really hard “work” for God on this planet through the indwelling of believers. God doesn’t need man to save anyone. God saves whomever he pleases. God is graciously allowing man to work in his harvest field alongside him to save lost souls so he can give us honor, glory, and riches in heaven on the last day. Obedience to God’s word allows the Lord to bless us.

1 Samuel 16:13-14 – Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him (David) in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah. But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul.

Psalm 51:11 – (King David) – Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Psalm 30:10 – Hear, O Lord, and have mercy on me; Lord be my helper!

Hebrews 13:6 – So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

Why is this important for us to know? Because when Jesus Christ, the son of God, came off his throne in heaven to become a man and die on the cross for the sins of all men we received a double blessing from God the Father. Not only were our sins forgiven so we could be saved unto eternal life in heaven through our faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit of God was also sent to the earth to be with us and in us on Pentecost in 33 AD from that point forward, even after we go to heaven. I’m talking about “forever.” No human being ever saved another person to heaven before the time of Jesus because Christ hadn’t died on the cross yet for the sins of all men. Righteous men who died before Jesus went to paradise within the earth to await the coming of Christ. Jesus took all those Old Testament saints to heaven while he was buried three days in the earth and before he rose from the dead. The Holy Spirit is now and always will be the helper of all who believe in the name of Jesus. Jesus Christ had to ascend back to Father God in heaven before our Helper could be sent to us (John 16:7). In like manner, the Holy Spirit will one day be removed from the earth when Jesus comes in the air to rapture his saints and exactly seven years before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ on the last day.

Psalm 54:4 – Behold. God is my Helper.

Ephesians 1:13-14 – In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 4:30 – And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

In summary, one of the spiritual truths of heaven is that nobody can be saved unto eternal life in heaven without the presence of the Holy Spirit and God’s word being spoken. That’s why the Bible says the gospel did not come to us in word only; but also in the power of God unto salvation for those who believe in the son of God. When you witness for Christ have confidence in knowing that God is inside you and with you. We know a secret the whole world needs to know so don’t be ashamed; be proud. When man witnesses for Christ to nonbelievers we’re planting the gospel seed and watering it. It’s up to God to use our good works and harvest a nonbeliever’s soul for heaven. We’ve done our part to save them by giving our testimony of God. The important thing for us to do is obey the commandments of God ever chance we get by witnessing Christ to nonbelievers. We are then to pray for Father God’s help; and also pray for our Helper to ask God on our behalf to use the gospel seed we have sown before the throne of grace to save someone to heaven. On the last day God will equally reward the reaper and the sower of a soul to heaven. Witnessing for Christ to save lost souls to heaven is why God leaves us here on earth after our salvation.

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.

Romans 8:9 – But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.

Hebrews 13:5 – (God) – I will never leave you nor forsake you (the Holy Spirit).

James 4:2-3 – Yet you do not have because you do not ask (in prayer). You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss (by not praying for the Holy Spirit’s help).

To be a more effective witness for Christ every believer needs to pray constantly for the assistance of our indwelt Holy Spirit, our Helper, who God has given to us for this purpose. Believers who utilize their helper effectively are able to save souls for heaven to the tune of thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold souls for heaven. God says a hundredfold is a good harvest of lost souls before the Lord. I’ve just given you a good target to shoot for as you witness for Christ. God gives every believer their own individual ministry of reconciliation. No two ministries are exactly alike. If you don’t know your ministry yet then pray for God to reveal it to you. Prayer is the key to success with God. Pray before, during, and after your witness for Christ and you will be successful. Years ago the Holy Spirit gave me the ministry of studying God’s word and giving my testimony about God using the written word. As a result I’m a Christian blogger with 667 blog postings over the last five years. I “passively” witness for Christ by distributing free cartoon tracts (Chick Tracts) containing the written gospel message with the sinner’s prayer on the back page. I send these Christian tracts to my seven prison ministries so the chaplains who work there can give them to the inmates. Those people in prison desperately need to hear that God loves them and he is ready to forgive their sins if they come to him in faith. My tract ministry has distributed well over 35,000 gospel tracts, close to 2,000 Bibles, and hundreds of gospel comics.

John 14:16-17 – (Jesus) – And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide in you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

John 14:6 – (Jesus) – I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

John 16:13 – (Jesus) – However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever he hears He will speak; and He will tell you things you do not know.

Ephesians 1:13 – In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.

There is one last thing I feel I need to mention to you. Study how to pray and learn how to approach the throne of grace correctly. We’re never totally sure we’re praying to God in an acceptable manner. This is where the Holy Spirit can help us out because, after all, he is our Helper. Ask the Holy Spirit to read your heart and present your prayers before God so they have a good smelling aroma. Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior sits at the right hand of God. Jesus is our Mediator. Call on Jesus to defend us before God the Father so that our prayers are answered. In John 14:16-17 Jesus insinuates he is also our helper so reach out to him often. When we witness for Christ we’re obeying the commandments of God. With both Jesus and the Holy Spirit on our side we can’t fail. Use all the resources that God makes available to believers. The Bible says we can have what we pray for if we believe that God will grant our prayers. I believe everything God says in his word, therefore, I know without doubting that God is saving nonbelievers through the gospel seed I’ve sown before the throne of grace, for which I’ll be rewarded in heaven on the last day. God cannot lie! Everything I’m telling you is in the Bible. You have a choice to make. Believe God and do what he says and you’ll be blessed beyond your wildest imagination. Disbelieve what God says and become a slacker when it comes to doing God’s work and you’ll be judged by the Lord on the last day for your sin, your disbelief, and your disobedience. Praise God!

The ideas for my blogs sometimes comes from whatever I’m reading at the moment, which is usually one of the Christian books I have in my religious reference library. I also use my Great Course study material, my Bible guides, and my concordance. But mostly my blog ideas come to me as I read the Bible every day and actually take time to study God’s word for knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. Every time I study God’s word he reveals more of his truth to me. God will do the same for you if you give him a chance. It’s like peeling away the layers of an onion. The thing with God’s word is this: man will never be able to unravel more than a tiny fraction of the mysteries of God, even if he tried for a million years. God will tell us what he wants us to know when it suits him.

I don’t think too far ahead with my blogs. I just read the Bible, pray, and study God’s word. At some point, an idea will come to me, more often than not prompted by the Holy Spirit; or the Holy Spirit will draw my attention to a Bible verse I’m currently reading. I try to be aware spiritually and take the time to listen for the still, small voice of God talking to me. That voice of God is the Holy Spirit, who has indwelt me from the age of twelve, when I was saved unto eternal life in heaven by my profession of faith in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I was then baptized before the congregation of the First Baptist Church in my hometown as a public demonstration of my faith in Jesus. I don’t question the Holy Spirit’s guidance because he’s my trusted helper sent from God to guide me through the trials and tribulations of this life. I just go with the flow the best I can.

Ephesians 1:13 – In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.

Ephesians 4:30 – And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Hebrews 13:5 – I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Colossians 4:15 – Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas and the church that is in his house.

In all of the Apostle Paul’s epistles he thanks those fellow workers who have helped him spread the word of God. We see this in Colossians 4:15 where Paul mentions a fellow worker for God named Nymphas and the “church” that is “in” his house. You see, believers are the church of God and not any building made by the hands of man. In the Bible God refers to all believers collectively as his church and Jesus Christ is the head of God’s church. God uses the metaphor of a human body to represent his church and each believer is a member of that collective body, all of equal importance to God the Father. In the early church believers met in each others homes to worship God together in fellowship because God instructed believers to worship together so that they could encourage and support each other.

In the above verse Paul was simply saying that believers (i.e. the church of God) were meeting in the house of Nymphas. Christians began to meet in ever larger groups and that meant erecting buildings just for worshipping God. These buildings eventually became known as “churches” and they became bigger and more grandiose over time because church leaders thought that would please God (and bring in more money for the church coffers). It didn’t impress God one bit. Those large ornate Catholic churches mean nothing to God. Those 25,000 member Protestant mega churches are no more pleasing to God than a few Christian believers sitting around the coffee table of someone’s home worshipping the Lord. Don’t let anyone convince you bigger is always better; it’s not.

Matthew 18:20 – (Jesus) – For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

1 Corinthians 3:9 – For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.

2 Corinthians 5:1 – For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

1 Corinthians 12:27 – Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.

God blessed the Israelites by selecting them as his chosen people. While the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness of Sinai for forty years God instructed them to build a temple so he could live among them. The Israelites, later known as Jews, were nomads so the temple was a tent. At the center of the temple was a smaller tent known as the “holy of holies” where the presence of God resided between the two cherubim atop the Ark of the Covenant. This sacred spot was only entered once a year by the high priest on the Day of Atonement to make a sin offering to God for the people of Israel.

After Israel conquered their promised land they built a temple of stone and God continued to reside within the “holy of holies.” God spoke to his people and dealt with any problems through his prophets and priests. The rank and file had no direct access to God. This was the law of Moses; the old covenant between God and man prior to the coming of Jesus Christ, the son of God, to die on the cross for the sins of all men, past, present, and future. During this time the temple was literally the house of God because the Lord dwelt there among his people.

Exodus 29:45 – I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God.

Hebrews 1:1 – God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets.

Hebrews 4:14 – Seeing then that we have a great High Priest whom has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.

Hebrews 1:2 – (God) Has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom He made the worlds.

The exact moment Jesus Christ died on the cross God split the curtain to the temple “holy of holies” right down the middle. This signified there would no longer be any separation between God and man. Earthly priests were no longer needed because Jesus would be our High Priest and Mediator before God the Father in heaven. People could go directly to God in prayer any time they wanted and ask for the forgiveness of their sins. This was the new blood covenant of Jesus Christ based on the shed blood of Christ for the forgiveness of the sins of all men. When God raised Jesus from the dead three days after his crucifixion it signified God’s acceptance of Jesus’ sacrificial death on our behalf as atonement for the sins of man. When Jesus rose from the dead in a glorified body it meant that we too will one day rise from the dead and receive a glorified body just like the one Jesus has.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ was the most important moment in the history of the world. It changed the eternal destination of all men from hell to heaven for those who believe in the name of Jesus. However, salvation unto heaven is not automatic; you still must claim it before God through faith in Jesus! Just before Jesus ascended back to heaven from the Mount of Olives he told his disciples that God the Father would soon send a helper to all believers. On Pentecost, fifty days after the crucifixion of Jesus, the Holy Spirit of God arrived on earth as promised to indwell every believer forever (even after they go to heaven). This event was the start of the church age; otherwise known as the “time of the Gentiles.” The church age will end when Jesus comes in the air to rapture the saints.

Many believers who are saved begin to doubt their salvation because they don’t “feel” like they’re saved and they still sin. The Holy Spirit is invisible and has no weight so of course it can’t be felt on our physical plane. Believers will still sin like everyone else because we all live in our corrupt sin-filled bodies because of Adam’s original sin and fall in the Garden of Eden. Believers will one day have glorified bodies in heaven that cannot sin. Believe what God says because God cannot lie. If you believe the lies of Satan and doubt God you’re calling God a liar to his face. Satan is the god of this world and he lies to everyone. If Satan can convince a believer they aren’t saved or if they were saved once they aren’t anymore then the devil has neutralized that Christian as a vessel fit for God’s use. A believer cannot be an effective witness for Christ if their inner faith isn’t rock solid. Resist Satan by reading the Bible every day. Remember, nonbelievers will watch you and point out your sins to you. When this happens to me I respond by saying, “I’m not perfect but I am forgiven.”

Romans 8:11 – But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Acts 1:8 – (Jesus) – But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

Romans 5:5 – Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

2 Timothy 1:14 – That good thing which was committed to you (salvation), keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

After the death of Jesus Christ during Passover in 33 AD there was no longer any need for God to dwell in a temple building made by the hands of man; not when our God could dwell in a temple of his own making (the human body). The old covenant ended and the new covenant began. God now dwells in the hearts of all believers who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We, you and I, are God’s building; we are the true house of God. When God saves us unto eternal life in heaven through faith in Jesus Christ God gives us a brand new sin-free eternal spirit to replace the old one we received at conception. That makes our body a sin-free vessel fit for God’s use. That makes us “holy” before God.

It’s the Holy Spirit of God that changes our eternal destination from hell to heaven through faith in Jesus and then he writes the believer’s name in the book of life to be opened on the last day. And finally, the Holy Spirit moves into his house (our body) as God’s promise to us that we are his possession and we have God’s seal of assurance that we will live in heaven forever in the presence of Jesus upon our death. A believer cannot lose his salvation once it has been gifted to him by God. Don’t believe that lie! God is not mocked! God doesn’t make mistakes or engage in do-overs. Once saved always saved! There are numerous scriptures in the Bible that confirm this truth and God cannot lie; otherwise he wouldn’t be God. The Bible is the inerrant word of God so trust what God says. Train yourself to live by faith and not by sight. The word of God is truth and it will endure forever!

John 14:16-17 – (Jesus) – And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide in you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Romans 8:9 – But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.

Hebrews 3:6 – But Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.

Just so we’re clear; there is only one God but the triune Godhead exists as three separate distinct persons, all of whom are God (God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit). God has many names but I know him as Jehovah. Jesus Christ is the son of God and the only way to heaven. If you happen to be a follower of one of the fake religions and false gods that Satan has sponsored throughout history to hide the truth of God from man then an eternity in the lake of fire and brimstone awaits you where you’ll be in pain and agony 24/7. If you call yourself a Christian but you haven’t yet accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior you’re in the same boat. You’re a Christian in name only and not through faith in Jesus.

Everyone of us is born on the road to hell and it’s up to each of us to change our eternal destination by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Belonging to a particular church denomination won’t save you to heaven. Following church doctrines, traditions, and dogma can’t save you either. The leader of any church can’t authorize your salvation unto heaven or send you to hell, be they Pope, priest or pastor. That’s God’s job and he is a jealous God! A nonbeliever can only be saved unto eternal life in heaven by personally accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. No other name under heaven can save you.

John 14:6 – (Jesus) – I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

John 11:25-26- (Jesus) – I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.

Matthew 26:28 – (Jesus) – For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Luke 24:46 – (Jesus) – Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day.

We find our own salvation by searching for and finding the true God of creation, who just happens to be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We’re saved by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior in prayer before the throne of grace. The evidence for our God as the one true God of creation is overwhelming for those who take the time to look. Our Holy Bible is all the proof of God we need. The Bible contains over 1000 prophecies, over 500 of which have been fulfilled and documented as fact. All the other fake religions and false gods don’t have a single fulfilled prophecy between them. They stand mute before the one true God of creation. Check it out for yourself if you don’t believe me. If you read the Bible in its entirety there’s a 95% chance you’ll come face to face with God. See, I have told you.

God made us and put us here on this earth as our “testing time” to see if we will choose to serve God or Satan. If you choose God you get to go to heaven and if you choose Satan you wind up in hell. It’s as simple as that. If you don’t make a free will choice for either God or Satan you have chosen Satan by default (Luke 11:23). Narrow is the path that leads up to heaven and there are few who find it. Wide is the road going down to hell and many go that way. Therefore, a good rule of thumb is to watch which way most of the people are going and then go the opposite direction. You can’t go wrong. You are free to choose to serve God or Satan while you yet live. At death you’re locked in with your choice and a just God will give you what you deserve or what you have asked for in prayer. Your lips will either condemn you or save you, because God is faithful to forgive our sins if we ask him.

1 John 5:10 – He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself (the Holy Spirit); he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.

Galatians 4:19 – My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you.

2 Corinthians 5:10 – For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Ephesians 5:26 – That He might sanctify and cleanse her (the church) with the washing of water by the word.

At conception God gives each of us a part of himself (our eternal spirit) so that we also become an immortal being like God. That’s good news and bad news depending on how you look at it. It’s good news if you wind up in heaven because you’ll receive honor, glory, and riches from God. It’s bad news if you wind up in hell because you’ll be in pain and agony forever. As a believer the Holy Spirit resides within us and alongside our eternal spirit. Our spirit is fully aware the Holy Spirit is God so it’s a happy reunion. This is all very convenient for the believer because when a believer dies their eternal spirit and the Holy Spirit are ejected immediately from the dead corpse because a dead body is an unclean thing to God and our spirit and the Holy Spirit cannot remain in there. It’s a little bit like toast popping up out of a toaster. You get the mental picture. I say this is convenient because the Holy Spirit is right there ready to take our spirit back to God in heaven when we die, which is where we all originally came from. Scripture confirms our citizenship is in heaven. We’re just visitors on the earth.

1 John 4:15 – Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

John 6:27 – (Jesus) – Do not labor for food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.

John 5:28-29 – For the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth – those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of the damned.

John 4:23-24 – (Jesus) – But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

God has every detail of your life planned out, even your triumphant return home as an adopted child of the Most High. If you’re a nonbeliever there’ll be no heavenly reunion for you. You get to keep your old sin-filled spirit and the Holy Spirit will never indwell you. God is reciprocal so when a nonbeliever dies their spirit is taken to hell by demons. Do you remember the movie “Ghost” where the bad guys die and are then dragged down to hell within the earth by the little dark spirit creatures? That may not be an exact representation of what happens when nonbelievers die but it’s close enough. Just know that going to hell won’t be a pleasant experience, which is why God warns us repeatedly not to go there. It’s horrifying to imagine being in pain and agony 24/7 for all eternity. A trillion billion years is only one day in eternity. Please avoid hell by praying the “sinner’s prayer” to God right now.

2 Corinthians 5:6 – So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.

Colossians 1:13 – He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.

John 16:13 – (Jesus) – However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

2 Corinthians 5:18 – Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

In summary, Christian believers who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior become the “house of God” on this earth because the Holy Spirit resides in their hearts. The body of each believer is the temple of God. I know this to be true in the spiritual world by faith and I also know this to be true on our physical plane of existence by my personal experience. I’m retired now but many years ago when I was working on a project in New Orleans I felt the Holy Spirit move within my body. I was standing up in my hotel room when I suddenly felt something hard in the pit of my stomach. It moved rapidly up my chest which cause me to instinctively bend forward as it exited my throat. It was invisible. It scared me.

It took me a long time to figure out what had happened. When I read John 7:38 I realized what I felt in New Orleans that day was the Holy Spirit. This verse described perfectly what had happened to me. The Bible refers to the Holy Spirit as living water. My question was why me? Why did God honor me by letting me know he was inside me? Of course God knew I’d become a Christian blogger years later, which is why God revealed himself to me. God wants me to give my testimony to nonbelievers that the Holy Spirit of God will indwell all believers the moment they are saved unto eternal life in heaven. I hereby testify to all men that I know this to be true. Praise God for his love and mercy!

John 7:28 – (Jesus) – He who believes in Me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

Luke 21:36 – (Jesus) – Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.

Luke 11:23 – (Jesus) – He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

John 3:6 – (Jesus) – That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

1 John 5:13 – These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

Daniel 12:3 – And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

If I’m being honest, Daniel 12:3 is probably my favorite scripture. I read it more than any other scripture because I have it on my desk on a 3″X5″ index card along with John 3:16 and 2 Corinthians 5:18. I drink a pot of coffee very early every morning as I meditate on the magnitude and majesty of Almighty God. I’m so thankful to God for calling me and saving me unto eternal life in heaven. I show my gratitude to God daily by blessing the Lord for what he has done for me. I know God made me and put me here on earth to do something special. My whole life I’ve been searching for what it is I must do for God. Therefore, I’ve always focused on what comes next; what’s over the next horizon, over the next hill. I’m always trying to figure out the end game and how I get from here to there. How can I be the best I can possibly be with the talents I possess? What talents do I have exactly? What will I have accomplished at the end of my life? Will God be disappointed in me? What skills do I have that I can develop to help me in this life? I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve been told to stop and smell the roses instead of rushing through life. I admit I’ve never been a patient person. That’s just the way I’m wired. I’ve always been focused on the future a lot. I found all the answers to my questions in God’s word, our Holy Bible. I should have looked there first because it would have eliminated a lot of anxiety on my part.

Colossians 4:5 – Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside (nonbelievers), redeeming the time (witnessing for Christ).

I guess that’s one of the reasons I love Bible prophecy so much; because it tells me things about the future in general and the end times in particular. The prophetic book of Daniel is one of the greatest books in the Old Testament. A lot of what we know about the end time events comes from the book of Daniel. There are two things only God can do; tell the future and bring back the dead. We know for sure the Bible is God’s word because it tells the future. The Bible contains over 1000 prophecies, over 500 of which have already been fulfilled and documented as fact. Prophecy is just the future written in advance. All the other fake religions and false gods sponsored by Satan throughout history to hide the truth of God from man don’t even have one fulfilled prophecy between them. They stand mute before the true God of creation; convicted as the frauds they are.

Ephesians 5:15-16 – See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time (witnessing for Christ), because the days are evil.

In scripture God often uses a figure of speech called “parallelism.” There are usually two statements in a verse or sentence, separated by a comma, both with similar meanings but using different words. Or the sentences can have opposite meanings. The point is each sentence clarifies or defines each other so that the meaning of the verse is crystal clear. Let’s look at the first statement in Daniel 12:3:

“And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament,” –

The word “wise” is defined as having or showing experience, knowledge, and good judgment. Wisdom is the quality of being wise. What good is it to be wise if you’re not using it to your advantage. That is wisdom. In the Bible God repeatedly refers to those who witness for Christ to save nonbelievers to the kingdom of heaven as being “wise.” God is saying those believers who save lost souls to heaven will shine in heaven because of the glory they receive from God for obeying the number one commandment of God which is to witness for Christ. I keep remembering the transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor in front of his disciples (Peter, John and James). Jesus allowed some of his glory from heaven to show in his body, which caused him to glow brightly. Jesus did this as an example to the apostles so they could testify about it later. The word glory means great fame or honor by notable achievement. The more people we save the greater our glory will be in heaven.

Proverbs 4:18 – But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.

The only notable achievement a believer can make in heaven is to save lost souls down here on earth. It’s the only way to accrue glory from God which will be given to us on the last day when we stand before the bema judgment seat of Jesus Christ. Whatever you do don’t go before Jesus empty-handed. I believe every saint in heaven will receive some glory from God causing them to glow brightly. I believe the more souls a believer saves to heaven the greater the glory received from God and the greater our “shine” is in heaven; even as bright as the stars in the night sky. The problem is we don’t know the number of people we need to save in order to shine that brightly. In the dictionary “shine” means to give out or reflect light. Shine also means to be very good at something. Both definitions apply in Daniel 12:3 because in order to save many people to heaven a believer has to be very good at witnessing for Christ. We know from scripture that the glory, or shine, of the believer increases based on the number of nonbelievers saved to heaven.

“And they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” –

The second statement in Daniel 12:3 says the same thing as the first but using different words. Turning many to righteousness is the same thing as witnessing for Christ to save many nonbelievers to heaven. God is saying the same thing in two different ways to emphasize his point and drive home the meaning. God does the same with stars and firmament because they are the same thing. In the first statement God says those who are “wise” shall shine. In the second statement God infers those who save “many” will shine. Hence, God considers those who save many people to the kingdom of heaven as being wise before the Lord. The number 1000 popped into my head as my ultimate goal and it sounded reasonable to me. It’s hard to save 1000 people to heaven but it’s not impossible. You must leverage your witness for Christ somehow. I “passively” witness for Christ through my two Christian blog sites and also by distributing gospel tracts free to prison chaplains to give to inmates.

Proverbs 1:7 – The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Did I come up with this number on my own or did the Holy Spirit suggest it to me? I wasn’t sure so I asked God for the answer in prayer. I needed to be sure. I continued to pray to God for a long time asking him if saving 1000 souls for heaven will qualify as “many” in the eyes of God. God often answers our prayers by using another man of God to convey the answer to us, which is what happened in my case. There is a fellow believer in Louisiana I keep in touch with because I sometimes send him Bibles and Christian tracts. He sends me a text with photo every time he saves someone to heaven. Out of the blue he texted me and says his personal goal is to save 1000 people to heaven before he dies. God gave me my answer. I let my brother in Christ know my goal was the same as his which was a blessing for us both.

Mark 1:17 – (Jesus) – Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.

God will accept 1000 saved souls to heaven by my hand as being “many” in the eyes of God which means I’ll shine in heaven like it says in Daniel 12:3. Now what that means exactly I don’t know but I know it’ll be good. God doesn’t give away junk! So when I read Daniel 12:3 I know that saving at least 1000 people for heaven is possible or God wouldn’t have mentioned it. We know from scripture that John the Baptist saved many thousands of people to heaven which was why Jesus said there’s no greater person in heaven that John. The ultimate achievement for any believer is to save at least 1000 nonbelievers to heaven. It’s the pot of gold at the end of the spiritual rainbow which is why I can’t stop rereading Daniel 12:3. I want it so badly I can’t stop thinking about it. You can’t achieve any goal without visualizing how to get there. I have a plan to get there and I’m working my plan with all diligence. What you have to remember is that only one out of every thousand people who have ever lived will wind up in heaven. And only one out of every 1000 believers in heaven will save 1000 or more people to heaven. I seek to be in the top tier of heaven and you should too. I don’t know how many people will be in that select group, but it won’t take long to call the roll. I’m thinking maybe John the Baptist, the Apostle Paul, and all the other disciples. From our day I’m thinking Billy Graham. The point is, if a believer can save at least a 1000 people to heaven he’ll be rubbing elbows with the greats of the Christian faith and he’ll belong there and he’ll be accepted among them as an equal.

Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

Why is this so important to God? You need to know that God’s salvation plan for man calls for believers saving nonbelievers. It’s how God plans to stock heaven. God gave up his son Jesus Christ for crucifixion so that our sins could be forgiven by a just and merciful God. Rejecting the sacrificial death of Jesus in our place is an affront to God; a slap in the face of Almighty God and a grievous sin against the Father of Glory. Woe unto that person because hell awaits him. You either choose to serve God or Satan and accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is how you choose to serve God. God is then glorified when we witness for Jesus Christ and save lost souls to heaven. Fully 90% of all the saints in heaven will be there through faith in Jesus alone, not having saved a single person to heaven by their witness for Christ. Heaven has a pecking order and our rank will correspond with how nonbelievers we save to heaven. Those saints who don’t save anyone will be the worker bees in heaven. Those who work for God receive wages to be paid on the last day (treasure) and those who don’t work for the Lord get what they deserve on the last day.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 – Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.

Every soul is priceless to God so if you save at least one person to heaven God will be pleased with you. How could it be otherwise? Some believers who witness for Christ will save thirtyfold souls to heaven, some sixtyfold and some a hundredfold. In the Bible God refers to a hundredfold as a good harvest before the Lord. Make it your first goal to save one hundred nonbelievers to heaven. The thing is this: the good works we do on earth during our brief seventy years on this planet translate into honor, glory and riches in heaven that’ll last for all eternity. I don’t know about you but I’m motivated to save as “many” lost souls to heaven as I can by my witness for Christ. It’s really hard to save 1000 people with a one on one witness for Christ. Every person needs to figure out a way to leverage their witness for Christ that works for them. As I said earlier, I leverage my witness for Christ “passively” by using my two Christian blog sites and also by distributing Christian tracts containing the gospel message of Christ to my seven prison ministries.

Proverbs 11:30 – The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

God is generous to a fault and he equally rewards the reaper and the sower of each soul for heaven. The sower of the gospel seed is the believer who moves the nonbeliever along the path to salvation by his witness and that soul is eventually reaped by another servant of God. It’s rare for someone to hear the gospel message of Christ once and become saved. It usually takes someone hearing the gospel message of Christ multiple times, maybe even up to 25-30 times before they finally accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Only God can save someone to heaven. Our job is to share our witness of Christ to as many people as we can and let God save those whom he will. The key thing to do is to keep praying for God to use the gospel seed you cast before the Lord to save someone to heaven. Prayer works! God can save anyone and our prayers help with that. God is not looking to keep people out of heaven. God wants all of his creatures in heaven with him. God never made anyone with the express purpose of sending them to hell. God treats everyone equally. God gives everyone the free will choice to serve God or Satan.

Proverbs 14:25 – A true witness delivers souls, but a deceitful witness speaks lies.

Our job is simply to obey the commandments of God to the best of our ability. We are to read the Bible daily. We are to pray to God daily, as many times as we can spare. The more the better. We are to study God’s word for knowledge, understanding and wisdom. When we read the Bible God is talking to us and when we pray to God we’re talking to God. That’s what we call fellowship. That’s what we call abiding in the Lord our God; and God will abide in us in return. When that happens believers can produce much fruit (saved souls) for the kingdom of heaven. If you’re a believer God called you to salvation and saved you. As a believer you’re commanded to help save others. Someone once saved you and you owe it to God and the nonbeliever to help save one more for Jesus. You are the chosen of God and blessed above most men. Praise God for his love, mercy, and grace.

Proverbs 23:12 – Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to words of knowledge.

In summary, as a disciple of Christ God put you here on this earth to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with all nations and all people. This Great Commission that Jesus gave to his disciples before ascending back to heaven was meant not only for the original disciples of Christ but also for all believers who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. If you have been called by God and saved by God unto eternal life in heaven count yourself lucky. That’s the easy part. If you want a higher rank in heaven you have to earn it by doing God’s work on earth which is primarily witnessing for Christ to save nonbelievers to heaven. Whatever rank you earn in heaven lasts forever and your rank will be obvious to every saint you meet by the glory emanating from you. Don’t disappoint God. Go out and save all you can for as long as you can. God is watching and he will help you if you ask him. Good luck!

Matthew 4:19 – (Jesus) – Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.

The more souls you save to heaven the higher your rank. If you save just one person you still please God. If you save 100 people God considers it a good harvest for you and God will be really pleased with you. If you save 1000 or more people to heaven you’ll be at the pinnacle of heaven with whatever honor, glory and responsibilities that go with that rank in heaven. God will be thrilled with you. Being a king or a president or a rich person means nothing in heaven. Death is the great equalizer and we are all judged equally before the Lord. In the end all we have to fall back on is our “good works” before the Lord during our lifetime. Those who redeemed their time wisely and were fruitful for the Lord will be richly rewarded and they will rule in heaven. That could be you if you’re willing to put in the work. I know I am. I hope to see all of you there in heaven in our select group of overachievers. This is my testimony of God and my intention to witness for Jesus Christ as long as I live, with all perseverance in order to reach my goal of 1000 saved souls for heaven. Come join me!

James 5:20 – He who turns a sinner from the error of his ways will save a soul from death (eternal death in hell).

1 Corinthians 15:58 – Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

John 3:16 – (Jesus) – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

This is the best known and most repeated verse in the entire Bible. Why is that? Because this small verse in the gospel of John is a summary of the “good news” that there is a God in heaven who made us. Not only that; God also loves us because he sent Jesus Christ from heaven to die on the cross for our sins. God also says we can go to heaven because of the sacrificial death of Jesus on our behalf. This verse is really good news for all men so of course every Christian latches onto it as proof they are going to heaven and not hell. That is a great relief you say! But wait just a minute. Christians who think this would be wrong in their superficial thinking. If you’ll notice God didn’t say whoever believes in Jesus “shall” not perish. God said whoever believes in Jesus “should” not perish. The entire meaning of the verse turns on the word “should.” The word “shall” means something ought to be done. The word “should” means something could easily happen. In this verse God is saying someone who believes in him could easily be saved unto eternal life in heaven by a profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. There’s no guarantees with the word “should.” Salvation is still up in the air until a person chooses to serve God and not Satan. This verse sounds good and it gets people all excited but in the end it means nothing without the next step being completed to push the one who believes from “he should be saved” to “he was saved.” That next step is the believer giving his life to Jesus Christ by a declaration of faith in prayer before the throne of God the Father.

Romans 1:16 – For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek (Gentile).

First of all, what does the word believe mean? The dictionary lists four definitions for the word believe: 1) accept that something is true or someone is telling the truth; 2) feel certain that someone or something exists; 3) think that something is the case; 4) have religious faith. From God’s perspective a believer is someone who believes in God and his son Jesus; someone who meets all four of these definitions. A believer from the Christian perspective is someone who knows Jesus Christ is the son of God who came down from heaven two thousands years ago to live a human life and who died on the cross in our place; so that the sins of man could be forgiven by a loving and merciful God. A believer is someone who believes Jesus was crucified, was buried and then rose from the dead on the third day, before ascending back to heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father. A believer is someone who accepts the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross for the forgiveness of their sins and who acknowledges Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. A believer is someone who professes this gospel message of Christ before the throne of grace in prayer, with thanksgiving, and gratitude for what God has done for them through Christ Jesus.

Matthew 10:28 – (Jesus) – And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Many Christians use the term “believer” too loosely, me included, because the term means different things to different groups of people. To all those Christians who are saved the word “believer” means the same thing. To those who aren’t saved the word believer can mean a lot of different things. Fake religions also refer to their followers as believers and in their case they’re worshipping Satan and they don’t even realize it . Then there are those who call themselves Christians but they aren’t really saved. They are just deceiving themselves. The Christian moniker means nothing to them. They may even think they’re saved but they’re not because they don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus. Many Catholics are in this category. Many Catholics are saved but there are also many who are not.

Romans 3:23 – For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

If you’re a Catholic and you treat Jesus Christ as a cookie you only pull out at mass then you’re not saved. If you’re relying on membership in the Catholic church and following church sacraments to save you you’re wrong. If you think the Pope and his priests can forgive your sins and save you to heaven then you’re sadly mistaken. If you’re praying to Mary, the mother of Jesus, or any other human being for that matter, then your prayers aren’t being heard. Human beings whether they’re in heaven or on earth can’t hear our prayers or do anything about our prayers if they could hear them because they’re not God. Only God is omnipresent. Our God is also a jealous God and receiving and answering our prayers is God’s domain alone because it glorifies God to receive and answer prayers. In the Bible God also says he will not let another steal his glory so woe unto those who attempt it. You have been warned. Only God can forgive our sins and save us unto eternal life in heaven and not other sinful human beings. If you’re not taking your sins directly to God for forgiveness then your sins are piling up on you and you’ll have to answer for them on the last day. The Pope can’t sent anyone to hell. Only God can save you and only God can send you to hell for all eternity. It’s in the Bible! Satan has owned the Catholic church since 600 AD and probably well before then. If you’re a believer in the Catholic church God has a special message for you in Revelation 18:4-5. Read it below:

Revelation 18:4-5 – Come out of her (the Catholuc church), my people, lest you receive her plagues. For her sins have reached heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

There is another kind of person in this world who believes that God exists, and he may even believe in Jesus too, per the believer definition one and two. Many nonbelievers “believe” that God and Jesus are real. In fact, they know they are. They just don’t want to worship them. They enjoy sinning too much to give it up. They’d rather worship Satan or believe in some other fake religion and false god of their own volition. They are fools according to God. Just knowing God and Jesus Christ exist doesn’t help you; it doesn’t get you to heaven. Knowledge of God only gets you halfway. Satan and his demons also know God and Jesus are real but just believing in them doesn’t get them to heaven either. This kind of believer doesn’t meet number three and four of the definition of believe because they don’t think Jesus died for their sins and/or they don’t acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Just knowing about God and Jesus doesn’t make your salvation a fait accompli which is why God says in John 3:16 believers “should not” perish; if they had any common sense. Calling yourself a Christian because you were raised in a Christian home and you occasionally went to church doesn’t make you a Christian. At least half of the Christians you see in church every Sunday aren’t saved. Many Christians go to church to feel good about themselves and to impress others. I can call myself a Martian all day long but that doesn’t make me one unless I come from Mars. Look, you’re a Christian if you’ve given your life to Jesus. Period! The word Christian means, “Christ’s men.” Are you one? Why do you think so? Have you prayed the sinner’s prayer? Or are you just deceiving yourself like the scripture says in James 1:22?

James 1:22 – But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

The key thing after you know God and Jesus are real is to “accept” Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour. That profession of faith before the throne of grace is what gets you saved unto eternal life in heaven. It’s called the sinner’s prayer. Every nonbeliever in hell is there because they failed to take this final step when they had the chance, even after many of them knew about Jesus. Our life on earth is our “testing time” to see if we’ll choose to serve God or Satan. A believer chooses God by accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. Not making a choice is the same as choosing Satan. Choose God and you go to heaven. Choose Satan and you go to hell. Let’s evaluate our choices: If I choose door number one I’ve chosen to serve God so I get to go to heaven when I die where I’ll be in the presence of Jesus forever as an adopted son of the Most High God. I’ll become a prince of heaven who’ll receive honor, glory, and riches from my father’s hand. I’ll have a glorified body that’ll never grow old or get sick. I’ll live a joyful eternal existence where I’ll experience many wonders beyond my wildest imagination. Pretty good stuff!

Romans 10:9 – That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Now let’s take a peek and see what’s behind door number two. If you die unsaved you’ve chosen to serve Satan. Upon your death you’ll immediately wind up in hell within the earth where you’ll receive your reward. You’ll get an eternal, putrid, condemned body; filled with maggots and rotting flesh. Does that sound enticing to you? Read Mark 9, 44, 46, 48 for confirmation from God. Imagine the zombies in the “Walking Dead” movies and you get my drift. In hell the nonbeliever will be in great pain and agony 24/7. An eternal spirit can’t feel pain but a resurrected body can. On the last day, after the 1000 year millennial reign of Jesus Christ on the earth, all of the condemned souls in hell will be resurrected bodily to stand in judgment before Jesus Christ at the Great White Throne judgment. If you find yourself there you’re already a goner. Jesus Christ will judge every nonbeliever and he’ll condemn them to the lake of fire and brimstone for all eternity. An angel of God will then pick up every lost soul and hurl them into the lake of fire. Picture yourself being thrown like a javelin. Imagine seeing yourself being hurled through the air heading toward the surface of lake of fire and brimstone. Anticipate the splashdown. In your mind’s eye see yourself hitting the surface and briefly being submerged before popping back to the surface.

Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Now contemplate bobbing up and down like a cork in the lake of fire and brimstone while screaming your head off in unimaginable pain, agony, fury and horror with no one to hear you and no way of escape. It’s not God’s fault; it’s yours. Imagine you are cursing God for all eternity even though you know you in your heart you had your chance and you blew it. That will eat at you forever. The thing is this: if you die unsaved this scenario is absolutely going to happen to you because God says so and God cannot lie. Please remember that a trillion billion years is only one day in eternity. Who in their right mind would want what I just described? You’d have to be out of your mind! No thank you! I think I’ll stick with door number one. How about you? What choice will you make and when will you make it? Don’t wait too long. Many a nonbeliever in hell had every intention of serving God one day but they died unexpectedly and they never got the chance. We’re all just a heartbeat away from our eternal destiny. If I was you I wouldn’t wait another minute. Get on your knees right now and secure your place in heaven. Say the “sinner’s prayer” to God and mean what you say. God will save you on the spot because he said he would and God cannot lie.

Romans 5:1-2 – Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

God’s salvation plan for man is a two step process. God did the harder first step and man does the easier second step. God’s step was Jesus Christ, the son of God, coming down from heaven as the sinless lamb of God to die a sacrificial death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. When Jesus rose from the dead on the third day his resurrection of life signified the beginning of the blood covenant of Christ by God’s acceptance that man’s sin debt had been paid in full by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. After that, all men have to do to be saved unto eternal life in heaven is to acknowledge God, admit they’re a sinner, repent of that sin, and ask for God to forgive their sins while at the same time accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior and the Lord of their life. John 3:16 was God announcing to the world that he had completed his half of the salvation bargain and calling on all men to fulfill their half of the bargain by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. If you’re a true believer who has accepted God’s grace through his invitation you will live in heaven forever. Praise God for his love, mercy, and grace toward all men who believe. Jesus Christ is God!

John 14:6 – (Jesus) – I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Oddly enough, I don’t have a Bible affirmation for John 3:16. Doing this blog made me realize that I should have one. John 3:16 is a personal invitation from God to join him in heaven. God did his half of the salvation equation by sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. Through faith, God wants us to accept his son Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to complete our half of the salvation equation. This will assure our place in heaven is secure and we know we’ll be in the presence of Jesus Christ forever. I’m an old man now. I’ve been saved since the age of twelve when I gave my profession of faith in Jesus Christ before the congregation of the First Baptist Church in my hometown in Oklahoma. I was baptized as a demonstration of my faith. That doesn’t stop me from continuing to reaffirm my salvation unto heaven every chance I get because it gives me great joy. My Bible affirmation of John 3:16 is my weekly response to God, my RSVP, that I’ve accepted God’s offer of salvation unto eternal life in heaven. God is glorified when I worship him and I give him thanks for his love, mercy and grace toward a sinner like me. Praise God! Let God be glorified on earth as he is in heaven. Let God be magnified forever. Here is my affirmation of John 3:16 to God:

MY AFFIRMATION:

Thank you Lord for dying on the cross for my sins so I wouldn’t have to suffer eternal death. You did your part of your salvation plan for my life in order to save me. By a prayer of faith and proclamation before the throne of God I have also completed my half of your salvation plan for my life by accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I have repented of my sins against God and now I seek only to obey all of God’s commandments to the best of my ability going forward. I’m indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. I will witness for Christ with diligence all the days of my life because it’s God’s number one commandment to believers. I am a son of the Most High God and when I’m called home to be with my Lord Jesus Christ I’ll live with him in heaven forever. My cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

2 Corinthians 5:18 – Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

I’ve read the entire Bible multiple times and I’ve studied God’s word for twenty years. Even now after all this time I’m still blown away by God’s eloquence of speech. All believers have John 3:16 etched in their hearts. Psalm 23 is some of the greatest literature ever written and probably the most quoted. But for me personally, nothing speaks to me quite like 2 Corinthians 5:18. This concise Bible verse tells me everything I need to know as a human being trying to figure out who I am and what I need to do in this world. Let’s look at the three statements contained in this verse:

1. “Now all things are of God” –

The Bible states the truth of God as a matter of fact; as a given, with no need to defend the statement because the existence of God is so obvious by what has been made. God has confirmed this in the scriptures (Ps. 19:1). The Bible takes it for granted that there is only one God and he is the one mentioned in the Bible. This means Jehovah is the true God of creation and there is no other. Forget about the debunked theory of evolution that our humanist world crams down our throat. Don’t fall for all those fake religions and false gods sponsored by Satan throughout history because they are lies to keep man from finding the truth of God. The evidence for our God is overwhelming and indisputable. Anyone who wants to know the answer to the question, “where did I come from”, need look no further than the first six words of this verse because God makes it very clear if you’re paying attention. God made “all things” which means he made men, the angels, the earth and all the heavens too. I don’t know about you but knowing God made me and loves me for who I am is very comforting to my soul. I am at peace with God through his grace. It’s why I have the “peace” of God in my heart. When God starts off the verse with the word “now” it indicates God is teaching us his truth; otherwise it has no function or reason to be there in the sentence. God teaches, guides, and corrects those he loves. Count yourself lucky.

God does anything he wants to do and he doesn’t make mistakes so if he made me then I’m supposed to be here, warts and all. I have value to the Most High. I’m something special to God. I know I’m loved by God because he said so in the Bible (Jn. 3:16) and he proved it on the cross. That means every person made by God is very important to him and we should start acting like it no matter what we think or feel or what the world is telling us. We’re to live by faith and not by sight. God’s word says we are priceless in his eyes so accept it. Notice that God doesn’t say we were just made by God but that we are “of” God. That means God is a part of us. At conception God gives us all a part of himself, our eternal spirit, which makes us immortal beings. God is an eternal spirit being and anything from his essence given to us (i.e., our spirit) is also eternal like he is. This means we’ll live forever. The only question to be decided is whether we’ll live in heaven or hell for all eternity. Man has to make the free will choice to serve God or Satan during their life on earth. If you choose God you get eternal life in heaven. If you choose Satan or fail to make a choice you end up in hell forever. Choose well or you will burn forever in the lake of fire and brimstone!

2. “Who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ” –

This statement from 2 Corinthians 5:18 answers the second question all people want to know which is, “where am I going”, or put another way, where is it possible to go? The words “who” and “Himself” refer to God. The word reconcile has two primary meanings; first, to restore friendly relations and second, to make incompatible things exist together without problems or conflict. In the biblical sense both definitions apply here. The fact that God used the past tense of reconcile means that man was a friend of God at some time in the past, the friendship was broken and now that friendship has been renewed. When did all this take place? We know from the Genesis story that God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden where they walked together with God as friends until their fellowship was broken through the sin of disobedience when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. We know God cannot abide sin in his presence so Adam and Eve had to be expelled from the Garden of Eden. A just God had no other choice. A spiritual truth of heaven is, “the wages of sin is death.” Adam and Eve went from being immortal beings to fallen creatures that were destined to grow old and die. Adam’s fate was then passed on to all men who came after Adam because God’s fellowship with man had been broken. God had given the earth to Adam and by his sin against God Adam gave the earth to Satan, who became the god of this world. Jesus Christ came to earth to save man from hell, to defeat the works of Satan, and to reclaim the earth.

So how did God plan to renew his friendship with his creatures? Another spiritual truth of heaven is, “there is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood.” The forgiveness of Adam’s original sin had to be accomplished by the shedding of human blood that was spotless; without sin. Since every human being bears the mark of Adam’s original sin in their body nobody on earth qualified as that perfect sacrifice without blemish. The only possible answer from a just God was for God himself to provide a sinless sacrifice. God had to step down from his throne and come to earth in the flesh as Jesus Christ so he could die on the cross in our place; so we wouldn’t have to suffer eternal death for our sins. Jesus Christ, the son of God, was fully human because he was born of a woman like we all are. Jesus was also fully God because he was conceived by the Holy Spirit of God. Jesus Christ is perfect and without sin. This made Jesus Christ the God-man uniquely qualified to be the perfect sacrifice for the forgiveness of the sins of all men, past, present, and future. This dual nature of Jesus Christ is why he refers to himself as the, “Son of Man.”

Jesus always had the free will choice whether to die for us or not. God the Father didn’t make Jesus die for us. The fact that Jesus Christ, of his own volition, went ahead and died on the cross for us has allowed a loving and merciful God to forgive our sins and heal man’s broken relationship with our creator. This was the most important event in history. Shed blood by Jesus equals redemption for man. Without the shed blood of Jesus all men would still abide in their sins and end up in hell forever without any chance of escape because God doesn’t allow sin in heaven. Even though Jesus died for the sins of all men each person still has to personally accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior before God forgives their sin individually. Salvation is a two step process. Jesus took care of the first step and the second step is up to us. Only Jesus could have saved us from going to hell for all eternity and thankfully he did it. So yes; Jesus is my Savior and I love him for it. Jesus is my Lord and I worship him because of it. I’ll never be able to repay Jesus for saving me but I can worship, honor, and glorify the Lord by being obedient to his commandments and witnessing for Christ to nonbelievers so that others can also be saved to heaven. This is my testimony of God. Hear me! It’s a sin against God to reject the sacrificial death of Jesus to save your eternal soul. It’s like slapping God in the face. Woe to that person on the last day!

3. “And has given us the ministry of reconciliation” –

In the last statement of 2 Corinthians 5:18 it is God who is giving man “his work” to do. There’s a reason God put man on this earth and that is to do the “good works” that God has assigned to each one of us to do. It’s incumbent on each of us to find out what work God wants us to do and then go do it. That’s the only way we can please God and fulfill our destiny. It’s the only way we’ll receive honor, glory, and rewards in heaven. The dictionary defines the word ministry as, “the work of a religious person.” If you are saved believer you’re indwelt by the Holy Spirit so you are the righteousness of Christ which “qualifies” you as a religious person in the eyes of God. You are holy. If you’re serving God in whatever capacity you choose that is your ministry; your work. That’s why those who preach God’s word are called ministers. When you see the word ministry in the Bible you need to automatically think of the word “work” in its place to understand it better. I’ve already defined what the word “reconcile” means. Reconciliation is the act of or action of reconciling. So we can define the ministry of reconciliation as doing God’s work of witnessing for Christ in order to restore good relations between God and man. The ministry of reconciliation is the same thing as witnessing for Christ. If we were to change the statement above to, “And God commanded man to witness for Christ”, we would be saying the exact same thing. Notice that God didn’t say he was offering us this ministry. God is “giving” us this work to do so it’s a commandment to all believers. If we don’t witness for Christ, the thing God loves most, then we are sinning against God by our disobedience.

If God’s word was somehow taken away from me and I was only allowed to keep one verse from the Bible then 2 Corinthians 5:18 is the one verse I would keep. It tells me everything I need to know to live a successful life. 1) Jehovah is the only God and I was made by him for a purpose. 2) Jesus has washed away my sins against God so I can go to heaven if I accept his grace. 3) God has given me the work of sharing the gospel of Christ so that nonbelievers can also be saved to heaven through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. 2 Corinthians 5:18 is one of the three verses I keep on my desk on 3″ X 5″ index cards so I can easily read them every morning as I drink my pot of coffee, usually between 3:00 AM and 4:00 AM. John 3:16 and Daniel 12:3 are the other two verses I keep on my desk. They keep me grounded and remind me every day what I must do to please the Lord.

Every day I walk humbly with my God (in obedience), acting justly, and loving his mercy (salvation). I am obeying the commandments of God to the best of my ability as it says in Micah 6:8. I’m trying my best to keep God’s commandments as it says in Ecclesiastes 12:13. I know I’m not perfect nor do I claim to be. I’m a sinner just like everyone else. But this I know: I’m trying my best to please God and I know that I am forgiven, and that’s all that matters to me. I also know that the number one commandment of God is to witness for Christ, which is why my mantra every day is to save, “one more for Jesus.” It’s the first thing on my mind in the morning and that last thing I think about before my eyes close at night. 2 Corinthians 5:18 is also one of my Bible affirmations that I speak to God in prayer once a week. This blog has caused me to update my Bible affirmation. Below is the current affirmation I speak to God immediately after I speak 2 Corinthians 5:18 in prayer to God:

MY AFFIRMATION:

Thank you God for creating the universe and making me who I am. Thank you Jesus for dying on the cross for my sins. I bless you Lord for calling me to salvation unto eternal life in heaven through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I’m grateful for the “good works” you have given me to do on earth. I’m blessed to have the privilege of working alongside my King in his harvest field to help save lost souls to heaven by my witness for Christ. With perseverance I will spread the gospel seed of Christ “passively” through my two Christian blog sites and my Christian tract ministry in order to save one more for Jesus every day on my walk with God. O Lord, use the gospel seed I have cast before you to save nonbelievers to heaven through your Holy Spirit.

Psalm 19:1 – The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.

Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

Ecclesiastes 12:13 – Let us hear the conclusion to the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.

John 3:16 – (Jesus) – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

When you’ve studied God’s word for twenty years like I have it gets easier and easier to understand what verses in the Bible actually mean. Not all of them of course; but some of them. As I go through my weekly Bible affirmations before God, speaking his word after him in prayer, I always affirm my obedience to the commandments of God in that verse and I lay claim to the blessings of God that go along with my obedience. Every believer should create their own personal Bible affirmations that are just between them and God. If you do this you’ll deepen your relationship with God because you’ll be speaking to him daily. This will help you to maintain fellowship with your creator. I’ve shared my Bible affirmations in earlier blogs because my ministry of reconciliation before the Lord is to give my testimony of God to all men through the written word of my two Christian blog sites and by distributing gospel tracts containing the gospel message of Christ. Therefore, I have no wish for or expectation of privacy. I’m commanded by the Holy Spirit of God to share what I know and what God reveals to me through my study of his word. In this blog series I’ll discuss verses from my own Bible affirmations and break down what they mean. Here is the first Bible verse I want to talk about:

John 15:5 – (Jesus speaking) – I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

God loves using the metaphor of a grapevine to describe man’s relationship with God. All life, whether it’s angels or men, comes from God; the eternal vine, who has always lived. I know it’s hard for finite man to wrap his head around the concept of “eternity” so we must meditate on it. God is forever so when he created angels and men to serve him forever in heaven God created them from his own essence so they too would live forever like God. If God is the eternal vine then God has to graft man onto himself (or give of himself) in order for us to partake of his divine nature (immortality); hence men are branches just like the angels are branches. The vine can live without the branches but the branches cannot live without the vine. The Bible is not only the truth of God it’s also about eternal possibilities based on our choices. The Bible states what we could become through obedience but not necessarily what we are at the moment. God gives each person an eternal spirit from his own body at our conception so we become immortal beings in that instant. Have you noticed that God never destroys eternal beings once made by his hand? Eternal means forever. Otherwise God would be breaking his word and admitting that he made a mistake. If God did either of those things he wouldn’t be God. Instead, angels and men who have sinned against God without repenting are incarcerated in hell for all eternity.

Our “forever” life when we die will be in one of two places; eternal life in heaven or eternal life in hell. Numerous scriptures confirm that heaven or hell are our only two options and we must choose one of them by our actions. Not choosing is a choice for hell. God cannot lie. In John 15:5 Jesus is saying if we accept him as our Lord and Savior we become branches grafted onto the holy vine that is God and we will live in heaven forever in his presence as a result of our faith. If you’re a nonbeliever who has rejected God and his Christ then this won’t happen to you because your branch is not grafted onto the eternal vine and you will burn in hell for all eternity. Listen to me. There’s no other pathway to heaven other than through Jesus Christ, the son of God, for those of us born under the blood covenant of Christ; which means since the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ in 33 AD.

John 15:5 is speaking specifically about the opportunities that believers have to save lost souls for the kingdom of heaven through their witness for Christ. God uses “fruit” as a metaphor for souls saved to the kingdom of heaven. “Abiding” in our God is the key to successful witnessing for Christ. The potential possibilities of this verse are not available to nonbelievers unless they are first saved unto eternal life in heaven through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. With any Bible verse always ask yourself, “Who is God talking too?” and “What is God saying?” If a verse is not very clear review similar verses as a comparison and look at the other Bible verses around it for context and to help interpret what God is really saying because most of the spiritual truths of heaven are repeated multiple times in scripture. Every word in the Bible is God’s truth and wisdom.

People get to heaven by accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. That’s a one time event that is easy to do through our faith and confession to God. God wants salvation to be easy. In the next sentence of John 15:5 God talks about man and God “abiding” in each other. In the dictionary “abide” means to accept or obey a rule or decision. God doesn’t abide in man until we first abide in, or obey, God. When God abides in us he “accepts” our obedience as being holy before the Lord. What does that look like? After our salvation we are to read and study God’s word every day for knowledge, understanding and wisdom. We’re to pray to God every day as often as we can. We’re to commit to obeying God’s commandments. If we do this we’re “abiding” in God. Abiding in God is all about being obedient. God indwells believers but God doesn’t “abide” in us until we are being obedient to God’s will. Then, and only then, will God abide in us. It’s also called fellowship. When God abides in us it means we have God’s approval of our works before the Lord. When God approves of us he is pleased with us and he gives us his grace.

“Grace” is defined as the free and unearned favor of God. When God graces us we receive all the good things in life that we need such as health, wealth, happiness, and fruit. The fruit of God is nonbelievers saved to heaven. What’s the main reason we need to abide in the Lord and vice versa? It’s so nonbelievers can be saved to heaven. Because without God and man both abiding in each other we can’t effectively obey the Great Commission, which is to share the gospel of Christ with all nations and people. You cannot please God if you don’t abide in him and God won’t abide in you unless you please him. When you stand before the bema judgment seat of Christ on the last day if you haven’t saved at least one person to heaven you won’t hear Jesus say to you, “Well done good and faithful servant.” Any other good works you do for the Lord will be burned up on the last day if you haven’t saved at least one person. You’ll be a worker bee in heaven without any saved souls.

God uses the terms “bearing fruit” or being “fruitful” as metaphors for saving lost souls for the kingdom of heaven. In John 15:5 Jesus makes it clear you can save a lot of people for heaven if you abide in the Lord and I’ve explained above how you can do that. In the very last statement of John 15:5 God says you can’t save anyone to heaven unless the Holy Spirit (Jesus) is already on the inside of you. Nobody is saved without God’s word being spoken. You have to be saved yourself before you can save anyone else to heaven. That’s just plain common sense. God’s salvation plan for man calls for every believer to witness Christ to nonbelievers and then pray that the Lord will save them unto eternal life. That’s God’s job through his Holy Spirit. We’ve done our part by witnessing for Christ. The gospel is more than mere words. It is the power of God unto salvation, through his Holy Spirit, for those who believe. As believers we’re to give our witness for Christ, pray for God to save them to heaven, and then let God do the rest. Believers can’t save everyone but we can save some if we persevere in our witness for Christ with anyone who will listen to what we have to say. God has a plan for each believer that requires each of us to witness for Christ as soon as we’re saved to heaven. It’s how we build up treasure in heaven.

After I speak John 15:5 before God to glorify his name I follow up by affirming obedience to God’s commandment. The entire Bible is God’s commandment and we’re to obey every positive statement God makes to us through scripture. My affirmations continue to evolve as I add and detract from them over time. Below is the current affirmation I speak to God immediately after I speak John 15:5 in prayer:

MY AFFIRMATION:

“I will do all things through the Lord Jesus Christ, who indwells me and strengthens me by his glorious power. Lord help me to save lost souls for the kingdom of heaven through my witness for Christ. I will produce much fruit for God as I abide in the Lord forever. Abide in me O Lord and save whom you will through the gospel seed I cast before you. I rejoice in my salvation from God! Thank you Lord for your saving grace!

There is one main point I want to stress to readers who are believing Christians. I’m mainly speaking to those who want to share the gospel message of Jesus Christ as much as I do. As believers we all know the truth of God; that Jehovah is the only God and we’ve been saved unto eternal life in heaven through faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. If we know our Bible like we should we also know God requires that we witness for Christ in order to save lost souls for the kingdom of heaven. We know this as the Great Commission which Jesus gave to his disciples before he ascended back to heaven. Believers are to witness for Christ to all nations and all people. That is a very broad and far-reaching commandment from God. Here is where the problem starts for many believers. They know they should witness for Christ but Christians don’t do it because they don’t know how and if they do know how to share their witness for Christ their attempts are feeble at best.

Many believers just haven’t figured out yet how to comply with God’s commandment to share the gospel of Christ. They don’t understand how important this is to God and how this affects our future standing in heaven forever. The treasure that we will receive in heaven one day will be solely based on how many people we save to heaven. Sharing the gospel of Christ with nonbelievers is the main reason God leaves us here on earth after our salvation. Sharing the gospel is the only way to truly please God. If you happen to be a nonbeliever reading this blog I’m speaking to a “dead man walking” because Satan has put blinders over your eyes so that God is foolishness to you. Your destiny is to go to hell for all eternity because of your unbelief. In his word God calls all nonbelievers “fools” because the truth of God is self-evident yet they cannot see it because Satan is the god of this world. I challenge nonbelievers to prove me wrong. Read God’s word in its entirety with an open mind. There’s a 95% chance you’ll fall on your face before the God of creation and ask for his mercy and grace. You can thank me later in heaven.

Mark 11:24 – (Jesus) – Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

John 15:5 – (Jesus) – I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in Him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

Philippians 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

2 Corinthians 9:6 – But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

Many believers haven’t done the hard work of learning how to witness for Christ and I have to attribute that to laziness. Read my blogs from December 2019 for guidance. In the book of Romans God clearly tells us how to share the gospel message of Jesus Christ so man is without excuse. It’s so well known it’s referred to as the “Roman road” to salvation. Please review the following verses in order: John 3:16, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 5:8, and Romans 10:9. This will give you a better understanding of what you should share with nonbelievers. When you witness to nonbelievers start by letting the nonbeliever know God loves them. People will pay more attention when they know God loves them. The “sinner’s prayer” is also a well known prayer of salvation that man can pray before God to be saved. All you have to do is “google” either term or look on the back page of any Chick tract. Then again, there are some believers who delude themselves into thinking that witnessing for Christ is optional and they only need to do it occasionally to please God and then only if someone asks them about God. That’s Satan trying to influence you into wrong thinking. As believers, when we give our testimony about God to nonbelievers we know we’re going to face rejection and even persecution in some cases. That keeps many believers from witnessing as they should and I understand that. It’s a natural human response that you must overcome. God never promised you an easy time in this life; quite the opposite. We are to suffer as Christ suffered and God will glorify us on the last day for any suffering we endure on behalf of Christ. Suffering on earth is actually good for us in heaven so embrace it. In God’s word he makes it clear believers are to persevere in their suffering and witness for Christ without ceasing.

1 Peter 3:15 – But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 – Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Peter 5:10 – But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered awhile, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

1 Timothy 2:8 – I desire therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

Proverbs 14:25 – A true witness delivers souls, but a deceitful witness speaks lies.

God’s salvation plan for man requires that believers save nonbelievers to heaven by their testimony of God. In the Bible when God talks about “good works” or believers doing God’s work on earth God is talking about witnessing for Christ in order to save lost souls for the kingdom of heaven. Failure to do so will displease God and cause man to lose out on all the treasures in heaven that they could have had through obedience to God. So what must a believer do? Immediately start sharing the gospel message of Jesus Christ wherever you are, in whatever situation you find yourself, and by any means at your disposal. God gives everyone the right and ability to be successful at witnessing through daily prayer, daily Bible reading, and by studying God’s word for knowledge, understanding and wisdom. As a believer you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit so Jesus Christ is always in you and with you to help you in your ministry of reconciliation (witnessing for Christ). You can enlist God’s help by asking for it in prayer. God says we do not have because we do not ask; so ask. God says we can have whatever we ask for in prayer if we pray continuously and we believe God will grant our petition; so believe and keep on praying. God placed you where you are and with prayer your success is assured. God only hears the prayers of believers; God’s children.

As you humbly work alongside God in his harvest field every day ask God in prayer to help you to save nonbelievers to the kingdom of heaven. We can do nothing without God but all things are possible with God. Prayer is the universal lubricant that makes everything in heaven work. The key is we must pray to God before, during, and after our witness for Christ. We must always pray for something that God also wants to do (in his will) and then we must pray continually and believe God will do what we ask. We know that God wants all his creatures in heaven so praying in accordance with God’s will ensures your prayers will be answered because God said he would answer our prayers and God cannot lie. Remember that no amount of work done only by us can save someone. Only the love, mercy and grace of God can save a lost soul unto eternal life in heaven. Salvation is a gift from God; not by works.

Isaiah 1:18 – Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

James 4:2 – Yet you do not have because you do not ask.

Ephesians 2:8-9 – For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Romans 12:1 – I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

Believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and he is our helper so ask him to take your prayers before the throne of grace in a manner that is pleasing to God. That’s why the Holy Spirit is called our helper. Jesus Christ is our mediator who sits at the right hand of God the Father in heaven so ask him to help present your prayers to God so they have a good smelling aroma. Jesus is called our mediator for this reason. In Isaiah 1:18 God asks man to come before him in prayer and reason with him about his salvation plan for man. We’re not to reason with God on our own behalf because we’re already saved. We’re to reason with God about the number of souls we can save with God’s help. In the dictionary “reason” used in this context means to ” persuade someone by using arguments.” God says he’ll listen to our arguments and base his decision on his justice and what we say. Think of yourself as acting as your own attorney pleading a case before the Supreme Court of heaven.

In my nearly fifteen years of ministry I’ve given away close to 2,000 Bibles and distributed well over 35,000 Chick Christian tracts to my seven prison ministries and others. These little cartoon booklets contain the gospel message of Christ and they have the “sinner’s prayer” on the back page. Millions of people have been saved through Christian tracts alone. Distributing Chick tracts is what I refer to as “passive witnessing. ” I have also personally handed out Chick tracts for almost fifteen years wherever I go, whether it’s to the grocery store, pharmacy, Walmart or to my doctor’s office, etc. Distributing Christian tracts is the best way I’ve found to “passively” witness for Christ. They’re affordable and they can reach the most people with God’s message of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Www.onemoreforjesus.net and www.christiantractministry.com are my two websites where I also “passively” witness for Christ to save souls for heaven.

1 Thessalonians 1:5 – For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance.

Matthew 13:23 – (Jesus) – But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

James 5:16 – The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous (saved) man avails much.

James 1:22 – But be doers of the word (by witnessing for Christ), and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

In the past I would ship a thousand tracts (one case) to a prison and hope that at least one person would be saved. Out of every thousand people who received one of my tracts or visited one of my blogs sites I was hoping one person would be saved or moved along the path to salvation so that I would be rewarded by God on the last day as the reaper of that soul or equally as the sower of the gospel seed that lead that person to salvation. I was really trying to save nonbelievers on my own and setting the bar too low. I have since learned to be more fruitful by involving God in my witness because, after all, it’s God who does the saving not us. The increase for heaven is to the glory of God alone. We are just a vessel for the Master’s use. We are to bear fruit for God and produce souls for heaven.

I now pray before casting any gospel seed before the Lord. When I ship out a thousand tracts to one of my prisons now I ask God for a 10% return. I ask God to make 100 gospel seeds fall on good ground so that 100 souls are saved to heaven. I ask for God to make me fruitful before the Lord in fulfillment of John 15:5. I also ask daily for the same 10% return on my two blog sites where I also witness for Christ. I ask God for a 100% return on all the Bibles I donate to prisons. Bibles can circulate for 40 years and save many people but I’m only asking that I be credited with one saved soul per Bible. I think that’s a reasonable request for me to make to God in accordance with Isaiah 1:18. Keep asking God for his blessings and you will receive them more often that not. It never hurts to ask of God.

Every day millions of nonbelievers are dying and going straight to hell for the lack of an effective witness for Christ. God grieves over every lost soul and so should all believers because they are our brothers and sisters and they deserve a chance at heaven too. Every soul is equal and priceless in God’s eyes. As believers we must stop this from happening! We can’t save everyone but we can save some. God has made every creature with his hands and he wants all his children in heaven with him so believers must help God by witnessing for Christ. God loves us all and he hates it when Satan steals a soul for the kingdom of hell. Always love what God loves and hate what God hates and you can’t go wrong. Asking God for a 10% return on my gospel seed and 100% for Bibles is a reasonable prayer request for God to grant in fulfillment of Isaiah 1:18. God is not trying to keep people out of heaven. God is trying to get all his creatures into heaven. God is glorified when man is saved to heaven so I know God grants my prayers every time. In fact, the Bible confirms we can have what we pray for if we believe we will receive it.

In summary, start handing out Christian tracts to nonbelievers immediately because anyone can do it. I recommend using Chick tracts because the cartoon booklets reinforce the gospel message inside. Go to chick.com and read their entire inventory online before choosing the ones you like best. My two favorite tracts to pass out are, “This Was Your Life” and “Then What?” When you distribute gospel tracts you’re obeying the Great Commission of Christ and pleasing God at the same time. God can save whomever he will using your gospel seed if you pray for it and you’ll receive treasures from God on the last day as the reaper or the sower of a soul to heaven. My mantra every day is to save, “one more for Jesus.” It should be yours as well. In order to be successful at witnessing for Christ you must set some reasonable goals for your ministry of reconciliation. My personal goal is to save 1000 nonbelievers to heaven before I die. It’s a hard goal to reach but not impossible with planning and perseverance . Never lose sight of the fact that every creature made by God is priceless in his eyes. As believers we owe it to God and to all nonbelievers to try and save as many of them as we can for heaven.

Matthew 9:37-38 – (Jesus) – The harvest is truly plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

1 Corinthians 15:58 – Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Daniel 12:3 – Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.

Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

I’ve always been confused by the verse shown above (Micah 6:8) because of its simplicity. Everything God wants from us is boiled down to three things. I understand to act “justly” means to always do the right thing by emulating Jesus Christ in all our actions. I also know if we “walk humbly” with our God we are being obedient to the commandments of God. The third thing is the one that’s confusing to me. God requires that we are to “love mercy.” God’s mercy is his gift of salvation so, of course, believers are going to love their salvation. How could we not? We get to be in heaven in the presence of Jesus forever where God will shower us with love, honor, glory and riches. My question is why did God restate what was so obvious? Then it dawned on me God wasn’t just talking about the mercy (salvation) of believers. God was primarily talking about nonbelievers. God is saying that we as believers are to love sharing the gospel of mercy with nonbelievers so that they too can be saved unto eternal life in heaven like we are. You do what you love doing. My understanding of the above verse now is that to please God believers are to witness for Christ, obey the commandments of God and emulate the actions of Jesus in our lives.

Romans 4:4 – Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.

Read Romans 4:4 a couple of times slowly and try to figure out what God is telling us. In the first part of the verse “works” refers to witnessing for Christ. The word “him” refers to us; believers who have been saved unto eternal life in heaven. The personal pronoun “who” indicates some believers will witness for Christ and some will not. In fact, we know that 90% of the saints in heaven will be there through faith in Jesus Christ alone; never having saved even a single person to the kingdom of heaven by a witness for Christ. God confirms in Ephesians 2:8-9 that salvation is through faith and not works. However, it also says in the second part of Romans 4:4 that believers can also earn their “wages” when they share the gospel and save nonbelievers to heaven. Wages are treasures in heaven which will correspond to rights, honors, glory, privileges and responsibilities we receive from God based on how many nonbelievers we save to heaven. In Matthew 13: 23 Jesus tells us some believers will save 30, 60, and even 100 nonbelievers to heaven. In the Bible a hundredfold harvest of lost souls is considered by God to be a good harvest. This should be the baseline goal of every believer. It’s also very clear to me that every believer’s rewards in heaven will be different and based on how many people we save for heaven. We get to keep what we earn. “Grace” is the free and unearned favor of God whereas wages are considered to be payment for services rendered. When we do the work of God he will pay us

The most important word in Romans 4:4 is the very last word which is “debt.” God made all men and he put us all here on earth for his pleasure and his glory. Once God calls us unto eternal life in heaven through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior we are indebted to God for our salvation. We owe God something and that something is doing his “work.” We are to obey the commandments of God. God’s number one commandment for us is to witness for Christ and we cannot please God without doing it. So even as believers are sharing the gospel to pay off their debt to God he is generously paying us heavenly wages for every soul we save. For believers who witness for Christ it’s like we’re earning double pay or overtime pay. You now know why you are here on earth and what you’re supposed to be doing with your body (witnessing for Christ) and this is made clear in Romans 12:1. God gave us our body and we’re to freely give it back to God. The 90% of saints in heaven that haven’t saved anyone will still have some good works before the Lord like helping the needy or feeding the poor. These works will all be burned up before the bema judgment seat of Christ on the last day if they haven’t also saved at least one person for heaven.

It’s critical for a believer to save at least one person to heaven in order to receive a reward from Jesus. More is better but one will do. Look, if you save only one person for heaven and every soul is priceless to God how could God not be pleased and reward you for that? There is a pecking order in heaven and where believers rank will be determined by how many people they save for heaven. Whatever we earn on earth by our good works will last for all eternity in heaven. The question is are you satisfied with being a worker bee forever or would you rather rule with Christ in heaven and receive treasures based on your “good works” for the Lord? I’ve decided I want to work for the Lord save many so as to “shine” before God like it says in Daniel 12:3. I’m not sure what that means but I know it’s good. I’ve asked God in prayer what he means by “many” and the Lord has confirmed in my spirit and through another man of God that 1000 saved souls for heaven qualifies as “many.” That should be your target as well. Some believers will be able to shine in heaven or God would not haven mentioned it. You have to want it badly enough to make it your #1 priority in life. I wanted to make sure you knew your options in this life and in the next one (heaven). Of course if you’re a nonbeliever you don’t have to worry about any of this because you won’t be going to heaven anyway; unless you give your life to Jesus. All nonbelievers go to hell immediately when they die where they’ll be in pain and agony 24/7 forever. Keep in mind that one day in eternity is a trillion billion years, and the rest. Avoid hell at all costs!

James 5:20 – He who turns a sinner from the error of his ways will save a soul from death (eternal death in hell). NOTE: In the above verse God is telling us what believers must do to please him; to earn our keep.

Playing the lottery is for suckers. Most people know it yet they keep playing. They simply can’t help themselves. Government at all levels, city, state and federal, know better than to push lotteries on those who can’t really afford it but they can’t help themselves either because they are all greedy. All governments love to spend other people’s money and the more the better. The more they spend the more they want and it’s universal in all countries of the world. All governments want to spend more and more of your money on their pet projects and lotteries are nothing more than a tax on the poor without calling it a tax. I’m not poor and I’m disciplined enough not to play the lottery, with one exception. When the power ball or mega million lotteries reach 700 million without a winner I will buy $10 worth of lottery tickets. What ticks me off is having no winner for four additional drawings and I’m now out $40. The odds of winning the lottery are three hundred million to one so I don’t expect to win any time soon. I would have been much better off using the $40 I spent on lottery tickets to buy Christian tracts or Bibles for one of my seven prison ministries because at least they give me the chance to save someone’s eternal soul.

Isaiah 1:18 – Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

2 Peter 1:3-4 – As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

John 6:44 – (Jesus) – No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own. For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body (by witnessing) and in your spirit (by praying), which are God’s.

If you’re a believer you’ve already won the greatest lottery of all time. Out of all the people who have ever lived throughout human history probably only one in a thousand people ever make it to heaven so count yourself blessed to have been one of those chosen to go to heaven. God has adopted you as a son of the Most High so count yourself lucky and praise God for your good fortune. Make sure you prove yourself to be worthy of your lofty status as a prince or princess in heaven. Make God proud of you because of your good works before the Lord (witnessing for Christ) to save lost souls for the kingdom of heaven. Don’t disappoint your maker by keeping your salvation all to yourself because God leaves you here on earth so you can pay your salvation forward by witnessing for Christ. Millions of nonbelievers are dying every day and going straight to hell for the lack of a witness for Christ. God intends for you to be that witness. As believers we can’t save everyone but we can save one. We can save one more for Jesus every day with our testimony about God. Ask for God’s help in prayer and he will help you save lost souls for heaven.

Proverbs 14:25 – A true witness delivers souls, but a deceitful witness speaks lies.

Proverbs 11:30 – The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

James 5:20 – He who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death (eternal death in hell).

Ephesians 6:18 – Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

I’m not a greedy person. By playing the lottery I was buying the dream of using the money for good works on behalf of the Lord so that God is blessed and I’m blessed by God in return. You don’t need to become a missionary or win the lottery to please God or have him bless you. You can be blessed by God right where you are by doing the following things. First, you need to believe in the one true God Jehovah and reject all the other false gods sponsored by Satan to hide the truth of God from man. Then accept God’s only begotten son, Jesus Christ, as your personal Lord and Savior. Start by asking God for the forgiveness of your sins by repeating the sinner’s prayer to God in all sincerity. God will then save you unto eternal life in heaven because he said he would in his word and God cannot lie. Second, you need to remain in fellowship with God the Father through daily prayer, daily Bible reading, and by studying God’s word for knowledge, understanding and wisdom. Lastly, you must obey all the commandments of God contained in the Bible to the best of your ability. Pleasing God by obeying his commandments will cause you to receive the many blessings that God wants you to have from his hand. God is glorified when he bestows blessings on man. God is ready, willing, and able to give believers eternal treasures in heaven that far exceed anything we could accomplish by winning a billion dollars in the lottery down here on earth. Remember the odds of winning the lottery are three hundred million to one. But with God you are guaranteed to be a winner as long as you are in obedience to his word. Let me explain how to do it.

2 Corinthians 5:18 – Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

Note: The ministry of reconciliation means the duty to repair man’s broken relationship with God (reconcile). It’s just another way of saying we’re to “witness for Christ.” Once we’re saved God commands us to share the gospel. We don’t have the option of refusing if we want to please God and receive his blessings on earth and treasure in heaven on the last day.

Romans 12:1 – I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

Matthew 17:26 – (Jesus) – With men this is impossible (our salvation), but with God all things are possible.

James 1:22 – But be doers of the word (by witnessing), and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

God made the angels, the universe, and man. This is all spelled out in the Bible and the evidence is overwhelming for believers like me who have studied God’s word for many years. It pleased God to put man on this earth for his pleasure and his glory. God wants every creature made by his hand to be in heaven with him but the Lord gives each one of us the free will choice to serve God or Satan. Not choosing is a choice for Satan. Choosing God will result in salvation unto eternal life in heaven where God will shower us with love, honor and glory. Choosing Satan will result in eternal life in the lake of fire and brimstone where the nonbeliever will be in pain and agony 24/7 for all eternity. Once you know the truth of God and understand God’s salvation plan for man you need to accept the Lord’s saving grace as quickly as you can or you could suffer the eternal consequences should you die unexpectedly. If we haven’t chosen God and his salvation before we die it’s too later. Satan will harvest your soul for hell immediately after you die unsaved and that’s just a spiritual truth of God. Believers who die in the Lord immediately go to heaven. Satan has put blinders over the eyes of nonbelievers so that they cannot see the truth of God. It’s up to believers to rip those blinders off so the lost can see the light of God’s glory. 90% of the saints in heaven will be there through faith in Jesus Christ alone; never having saved even a single soul to heaven by a witness for Christ. Make sure you’re not one of them. Be doers of the word. Don’t stand before the bema judgment seat of Christ empty-handed.

2 Corinthians 9:6 – But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

Note: God makes it clear if you don’t witness for Christ in order to save lost souls for the kingdom of heaven you’ll not reap the honor, glory and treasure in heaven that you could have had. You’ll be in heaven through faith in Jesus but you’ll have empty pockets because of your disobedience. All your good works will be burned up before the bema judgment seat of Jesus Christ on the last day.

Hebrews 12:1 – Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

Note: God describes our life on earth as a race. God has laid out a different race for each of us and it’s called our life. We are to run our best possible race for God by witnessing for Christ and saving nonbelievers to the kingdom of God as long as we live. That’s why every day when I wake us my mantra is to save, “one more for Jesus” for as long as I have breath in me. Our time on earth is short and there’s no better use of our time than saving souls.

Daniel 12:3 – Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.

John 1:12 – But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.

It’s God’s world and he makes all the rules. God calls and saves whomever he pleases but it pleases God to allow man to participate in his salvation plan for man. Believers are to save nonbelievers to the kingdom of heaven by sharing the gospel message of Jesus Christ with all nations and all people. Believers who witness for Christ glorify God and in return God will glorify and bless those believers who do the good works God has given them to do. Someone once helped save you and me to eternal life in heaven and we owe it to them to pay our salvation forward and help save nonbelievers to heaven through the gospel of Christ. This is how God means to populate heaven with his saints. Saving lost souls for heaven is our reasonable service to the God who made us. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and holy before the Lord as a vessel fit for the master’s use to do good works. The number one good work we do for God is sharing the gospel message of Christ with all nonbelievers everywhere we find them. As believers we’re saved to heaven through faith in Jesus Christ alone but we’re blessed by God according to our good works here on earth.

Romans 9:15 – (God speaking to Moses) – I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.

Philippians 2:13 – For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

Mark 11:24 – (Jesus) – Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

Ephesians 5:15-16 – See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

God doesn’t need us to save man but it pleased God to allow man to work alongside him in his harvest field to help save nonbelievers to the kingdom of heaven so he can glorify us in heaven and give us precious gifts. In fact, God commands that we witness for Christ in his harvest field and pray for more workers because the harvest field is great and the workers are few. We like to think when we witness for Christ that we’re doing 80% of the work to save someone to heaven when the exact opposite is true. God does 80% of the heavy lifting it takes to save someone unto eternal life in heaven. Nobody is saved unless God first calls them. Nobody is saved until the Holy Spirit first comes and convicts the sinner in his spirit so that he knows the God of creation and understands that he is full of sin and that only God can forgive him of those sins. Nobody is saved until the Holy Spirit takes it upon himself to change the nonbelievers eternal destination from hell to heaven. Nobody is saved until the Holy Spirit writes the nonbelievers name in the book of life. When the Holy Spirit does these things the nonbeliever becomes a believer in the eyes of God and justified through faith in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is God. Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. Our 20% contribution to saving someone is sharing our witness for Christ. Nobody gets saved without the presence of the Holy Spirit (in us and in the world) and God’s word, usually spoken in faith by a believer giving his witness of God. We just need to witness for Christ and let God do the rest. In the Great Commission Jesus gave to his disciples he didn’t say go out and save all people. Jesus merely said for his disciples to share (witness) the gospel message of Christ because he knew God would do the saving himself.

Philippians 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

John 15:5 – (Jesus) – I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in Him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

James 4:2 – Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss.

Colossians 4:5 – Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside (nonbelievers), redeeming the time (by witnessing for Christ).

The best way to be blessed by God is so easy most believers tend to forget about it. When you go before the throne of grace in heaven daily and pray to God always bless God first and then ask God to bless you in return. God loves you and he wants to give you what you ask for because God is glorified when he grants our prayers. The main thing about prayers to God is they must not be contrary to God’s ethics or his will. In addition, prayers must continue without ceasing until God grants your petition. One prayer and then you’re done won’t cut it with God. While we may be in a rush to have our prayers answered by God he has his own timeline for responding to our requests. One last thing. You must believe without any doubt that God will grant your prayers. The things I’m telling you are confirmed in James 4:2, Mark 11:24, and 1 Timothy 2:8. When the Bible says God will bless you for doing something make sure you do it. Reading from the book of Revelation is just one example (Revelation 1:3).

1 Timothy 2:8 – I desire therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

Matthew 9:37-38 – (Jesus) – The harvest is truly plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

1 Peter 5:10 – But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered awhile, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

Ephesians 2:8-9 – For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

In summary, if you want to be blessed by God ask him for his blessings in prayer and pray the same prayer every day of your life. God says you can have what you say so keep saying it until God gives you your request. Repetition is good for the soul! If you want God to bless you greatly then obey the number one commandment of God, which is to witness for Christ continuously in order to save lost souls for the kingdom of heaven until God decides to bring you home. Your times are in God’s hands so don’t worry about that. Just do the work that God gives you to do. It’s as simple as that. God gives believers treasures in heaven based on the number of people they save. If we save at least one person to heaven God will be pleased with us. If every soul is priceless to God how could he be other than pleased? In Daniel 12:3 God also says that believers who save many to heaven will shine like the stars in the firmament. I’ve asked God in prayer to define “many” and he has confirmed in my spirit the number is 1000. Our job is to witness for Christ and let God sort it all out on the last day. That’s why my mind is on God all day long and why my daily mantra is to save one more for Jesus. We are to emulate Christ by the way we live our life here on earth. You don’t have to take my word for it (see Proverbs 14:25 and Proverbs 11:30).

James 5:15 – The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Matthew 13:23 – (Jesus) – But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

1 Corinthians 15:58 – Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Act 1:8 – (Jesus) – But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.