Studying God's Word

Tuesday Affirmations (continued):

God created us so he could fellowship with us forever in heaven. The word fellowship means, “friendliness and companionship based on shared interests.” We can’t share our interests with God and vice versa unless we can communicate with each other. In our time, God has chosen to communicate with us through his word, our Holy Bible. That’s why it’s vitally important we read our Bible every day and also we need to invest time in studying God’s word for knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. For our part, we talk to God through prayer so it’s just as important that we pray to God numerous times a day to keep our fellowship with God strong. Look, you can’t read the Bible too much and you can’t pray to God too much. The more we talk to God the stronger our relationship is with our creator.

PRAYER AFFIRMATION:

Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Psalm 138:8 – The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy O Lord, endures forever; do not forsake the works of Your hands.

MY AFFIRMATION:

Lord, thank you for saving me unto eternal life in heaven. I go where the Holy Spirit leads me because the Holy Spirit directs my footsteps to fulfill God’s pleasure. I’m a disciple of Christ and I walk in obedience to the commandments of God. I work in God’s harvest field to fulfill the Great Commission that Jesus gave to his disciples, which is to witness for Christ to all nations and all people. My trust is in the Lord. I will obey my God always!

NOTE: Our mind believes what it sees and we cannot see God because he’s invisible. Yet we believe in God through faith and we trust in our salvation from God. We do this by not believing, or leaning on, what our eyes tell us or what the humanist world may tell us. That’s a bridge too far for some people so they deny God exists at all or they are fooled by Satan into following one of the fake religions and false gods the devil has sponsored throughout history. I have a hard time understanding how a person could reject the true God Jehovah because they can’t see him yet they’ll go follow after a false god that also can’t be seen. Praise God in prayer and ask him to direct your life and he will do it.

If you want to know if the Christian God Jehovah is the one true God I have the solution for you. For those of you who cannot see the truth of God because Satan has put blinders over your eyes, there is a simple way to ascertain the truth that our God Jehovah is the one true God of creation. I hereby challenge you to seek the truth. Read God’s word, our Holy Bible, in its entirety with an open mind and see what happens. There’s a 95% chance you’ll come face to face with God. When you do you’ll be dumbfounded. Gather yourself; fall on your knees and pray the sinner’s prayer to God and you’ll be saved. In December 2019, I posted blogs containing lists of physical proofs of God, Bible proofs of God, and Jesus proofs that he is the Messiah, the prophesied son of God. I created them as witness aids, so use them.

PRAYER AFFIRMATIONS:

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

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.

MY AFFIRMATION:

I pray for God to strengthen me through his Christ and Holy Spirit who indwells me so that I can bear much fruit by my witness for Christ. I abide in the word of God and the Holy Spirit abides in me. I pray that together we will save many nonbelievers to heaven. I thank God for answering my prayers. I thank God for the honor of working alongside my King in his harvest field to help save many nonbelievers to heaven through my witness for Christ.

NOTE: I have been indwelt by the Holy Spirit since the age of twelve (I’m 72 now). I gave my profession of faith before the First Baptist Church in my hometown and then I was baptized as a public demonstration of my inner faith. I was saved by faith and my inner spirit was then washed (or baptized ) by the living water that is the Holy Spirit of God. My outer baptism was just to show everyone I belonged to God. I’ve been a Baptist all my life. Baptists aren’t baptized to become saved. Baptists are baptized because we are already saved and want everyone to know about it.

In my teenage years, I became a backslider and that lasted for forty years. Once you belong to God his Holy Spirit will never leave you. During all that time apart from God the Lord pursued me relentlessly. He kept reaching out to bring me back into fellowship with my creator. In my soul, I could feel God stalking me; never willing to let me go. God was gentle, longsuffering, and patient toward me until I returned home to my Lord. That my friends is true love in action! I will praise the Lord forever for his love, mercy, and grace toward his servant!

PRAYER AFFITMATION:

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.

MY AFFIRMATION:

I bless God for allowing me to participate in his salvation plan for man. I will work beside the Lord in his harvest field sharing the gospel of Christ to save one more for Jesus every day as long as I live. I pray for more workers in God’s harvest field because the need is great and the workers are few. I will continually worship God with the praise of my lips and give my testimony because God is good and God is great and this my spirit knows very well.

NOTE: The “harvest” refers to all those people out there in the world who aren’t saved unto eternal life in heaven. The only path to heaven is through personal acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It’s common sense that there can be only one true God and Jehovah is that God. The evidence is overwhelming. Satan is the god of this world and he has sponsored fake religions and false gods throughout history. Satan has put blinders over the eyes of nonbelievers to hide the truth of God from man. There is no proof of any God other than the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. To the nonbeliever, our Christian God Jehovah is just foolishness and our Holy Bible is just a book. There are eight billion people on the planet, and only 2.5 billion claim to be Christians. Probably 60% of those who claim to be Christians aren’t saved. Most Catholics expect the church, the Pope, and their priests to save them to heaven but they’re sadly mistaken because Jesus Christ is the only way to get there and the Catholic church has turned Jesus into a cookie used only during mass.

Talk is cheap and if you haven’t given your life to Jesus you’re going to hell with all the other nonbelievers, even if you call yourself a Christian. So roughly there are seven billion people today who need saving and they’re all going to hell when they die, and they don’t even realize it. In the above verse “laborers” refers to believers who are witnessing for Christ in this vast field of nonbelievers (the world). Catholics don’t witness. Out of approximately one million Christians who are Protestants only about 300,000 belong to an evangelical denomination that stresses sharing the gospel of Christ with nonbelievers. Only about 10% of these evangelicals (30,000) have read the entire Bible and are actively witnessing for Christ with regularity and persistence. 30,000 trying to save seven billion is why God says the harvest is plentiful the laborers are few, and why we are commanded to pray to God for more workers. I pray for more help every day. It’s like trying to swim upstream against a raging river. It’s hard but it must be done until God calls us home.

PRAYER AFFIRMATION:

Matthew 16:19 – (Jesus) – And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Matthew 18:18 – (Jesus) – Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

MY AFFIRMATION:

Jesus has given me the authority to use his name in prayer and I will pray every day in Jesus’ name. And that which I bind on earth through prayer is bound in heaven by God. And that which I loose on earth through prayer is loosed in heaven by God. The Lord says we can have whatever we ask for in prayer if we believe God will answer our prayers and we pray continually. I believe what God says. Therefore, through prayer, I bind the principalities, the powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world, and I render them all harmless and ineffective against me, in the name of Jesus. I loose the blessings of God from heaven upon me here on earth through daily prayer, in Jesus’ name, and also by my continued obedience to the commandments of God.

NOTE: The two verses above are confusing to most people. Even believing Christians often don’t have a clue what God is talking about. All the “binding” and “loosing” that Jesus is talking about in the book of Matthew is about prayer. The word “you” in the scriptures means all believing Christians who are saved and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and therefore holy and righteous before God. Believers don’t get a set of physical “keys” to heaven through the mail. Keys is a metaphor for prayers. The word “bind” means to restrain or tie up someone or something. The opposite of bind is loose. Then the word “loose” means to “not” restrain or tie up someone or something. Look, Satan is the god of this world and he hates our guts. Without God’s protection, Satan and his demons would kill every man, woman, and child on this planet within thirty days. Read Ephesians 6:12 to learn what we’re up against.

So yes, we need to restrain (bind) Satan if we want to fulfill the salvation plan God has for our lives. So yes, we need to release (loose) the blessings God has in store for those who love him. In our physical world, the only way we can reach across into the spirit world is by prayer. God says he will do what we ask in prayer if we’re in fellowship with him and we’re obedient to the commandments of God. In addition, we must pray continually and believe we are going to receive what we pray for. Faith is the secret ingredient that makes prayer work. It’s also important to approach the throne of grace showing the proper respect for our creator. You also need to pray for things that align with God’s will and nature. For example, you can’t pray for a million dollars and expect God to cough it up. But you can pray for wisdom from God because he wants to prosper us and help us lead productive lives. Jesus said he came so that we may have life more abundantly. When you pray to God ask for him to protect you from the evil in this world (binding). Ask for God to bless you (loosing) from heaven so that you’ll receive God’s blessings here on earth.

In summary, the fifteen scriptures in my Tuesday prayer affirmations all have a common theme. They tell us God hears our prayers and he will act on them for our benefit because we are God’s beloved children. God loves us and wants the best for us always. As believers, we have 24/7 access to the throne of grace. Therefore, go boldly before God and talk to him about anything and everything. Our mission on this earth is first, to find God and salvation unto eternal life in heaven through faith in Jesus Christ. Our second task on this earth is to share the gospel message of Jesus Christ with all nations and all people to save some of them to heaven. We cannot be effective and fruitful with our witness for Christ on our own. As we share the gospel message we must also pray to God before, during, and after our witness to be successful. Prayer is the “key” to heaven so use it to save many nonbelievers to heaven.

The topic of my Tuesday affirmation blog series is prayer. Our prayers to God are the currency of heaven. Prayers are the grease that lubricates the machinery of heaven. Nothing gets done in heaven or on earth without prayer. If you want to know how important prayer is to God just look at the life and 3 1/2 year ministry of Jesus Christ, the son of God. If you’ll notice, Jesus was always praying; and praying about everything. We’re talking about God the Son praying to God the Father. The life of Jesus Christ was meant to be an example to all men of how we should lead our lives. Jesus always prayed and so should we. Keep praying until God answers our prayers, no matter how long it takes to receive an answer, even if it takes twenty years. We’re not privy to God’s timeline so we just have to trust God because he loves us. God is glorified when we pray to God and also when he answers our prayers, but God’s not going to give us anything until we ask for it. One thing is certain; once we get to heaven you’ll never hear any saint say to you that they prayed to God too much on earth. Every believer in heaven will regret that they didn’t pray to God more often. It’s impossible to pray to God too much or too often.

PRAYER AFFIRMATION:

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.

Psalm 5:11 – But let all those rejoice who put their trust in you; let them ever shout for joy, because you defend them; let those also who love Your name be joyful in You.

Pslam 40:16 – Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; let such as love Your salvation say continually, “The Lord be magnified!”

MY AFFIRMATION:

Daily I will rejoice that the Lord is my God. For you have made me O Lord and saved me unto eternal life in heaven in your presence. I will pray without ceasing, giving you the praise of my lips for your love, mercy, and grace toward your servant. Lord, I thank you for your guardian angels who watch over me. My gladness and joy is complete because the Lord’s presence is inside me. Before the throne of grace, I will continually say, “The Lord be magnified always; ever forever.”

NOTE: One type of prayer believers rarely engage in is a prayer of rejoicing. Why is that? Most believers don’t know they should be rejoicing in the Lord and if they do know they don’t know how to go about rejoicing in the Lord. People tend to pray to God only when they want something from God or when they’re in trouble. It’s more important to pray to God to show your joy and love for the Lord. When we speak our feelings to God in this way it becomes a prayer of rejoicing. Take a step back and look at this logically. God made you and put you on this earth to live your life. Every heartbeat and every breath you take is because God wills it to be so. You were born on the road to perdition (hell) for all eternity but God in his love, mercy, and grace called you to salvation and pulled you up to heaven to be in his presence forever. The Lord will shower his children with love forever and give them honor, glory, and riches beyond our wildest imagination. It doesn’t get any better than that. We should be doing cartwheels before God. But the Lord will settle for a little rejoicing.

PRAYER AFFIRMATION:

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

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.

MY AFFIRMATION:

In obedience to your word O Lord, I will pray often before the throne of grace. Early and often will I seek your face O Lord; seeking your wisdom and guidance. By the praise of my lips, I will worship the Lord my God every day, offering up love, honor, and glory to my King. Praise the Lord for his kindness toward his servant.

NOTE: God doesn’t hear the prayers of nonbelievers. That all changes once you are saved unto eternal life by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The Holy Spirit changes the believer’s eternal destination from hell to heaven the instant they are saved and the Holy Spirit indwells our body forever as our helper. Even when we get to heaven the Holy Spirit stays with us. As believers, Jesus gave us the right to have an audience before God 24/7, so when we pray God listens. God tells us this in his word and God cannot lie. As believers, we are holy vessels with holy hands, and we are to pray everywhere and at all times. We are to never stop praying and God promises to answer our prayers at some point as long as we don’t doubt God will give us an answer to our prayers.

You can’t pray too much for God; the more we pray the better it is for us. To be effective all our prayers must be addressed to God the Father in Jesus’ name. In the Bible, God tells us how to approach the throne of grace in prayer and if you do it differently your prayers are falling on deaf ears and you’re sinning against God. That means you can’t pray to Mary, the mother of Jesus, because she’s just a human being like us and she can’t hear your prayers to God nor can she help you. You also can’t pray to a Pope, priest, or Catholic saint for the same reason. Our God is jealous of his glory, and he will not give his glory to another!

PRAYER AFFIRMATION:

Psalm 37:4 – Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

MY AFFIRMATION:

I delight myself in the Lord through prayer and he gives me the desires of my heart. I will work diligently in God’s harvest field to help save many lost souls for the kingdom of God through my witness for Christ. I desire to serve the Lord for forty years like God’s prophets of old; or until Jesus Christ comes to rapture me and all saints in the air to receive our glorified bodies before returning to heaven. I desire to please God by my “good works.” I desire to stand before the bema judgment seat of Jesus Christ on the last day and hear him say, “Well done good and faithful servant.” Help me Lord because I desire to save many nonbelievers for the kingdom of heaven.

NOTE: The word “rejoice” means to feel or show great joy. The word “delight” means to, “take great pleasure in doing something.” God wants believers to show the great joy they feel in their hearts through prayers of rejoicing to Almighty God. God wants believers to delight, or take great pleasure in, our prayers to God the Father. I take great pleasure in witnessing for Christ to save nonbelievers to the kingdom of heaven. I delight in my ministry of reconciliation given to me by the Holy Spirit, which is to study God’s word and give my testimony. God has said in his word that he’ll give us the desires of our hearts as expressed to God in our prayers to him if we continue in our prayers until God answers and we don’t doubt that God will answer us when he is ready.

PRAYER AFFIRMATION:

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

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

MY AFFIRMATION:

I pray that my witness for Christ will save many nonbelievers to the kingdom of heaven. I’m indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God and I ask my Helper to take my prayers before the throne of grace and present them to God the Father in such a way that my prayers are pleasing in his sight. I pray that Jesus Christ, my Mediator, will present my case before the court of heaven for a favorable decision. I pray that the Lord will answer my prayers and use the gospel seed I’ve cast before God to save many lost souls for heaven.

NOTE: I fear in the past that I’ve prayed too little to God and left meat on the bone. For a long time, I prayed that God would return to me one-tenth of one percent of the gospel seed I cast before the throne of grace. For every case of 1000 Christian tracts I send to one of my seven prison ministries I was asking God to give me credit for one saved soul; to make one tract fall on good ground and save a soul to heaven or move the person along the path toward salvation. For every 1000 people who read my blog, I asked God to give me credit for one saved soul. I don’t do that anymore. God says we can have what we ask for and I came to the conclusion I was asking for too little.

I now pray for a 10% return on the gospel seed I cast before God in the form of my blog and Christian tracts. When I send out Bibles, Christian books, and gospel comics I ask God in prayer for a one-to-one return or credit for one saved soul for each gospel seed. In Isaiah 1:18, God says we should reason with him and that’s what I’m doing when I ask God to save many more nonbelievers by my hand. God is not offended by my asking for his help. God can always say no. It’s always better to ask for too much from God rather than too little because God just might give us what we ask for. I assure you God won’t get mad if we ask for too much because God wants all his creatures in heaven with him forever.

Whenever I update my Bible affirmations things never go as planned. In the case of my Monday affirmations, I thought I’d only be making minor changes but it ended up being a major overhaul. I ended up going from twelve affirmations down to seven affirmations. My new affirmations are now more substantial and comprehensive than before and they tend to focus more on one aspect of my service to God, which is witnessing for Christ. When you’re a “hammer” every problem winds up being a nail. When your number one priority in life is “witnessing for Christ” then most Bible scriptures are seen as commandments from God to share the gospel message of Jesus Christ. If you look at the fourteen verses that make up my Monday Bible affirmations they all either directly or indirectly command believers to witness for Christ. I have all these verses posted above my desk (plus the Lord’s Prayer) so obviously I’m consumed by them. I love these Bible verses because they exhort me to save lost souls for the kingdom of heaven. I read them all every morning for spiritual energy as I drink my pot of coffee, and before speaking to God in prayer.

We are God’s masterpiece of creation and the Bible is God’s love letter to us. The entire Bible is the revelation of Jesus Christ, the son of God, coming off his throne in heaven to take on flesh and die on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. God loves us that much. The Old Testament is Jesus prophesied and the New Testament is Jesus fulfilled. There are over sixty prophecies about Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and they were all fulfilled while Jesus walked the earth. The Old Testament is good because it helps us understand who God is and the history of God’s relationship with man. But as believers, we’re under the blood covenant of Jesus Christ and we need to live in the New Testament (the epistles). If we live in the Epistles, we live in victory! I try to read the entire Bible every year and I don’t always succeed. However, I do read the New Testament every year without fail. Bible affirmations are prayers and confessing the word of God and our obedience to it creates the reality of salvation in our hearts, our minds, and our spirits. When we align with God and his word we’re saying yes to Almighty God; we will be obedient and witness for Christ.

MONDAY AFFIRMATIONS (continued):

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 of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.

MY AFFIRMATION:

I will emulate Jesus Christ in all my actions through obedience to the commandments of God. I will read the Bible daily and pray to the Lord often to maintain my fear of God. I will witness for Christ all the days of my life. I rejoice in my ministry received from the Holy Spirit and my salvation from God!

My NKJV Bible (large print) is 1,678 pages long. It takes me all year to read it and then I just start all over again. Only 10% of Christians who attend church regularly have read the Holy Bible in its entirety. Make sure you’re no one of them. As believers, we’re commanded to read God’s word every day to stay in fellowship with God. God talks to us through the pages of the Bible and we talk to God in prayer. We’re commanded to study God’s word for knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. It’s the only way we can find out what God requires of us. I’m old school. I love to read and study and I’m always reading multiple books at the same time. However, a lot of people aren’t like that. Many people today aren’t very patient. Everyone is in a hurry and they have places to go. Many people today also don’t like to read very much, and everyone wants the answers to life’s questions without having to search for them. You’re in luck. I’ve studied God’s word for twenty years and I’ve included in this Bible affirmation two Bible verses where God very succinctly tells us exactly what he requires of us. I read Micah 6:8 and Ecclesiastes 12:13 every morning over coffee so I’m crystal clear what God expects of me as I begin my day.

MICAH 6:8:

The prophet Micah wrote his Old Testament book around 700 BC. Micah spoke of a Messianic ruler over Israel coming for Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) and as far as I’m concerned Micah 6:8 is also a prophetic verse about Jesus Christ. Let’s look a the first statement of this verse:

“He has shown you, O man, what is good;”

The word “He” in this verse refers to the Messiah (i.e., Jesus). “O man” means God is addressing mankind in general. The word “shown” is the act of showing, and show means to make someone understand something by explaining it or doing it oneself (in person). “Good” means morally right or of a high standard. Jesus said only God is good. If we apply all our definitions to the first statement in Micah 6:8 it can be restated as follows:

“Jesus Christ has come down to earth from heaven, in person, to show or demonstrate to man what is morally right.”

God has demonstrated what is good by providing us with his written word, the Holy Bible, which is full of stories that show God doing what is morally right as an example for us to follow. God has shown us what is good through the 3 1/2 year ministry of his son Jesus Christ. Jesus is God in the flesh. All we have to do as believers is study God’s word and apply the wisdom God shares with us. As believers all we have to do is study the life of Jesus, where he went, what he said, and what he did. We need to absorb the teachings of Jesus: Life is not futile; failure is not fatal; and death is not final. Jesus Christ led a sinless life and we need to emulate what Jesus did in his life to the best of our ability. We can’t come close to duplicating Jesus’ sinless life but if we try our best to obey God we’ll live a life that will be pleasing in his sight on the last day.

“And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”

The second statement of Micah 6:8 gets down to the nitty gritty by telling us what God expects from us in this life he’s given us. Just is defined as, “morally right and fair” so justly is acting in a manner that is morally right and fair. God created us with an inbuilt sense of knowing the difference between right and wrong. If we lose our way we can always fall back on God’s word as our guide to determine right from wrong. The Bible is God’s wisdom so use it. To love mercy means to show compassion to those less fortunate than ourselves. The Bible says God is love and one of God’s greatest commandments is that we love one another. God often uses the words, “humble” and “walking with God”, to describe someone who is obeying his commandments. “To walk humbly with your God” means we are to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and obey the commandments of God. You can’t walk with God in fellowship if you’re not obeying the number one commandment of God which is to witness for Christ; sharing the gospel message of Jesus Christ with all nations and all people. In summary, God says we’re to emulate Christ by saving nonbelievers by our witness, we’re to love our fellow man, and we’re to obey God.

ECCLESIASTES 12:13:

The other Bible verse where God tells us what he expects is from the Old Testament book of Ecclestiastes, written by King Solomon around 935 BC. King Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived and probably the richest. After a long life, King Solomon came to the conclusion that everything in life is meaningless apart from a right relationship with God. A right relationship with God is where man lives in fear of God just like it says in this verse and where man also obeys the commandments of God. The word “fear” in the biblical context means to look upon God with awe, reverence, and deep respect. If we pray to God and read our Bible every day we maintain our “fear” of God. There are 129 direct commandments from God in the Bible (many are redundant). The only commandment from God that matters is sharing the gospel message of Jesus Christ with all nations and all people. That’s why it’s called the Great Commission. Saving nonbelievers to heaven through our witness for Christ is how we receive honor, glory, and riches from God on the last day. It’s worth noting that in both Micah 6:8 and Ecclesiastes 12:12 God stresses that we are to be obedient to the commandments of God; primarily witnessing for Christ to save souls to heaven.

As I wrap up the blog series on Bible affirmations I can’t stress enough how important it is to confess with our lips God’s word, and our obedience to the commandments of God. That’s what Bible affirmations are all about. It’s what we confess with our lips over and over that dominates our inner man. In the Bible, God says we can have whatever we ask for if we believe God will grant our prayers and we keep praying until God answers. Our confession is the spiritual battleground where we meet God and also where we fight the devil. We saw that with the temptations of Jesus in the New Testament. We’ll never achieve the salvation plan God has for us unless we confess it before the throne of grace. So confess greatly and largely, to do “good works” before the Lord by persistently witnessing for Christ. Our Bible affirmations are how we confess largely and do great things for God. Our Bible affirmations are how we say yes to God. Our Bible affirmations are how we say “yes” to God. Our Bible affirmations are prayers of rejoicing!

MONDAY AFFIRMATIONS (continued):

John 3:16 – 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.

John 3:16 is the most famous verse in the entire Bible and virtually every Christian knows it by heart. Why is that? Christians love this verse because it tells us what we want to hear and it brings great joy. Everyone needs to be loved and to give love in return. John 3:16 lets us know without a doubt that God loves us dearly. God not only tells us he loves us; God proves it by sending his son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross so our sins might be forgiven by a loving and merciful God. One of the spiritual truths of heaven is, “the wages of sin is death.” In the Garden of Eden Adam sinned against God by his disobedience. Adam was evicted from the Garden of Eden and God changed Adam from being an immortal man into a mortal man who would die both a physical death and a spiritual death in hell because of his sins. Adam and Eve were headed to hell before God forgave their sins. We’ll see Adam and Eve in heaven. All men who came after Adam have inherited Adam’s original sin and we’re also all born on the path to perdition, and therefore we all need God’s forgiveness to enter heaven.

However, God in his love, mercy, and grace also decided to save us to heaven by forgiving our sins. Another spiritual truth of heaven is, “without shedding innocent blood there can be no forgiveness of sins.” God is just. God cannot lie or change his position. There had to be a shedding of innocent human blood before God could forgive the sins of man. All men are born into sin from Adam’s fall so there was no sinless human sacrifice available to save man from eternal death in hell. God had to come off his throne in heaven and come to earth as a man, in the flesh, as the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Jesus was born of a human mother like we all are so he was fully human so he could qualify as a sacrifice for us before God. At the same time, Jesus Christ was also fully God because his father was the Holy Spirit. Jesus was a God-man with both natures in his body at the same time, but separate from each other. Jesus was the only person who could save us from hell and he did so voluntarily. Jesus could have halted his crucifixion at any time and called down a legion of angels if he wanted to. When we say Jesus is our Lord and Savior we’re not saying empty words. By his sacrificial death, Jesus saved us from hell and saved us to heaven. When we call Jesus Lord we’re acknowledging Jesus is God and saying yes we will obey the commandments of God.

The problem with John 3:16 is people think that verse saves them to heaven and they don’t have to do anything else. They are wrong. Notice that God didn’t say whoever believes in Jesus “shall” be saved. Instead, God says whoever believes in Jesus “should” be saved. That means salvation unto heaven is a two-step process contingent on man taking a second step to complete the process. Just believing in God and Jesus won’t get you to heaven. Even Satan and his demons believe in God and Jesus because they know them. The difference is Satan and his demons haven’t repented of their sins. They haven’t declared Jesus Christ as the Lord of their life whom they’ll obey because they can’t and they won’t. However, it’s not too late for us. Jesus already took the first step by dying on the cross for our sins. All we need to do is repent of our sins and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to complete the process. Google “sinner’s prayer” and then pray to God in faith and you’re saved.

Let’s restate John 3:16 in such a way that it’s still true but it reveals what’s at stake for our eternal souls:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever does not believe in Him should perish and not have everlasting life.”

This statement is the mirror image of John 3:16 and is therefore also true. God is putting a positive spin on the truth of God in John 3:16 to exhort nonbelievers to come to God while at the same time bringing the peace of God to believers. People need to look beyond the obvious and understand that doing the opposite of what God says to do in the Bible will also cause an opposite result. I love John 3:16 like everyone else. But as a warrior for Christ who has dedicated his life to witnessing for Christ to save many nonbelievers to the kingdom of heaven, I look at John 3:16 and ask myself, “What about those who don’t believe because they don’t know the truth of God?” “Shouldn’t somebody tell them?” “I should tell them!”

Every day roughly 16,000 believers die and go to heaven. Around 160,000 nonbelievers die every day for lack of a witness for Christ. That’s a ten-to-one ratio. The sad thing is many of these nonbelievers think they’re going to heaven when they die but they’re all going directly to hell within the earth where they’ll be in pain and agony 24/7. On the last day, they’ll all be resurrected bodily to stand before the Great White Throne judgment of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only way to heaven and if you don’t accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior before you die your ultimate destination and your fate is decided by Jesus. If you find yourself before the Great White Throne you aren’t going to heaven. After your judgment, an angel of God will throw all nonbelievers into the lake of fire and brimstone for all eternity. God’s salvation plan for man calls for nonbelievers to be saved to heaven by believers witnessing for Christ, and if you want to please God you’ll go save someone.

MY AFFIRMATION:

God, I thank you for making me and loving me. Lord, I thank you for sending your son Jesus Christ to die on the cross in my place so my sins could be forgiven by a loving and merciful God. Thank you Holy Father for calling me and saving me unto eternal life in heaven in your presence through my confession of faith in Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. I will share the gospel message of Christ with nonbelievers all the days of my life.

In summary, yes John 3:16 is a wonderful Bible verse worthy of being the favorite verse in the Bible. For me, John 3:16 is also not the end of the road on my walk with God but the beginning. God leaves us here on earth after our salvation so we can work alongside our King in his harvest field helping to save lost souls for heaven by our testimony about God. 90% of the saints in heaven are there through faith in Jesus alone, never having saved even one soul to heaven through a witness for Christ. These are the worker bees of heaven because they have no fruit. Some believers will save one person to heaven, some thirty, some sixty, and some even one hundred souls to heaven. A harvest of one hundred souls to heaven is a good harvest according to God. I’ve accomplished that already. My goal is to save at least 1000 nonbelievers to heaven. God has confirmed to me that saving 1000 lost souls to heaven will qualify as “many” in the eyes of God and the person who does this will shine like the stars in the heavens as promised in Daniel 12:3. I don’t know what that looks like but I know it’ll be good because only good fruit can come from God.

Man has no idea of the honor, glory, and riches God has in store for those who believe in him, for those who love him, and for those who are obedient to his commandments. Because of Adam’s original sin in the Garden of Eden, man’s fellowship with God was broken. Because God made us and loves us, he sent his son Jesus Christ to die for our sins so that our fellowship with God could be restored. God did his part 2000 years ago by sending Jesus and he’s still waiting for us to do our part to restore our fellowship with him. God has shown us the way to salvation in the Bible, which is God’s wisdom. If you don’t believe in God there is a cure. If you read the Bible in its entirety, with an open mind, there’s a 95% chance you’ll come face to face with God and believe. If you ever start to doubt your faith the same cure applies.

When we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior through faith we’re saved unto eternal life in heaven. This is our part to restore our fellowship with God. God doesn’t hear the prayers of nonbelievers. However, when we become children of the Most High our prayers are heard. Our prayers come from our lips and pass through the spirit world into the very throne room of God; into the ears of God himself 24/7. Even the angels don’t have the access to God that we have. Praise God! If you want to keep your fellowship with God strong, pray to the Lord daily and read your Bible every day.

The dictionary definition of the word “affirm” when used as a verb means, “to state something firmly or publicly.” Affirmation is a noun meaning, “the act of affirming something.” So a Bible affirmation is the act of stating in a loud and clear voice the word of God (a Bible verse) followed by a declaration of obedience to the verse or verses being referenced. When you speak a Bible affirmation before the Lord it’s the same thing as saying yes to God. The two terms are interchangeable. The word abide has several meanings and one of the older seldom-used meanings is to, “live in a place.” The moment believers are saved unto eternal life in heaven they are indwelt by the Holy Spirit so the word “abide” is an apt description of what takes place. On the flip side, when we abide in the Lord the more traditional definition applies which is to, “accept or obey a rule or decision.” The key word is obey. If we obey the commandments of God then we abide in the Lord. Those commandments include praying to God daily and reading God’s word every day.

Throughout the Bible, God tells us to study his word for knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. Most people don’t know what that means. We need the knowledge contained in the Bible so we can “know” who God is and what he requires of us. We need to have an understanding of the Bible so we know how we’re to be saved unto eternal life in heaven. We need the Bible’s wisdom so we know our primary purpose on this earth is to save nonbelievers to heaven by our witness for Christ. The number one commandment of God for believers is to help save nonbelievers to heaven. If we do this God will shower us with honor, glory, and riches in heaven on the last day.

There are 2.5 billion Christians on earth, which includes 1.5 billion Catholics and 1.0 billion Protestants. The problem with Protestants is there are only 300,000 of them who identify as evangelical Christians who emphasize the authority of the Bible and salvation through personal faith in Jesus. To make matters worse, only 10% of Christians who attend church regularly have taken the time to read the Bible in its entirety. God’s word tells you how to witness for Christ to nonbelievers and if haven’t even read the Bible you won’t have the knowledge, understanding, and wisdom you need to effectively witness for Christ and save souls to heaven. It’s just common sense that you can’t “do” until you know what to “do.” Neither will you have the confidence to share your witness for Christ because confidence comes with knowledge. Nonbelievers pick up on body language and they respond to the passion of a witness for Christ as much as they do the gospel message itself.

MONDAY AFFIRMATIONS (continued):

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.

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

MY AFFIRMATION:

As a branch of the Most High, I’m a child of God. I will do all things through the Lord Jesus Christ, who indwells me and strengthens me by his glorious power. I will produce much fruit by witnessing for Christ to save nonbelievers unto eternal life in heaven. I abide in God through prayer and Bible study so that I’m an effective “doer” of God’s word; saving lost souls to heaven by being obedient to the commandments of God.

NOTE: We’ve already discussed what “abide” means from the perspective of both God and man. God is the fountainhead of life from which all life flows, both angels and man. At our conception, God gives each of us an eternal spirit which is a part of his divine essence. Since God is an eternal spirit anything he gives us (i.e., our spirit) is also eternal like he is. You heard me right, if you’re reading this blog you’re an immortal being. You are God’s masterpiece of creation. Don’t believe all that humanist BS about human beings evolving from apes or one-cell organisms crawling out of the primordial ooze of an ancient ocean. Man is a biomechanical marvel composed of 30 trillion specialized cells arranged into organs, tissues, and enclosed body systems, topped off with the greatest computer in the universe. As soon as you exit the birth canal your journey begins toward your eternal home, which is either heaven or hell. There is no third choice. Everyone is headed to hell when they’re born and it’s up to each of us to get off the highway to hell.

In John 15:5 the word “fruit” is a common metaphor God uses for nonbelievers saved unto eternal life in heaven. God also uses the metaphor of a grapevine to describe himself. God refers to man, the creatures of his hands, as branches of a grapevine. Those who accept Jesus Christ, the son of God, as their Lord and Savior become children of God by grace and God will graft their branch onto the eternal branch so they will live forever in heaven in the presence of Jesus. Jesus is the only way to heaven so for those people who reject Christ their branch will wither and be gathered up and thrown into the fires of hell for all eternity. The problem is most people who aren’t saved don’t know this is the truth of God. They don’t understand this is their ultimate fate; to go to hell when they die. Satan is the god of this world and he has put blinders over the eyes of nonbelievers so they don’t recognize God and the Bible is just a book. Our job as believers is to witness for Christ is to rip those blinders off the eyes of nonbelievers so they can see the truth of God. That is the Great Commission Jesus Christ gave to his disciples before he ascended back to heaven.

The important part of John 15:5 to me is the last statement where Jesus says, “for without me you can do nothing.” Pair that statement with Philippians 4:13 which says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”, and we understand that we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit is also with us if we witness for Christ. Now, 90% of the saints in heaven are there through faith in Jesus alone, never having saved even one other person to heaven by their witness for Christ. They are all indwelt by Jesus yet they are without fruit. The difference is they didn’t pray to God to give them strength and help them spread the gospel message. Believers still on earth have the same problem. They are deceiving themselves because they’re saved and they think that’s all they need to do.

All believers are commanded by God to be ‘doers” of the word by witnessing for Christ to save nonbelievers to heaven. God knows we’re weak, we’re dust, and we can’t do this on our own which is why God tells us to ask for his help through prayer. We need to pray for God’s help before, during, and after we witness for Christ if we want to bear much “fruit” for God. Bible affirmations are my way of doing this because I’m saying yes to God every day and that I need his help saving nonbelievers to heaven. It’s the Holy Spirit who saves a person to heaven through our witness. We do 20% of the work of salvation and the Holy Spirit does the other 80%. All the glory goes to God because we’re merely a holy vessel for God to use for his purpose. Praise God for his love, mercy, and grace toward his servant!

My Christian blog has been going for five years now and during that time I have probably claimed at least a dozen scriptures in the Bible as my favorite verse. I love God and I love to study God’s word. As I come across a verse in my Bible study that excites me it becomes my favorite Bible verse; until I run across a verse that excites me even more and takes its place as my new favorite verse. I’m like a kid in a candy store running around excitedly pointing at everything. I’m like a kid who wants to sample all the treats in the candy store and loving everything I sample. Out of all my past favorite Bible verses I think Daniel 12:3 is my all-time favorite. It’s one of the 14 verses I have posted above my desk so I read them every morning over my pot of coffee. You see, as I run my race before the Lord I see Daniel 12:3 as the end of the road for me. It’s the fulfillment of all my goals and where I want to be at the end of my days. To manifest the blessings of Daniel 12:3 in my life it’s important that I continue saying yes to God in prayer that I will be obedient to the commandments of God by witnessing for Christ with all perseverance. I accomplish this by my Bible affirmations.

MONDAY AFFIRMATIONS (continued):

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 forever and ever.

MY AFFIRMATION:

I will be wise before the Lord through obedience to the commandments of God. I will fulfill the Great Commission I received from Jesus Christ, which is to spread the gospel message, the good news of God’s saving grace. I will witness Christ to all nations and all people. I will continually give my testimony of Jesus Christ all my life to help save many lost souls to the kingdom of heaven.

NOTE: A favorite literary device used by God in his word is known as “parallelism” and we see it in Daniel 12:3. We have two stand-alone statements separated by the conjunction “and.” Both statements say essentially the same thing using different words. The value of parallelism is that while each statement on its own may not be very clear, but together they help clarify each other so the meaning of the verse becomes crystal clear. In Daniel 12:3 the word “they” refers to Christian believers who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. It’s just common sense you can’t save someone else if you’re not saved yourself. In the first statement of this verse the word “wise” refers to believers who are witnessing for Christ and saving nonbelievers to heaven. We know this because in his word God often refers to those sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ to save lost souls as being wise.

The word “shall” is a promise from God in the first statement and it’s implied in the second statement. God cannot lie nor does the Bible contain any errors. The word “shine” in the first statement reflects our glory which is God’s reward for our obedience in saving others and it’s also implied in the second statement. We know “shine” is compared to the light from the “firmament” which we know refers to the sun, the moon, and the stars in the sky. We don’t have a clue what God means by shine but we know it’ll be good because one of the spiritual truths of heaven is a good tree can produce only good fruit. That applies to both God and man. One thing we do know is that the mind of man cannot fathom the depth of the riches God has in store for us. The second statement confirms that shine means we’ll light up brightly, “like the stars.” The second statement says our shine will be “forever and ever” which means God is talking about when we’re in heaven.

The second statement talks about believers who “turn” or change a sinner from the error of their way which leads to eternal death in hell. When we witness Christ we save nonbelievers to “righteousness” and righteousness is God’s term for salvation unto eternal life in heaven. By using the word “many” in the second statement God is telling us the number of believers we are to save if we want to light up heaven. It’s obvious to me that the brightness of our “shine” in heaven depends on how many people we save for heaven. Do you want to be wise and save one person to heaven and shine like the moon or would you rather save one thousand people to heaven (many) and shine like the brightest sun in the firmament? I have a theory about shining in heaven. I have no proof from God; just a hunch that makes sense to me. We know in heaven we’ll have a glorified body just like the one Jesus has. When Jesus Christ was transfigured before Peter, John, and James on Mount Tabor Jesus allowed his glory to shine forth from his body so that he radiated brightness like the sun as an example to his disciples of the glory that awaits them in heaven one day.

When believers get to heaven God will glorify us so we’ll also be able to radiate outward our glory within. The more nonbelievers you save to heaven the more glory God will give you. If you save many nonbelievers unto eternal life in heaven by your witness for Christ you’ll be the brightest light of all and you’ll be in the top one percent of the saints in heaven. I don’t believe everyone in heaven will be walking light bulbs all the time but I do believe we’ll be able to radiate our glory when we want to. Every saint in heaven will know the rank of every other saint they meet automatically by their brightness. There is a pecking order in heaven. We are ranked by our “good works” done here on earth and by good works I mean how many nonbelievers we save to heaven. We know this because angels are ranked in heaven (i.e., archangels), therefore it’s common sense we will be also.

The last thing we need to figure out is what God means by saving “many” to heaven. I know the answer. As I’ve witnessed for Christ over the years the number one thousand kept popping up in my head as the number of saved souls I should shoot for as my goal. I wasn’t sure if the number one thousand came from me or the Holy Spirit so I prayed to God for months to give me an answer. God finally answered me. I keep in regular contact with a fellow believer who witnesses for Christ in another state. I sometimes send him Bibles and Christian tracts for his ministry and he sends me a text every time he or his team saves someone. Out of the blue, my brother in Christ sends me a text telling me his personal goal is to save one thousand souls to heaven in his lifetime. We both had the same goal but had never spoken to each other about it. God often answers our prayers through another believer. The Holy Spirit gave both of us the same goal and once I shared with him that it was my goal too we both realized God was blessing us both with the answer to our prayers. Those who save a thousand souls to heaven will qualify as saving “many” in the eyes of God and the promise of Daniel 12:3 will be theirs.

My friend is saving his thousand souls to heaven by witnessing one-on-one, which is the better way, but it makes it much harder to reach one thousand saved souls unless you start young. Everyone has their own personal ministry from God and that was his. Ask God if you don’t know how God wants you to serve him. The Holy Spirit gave me my ministry long ago, which is to study God’s word and give my testimony. My “passive” ministry evolved into this Christian blog where my twin themes are “studying God’s word” and “witnessing for Christ.” I started blogging in December 2019 and this is blog #671. I also “leverage” my witness for Christ by distributing Christian tracts containing the gospel message to my seven prison ministries as well as personally handing out Christian tracts for over ten years. It’s a big deal to save a thousand souls to heaven because 90% of the saints in heaven are there through faith in Jesus Christ alone, never having saved even one other person to heaven by a witness for Christ. If you save one hundred souls to heaven you’re in the top 5% of the saints in heaven and if you reach one thousand souls saved for heaven you’ll be in the top 1% of the saints in heaven, with all the honor, glory, and riches that go with it.

Christian tracts have saved millions of nonbelievers to heaven over the last 75 years. Christian tracts are the easiest, cheapest, and most effective way I know to reach the greatest number of nonbelievers. That’s why I’ve given away more than 40,000 tracts during my ministry to go along with 2000 Bibles and several hundred Christian books and gospel comics. I calculate that I’ve saved over one hundred people to heaven, which is a good harvest according to the Lord. However, I’m nowhere near my goal of saving one thousand people to heaven so I press onward with my witness for Christ. I work alongside my King in his harvest field to help save nonbelievers to heaven because the harvest field is great and the workers are few. I pray for more workers as God has commanded. As you witness for Christ to save nonbelievers to heaven make sure you pray for God’s help before, during, and after your witness because it’s the Holy Spirit that does the saving. You’re helping the Holy Spirit and not vice versa.

If you’re reading this blog you still have spiritual questions you want answered. Maybe you’re a declared atheist or agnostic but you’re not convinced. Maybe you’re a backsliding Christian who has doubts about your faith. More than likely you’re one of the five billion followers of one of the fake religions and false gods sponsored by Satan throughout history to hide the truth of God from man. We all know in our hearts that there is just one God and all other gods are false. I posit that Christianity is the one true religion and Jehovah is the one true God. Our Lord is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all other gods are imposters. God’s word, our Holy Bible, is the truth of God and the wisdom of God. This is my testimony. Furthermore, I have proof to back up my statements.

You can find that proof of God in my archived blogs from December 2019. I have a list of 23 physical proofs of God (there are over 200). I have a list of 34 fulfilled prophecies of Jesus Christ (there are over 60), and I have a list of Bible proofs as well. I have a posted witness outline I used at one time that uses verses from the Bible referred to as the ‘Roman Road to Salvation” which is favored by most Christians who witness for Christ. I made my witness template as a guide for others but feel free to make your own witness guide. What you’ll find is you’ll use a witness guide as a crutch the first few times you witness to someone and then you’ll never need to use it again. Dozens of Bible verses have been used to save nonbelievers to heaven. I have entire blogs dedicated to each set of proofs of God so I won’t repeat them here. Go check them out when you have the time. What I will say is that it’s fairly easy to pick out the true God because there are two things only God can do.

Only the one true God can bring someone back to life and only God can tell the future. We know that God brought Jesus Christ back to life on the third day after his crucifixion and burial. After the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we know that he walked the earth for fifty days before ascending back to heaven because we have proof. There were over 500 documented eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Jesus Christ and that is just a historical fact. We know that the Bible contains over 1000 prophecies, over 500 of which have been fulfilled and documented as historical facts. A prophecy is just history written in advance and only God is the author of history. All the other fake religions and false gods throughout history haven’t raised anyone from the dead nor have they fulfilled even one prophecy between them. You see, they can’t because they’re all fake. All the false gods of this world are powerless and they stand mute before our Lord, the true God of creation. I was saved unto eternal life in heaven when I was twelve years old by my profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. God’s saving grace is available to anyone who comes to him in prayer. Googe “sinner’s prayer” and pray it to God, in faith, and you’ll be saved too.

The mind is a funny thing. Have you ever noticed whenever you buy a certain make, model, and year of car from that point forward your mind notices every other car on the road that is the same as yours? You don’t have to make a conscious effort to do it. Your mind just automatically does it. Our mind is the greatest supercomputer in the universe and it looks for the familiar, what it knows, what it feels comfortable with. In my case, my mind is fully engaged in pursuing the primary focus of my life, which is to witness for Christ to save, “one more for Jesus” every single day. I know God’s word as well as anyone not in the ministry. When I read the Bible my mind automatically recognizes the truths of God I’m already familiar with and know in my spirit. Every new revelation from God is like finding a long-lost friend. Bible verses that talk about witnessing for Christ flash like neon signs for those of us dedicated to sharing the gospel message of Christ with all nations and all people. When we say Bible affirmations in prayer before God it’s the same thing as saying yes to God. You’re quoting a Bible verse and then saying you’ll obey it.

Long ago the Holy Spirit gave me the ministry of studying God’s word and giving my testimony about God. This unquenchable thirst for God’s word led me to create two Christian blog sites, www.onemoreforjesus.net and www.christinatractministry.com. I have witnessed for Christ one on one and saved nonbelievers to heaven, but let’s face it, those opportunities are few and far between. The niche God has chosen for me is to witness for Christ by sowing the gospel seed “passively” through the written word of my two blogs and my Christian tract ministry where I distribute Christian tracts containing the written gospel message and the sinner’s prayer on the back page. My tracts primarily go to my seven prison ministries. I’ve been personally handing out Christian tracts for the last ten years wherever I go. This way I leverage my witness for Christ to reach the most people possible. It also happens to be the easiest and cheapest way I know to reach nonbelievers.

In my twenty years of studying God’s word and giving my testimony about Jesus Christ I have distributed over 40,000 Christian tracts, somewhere around 2000 Bibles, and several hundred Christian books and gospel comics. My thirst for God’s word only gets greater and my commitment to God only gets stronger. In the last five years I’ve posted almost 700 blogs on my two Christian websites. The vast majority of my blogs revolve around the twin themes of my website, which are to, “study God’s word” and “witness for Christ.” Every day I wake up with the same mantra, which is to save, “one more for Jesus.” You might call me a boring person or even a “one-trick pony” because of my obsession with serving my God. I live to serve God and I make no apologies for it. I’m always thinking about the best way to leverage my witness for Christ so that I can save more nonbelievers to the kingdom of heaven. I’ve been indwelt by the Holy Spirit since the age of twelve so the Lord abides in me. As I read the Bible daily and pray to God multiple times a day I’m also abiding in the Lord. I’m in fellowship with my creator. When I read my Bible my mind picks up on virtually every verse that pertains to witnessing for Christ, and there are many.

The number one commandment from God to believers is to share the gospel message of Jesus Christ with nonbelievers so that they too can be saved unto eternal life in heaven by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Saving lost souls to heaven is the only way we will ever please God and the only way we’ll ever build up honor, glory, and treasure in heaven. Every day I say yes to God by speaking my Bible affirmations to God in prayer. My Bible affirmations are prayers of rejoicing to the God who made me. My Bible affirmations help me keep my eyes on Jesus as I faithfully witness for Christ in obedience to God’s word. It’s not by accident that my Bible affirmations are centered around verses where the Lord commands believers to share the gospel message of Christ. It’s not by accident that my Bible affirmations confirm my obedience to God’s word and ask God to fulfill his word through me. You cannot achieve God’s salvation plan for your life without asking for the Lord’s help. You cannot save nonbelievers to heaven without God’s help so ask him.

MONDAY AFFIRMATIONS (continued):

Matthew 4:19 – (Jesus to Peter and Andrew) – Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

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

Luke 5:10 – (Jesus to Peter) – Do not be afraid, from now on you will catch men.

MY AFFIRMATION:

As a disciple of Jesus Christ, I’m a fisherman for God. I’ll fish for the souls of nonbelievers all the days of my life to catch them for heaven. In obedience to Almighty God I affirm that I’ll fulfill the Great Commission given to me by Jesus, which is to share the gospel message of Jesus Christ with all nations and all people. Strengthen me O Lord, and help me, as I work in your harvest field alongside you to help save many lost souls to heaven.

NOTE: The New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called the synoptic gospels because they chronicle the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God in the flesh and he came down from heaven to die on the cross for the sins of all men past, present, and future. But Jesus also came to earth for another reason which most people don’t know about or tend to forget if they do know. The life and ministry of Jesus Christ was intended to be an example for all believers to follow. God wants all Christians to emulate the life of Jesus in the way they live their lives. Jesus lived a life without sin and fallen man will never come close to that perfect life but we can try our best, and that is achieved by daily Bible reading, daily prayer, and obedience to the commandments of God. Every believer should be familiar with the actions taken by Jesus during his ministry. Study your Bible. I suggest you order your copy of, “In the Footsteps of Jesus” by Jean-Pierre Isbouts, if you want a more in-depth study of the life of Jesus.

In the three verses above Jesus is selecting his first disciples. Did Jesus Christ pick educated men, rich men, or powerful men to be his disciples? No. Instead, Jesus chose simple illiterate fishermen who couldn’t read or write. As he walked along the shores of the Sea of Galilee (a large lake), Jesus selected four fishermen to be his first four disciples (Peter, Andrew, John, and James). Jesus chose these men because of their vocation as fishermen as an example to all of us that those whom Jesus calls must also be fishermen. A fisherman is the perfect metaphor for those who witness Christ because we all can understand it immediately. The fish are nonbelievers, the boat is heaven, the net is the gospel, and the fishermen are believers catching nonbelievers by casting their nets.

Mt. 4:19 and Mk. 1:17 are almost identical verses. When God says something more than once it’s very important to him so we need to pay particular attention to what is being said. Notice that Jesus never had a conversation with any of his chosen disciples to see if they were interested in the position. The universe was created by the spoken word of God. Everything obeys the word of God and Jesus is God. When Jesus used the authoritative “command” voice of God the disciples immediately obeyed because they had no choice in the matter. Luke’s account of this story in Luke 5:10 is a little different because Jesus is only speaking to Peter. All of the future disciples had been out fishing all night on the Sea of Galilee without catching any fish. Jesus directed them to fish in another area of the lake and Peter obeyed. They netted so many fish they couldn’t get them all into the boat.

In the first part of Luke 5:10, Jesus is telling Peter, “do not be afraid” because the disciples had just seen a miracle by catching so many fish and the realization hit them that Jesus was God. In Luke 5:10, Jesus goes on to say, “you will catch men.” So we have three gospels where the first thing Jesus says when he recruits his disciples is basically, “I’m expecting you to witness for Christ” to save nonbelievers to heaven. It’s the dearest thing to God’s heart and it’s the number one thing Jesus expects from his disciples. As believers we’re disciples of Jesus too so that command is for us as much as it is for the original disciples. When the Bible says believers are to do “good works” before the Lord God is talking about witnessing for Christ to save lost souls to heaven. The more souls we help save to heaven the greater the honor, glory, and riches God will bestow on us on the last day. There is a pecking order in heaven and where we rank depends on the number of nonbelievers we save to heaven.

This story in the gospel of Luke where Peter catches a boat full of fish is there for another compelling reason. Notice that the disciples caught no fish on their own but once the power of God intervened their catch was tremendous. So, as a believer witnessing for Christ, you might catch a fish on your own once in a while by sheer luck. However, once you start to pray to the Lord for his help during your witness you bring the Holy Spirit on the scene, both in you and with you. By adding prayers to God you can harvest many more for heaven ((i.e., believers) for heaven than you can by working alone. Saving nonbelievers to heaven is a partnership between the Holy Spirit and man so take advantage of it.

Man does 20% of the work involved is saving someone and the Holy Spirit does the other 80%. The Holy Spirit does all the heavy lifting. The Holy Spirit doesn’t help us. We help the Holy Spirit. It’s just that God is graciously giving us credit for the soul saved to heaven, even though God did most of the work. As you witness for Christ to nonbelievers you should be praying for God’s blessing before, during, and after your witness. After all, it’s the Holy Spirit who saves people to heaven, not us. Praise God for his mercy and grace because all the glory belongs to God when someone is saved. As disciples of Christ, we’re merely vessels put here for God’s pleasure. God will give believers the honor, glory, and riches they deserve when they stand before the bema judgment seat of Christ on the last day, based on our obedience to the commandments of God during our lifetime.

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 more than 160,000 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 hundreds of thousands 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!