Studying God's Word

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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