Playing the lottery is for suckers. Most people know it yet they keep playing. They simply can’t help themselves. Government at all levels, city, state and federal, know better than to push lotteries on those who can’t really afford it but they can’t help themselves either because they are all greedy. All governments love to spend other people’s money and the more the better. The more they spend the more they want and it’s universal in all countries of the world. All governments want to spend more and more of your money on their pet projects and lotteries are nothing more than a tax on the poor without calling it a tax. I’m not poor and I’m disciplined enough not to play the lottery, with one exception. When the power ball or mega million lotteries reach 700 million without a winner I will buy $10 worth of lottery tickets. What ticks me off is having no winner for four additional drawings and I’m now out $40. The odds of winning the lottery are three hundred million to one so I don’t expect to win any time soon. I would have been much better off using the $40 I spent on lottery tickets to buy Christian tracts or Bibles for one of my seven prison ministries because at least they give me the chance to save someone’s eternal soul.
Isaiah 1:18 – Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
2 Peter 1:3-4 – As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
John 6:44 – (Jesus) – No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own. For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body (by witnessing) and in your spirit (by praying), which are God’s.
If you’re a believer you’ve already won the greatest lottery of all time. Out of all the people who have ever lived throughout human history probably only one in a thousand people ever make it to heaven so count yourself blessed to have been one of those chosen to go to heaven. God has adopted you as a son of the Most High so count yourself lucky and praise God for your good fortune. Make sure you prove yourself to be worthy of your lofty status as a prince or princess in heaven. Make God proud of you because of your good works before the Lord (witnessing for Christ) to save lost souls for the kingdom of heaven. Don’t disappoint your maker by keeping your salvation all to yourself because God leaves you here on earth so you can pay your salvation forward by witnessing for Christ. Millions of nonbelievers are dying every day and going straight to hell for the lack of a witness for Christ. God intends for you to be that witness. As believers we can’t save everyone but we can save one. We can save one more for Jesus every day with our testimony about God. Ask for God’s help in prayer and he will help you save lost souls for heaven.
Proverbs 14:25 – A true witness delivers souls, but a deceitful witness speaks lies.
Proverbs 11:30 – The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.
James 5:20 – He who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death (eternal death in hell).
Ephesians 6:18 – Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.
I’m not a greedy person. By playing the lottery I was buying the dream of using the money for good works on behalf of the Lord so that God is blessed and I’m blessed by God in return. You don’t need to become a missionary or win the lottery to please God or have him bless you. You can be blessed by God right where you are by doing the following things. First, you need to believe in the one true God Jehovah and reject all the other false gods sponsored by Satan to hide the truth of God from man. Then accept God’s only begotten son, Jesus Christ, as your personal Lord and Savior. Start by asking God for the forgiveness of your sins by repeating the sinner’s prayer to God in all sincerity. God will then save you unto eternal life in heaven because he said he would in his word and God cannot lie. Second, you need to remain in fellowship with God the Father through daily prayer, daily Bible reading, and by studying God’s word for knowledge, understanding and wisdom. Lastly, you must obey all the commandments of God contained in the Bible to the best of your ability. Pleasing God by obeying his commandments will cause you to receive the many blessings that God wants you to have from his hand. God is glorified when he bestows blessings on man. God is ready, willing, and able to give believers eternal treasures in heaven that far exceed anything we could accomplish by winning a billion dollars in the lottery down here on earth. Remember the odds of winning the lottery are three hundred million to one. But with God you are guaranteed to be a winner as long as you are in obedience to his word. Let me explain how to do it.
2 Corinthians 5:18 – Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.
Note: The ministry of reconciliation means the duty to repair man’s broken relationship with God (reconcile). It’s just another way of saying we’re to “witness for Christ.” Once we’re saved God commands us to share the gospel. We don’t have the option of refusing if we want to please God and receive his blessings on earth and treasure in heaven on the last day.
Romans 12:1 – I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
Matthew 17:26 – (Jesus) – With men this is impossible (our salvation), but with God all things are possible.
James 1:22 – But be doers of the word (by witnessing), and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
God made the angels, the universe, and man. This is all spelled out in the Bible and the evidence is overwhelming for believers like me who have studied God’s word for many years. It pleased God to put man on this earth for his pleasure and his glory. God wants every creature made by his hand to be in heaven with him but the Lord gives each one of us the free will choice to serve God or Satan. Not choosing is a choice for Satan. Choosing God will result in salvation unto eternal life in heaven where God will shower us with love, honor and glory. Choosing Satan will result in eternal life in the lake of fire and brimstone where the nonbeliever will be in pain and agony 24/7 for all eternity. Once you know the truth of God and understand God’s salvation plan for man you need to accept the Lord’s saving grace as quickly as you can or you could suffer the eternal consequences should you die unexpectedly. If we haven’t chosen God and his salvation before we die it’s too later. Satan will harvest your soul for hell immediately after you die unsaved and that’s just a spiritual truth of God. Believers who die in the Lord immediately go to heaven. Satan has put blinders over the eyes of nonbelievers so that they cannot see the truth of God. It’s up to believers to rip those blinders off so the lost can see the light of God’s glory. 90% of the saints in heaven will be there through faith in Jesus Christ alone; never having saved even a single soul to heaven by a witness for Christ. Make sure you’re not one of them. Be doers of the word. Don’t stand before the bema judgment seat of Christ empty-handed.
2 Corinthians 9:6 – But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Note: God makes it clear if you don’t witness for Christ in order to save lost souls for the kingdom of heaven you’ll not reap the honor, glory and treasure in heaven that you could have had. You’ll be in heaven through faith in Jesus but you’ll have empty pockets because of your disobedience. All your good works will be burned up before the bema judgment seat of Jesus Christ on the last day.
Hebrews 12:1 – Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
Note: God describes our life on earth as a race. God has laid out a different race for each of us and it’s called our life. We are to run our best possible race for God by witnessing for Christ and saving nonbelievers to the kingdom of God as long as we live. That’s why every day when I wake us my mantra is to save, “one more for Jesus” for as long as I have breath in me. Our time on earth is short and there’s no better use of our time than saving souls.
Daniel 12:3 – Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.
John 1:12 – But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.
It’s God’s world and he makes all the rules. God calls and saves whomever he pleases but it pleases God to allow man to participate in his salvation plan for man. Believers are to save nonbelievers to the kingdom of heaven by sharing the gospel message of Jesus Christ with all nations and all people. Believers who witness for Christ glorify God and in return God will glorify and bless those believers who do the good works God has given them to do. Someone once helped save you and me to eternal life in heaven and we owe it to them to pay our salvation forward and help save nonbelievers to heaven through the gospel of Christ. This is how God means to populate heaven with his saints. Saving lost souls for heaven is our reasonable service to the God who made us. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and holy before the Lord as a vessel fit for the master’s use to do good works. The number one good work we do for God is sharing the gospel message of Christ with all nonbelievers everywhere we find them. As believers we’re saved to heaven through faith in Jesus Christ alone but we’re blessed by God according to our good works here on earth.
Romans 9:15 – (God speaking to Moses) – I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.
Philippians 2:13 – For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
Mark 11:24 – (Jesus) – Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
Ephesians 5:15-16 – See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
God doesn’t need us to save man but it pleased God to allow man to work alongside him in his harvest field to help save nonbelievers to the kingdom of heaven so he can glorify us in heaven and give us precious gifts. In fact, God commands that we witness for Christ in his harvest field and pray for more workers because the harvest field is great and the workers are few. We like to think when we witness for Christ that we’re doing 80% of the work to save someone to heaven when the exact opposite is true. God does 80% of the heavy lifting it takes to save someone unto eternal life in heaven. Nobody is saved unless God first calls them. Nobody is saved until the Holy Spirit first comes and convicts the sinner in his spirit so that he knows the God of creation and understands that he is full of sin and that only God can forgive him of those sins. Nobody is saved until the Holy Spirit takes it upon himself to change the nonbelievers eternal destination from hell to heaven. Nobody is saved until the Holy Spirit writes the nonbelievers name in the book of life. When the Holy Spirit does these things the nonbeliever becomes a believer in the eyes of God and justified through faith in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is God. Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. Our 20% contribution to saving someone is sharing our witness for Christ. Nobody gets saved without the presence of the Holy Spirit (in us and in the world) and God’s word, usually spoken in faith by a believer giving his witness of God. We just need to witness for Christ and let God do the rest. In the Great Commission Jesus gave to his disciples he didn’t say go out and save all people. Jesus merely said for his disciples to share (witness) the gospel message of Christ because he knew God would do the saving himself.
Philippians 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
John 15:5 – (Jesus) – I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in Him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
James 4:2 – Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss.
Colossians 4:5 – Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside (nonbelievers), redeeming the time (by witnessing for Christ).
The best way to be blessed by God is so easy most believers tend to forget about it. When you go before the throne of grace in heaven daily and pray to God always bless God first and then ask God to bless you in return. God loves you and he wants to give you what you ask for because God is glorified when he grants our prayers. The main thing about prayers to God is they must not be contrary to God’s ethics or his will. In addition, prayers must continue without ceasing until God grants your petition. One prayer and then you’re done won’t cut it with God. While we may be in a rush to have our prayers answered by God he has his own timeline for responding to our requests. One last thing. You must believe without any doubt that God will grant your prayers. The things I’m telling you are confirmed in James 4:2, Mark 11:24, and 1 Timothy 2:8. When the Bible says God will bless you for doing something make sure you do it. Reading from the book of Revelation is just one example (Revelation 1:3).
1 Timothy 2:8 – I desire therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.
Matthew 9:37-38 – (Jesus) – The harvest is truly plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.
1 Peter 5:10 – But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered awhile, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.
Ephesians 2:8-9 – For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
In summary, if you want to be blessed by God ask him for his blessings in prayer and pray the same prayer every day of your life. God says you can have what you say so keep saying it until God gives you your request. Repetition is good for the soul! If you want God to bless you greatly then obey the number one commandment of God, which is to witness for Christ continuously in order to save lost souls for the kingdom of heaven until God decides to bring you home. Your times are in God’s hands so don’t worry about that. Just do the work that God gives you to do. It’s as simple as that. God gives believers treasures in heaven based on the number of people they save. If we save at least one person to heaven God will be pleased with us. If every soul is priceless to God how could he be other than pleased? In Daniel 12:3 God also says that believers who save many to heaven will shine like the stars in the firmament. I’ve asked God in prayer to define “many” and he has confirmed in my spirit the number is 1000. Our job is to witness for Christ and let God sort it all out on the last day. That’s why my mind is on God all day long and why my daily mantra is to save one more for Jesus. We are to emulate Christ by the way we live our life here on earth. You don’t have to take my word for it (see Proverbs 14:25 and Proverbs 11:30).
James 5:15 – The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
Matthew 13:23 – (Jesus) – But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
1 Corinthians 15:58 – Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
Act 1:8 – (Jesus) – But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.