Studying God's Word

Christians will fall into one of three categories, those who think they’re saved, those who hope they’re saved and those who know they’re saved. Any Christian worth their salt needs to know they’re saved and they’re absolutely sure they’re going to heaven when they die. If you call yourself Christian which category do you think you fall under and why do you think so? A true Christian is someone who knows without a doubt they’re saved. So, are you going to heaven, to hell, somewhere in between or are you just not sure? If you don’t know your eternal destination for sure it’s imperative you find that out right now while there is still time. To effectively work for the kingdom of God every believer must first seek and find their own “full assurance” of salvation unto eternal life before they can help others. Every believer needs to know for certain they’re heaven bound otherwise they’re of little use to God. How can any Christian gain this “full assurance” of being saved and of being heaven bound? The answer, of course, is with God’s help. God tells us in the Bible how believers can know him and have “full assurance” of their salvation through daily prayer and a careful, thorough, systematic study of God’s Word.

1 Timothy 4:13 – Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

Isaiah 32:17 – The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.

Isaiah 46:13 – I bring My righteousness near, it shall not be far off; My salvation shall not linger.

Isaiah 44:22 – I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, and like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.

If you’re not praying daily and reading your Bible daily then, of course, you’ll start to have doubts about your faith. It’s just our human nature. Most human beings need repetition and consistency to really learn something well and to internalize that knowledge so it becomes a part of who they are. Neglecting regular Bible reading leads to a stunted and dwarfed spiritual life. Neglecting regular prayers to God will make us fearful, doubtful, and more susceptible to false doctrine. Our regenerated soul needs the constant nourishment of God’s Word like a newborn baby needs its mother’s milk. Satan feasts on believers who have let their faith grow cold. Satan never stops trying to destroy the Christian’s faith so we need regular prayer and the daily reading God’s Word in order to stop the fiery darts of the wicked one. Why is that? When you pray you are talking to God one on one and he always hears the prayers of believers. When you read the Bible God is talking to you and the Holy Spirit always comes on the scene to help you understand the Word of God. That’s why the Holy Spirit is called the Helper.

Romans 10:17 – So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

John 17:17 – (Jesus speaking) – Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

Matthew 4:4 – (Jesus speaking) – It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

John 10:27-30 – (Jesus speaking) – My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of His hand. I and My Father are one.

If you don’t have full assurance of heaven yourself how can you effectively resist Satan and, at the same time, witness for Christ to other people? The answer is you can’t because your motivation and your confidence won’t be where you need it to be. People can sense whether or not you’re passionate about God and whether or not you know what you’re talking about. Without “full assurance” of eternal life and forgiveness of your sins you may still do some good works before God out of a sense of duty or guilt, which is commendable. But when you truly have the peace of knowing your salvation is certain then your good works will be so much more; then your witness will be so much more powerful and effective; not because you feel you have to but out of the abundance of love you have for the Lord. You won’t be able to contain the joy you have for God in your heart.

Hebrews 6:10-12 – For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that each of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Acts 17:30-31 – Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.

Hebrews 10:19-22 – Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

John 6:37 – (Jesus speaking) – All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.

As a believer, when I think about God’s salvation plan for man these words keep popping up in my mind, “this is perfect.” What dawned on me is only the mind of God could ever have conceived of such a thing! The Holy Spirit communed with my spirit so that the truth of God and his word were confirmed in my heart first and then it was settled in my soul forever. God confirms this in John 8:32 when he says, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Our spirit knows God the Father because we received our eternal spirit from God. Our spirit is a part of God that he gives each person at conception. Just imagine it; God, the King of the universe, coming off his throne to take on flesh and live a human life in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Just imagine God volunteering to die a horrible death on the cross in our place to remove our sins; so his creatures wouldn’t have to suffer eternal death in the lake of fire.

1 John 5:11 – And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

Isaiah 53:25 – I, even I, am He who blots out your transgression for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.

Mark 1:15 – (Jesus speaking) – The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent, and believe in the gospel.

John 3:36 – (Jesus speaking) – He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.

Oh, what love our Father has for us! I know the gospel can only come from God and it’s not something made by human hands because the human mind cannot comprehend the perfect love of God and the perfect justice of God. The entire Bible is God’s love letter to us. One of the spiritual laws of God is the wages of sin is death. The shed blood of Christ was the only possible way for a righteous God to uphold his perfect love while at the same time uphold his perfect justice. If you want proof of God and proof of your salvation look no further than the Bible, and especially the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord.

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

John 5:24 – (Jesus speaking) – Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.

2 Timothy 1:8-10 – Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

Romans 8:16 – The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

Jesus came to earth to be a sin offering to God the Father for the forgiveness of all sins. Nothing else would satisfy the justice of a holy God and allow us to enjoy eternal life in heaven. The sins of the whole world were placed on Jesus Christ, the Son of God, at his crucifixion because, as the sinless Lamb of God, he was the only person worthy enough to be a sacrifice for all sins for all time. I’m talking about your sins, my sins, the sins of every person who has ever lived in the past from Adam up to now and every person who will ever live in the future up to the time of the Second Coming of Christ. Crucifixion was the most cruel way to die ever devised by man, so cruel in fact that the Romans banned it after 200 years in use.

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

John 3:27 – A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.

Acts 10:13 – To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.

Matthew 22:37 – (Jesus speaking) – You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

No doubt Jesus suffered tremendous physical pain and anguish on the cross but that pain and anguish paled in comparison to the spiritual torture Jesus endured in his Spirit as he was separated from God the Father for the first time while absorbing the full brunt of the unfiltered wrath of God for the sins of all mankind, past, present and future. The wrath God intended for all sinners, including us, was instead channeled through Jesus. We can’t comprehend what Jesus endured for us and he did it voluntarily because of his great love, mercy and grace toward us. Yes, Jesus is indeed our Savior! We need to remember daily what Jesus has done for us and offer up praise, worship, honor and glory to his name!

2 Corinthians 5:21 – For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

John 3:36 – He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.

John 11:25-26 – (Jesus speaking) – 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.

The death of Jesus made the forgiveness of sins possible for all men. The next step is for each person to receive remission of their individual sins by believing in the gospel message of Christ and accepting Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. This is done by making a conscious decision to turn away from sin and turn toward God (repentance) and by a profession of faith in the Lord (sinner’s prayer). God put eternity into the heart of every person so they would know deep down there is a God and instinctively search for God. It’s a universal need of every people, nation and tribe on the face of the earth. No person will ever be truly happy until they find the true God that created them; the only God that can fill the void in their soul. If the gospel were reduced to one word it would be “resurrection.” Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ there would be no Christianity and our faith would be in vain.

1 Peter 5:8 – Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

James 4:7 – Therefore submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.

1 Peter 1:3 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

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.

The death and resurrection of Jesus is proof from God that he has accepted full payment for our sins. The fact that Jesus rose from the dead gives every believer “full assurance” that their sins have been forgiven and that they will also rise from the dead on the last day in glorified bodies and then live with Jesus forever in heaven. We know God doesn’t allow sin in heaven. If God had not accepted Jesus’ sacrificial death for forgiveness of the sins of all men he never would have raised Jesus from the dead and we would all still be in our sins. If the sins of the world were still on Jesus then he wouldn’t be in heaven right now at the right hand of God. All believers have “full assurance” of eternal life in heaven and the remission of their sins because Jesus is risen and sits on his throne in heaven as our Mediator. A righteous God is satisfied with the finished work of Jesus on the cross. God won’t demand payment twice for your sins. God is not mocked. Your sin debt has been paid in full forever by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. That’s what the word “savior” means. This should give us inner peace and “full assurance” of our salvation.

Luke 19:10 – (Jesus speaking) – For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.

Romans 6:14 – For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Romans 6:11 – Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 5:10 – For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

The Bible is the inerrant word of God. People have tried for two thousand years to prove the Bible wrong and they have failed to find any errors in it. God claims the Bible is his word and we know God cannot lie. God is ever faithful to fulfill the promises he makes in the Bible. The Bible is one third prophecy with over 1000 prophecies, over 500 of which have already come true in their appointed time and have been documented at fact. The theme of the Bible is all about the revelation of Jesus Christ and believers can only find the “full assurance” of the salvation they seek by daily reading and studying the Bible themselves along with daily prayers to God. As a believer, if you doubt your salvation you’re calling God a liar to his face. You’re telling God his word is false. In Scripture God say, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Scripture also says the word of God is forever settled in heaven which means God will never change his mind.

Luke 6:17 – (Jesus speaking) – And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.

Luke 21:33 – Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

Hebrews 11:1 – Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

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

In fact, God never changes at all so we can abide in God and trust his word to be true. Every believer will occasionally have doubts because we’re all human. When that happens immediately look to the Bible and to the cross; and have faith in Jesus. Trust in God because he is faithful. God is the only thing you can count on in this world. It’s the blood of Christ that saves us and the Word of God that confirms it in our hearts and minds. Believe in God because he cannot lie and he is ever faithful. Rest your hope on the finished work of Christ for your salvation. Rest your faith in the naked Word of God. Nothing else will do. The Bible believed gives “full assurance” to us of our salvation unto eternal life in heaven where we’ll be in the presence of Jesus forever.

1 Corinthians 1:30-31 – But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God – and righteousness and sanctification and redemption – that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”

1 John 5:10 – He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; 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.

John 6:40 – (Jesus speaking) – And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

God created us all and he’s been fair to everyone by giving each of us the same small amount of initial faith which is all we need to accept his saving grace. Anyone who wants to be saved can be saved. It’s true, God wants you! God never turns anyone away and he makes it easy to come to him. All you have to do is ask. Even the feeblest faith in Christ is saving faith because God wants all of us in heaven with him. That’s why God created us! The thief who died on the cross with Jesus had the feeblest faith I’ve ever seen yet it was enough to save him. God gave that example to prove to us anyone can come to God at any time, even when our faith is weak. It’s up to believers to grow the faith they were initially given through daily prayers to God and by reading their Bibles daily for knowledge, understanding and wisdom. Always remember this when you have doubts, which all of us will have at one time or another. Disregard how you may feel and just trust in what God says in the Bible. Salvation is not about us, it’s about God and what he wants for us. God made us especially for heaven. Salvation is about the love, mercy and grace of Almighty God!

Matthew 5:18 – (Jesus speaking) – For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.

Romans 5:18 – Therefore, as though one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.

Psalm 119:89 – Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.

Matthew 5:16 – (Jesus speaking) – Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

The closer a believer gets to God the more they realize the holiness and glory of the Lord while at the same time they also see their own wretched sinfulness. Once a believer sees the vast gulf between holy God and sinful man the first thing they think is, “I’m not worthy of salvation,” and they’re right. Sinful man is an unclean thing to God, a filthy rag before the Lord. The thing is, none of us are worthy of God’s grace. We’re all in the same boat. But God in his love and mercy has decided to forgive us of our sins through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Once we have been reborn in Christ Jesus, when God looks upon us he sees only the righteousness of Jesus, his dear Son. Our sins were washed away by the blood of Jesus, In the eyes of God the death of Jesus was also our death and the life of Jesus is also our life. We were resurrected with Jesus therefore we are forever linked together. Because Jesus Christ lives forever and dwells in us, we too will live forever. Because Jesus lives eternally all who believe in him have “full assurance” of their eternal salvation in Jesus. Believers will live forever in heaven because Jesus is there.

Ephesians 1:11 – In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.

Colossians 3:1-4 – If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

1 John 4:13-16 – By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in Him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

Romans 8:29-30 – For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

When we see the word predestined in Scripture it doesn’t mean God intended for some people to go to heaven and others to hell. God wants all men to go to heaven which is one of the reasons he is holding off on the rapture of the saints until the last possible moment; hoping more will come to Jesus before it’s too late. The word predestination means that God will conform believers to be like Jesus (sanctification) over time. The goal is for us to obey God and assist in this process through prayer and abiding in God’s Word. When we were reborn God forgave our sins and gave us a new spirit but the corrupt flesh remains. Sin in the flesh is not destroyed. We still have a sin nature in our physical bodies inherited from Adam’s original sin in the Garden of Eden. That means we all will continue to sin and be “sinners” because of that. The difference is that on earth we can’t keep from sinning but once we’re in heaven we’ll be unable to sin because God himself will “glorify” us and keep us from sinning forevermore.

Ephesians 1:5 – Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.

Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Isaiah 53:5-6 – But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Titus 3:5-7 – Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

As believers we should be sinning less and less over time as our fellowship with God deepens. Believers should hate sin and should find no satisfaction when they do sin (or at least not as much as they used to). Satan loves to tell Christians that because of their ongoing sin they can’t possibly be saved and that God doesn’t love them anymore. That is not true! Don’t believe it for a second. In the eyes of God every saint is priceless. Once a believer is saved their salvation is irrevocable. To prove it God indwells the believer with his Holy Spirit upon salvation as an earnest deposit on their soul. God will fulfill his promise and redeem believers when they die. Scripture says, “Precious in the eyes of God is the death of His saints.” The Scriptures also say Satan is a liar and the father of it (John 8:44). Believe what the Bible says. Have faith in God, push back against Satan, and trust in the Lord for his salvation and protection. God cannot lie; God is ever faithful; God will never leave you nor forsake you. Believers can have “full assurance” that they are saved and will go to heaven. Believers are secure in God’s hands forever and Satan can’t pluck us out no matter how hard he tries. All praise, worship, honor and glory to God our Father in heaven for our salvation unto eternal life, for those who believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

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.

1 Corinthians 1:18 – For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Titus 2:15 – Speak these things (the gospel), exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.

1 Thessalonians 4:18 – Therefore comfort one another with these words.

For over nineteen centuries Bible-believing Christians have had their eyes on the horizon, hoping to see the Lord Jesus Christ descending from heaven with a shout to call them home. The Apostle Paul called this future prophetic event, “The Blessed Hope”, but most Christians refer to it as, “The Rapture.” As believers we all want to go to heaven and miss the Tribulation but, more importantly, we want our “Blessed Hope”, which is Christ himself. The New Testament was originally written in Greek, the universal language of the ancient world. It was then translated into Latin in the fourth century and later into English. You won’t find the word rapture anywhere in the Bible. Rapture was a Latin term used in the Latin translation of the Bible but since Latin is now a dead language you won’t find it in print anymore.

However, the term rapture caught everyone’s imagination and the word stuck. The rapture event was described in the original Greek language by the word “harpadso” which means “snatched up.” Believers are literally going to be “snatched up” or “caught away” by Jesus at his promised return. The term rapture may be a better translation than the original Greek because it suggests a joyous exaltation in the prophetic event. Rapture gives Christians a sense of expectancy, a sense of immediacy that you simply don’t get with “snatched up”. Interpret Scripture, first and foremost, based on God’s intended audience. Determine whether God is talking to Israel, to the Gentiles or to the church, and then the Scriptures will start making more sense to you. All Scripture is for us but not all Scripture is about us. We need to know the difference between the two. Use Scripture to interpret Scripture. Then we are to interpret Scripture literally; using correct grammar and with an awareness of the historical setting in which the verses were written. If Scripture makes sense seek no other sense. Let’s take a look at the three main Bible verses on the rapture:

John 14:1-3 – (Jesus speaking) – And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

The main theme of the Bible is the revelation of Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of mankind through his substitutionary death on the cross in our place. The Old Testament is Jesus prophesied and the New Testament is Jesus fulfilled. In 685 BC the prophet Isaiah prophesied about the coming birth of the Messiah, the Son of God, who would save people from their sins. Fulfillment of this prophecy came during the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord, who lived on this earth from 0-33 AD. This was the “first” appearing of God on the earth, in the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

Since Jesus spoke the words of this Scripture some two thousand years ago Christians of every age have been thrilled at the prospect of living in heaven forever in the presence of Jesus Christ, who is God. It’s the “blessed hope” of every Christian. While the verse itself is not that specific we know from other verses in the Bible exactly what Jesus means. We know Jesus came off his throne in heaven, came to earth and lived a human life, was crucified and brought back to life three days later by God the Father. After his resurrection Jesus ascended back to heaven. We know Jesus is currently sitting at the right hand of God where he is our Mediator. Jesus has had two thousand years to make a place in heaven for us to live with him and he will come for us one day just as he promised. As far as how Jesus plans to call us to himself, that is explained in the following two verses.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 – For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

This is one of the “mysteries” of God revealed to us by the Apostle Paul, whom God has appointed to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. This is the “second” of the prophesied “appearing” of Jesus Christ on the earth. The first “appearing” of Christ was to save all men of every age through the forgiveness of sins by his sacrificial death. On the second “appearing” of Jesus he is coming some time in the future for his own, his church; those believing Christians who by faith have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Jesus will not be actually setting foot on the earth this time so the rapture can’t be confused with the Second Coming of Christ referred to as, “The Glorious Appearing.” At the rapture Jesus is remaining in the clouds at his second appearing and bringing all believers from every age, both dead and alive, instantaneously to his location where they will be given new “glorified bodies.” Jesus will then take all believers back to heaven as he said he would. The last sentence in the above verse lets all Christians know God wants believers to call to remembrance the coming rapture when they gather together.

This “rapture” of the saints is the same thing as God “translating” people in the Old Testament. In Genesis 5:24 we learned that the prophet Enoch pleased God and he was translated directly from earth to heaven without dying. Elijah, the great Hebrew prophet, was also translated by God directly from earth into heaven. Only this time God sent a fiery chariot of holy angels to pick him up while he was in the sight of his disciple Elisha (2 Kings 2:11). The important thing to remember is nothing is impossible with God and God does just as he pleases. We don’t have to understand exactly how or why God does something to believe it. Take the Bible literally unless the Scripture is obviously a spiritualization or an allegory. Believe what God tells you in his word and accept it at face value because God cannot lie and he always has our best interest at heart. God is good and God is great!

1 Corinthians 15:50-53 – Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed – in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

One of the spiritual truths of God is that sin cannot enter heaven. Every man born after the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden bears the mark of that original sin in his physical body, which is why our bodies decay and die. Adam and Eve were immortal until they sinned. Everything in heaven is infinite, eternal and our bodies are finite, just temporary housing for our eternal spirit so it’s just common sense our physical bodies can’t exist in heaven. That’s what the Apostle Paul is telling us in 1 Corinthians 15:50-53. Who wants our old worn out bodies anyway? I certainly don’t. Not when we can have new, younger, glorified bodies that never grow old or get sick. Jesus was resurrected into his glorified body and we’ll get one exactly like his. Think about it. We’ll be able to translate anywhere in the galaxy in the blink of an eye. The universe will be our playground. We’ll be able to walk through walls, walk on water, fly, you name it. The Bible doesn’t say what age our new body will look like but I’m assuming it’ll look enough like us so we’re recognizable and appear about 33 years of age, the same age as Jesus when he received his glorified body. Don’t worry about it either way. Whatever God decides to give us will be the perfect choice and we’ll be well pleased.

Foster the mindset that the rapture is imminent! Jesus could come for us today and the thing is we need to be ready to go and we need to always keep watch for Jesus to come in the air for us. As Christians we always need to maintain that sense of expectation; the imminence of the Lord’s soon return. The rapture of all believers is the next prophetic event on God’s calendar and it has been for two thousand years. No more Bible prophecies need to be fulfilled before the rapture occurs. The Apostles expected the rapture to occur in their lifetime as has every succeeding generation of Christian faithful, including ours. Jesus said he would come again within the lifetime of the generation alive at the rebirth of Israel, which we all know happened on May 15, 1948. After 74 years the clock is still ticking. How much longer can it be? Jesus commanded all believers to be ready for his return and to watch for his coming so we need to obey God. When Jesus does come at his second appearing it’ll only be for believers who have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. Simply going to church regularly and calling yourself a Christian won’t get you raptured if you haven’t also made the personal choice to serve God through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The church of God, millions of believing Christians, will suddenly vanish from the face of the earth because Jesus will personally call us to him in the air and take us back to heaven to be with him. All nonbelievers will be left on the earth to feel the wrath of God, including nonbelieving Jews who rejected Jesus at his first appearing.

1 Timothy 6:14 – That you keep this commandment (to have faith) without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing.

2 Timothy 1:10 – But has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

1 Thessalonians 1:10 – And to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

2 Corinthians 5:20 – Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as through God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.

There are two ways we can be sure we’re truly dealing with God and not some false god or Satan in disguise. God is the Creator, the Author of life. Only God can create life and only God can bring someone back to life. During the three and half year ministry of Jesus Christ he brought three people back to life. There was the widow’s son at Nain (Luke 7:11-17), Jairus’ daughter (Mt 9:18-26), and Lazarus (John 11:1-44). When Jesus brought these people back to life it was to demonstrate to us that Jesus is God in the flesh. When God the Father brought Jesus back to life after three days in the earth it was to prove to us that God is who he says he is and if he can resurrect Jesus then when we die God will do the same for us. We have peace knowing that Jesus will one day come for those who love him, whether we are dead or alive. That is truly our “blessed hope” and the reason we have the peace of God in our hearts and the reason we constantly watch the horizon in the hope that Jesus will soon appear for us. Believers are securely held for eternity in the loving arms of God.

Deuteronomy 33:27 – The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.

John 11:25-26 – (Jesus speaking) – I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.

John 5:21 – (Jesus speaking) – For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.

John 5:25 – (Jesus speaking) – Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

The second way we know we’re dealing with God is if his prophecies come true. God is the author of history and only God knows what’s going to happen in the future; because God creates history! Only God knows the end from the beginning. We know the Bible is God’s Word because he says it is and because the Bible is one third prophecy with over 1000 individual prophecies, over 500 of which have been fulfilled in their appointed time and documented as fact. Satan on the other hand, with all his fake religions and false gods throughout the centuries has not fulfilled even one prophecy. Satan is doing all he can to keep men from the truth of God. It’s easy to spot falsehood if you objectively look at all the evidence presented by God in the Bible because it proves without a doubt that Jehovah is the one true living God. We are blessed because God is ours and we are God’s children.

1 John 2:28 – And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.

2 Timothy 4:1 – I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom.

Romans 8:1 – There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Titus 11:13 – For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

As we can see from Titus 11:13, the first appearing of Jesus Christ brought salvation to men by his sacrificial death. The second appearing of Jesus is referred to as the “blessed hope”, which we know is the coming rapture of believers to meet Jesus in the air before going to heaven. The third and final appearing of Jesus Christ is referred to in the above Scripture as the, “glorious appearing”, which we also know as the Second Coming of Jesus Christ because Jesus will set foot on the earth for the second time, on the Mount of Olives. All three appearances of Jesus are separate and distinct from each other and each occurs at different times and each has their own purpose. The Second Coming will end human history as we know it and Jesus will judge all peoples and nations for their sins. Jesus will then usher in his 1000 year millennial kingdom on earth. All believers will have been removed from the earth at least seven years prior to the Second Coming of Christ, at the rapture, or second appearing of Jesus in the air. Believers have their sins forgiven and therefore will not be on earth to go through the wrath of God known as the seven year tribulation period.

Romans 5:9 – Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

Titus 2:13 – Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

1 John 3:3 – And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies Himself, just as He is pure.

2 Timothy 4:8 – Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

2 Timothy 4:8 tells us that it’s important to God for believers to be watching for the second appearing of Jesus Christ in the air, when he comes for his own. It’s important to God that believers be ready for the rapture when Jesus does comes. It’s so important to God that he will give a special crown to all believers who love the rapture event and watch for it. Nothing keeps Christians more righteous and grounded in the faith than knowing Jesus could come at any time. When we know Jesus is coming for us we get out and witness more, we go out and do more good works and we overall live more godly lives. We know from Scripture that God will remove the church from the earth before the tribulation period. Most pretribulationists, including myself, are Christians who believe that God has not appointed the church to receive the wrath of God, which is a time reserved for Israel and for those who have sinned against God and who have not repented of those sins.

Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you a future and a hope.

1 Thessalonians 5:9 – For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Revelation 3:10 – (Jesus speaking) – Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

2 Thessalonians 1:6-8 – Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Satan doesn’t want believers to be expecting God at any moment because that leads to righteous living, effective witnessing for Christ and doing numerous good works for the Lord. Satan has muddied the waters by causing some Christians to believe the rapture will occur at the half-way point of the tribulation (midtribulationist) or at the end of the seven years of tribulation (posttribulationist). If the mid-tribbers or post-tribbers are correct Christian enthusiasm would be dulled because then we would know the exact date of the rapture and have time to prepare for it. If they are right then Scripture would have no need to tell us to watch expectantly for the coming of the Son of Man on that day. If what they say is true then why does Scripture need to tell us the rapture would come like a thief in the night? If the mid-tribbers or post-tribbers are correct then all believers would have to go through some or all of God’s wrath which would make the Scripture promises a lie. The narrative of the mid-tribbers and post-tribbers doesn’t fit the facts as laid out in Scripture so they are obviously mistaken. God cannot lie and the Bible is the inerrant word of God.

2 Corinthians 5:8 – We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 2:19 – For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?

1 Thessalonians 4:15 – For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.

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.

When believers die their spirit immediately returns to heaven to be in the presence of Jesus. At the rapture Jesus will come down from heaven and he’ll bring with him the spirits of all those who have died in Christ over the last two thousand years to give them their glorified bodies in the air above the earth. Immediately after doing this Jesus will translate all the believers still living on earth to himself and he will also give them their glorified bodies in the air. Jesus will then take all believers back to heaven to receive their reward and attend the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. In the book of Revelation the church is mentioned seventeen times in the first three chapters but that all stops in chapter four when John is called to heaven. The church isn’t mentioned again until the end of the book of Revelation and the only logical reason for this is because the church is no longer on earth. The next time the church is mentioned in Revelation it’s accompanying Jesus to earth at the Second Coming. It’s obvious the church was taken out of the earth earlier and that could only have occurred at the prophetic event known as the rapture in order for the saints to already be in heaven and ready to accompany Jesus back to earth at the Second Coming. There is no other logical explanation that fits the Scriptures and also makes sense.

Isaiah 30:18 – Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are those who wait for Him.

Hebrews 10:23-25 – Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as in the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

1 Corinthians 15:22-23 – For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.

2 Peter 3:14 – Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things (heaven), be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.

Most Bible scholars see the Second Coming of Jesus Christ as coming in two stages, seven years apart. Stage one is the Rapture where Jesus comes to earth in the air to gather all believers to himself, where he will give them all glorified bodies before taking them back to heaven. The Rapture will end the two thousand year church age known as the, ” time of the Gentiles” and, “the age of grace.” When the church is removed from the earth it will start the clock ticking on the last seven year Tribulation period of God’s dealing with Israel. This will be the seventieth week prophesied by the prophet Daniel. The Tribulation is the time of God’s wrath against Israel, which is why the Tribulation is also called, “the time of Jacob’s trouble.” Jacob is another name for Israel. The church age is about grace for believers while the Tribulation period is all about the wrath of God and his judgment against Israel. The Rapture and the Glorious Appearing of Jesus must be separated by seven years to fit God’s time clock and because Jesus has a different purpose for each appearing. Scripture confirms that suffering is the portion of the believer, but not wrath. God reserves wrath for the nonbeliever, not for his children. What God has revealed in Scripture he also means to be understood by us.

Isaiah 33:6 – Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, and the strength of salvation; the fear of the Lord is His treasure.

Hebrews 10:31 – It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Hebrews 7:25 – Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him.

Zechariah 14:5 – Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, for the mountain valley shall reach Azal. Yes, you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the Lord my God will come, and all the saints with You.

Those who say the first half of the Tribulation won’t be all that bad are really deluding themselves. The first half of the Tribulation will be very bad; and the second half even worse. As a loving parent would you choose to let your children suffer through the most horrifying period in human history? No you wouldn’t and neither would God. As believers, we are God’s children and he loves us dearly. At Pentecost God sent the Holy Spirit to reside on earth and indwell all believers forever. When we die it’s the Holy Spirit that takes our spirit home to be with Jesus. When Jesus raptures the church the spirits of all those who died in Christ will be right there with him as will their constant companion, the Holy Spirit. As we accompany Jesus to the Second Coming the Holy Spirit will be there with us, indwelling our glorified bodies. During the 1000 year millennial kingdom of God on earth and then on through all of eternity the Holy Spirit will still be with us, our constant companion. We won’t be able to sin in heaven and the presence of the Holy Spirit may be why.

2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 – And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.

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.

Colossians 3:4 – When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Philippians 3:20 – For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

God will not pour out his wrath on Israel and unbelieving Gentiles during the seven year Tribulation period until he removes his presence (the Holy Spirit). Shall God attack himself? Heaven forbid! Since all believers and the Holy Spirit are inseparable, forever joined at the hip, God cannot remove his presence from the earth without removing all believers too. The event known as the Rapture is when God removes his church (believers) from the earth, along with the Holy Spirit of God who indwells those believers. Scripture tells us the “Restrainer” will hold back the evil of this world until he is removed. The use of capitalized personal pronouns indicates God is talking about a divine person. The fact that the Restrainer has been holding back evil for thousands of years means he’s eternal. The Restrainer is obviously more powerful than Satan to be able hold him back. Since Satan is the second most powerful being in the universe after God it’s obvious the Restrainer is none other than the Holy Spirit; who is God. Nobody else fits the description.

John 14:16-17 – (Jesus speaking) – And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with 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 within you and will be in you.

2 Peter 3:3-5 – Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming?” For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.

1 Timothy 4:1-2 – Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and the doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.

Isaiah 45:22 – Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.

Scripture tells us the appearance of the antichrist, the man of sin, will not happen until the Restrainer has been removed. You can’t remove the Restrainer without also removing the saints of God. The Tribulation cannot start until the antichrist appears. Therefore, the rapture of the church has to occur before the Tribulation starts. There are no other feasible options. The mid-tribbers and post-tribbers would have Christians look, watch and wait for the coming of the antichrist instead of Jesus Christ our Lord. Satan would have us waiting for his man, the man of sin, instead of waiting for the “Blessed Hope”, in order to steal the glory of Jesus at his second appearing in the clouds. Don’t allow Satan’s lackeys to knock you off your spot by getting you to believe unscriptural doctrine. Get the facts straight in your head and be ready to push back on anyone who approaches you with this false doctrine. It’s part of your witness for Christ to tell the truth of God to all comers, and that includes the rapture. Scripture tells us that in these last days many Christians, and even a lot of Christian churches, will be deceived by satanic influences and flock to false doctrine. Don’t be one of them. Leave any church that does not teach the Word of God and abide by its teachings.

Hebrews 9:28 – So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many (his first appearance). To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin (which has nothing to do with our sins this time), for salvation (Jesus will save us from the wrath of God by snatching us out of the world before the Tribulation). * My explanation is in parenthesis.

Luke 12:37 – (Jesus speaking) – Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.

Luke 21:36 – (Jesus speaking) – 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 (at the Bema judgement seat).

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

Happy New Year, 2022! The first week of January is the perfect time to set new goals for the coming year. Success in any endeavor requires that you know where you’re going and that means you need to have a plan to get there. It’s a rare event when someone blindly stumbles into success. I don’t know anyone who has. You need to plan your work and then work your plan in order to be successful. For Christians the new year is also a good time to reflect on the past year and evaluate our contributions to the kingdom of God and our service to God. The main reason God put us on this earth is to make the free will decision to serve God or Satan. Those who choose to serve God are given eternal life in heaven by God the Father, through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Philippians 3:20 – For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

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

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

Philippians 4:6 – Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Why doesn’t God take us home to heaven the moment we’re saved? The answer is God has a second reason for leaving us here on earth. All believers are commanded to witness the gospel of Christ to all peoples and all nations. Before Jesus ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives he gave this “Great Commission” to his disciples to carry out. As believers we automatically become disciples of Christ and witnessing for Christ then becomes our number one duty in service to God. Sharing the gospel message will always be our top priority in life. God made us all and loves us all equally. God doesn’t want anyone to go to hell so he reaches out to nonbelievers through the saints (us) in order to save as many as he can for the kingdom of God. Someone helped save us and we owe it to God to help save all we can. It’s our reasonable service to our Father in heaven.

1 Timothy 2:3-4 – For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

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.

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.

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

God leaves us here on earth to do good works that bring honor and glory to God. When we witness for Christ we are doing the main thing, the number one “good work” for God. As a Christian if we are not witnessing for Christ in some form or fashion then any other good work we may offer up to God is like a filthy rag. It is meaningless. The Bible makes it clear that although we become citizens of heaven upon salvation, God purposely leaves us on earth to do the work of God. People don’t seem to understand what that means. People need to understand the implications of accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. It means we acknowledge Jesus as our master and embrace our position as a servant of God. Being a servant of God brings with it certain responsibilities on our part that we are duty bound to perform. All believers are to obey the commands of God contained in the Bible. Obedience to the word of God is the key to pleasing God.

Matthew 28:19-20 – (Jesus speaking) – Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

1 Corinthians 6:20 – For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

1 Timothy 4:1-2 – I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.

Colossians 4:2 – Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.

You can’t obey what you don’t know so it’s imperative that all Christians read God’s Word every day and study it so they have the knowledge, understanding and wisdom to serve God effectively. Every one of us sins before God every day because of our sin nature inherited from Adam. We are dust; we are weak. That’s why it’s critical we come before God daily in prayer to ask forgiveness for our daily sins and also ask God to strengthen us through his Holy Spirit so we can sin less over time and do the good works God has planned for us since the foundation of the world. Without the power of God on the inside of us we can do nothing. We must be humble before the throne of grace in order for God to hear our prayers because God is holy.

James 4:10 – Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

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

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

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

In my Bible guide I counted 129 direct commands from God that are in the Bible that believers are to obey (some were redundant). How many of God’s commands can you name off the top of your head? I’ll bet not many. 90% of Christians can’t name more than about fifteen of God’s commandments. How do I know this? Studies have shown that only about 10% of Christians who attend church regularly have read the entire Bible and fewer still read their Bibles daily and study it as God commands. How can you know what God expects of you if you don’t delve into the word of God? So if you’re a believer what have you done in the past year to please the Lord? What commandments of God have you obeyed on a consistent basis? Have you asked God to forgive your sins daily or did you just let them pile up? How have you contributed to the kingdom of God?

1 Timothy 4:13 – Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

Titus 2:7 – In all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility.

1 Peter 1:17 – And if you call on the Father who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear.

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

We are all commanded to share the gospel of Christ with all peoples and nations. That is the number one good work for God and without it all other works for God are meaningless. As we witness for Christ we are also to do other good works such as helping the poor, the needy, the orphan and the widow. As we emulate Christ by our actions others will see the light of God by what we do and be attracted by the gospel message of Jesus Christ. The life of Jesus was an example of what we are to do as Christians. Believers need to study the life of Jesus so we can emulate all that he did. As we emulate what Jesus did during his three and a half years of earthly ministry we become more Christlike in the eyes of God, which is part of God’s plan for us. Plan your work for God and then work your plan.

Hebrews 6:10 – For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.

Galatians 6:9-10 – And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Hebrews 12:28-29 – Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

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

I know I’ve gotten a little off track so let’s return to the original question. Looking back on 2021 how have you contributed to the kingdom of God? How many people have you witnessed to? How many people did you save? What other good works have you done? How much money did you give to Charity? I keep track of the number of people I share the gospel with and I keep a log of the charities I donate to during the year and the amount given so that I can review the totals as part of my reasonable service to God. When you help someone less fortunate the Bible says it’s as though you’re helping Jesus himself. Keep that in mind and give all you can.

1 John 3:17 – But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

Ephesians 4:28 – Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.

James 1:17 – For every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

Colossians 3:25 – But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.

Remember that 10% of your net income should be spent on God’s work as your required tithe to the Lord. When you die all your money in the bank is of no use to you. You can’t take it with you. The tax man will take his share. Others will spend the rest of the money you earned on things you do not approve of. The only way you get to keep your money is if you give it all back to God in some way. Pay your money forward into your heavenly bank account by using it to serve the kingdom of God. All you have belongs to God anyway so when you give to God you’re just giving God what is already his. God is testing you with this to see if you’re a good steward of the blessings he has bestowed upon you. Don’t fail God. What other activities did you do that helped people in need? Did you volunteer any of your time to help those less fortunate than yourself? I know the covid-19 pandemic impacts us all and curtails our good works to some degree but there are always opportunities to serve God if we look for them and our heart is open to the possibilities before us.

Titus 3:8 – This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.

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.

Galatians 6:7 – Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

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

My witnessing for Christ is now primarily through my blog site: www.onemoreforjesus.net. I supplement my “passive witnessing” by handing out Christian tracts whenever I go out to places like Walmart, the grocery store and to the doctor’s office. I buy my Christian tracts 1000 at a time from chick.com. The cartoon booklets contain the gospel message and includes the sinner’s prayer at the end. People have been saved unto eternal life through just reading Christian tracts. My purpose is to broadcast the gospel seed for those whom God has convicted of their sin. It’s rare for anyone to be saved the first time they hear the gospel message. Most of the time people need to hear the gospel message at least 15-20 times before they finally accept God’s saving grace unto eternal life. God expects us to persevere in spreading the gospel seed and each time we do we become a link in the salvation chain for that person who eventually does become a believer. The good part in all this is that God is generous to a fault and he will equally reward both the reaper of that soul for the kingdom of God and all those sowers of the gospel seed who crossed that person’s path leading up their salvation. I don’t know exactly what God’s reward for us will be when we get to heaven but I do know it’ll be more than we can possibly imagine.

Jeremiah 20:9 – Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name.” But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not.

1 Corinthians 2:9 – Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.

Hebrews 13:15-16 – Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

Romans 8:1 – There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

I started my Christian blog site over two years ago (December 2019) and I finished 2021 with 569 posted blogs. That works out to an average of over 22 blogs a month. I started with a flourish because I had all this pent up love and excitement for God and his word. I knew a great secret and I couldn’t keep it in. I was compelled by the Holy Spirit to share my witness with anyone who would listen, much like the prophet Jeremiah who also couldn’t withhold the truth of God from his people. As my blogs have evolved over time they have become much longer and less frequent. I’ve been averaging two blogs a month lately and that seems about the right pace going forward. The spiritual growth rate of ever person is different but the important thing is to just persevere. Everyone’s walk with God is one on one. Although our race with God is unique, God is fair to everyone and he gives us all of us the same chance to find God and his saving grace. The playing field is level for everyone no matter where you are in the world or what century you lived in. God is ready to meet you halfway so don’t blame God if you don’t find him. You have your chance and that’s all you can ask for. Don’t blame God for any of your inadequacies. It’s up to you to get off your butt and go find God and not vice versa.

Romans 1:20 – For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.

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

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

Isaiah 45:22 – Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.

Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Nobody is more detail oriented than God. God knows every hair on our head, every cell in our body and every thought we will ever think in our lifetime, before he spoke the universe into existence. God planned all along to share his truth with his special creation (us). God’s Word is his truth and in written form we refer to it as the Holy Bible. God cannot tell a lie therefore the Bible is the inerrant word of God. When God says something will happen in the Bible it always comes to pass. Nothing is impossible with God. God is the author of history. God wrote the Bible over a span of 1500 years (1400 BC to 100 AD) using a series of ghost writers (prophets) who wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. God chose his prophets carefully and God put his words in their mouth. The words written in the Bible were exactly what God wanted said while graciously allowing the personality of each writer to shine through. The only true wisdom is contained in God’s Word. Studying the Bible allows a gracious God to give us knowledge, understanding and wisdom. We don’t extract truth and wisdom from the Bible on our own. It is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit of God when we are spiritually ready to receive it.

Isaiah 30:21 – Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it.”

2 Peter 1:21 – For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 – All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Peter 1:19 – And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

There are numerous Scriptures in the Bible that confirm the prophets were instructed to write down God’s testimony in a book. Why did God do it? Because God in his love, mercy and grace wanted to leave us the Bible as an instruction manual for a successful life. To please God in this world we must be obedient to God’s commandments. If we don’t know our Bible thoroughly we won’t know what God’s commandments are. We can’t obey what we don’t know and ignorance is no excuse. We must become more righteous through regular Bible reading and/or Bible study and we must also do good works. We need to help the poor, the needy, the orphan, and the widow; but the primary good work for God is witnessing for Christ. As we can see from 2 Timothy 3:16-17, the Bible is the only source we have or will ever need to accomplish the plans God has for our lives.

Isaiah 7:14 – Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

Isaiah 33:6 – Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, and the strength of salvation; the fear of the Lord is His treasure.

Isaiah 5:20 – Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

Colossians 3:2 – Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

We ask ourselves, “Why am I here?” God answers that question in the Bible. God put us on this earth to make the free will choice whether to serve God or Satan. It’s a binary choice that must be made by all of us. It’s one or the other. We can’t opt out. We can’t “not decide.” If we don’t make the positive choice to serve God before we die then we will have automatically chosen to serve Satan by default. Those who choose to serve Satan, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, will go to hell forever. The Bible tells us all we need to know about God and how to make the choice to serve him through the “sinner’s prayer.” God graciously gives salvation unto eternal life to all who profess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. There is no other way to heaven except through Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God.

Acts 4:12 – Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Hebrews 10:10 – By that which we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

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

1 John 2:25 – And this is the promise that He has promised us – eternal life.

Think about it a moment. We have seventy short years of life on this earth, if we’re lucky, in order to decide where we’ll be spending eternity. How long is eternity? Our minds cannot grasp how long “forever” is. A hundred trillion years is only a day in eternity. Think of that length of time in the fires of hell in constant pain and agony! The horror of it is unthinkable! It’s unfathomable to me that anyone would voluntarily make that choice. It makes no sense to me whatsoever yet the vast majority of people will take the path straight to hell. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord; and so should you. Remember, you must choose God before your heart stops beating because after that your “testing time” on earth is over and you’ll no longer have the choice where you’ll be spending eternity. Those who die with unforgiven sin on their books go to hell immediately upon their death. You must avoid that fate at all costs! Satan is the god of this world and he’s doing everything in his power to hide the truth of God from you. Don’t let Satan blind you to the truth! Don’t be fooled by Satan! Don’t let Satan harvest your soul! Seek God’s salvation while he may still be found!

Isaiah 45:22 – Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.

Romans 1:20 – For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.

Hebrews 9:27 – And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.

Joshua 8:30-31 – Now Joshua built an altar to the Lord God of Israel in Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses: “an altar of whole stones over which no man has wielded an iron tool.”

When God chose a prophet it was final. A person chosen by God to be a prophet couldn’t say no. Prophets obeyed the call of God or they were disciplined until they came into obedience. The best example I can think of is the prophet Jonah, who ran from God and tried to escape having to preach to the people of Nineveh. Jonah ended up in the belly of a whale for three days until he relented and served God as commanded. The prophet Elijah also comes to mind when he fled from Queen Jezebel and asked God to let him die. God told him to suck it up and get back to the Lord’s work. That’s good advice for all disciples of Christ. We are to be obedient to the Lord always and persevere in whatever earthly ministry the Lord has given us to do.

Some of the greatest prophets of God were not chosen to write a book of the Bible. Elijah and Elisha come to mind. However, when God did select a prophet to write a Bible book they wrote it because they simply had no other choice. Each writing prophet wrote his Bible book exactly as God commanded it to be written, down to the last word and punctuation mark, because they couldn’t disobey God. Each prophet wrote his book knowing they were under the hand of the Holy Spirit and that they were writing holy Scriptures that were a part of God’s Word. Prophets didn’t always understand everything they were required to write but they obeyed God. The prophets shared revelations about the earth that were not proven scientifically for thousands of years. The prophets told us the earth is round and hangs on nothing. The prophets told us there are ocean currents and mountains under the seas. The prophets told us everything we see is made of things we can’t see (invisible atoms). All these revelations are further proofs of God.

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

Hebrews 4:12 – For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joint and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Isaiah 30:8 – Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and note it on a scroll, that it may be for time to come, forever and ever.

Jeremiah 20:9 – Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name.” But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not.

God always does as he pleases and God always gets what he wants. There may be chaos going on in the world around us but God is still in control of his creation and everything is proceeding as God planned it to happen. When we serve God our eternal souls are safely in God’s hands and nothing can take us from him. That is the peace of God. In the Bible it says to expect tribulation but if we persevere in our faith our eternal home will be in heaven with God the Father when we die. If we always keep that in mind we’ll be able to persevere in service to the Lord and make it safely to our eternal home some day. By his written word God intended to reveal himself to us, his special creation. The Bible serves as our guide for salvation, for wisdom, and for fellowship with God the Father. Think of the Bible as our owner’s manual; our instruction manual on how to be righteous before God.

Isaiah 44:24 – Thus says the Lord, your redeemer, and He who formed you in the womb: I am the Lord, who makes all things, who stretches out the heavens all alone, who spreads abroad the earth by Myself.

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.

Jeremiah 36:2 – Take a scroll of a book and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah even to this day.

Habakkuk 2:14 – For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

Of all the books of the prophets in the Old Testament I like Isaiah the best. The book of Isaiah was written by the prophet around 680 BC. The New Testament writers quoted Isaiah more than any other Old Testament book. This is because Isaiah gives us the most extensive prophetic message about the coming of Jesus Christ to die on the cross for the sins of man. The entire Bible is about Jesus from start to finish. Every book of the Bible has the thread of Jesus woven into its fabric, especially the gospels. The Old Testament can be summed up as “Jesus prophesied” and the New Testament as, “Jesus fulfilled.” Let’s examine some of the messianic Scriptures from Isaiah:

Isaiah 9:2 – The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.”

We know that God is the source of all the illumination in the universe. Without the light of God there would be utter darkness. We know the word light in this verse is referring to God because they use the adjective “great” to describe the light. God is the only “great” light. The Israelites were the only monotheistic nation in ancient times and they worshipped the one true God, Jehovah, and as such they were aware they walked in the light of Almighty God. Everyone else in the world was a Gentile who walked in darkness because they were without the light of God. God is Spirit and for people to have seen God in the flesh means they saw Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah and Son of God. Jesus is God in the flesh.

“Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.”

In Scripture God often repeats a truth twice in the same verse using a slightly different context the second time to help drive home the message. The Israelites who lived in the light of God knew they would go to heaven when they died. The Gentiles living in darkness were under the shadow of death because when they died they would suffer eternal death in hell. Again, a light refers to the advent of Jesus Christ upon the earth. To the Jew hell is referred to as “outer darkness.” By using the present tense words “have seen” and “has” in this Scripture God is saying the light of God and his salvation are ongoing even in our day and going forward until the Last Day, when Jesus Christ returns to earth again (the second coming) to set his foot on the Mount of Olives. At that time Jesus will judge the nations for their sins against the Lord and usher in his millennial kingdom on the earth.

Isaiah 9:6 – For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be on His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

The names of God are always capitalized so we know we’re talking about a divine person. Jesus Christ will set up his millennial kingdom at his second coming and will rule the world from Jerusalem.

Isaiah 9:7 – Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever.

Not only will Jesus rule on earth for 1000 years, Jesus will be King over the kingdom of God forever. Endless increase and endless peace mean heaven will be a place of bounty; full of love, wonder and joy. Nothing is better than living in heaven forever in the presence of God so let us continually praise God in prayer for our salvation. Let us always rejoice with our lips in the goodness and greatness of Almighty God!

Isaiah 42:1 – Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in who My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; he will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.

God is proclaiming that his son Jesus Christ is coming to the earth to bring forgiveness of sins and salvation to the Gentile as well the Jew; for those who believe.

Isaiah 53:12 – Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

When we say Jesus is our Savior we’re not kidding! Sin cannot enter heaven so only Jesus dying on the cross for our sins can save us from what we deserve, which is eternal death in the fires of hell. Jesus took our sins upon himself because he is the only sinless sacrifice acceptable to God for the forgiveness of our sins. Jesus died in our place so we wouldn’t have to. Jesus didn’t have to come to earth to die a horrible death on the cross in our place. Jesus could have said “no thanks” which would have resulted in our spending eternity in hell because of our sins. Jesus died so that we can live with God in heaven forever. So you see, we owe everything to Jesus! Jesus loves us so much he was willing to lay down his life for us and for that sacrifice Jesus is deserving of our praise, honor and worship forever.

1 Peter 2:9 – But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Isaiah 43:13 – Indeed before the day was, I am He; and there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who can reverse it?

Isaiah 46:4 – Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

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

All religions are mutually exclusive. All religions claim they’re the one true path to God; therefore only one religion can be true and all other religions must be false. How can we tell which religion is true? How can we spot the false gods and fake religions? A common denominator among all false religions is they were all devised by arrogant, prideful and sinful men, all under the influence of Satan, in an attempt to reach up to God by their own devices. All fake religions require their followers to do good works in order to reach heaven and then their adherents are never assured of going to heaven for what they do. This keeps all the people working continuously on the treadmill of life to serve their earthly masters. That includes all the world religions except Judaism and Christianity.

Romans 8:16 – The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

Romans 8:14 – For as many as are lead by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

1 John 3:1 – Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!

Philippians 3:20 – For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Only our God Jehovah does just the opposite by reaching down from heaven to save us by his love, mercy and grace and not by the works of man. Salvation unto eternal life is a free gift of God. That is the uniqueness of the Judeo-Christian vision of God. The only caveat is we must meet God with a humble and contrite heart. We do that by realizing the greatness of God and our own sinfulness. We can achieve that by frequent prayer and regular Bible reading. Don’t fall for Satan’s great lie that there are multiple paths to God. There is only one way to God and heaven and that is through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Only God’s Word can show you the way to get there.

Isaiah 66:1-2 – “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist,” says the Lord. “But on this one I will look: on him who is poor (humble) and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word.”

2 Peter 1:20 – Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation.

1 Peter 5:8 – Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

James 4:7 – Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

The marvelous truth in Scripture is this: God intends for each of us to abandon our own efforts to save ourselves and to humbly receive His gift of eternal life, given by grace, received by faith in Jesus Christ, through the work of His Holy Spirit. It’s a very simple concept. So simple in fact that people think there must be a catch. There’s no catch. God made us to live with him forever in heaven as royalty, as children of the Most High. That is the destiny of those of us who believe in Christ Jesus. As such, we are aliens and strangers on the earth. Scripture confirms that our true citizenship is in heaven. God loves us dearly and he eagerly awaits our return home to him. We must make that choice by our free will.

At conception God reaches down from heaven with his fingers and gives each of us a part of himself (our spirit). Since God is eternal, so is the spirit he gives us. Our physical bodies will grow old and die so that in the end only our eternal spirit remains; the real us. We belong to God so our eternal spirit eventually returns where it came from (heaven) and to the Father who created us. That’s why we’re all citizens of heaven. However, there’s a major sticking point. God doesn’t allow sin in heaven. We saw that when a third of the angels in heaven joined Satan in rebelling against God. These fallen angels were defeated and banished from heaven because they sinned against God.

Because of Adam’s fall from grace in the Garden of Eden all men are born with a sin nature. God doesn’t allow sin in heaven so if we want to return home our sins must be forgiven, or washed away, by the blood of Christ. This cleansing is achieved by faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, as a free will choice. If we die in our sin without asking God for his saving grace he will not allow our eternal spirit to enter heaven. Instead, Jesus will judge us for our sins and the wages of sin is death (eternal death). Jesus will sentence all sinners with unforgiven sin to an eternity in the lake of fire along with Satan and his fallen angels.

Everyone who has ever attended church, especially saved Christians, are familiar with John 3:16. This is the most famous verse in the Bible and the one most often memorized and quoted. I memorized John 3:16 as a child in Sunday school and it has stuck with me ever since. It’s the only Bible verse I can recite correctly to this day even though my skill at memorization has faded badly over the years. John 3:16 is so popular with everyone because it tells us exactly what we want to know and what we need to know, in clear language. John 3:16 is refreshing, like a glass of cold water to a thirsty man. It really hits the mark.

John 3:16 – (Jesus speaking) – 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.

As human beings we fully understand the father-son relationship laid out in John 3:16 and the love that entails. We intuitively understand that God’s greatest possession in heaven is his Son Jesus Christ, just like our children are to us. We know without having to be told that God loves Jesus more than anything else in heaven. So when God tells us he is willingly sacrificing the life of Jesus to save us God is telling us he loves us just as much as he loves Jesus. God not only tells us how much he loves us, he proves it by sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. John 3:16 proves to us, without any reservation whatsoever, that God dearly loves us. The second thing John 3:16 tells us is that we have salvation unto eternal life if we believe in Jesus Christ. To believe means we, through faith, accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. This one sentence in the Scriptures confirms to us without any shadow of doubt that God loves us dearly and we have eternal life in heaven with God if we believe in Jesus Christ. John 3:16 gives us peace with God where before there was enmity and the peace of God where before there was fear about the future.

John 10:10 – (Jesus speaking) – I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

The “they” in the above verse refers to the body of Christ; believers who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. In this verse of Scripture Jesus is letting us know that he is the beloved Son of God referenced in John 3:16, who has come down from heaven to give his life as a ransom for us. That through the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross and the shedding of his blood we have forgiveness of our sins by God the Father. By “life” Jesus means eternal life in heaven. When Jesus says we “may” have life he means eternal life is not given automatically. Man has the free will choice to accept the grace of God or not. God has graciously provided a means for fallen man to escape eternal death in hell. Men must make the choice to serve God or Satan. The second part of the verse says that our promised life “may” be had more abundantly. Abundantly means, “in large quantities; plentifully.” Jesus is promising a more abundant life not only on earth but also in heaven. Again, the word “may” means the promise is not automatic from God but is contingent on us asking for our abundance in prayers to God. Praying to God in this life allows God to bless us now while building up treasures for us in heaven before we get there. We must become prayer warriors for God in order to receive the all the blessings God has planned for us.

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

God has prescribed prayer as the way for his special creatures (us) to talk with him. In James 5:16 God explains to us how we are to pray to him. God talks to us primarily through the Bible and God uses the Holy Spirit to reveal spiritual truths to us through the pages of the Bible so that we can know God better and what we must do to please God. As believers we are children of God and if we want to please God we must read the Bible regularly (daily if possible) and obey the commandments of God contained in his word. Our minds are the conduit between the physical world and the spiritual world. We access the throne of grace through out minds. Satan and his demons cannot attack us in the physical world but they can attack us from the spiritual world through our minds because our minds are portals to the spiritual world and they can reach through to oppress us mentally. We must be prepared to resist the mental assault of the wicked one and that comes by knowing the Bible and then praying to God for his help and protection.

To me James 5:16 is the most important verse in the entire Bible because it is the key that unlocks the blessings of God contained in the Bible. James 5:16 tells us exactly how to make our prayers pleasing to God so he will answer them. The ten words of this verse say a lot so let’s break down the seven most important words in this verse and examine each word for content and meaning (prayer, man, righteous, avails, much, fervent and effective):

1.Prayer – In the dictionary prayer is defined as, “a request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God.” Prayer is how we talk to God. We know that James 5:16 is exclusively talking about believers talking to God. Only believers have access to the throne room of God in prayer. Nonbelievers do not have their prayers heard or answered.

2.Man – In the dictionary man is defined as, “human beings in general”. Angels have no need for prayer because they’re always in the presence of God. Demons serve Satan and they could not and would not be praying to God. Prayer is the exclusive province of believers as God’s prescribed way for us to communicate with him one on one.

3.Righteous – The dictionary defines “righteous” as, “morally right or justifiable” or “morally good.” When man, by faith, repents of their sins and accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior unto salvation and eternal life then God forgives their sins. God then sees believers as righteous which means God sees them as morally right or good. God sees believers as justified, which is the same thing as saved unto eternal life. When believers are saved Jesus takes away our sins and gives us the righteousness of Christ. When God looks upon the believer all he sees is the righteousness of Jesus, his dearly beloved Son. To be saved is to be righteous before God. A righteous man is a man who has been saved unto eternal life.

4.Avails – In the dictionary “avails” means “to help or benefit someone.” In prayer we can pray for ourselves, someone else or both. Prayers are always positive, never negative. God is holy and good and any help from Almighty God is always for our benefit or the benefit of others. Only blessings come from God because the Spirit of God can only produce good fruit.

5.Much – The dictionary defines “much” as, “a large amount, to a great extent, a great deal, often.” With an open-ended word like much I can imagine a lot. God is generous to a fault and we know he loves us. God dotes on us like a favorite grandchild. We can’t begin to imagine the magnitude of the blessings God has in store for us if only we’ll ask for them in prayer.

6.Fervent – In the dictionary “fervent” is defined as, “intensely passionate.” When we pray it must be from the heart with great emotion. That tells me it’s not the words that are important, it’s what we feel in our heart that counts. That means canned prayers and rote incantations will not work if we want God to answer our prayers.

7.Effective – The dictionary defines “effective” as, “producing a desired or intended result.” Everyone who calls themselves a Christian has at one time or another prayed to God. I’ll bet not many of those prayers were answered. Why? They were not effective prayers. Why was that? The Bible tells us explicitly that if you’re not praying and reading God’s Word on a regular basis (i.e. daily) or studying God’s Word for knowledge, understanding and wisdom you are not in fellowship with God. You may be saved but you have no intimacy with God. When you pray to God you must believe that God will answer those prayers. If you’re not in close contact with God you may pray hoping they’ll be answered but you don’t have any confidence that they will be. Deep down you know you haven’t done anything that would warrant God answering your prayers. When you’re in fellowship with God you have no such doubts. When you know your Bible you know your prayers will be answered. Prayers must be repeated over and over until God answers them. God doesn’t respond to selfish prayers. Pray for a million bucks and see where that gets you. Prayers to God must be unselfish and according to his will. God never grants prayers that are detrimental to yourself or others. Prayers are just help from God because God is good, generous, kind, and gentle and he loves us. God loves to answer the prayers of his saints.

Mark 10:45 – (Jesus speaking) – For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.

Matthew 20:28 – (Jesus speaking) – Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.

1 Timothy 2:5-6 – For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

Philippians 4:6 – Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Based on the definitions of the words in James 5:16 it’s abundantly clear that prayer to God is the way he intended for us to access the blessings of God, both here on earth and in heaven. Prayers must be made by believers speaking unselfishly from the heart according to God’s will and then repeated over and over to God knowing they will get an answer eventually. Prayers must be to help a believer or someone else; never to harm or hurt another person. Finally, effective prayer by a man of God will produce more fruit than we ever dreamed of. The Bible talks in terms of up to a hundredfold return when discussing the blessings of a righteous man. We must become prayer warriors for God if we want to receive the greatest blessings from the Lord our God. Write down John 3:16, John 10:10 and James 5:16 on index cards so you can review these three very important Bible verses often. They will remind you of your potential to do great things as a believer in the kingdom of God and they will show how it can be done.

Colossians 4:2 – Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.

John 9:31 – Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshipper of God and does His will, He hears him.

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

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

Proverbs 28:9 – One who turns away his ear from hearing the law (the Bible), even his prayer is an abomination.

Sometimes I just like to sit at my desk during the early morning hours, close my eyes, and dwell on the magnitude of God in order to strengthen my faith in the Lord and recharge my spiritual batteries. We’ll only be able to know and understand a small part of who God is. Our minds couldn’t begin to cope with the whole magnitude of God so the Lord protects us by limiting our knowledge of him. When we do take the time to stop and actually think about God (meditate) in terms of what we do know about the Lord it will humble us. It has to be that way when we compare ourselves to Almighty God. How could it be any other way if we’re totally honest with ourselves? Thinking about God often will also help us to maintain our “fear” of the Lord. Biblically speaking, fearing God means to look upon him with awe, deep respect and reverence.

James 4:10 – Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

1 Peter 5:6-7 – Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time, casting all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.

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?

Romans 1:20 – For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.

Because of the sin nature we all inherited from Adam’s fall from grace in the Garden of Eden we’re all born in a fallen state and we’re all on a trajectory straight to hell. A gracious and merciful God has provided us a way out of this impending eternal death through the blood of Jesus Christ, Son of the living God. To receive our salvation we must first come before the throne of grace in prayer and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. When praying to Almighty God it’s important we self-monitor ourselves closely to ensure our humility before God and to make sure our fear of God is strong. This is true when we come before the throne of grace in prayer for any reason. There’s no better way for us to remain humble before God while at the same time stoking our fear of the Lord than to dwell often on the magnificent attributes of God. As we read our Bibles daily and meditate about God we will have accomplished both of these goals. It says we will in God’s Word.

Deuteronomy 17:19 – And it (God’s law/the Bible) shall be with him (the believer), and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes.

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

Ecclesiastes 12:13 – Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.

Luke 18:14 – (Jesus speaking) – For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

If you expect God to answer your prayers you cannot appear before the throne of grace in prayer without having both humility and fear. God hates arrogant men and those full of pride and any such person who offers a prayer to God; those prayers are an abomination to the Lord. They would be better off not offering any prayers to God. The sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross purchased the right for all believers to have 24/7 access to God the Father through prayer. What a wonderful privilege we have been given! Access to God is still conditional on us approaching God in the right way; which is humbly and in fear. God is the sovereign King of the universe and there’s a heavenly protocol to follow when we speak to God in prayer by first acknowledging who God is and then offering praise, honor and worship with our lips. We can do that by using one or more of God’s many attributes or names when praying to God. Nonbelievers who pray to God in times of great stress may or may not be heard by the Lord. They have no guarantee of being heard like believers do.

Proverbs 28:9 – One who turns away his ear from hearing the law (the Bible), even his prayer is an abomination.

Galatians 5:22-23 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Matthew 7:17-18 – (Jesus speaking) – Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.

Hebrews 13:15 – Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

God has many attributes, the vast majority of which we’ll never know or fully understand this side of heaven. All we can know about the attributes of God is what he reveals to us in his word. I keep my personal list of the attributes of God on a 4″ X 6″ index card on my desk so I can review them often. My list only has 38 entries so far but I know God’s word contains many more attributes of God than those on my list. When you meditate on God pick out one attribute that pertains to the Lord and ask yourself how God shows that attribute in the Bible and how it pertains to your life. Let me repeat myself (repetition is good). As we come before the Lord in prayer we must always be humble because a prideful person is an abomination to God and so are his prayers. We must also “fear” God, which means we are to look upon the Lord with awe, deep respect and reverence. Nothing will keep you humble and fearful before the Lord in prayer quite like meditating on the attributes and names of Almighty God, King of the universe. My list is the following:

ATTRIBUTES OF GOD:

1. Self-existent – God exists and is not dependent on anyone or anything.
2. Self-sufficient – God has no need not provided by himself.
3. Eternal – God is free from the constraints of time. God has always existed.
4. Infinite – God has no limitations and is bounded only by his nature and will.
5. Omnipresent – God’s essence equally fills all the universe.
6. Omniscient – God knows all things past, present, future, as well as all possibilities.
7. Omnipotent – God can do anything not against his nature.
8. Immutable – God’s divine character remains constant. God does not change.
9. Sovereign – God is the King and absolute ruler of the universe.
10. Incomprehensible – No one can truly know God.
11. Inscrutable – God is mysterious and inexplicable.
12. Holy – God is absolute purity and goodness. God is spiritually and morally perfect.
13. Righteous – God has moral equity. God is just and fair to everyone in all his actions.
14. True – God is factual about all things. God cannot lie.
15. Faithful – God keeps his covenants (promises). What God says will come true.
16. Light – God is the source of all illumination in our universe and in heaven.
17. Good – God is kind, gentle, sympathetic and friendly.
18. Merciful – God wants to forgive our sins and save us from an eternity in hell.
19. Gracious – God wants to give us his unmerited favor.
20. Love – God seeks our highest good and shows an unselfish concern for us.
21. Wise – God has perfect knowledge and wisdom which he uses to our best end.

One of the spiritual truths of the Bible is a tree will only produce fruit after its own kind. This truth of God pertains to angels, men, demons and God himself. Only man has the free will to choose what our kind will be, whether good or bad (sinful/evil). The purpose of our life on this planet is to make the free will choice between God and Satan. We have a seventy year life span, if we’re lucky, to decide whether we’ll produce good fruit or bad fruit. We are what we consistently say and what we continually do. The attributes of God are a reflection of what God does and what God says. If we want to know who God is then we need to take a look at his attributes, both individually and collectively, and then we’ll have a pretty clear picture of the mind and heart of God. Scripture tells us the fruit of God’s Spirit includes goodness, faithfulness and love, which we see in the list above. Other fruits or attributes of God listed in Scripture include the following:

22. Gentleness – God deals with man with more gentleness than we deserve.

23. Kindness – God deals with man kindly because he knows our limitations and frailty.

24. Longsuffering – God has patience in the face of repeated provocations on our part.

25. Self-control – Man continually provokes God to anger yet God has not destroyed us.

26. Peace – We have peace with God and he gives us his peace; the only true peace.

27. Joy – True joy in our life is like true peace, both can only come from the Lord.

As we go through the stories in the Bible we learn about our great God’s awesome power and fearsome wrath. An angry God scares the heck out of us with good reason. Only God can send someone to hell because he is the righteous judge of our earthly conduct. Luckily for us God is good, fair and just. The Bible gives us a peek into the heart of God and we get to see God’s character on display, which should give us all comfort knowing that we have such a good and great God. As believers we’re so lucky to be chosen as children of God; blessed more than we’ll ever know. When I look at the additional attributes of God listed below it makes me love the Lord even more; if that’s possible:

28. Just – God is fair to everyone and each person gets exactly what he deserves.

29. Jealous – God requires that we believe in him and worship no other gods but him.

30. Generous – God is generous to a fault and will give more than we could ever hope for.

31. Caring – God cares deeply about each one of us and only wants what’s best for us.

32. Tender-hearted – God is a soft touch for those who love him and he wants to give to us.

33. Protective – God assigns guardian angels to protect all believers from harm.

34. Mournful – God made us all and he mourns the loss of every spirit that goes to hell.

35. Grievous – When we sin against God it causes great sorrow to our maker.

36. Hopeful – God is always hopeful that we’ll find salvation and return home to him.

37. Great – Scripture says God is great; encompassing a multitude of godly attributes.

38. Righteous – God is morally good and virtuous. God always does the right thing.

Praying to God is something we all have to learn to do in such a way that is both respectful to God yet personal to each of us. God doesn’t want canned prayers. God wants you to speak to him from your heart; whatever is on your mind. Nothing is too trivial for God to hear about if it’s important to you. I learned a long time ago you can’t go wrong by praying Scripture back to God and aligning our wishes with God’s promises. The Bible says we can have what we ask for so give some thought to what comes out of your mouth. When I look at the attributes of God they tend to fall into one of two categories. Eighteen attributes of God fall into a category I call “great” which tends to show God’s magnitude and power and which elicits deep respect and awe on our part. God has the attribute of omnipotence, for example, which is one of the attributes that make God great. The Bible says God is great, which is a generic attribute on my list. When I pray and I say God is great I’m agreeing with God’s word but I’m also referring to the other seventeen great attributes of God on my list.

Deuteronomy 32:3-4 – For I proclaim the name of the Lord: Ascribe greatness to our God. He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He.

Psalm 106:1 – Praise the Lord! Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

John 9:31 – Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshipper of God and does His will, He hears him.

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

The remaining twenty attributes of God on my list I call “good” which tends to show us the heart and character side of God. Holiness is an example of a “good” attribute of God. Many times in the Bible God is called good, which is a generic attribute. All of the attributes on my “good” list engender deep respect just like the great attributes I’ve already mentioned but they also cause us to love and admire God. We refer to this as reverence. The Bible spends much more time focusing on God’s good attributes than on his great attributes because they are more important to us. See if you can divide up the 38 attributes of God I have listed above into your own groups of good and great attributes. Pick out one of the attributes of God that is important to you and meditate on it. You’ll be amazed how much it strengthens your faith in God. When I pray to God I often tell him that, “God is good, God is great.” I may praise God for a more specific attribute from time to time but good and great are also attributes of God on my list and by mentioning these two specific attributes of God I’m also including, by reference, all the other attributes of God. The Bible often uses the word prayer and supplication interchangeably. The definition of supplication is, “to humbly ask for something.” That tells us all prayers to God should be made humbly.

Philippians 4:6 – Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

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

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

Colossians 4:2 – Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.

Psalm 6:9 – The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer.

We praise God by acknowledging his attributes in prayer. We worship our God when we mention the goodness and greatness of God with our lips in prayer. We honor and glorify God when we call him by his name in prayer. The Lord is his name. Jehovah is his name. God has many names and attributes and we can personalize our prayers by choosing one or more of them when we address God. Prayers usually have a beginning, middle and end. At the beginning of your prayer offer praise and worship to God. The middle part of your prayer is where you say what you came before God to ask for or say. The end of your prayer is where you thank God for not only hearing your prayer, but also for answering your prayer, even if it hasn’t happened yet. You close your prayer with, “in Jesus’ name I pray, amen.”

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

The instant we were saved God forgave all our past sins and our eternal destiny was irrevocably changed from hell to heaven. That doesn’t mean we can no longer sin or we won’t continue to sin, because we still have to live on this sin-filled earth which is under the sway of the wicked one. We don’t have a blank check from God so we can continue to sin without consequence. After our salvation we will all still sin before God and we all still need to have our sins forgiven, preferably on a daily basis. This is why we need to pray to God daily for forgiveness of our sins. The sins of believers won’t keep us out of heaven but unforgiven sin grieves the Holy Spirit of God and will affect our rewards in heaven. Those believers who continue to sin, and sin grievously, run the risk of God taking them home early. God promises to forgive our sins if we ask him so why not give our sins to God in prayer? Everyone’s prayers are different, personal and just as effective as anyone else’s prayers, if they are heartfelt. The most important thing about prayer is to just pray what you feel, any way you can, and as often as you can. God judges the heart and understands.

1 Peter 1:3-5 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Every single person in heaven wishes they had prayed more while they were still on earth. We all need to greatly increase our prayer time. Follow the general format of the Lord’s prayer provided by Jesus in Matthew 6:9-13. The Holy Spirit of God that dwells within all believers is tasked with helping us with our prayers to God the Father. Prayers to God are not designed to be one and done. You don’t pray for something one time and quit. Keep praying until you get what you ask for. God is not a slot machine that pays out every time you want something and just when you want it. Prayer doesn’t work that way. God’s timetable for answering prayers is different from ours so be patient. God will not give you something you’re not ready to receive yet or if your request is not in your best interest, just because you asked for it. God will protect you from yourself. God knows perfectly well what you need so trust in God’s judgment and praise him continually for his blessings in your life.

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

Hebrews 4:16 – Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

1 Thessalonians 5:24 – He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it.

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

Holiness is the most prominent attribute of God and the holiness of God is mentioned hundreds of time in the Bible. God is Spirit and he is holy, hence God is also known as the “Holy Spirit.” God commands us to be holy because he is holy. The dictionary defines holy as, “morally and spiritually excellent.” That definition may work for us but when using holy in reference to God we mean, “morally and spiritually perfect.” I usually start off my prayers to the Lord by addressing him as, “Holy God” , because holiness is God’s number one attribute and I want to acknowledge it. I also like to talk to God using a personal title. I often refer to God as, “Lord of heaven and earth.” Why? Because I like it and it’s factual. Jesus also referred to God the Father by that title and if it’s good enough for Jesus it’s good enough for me. Jesus is the firstborn Son of God and as believers we’re also equally the children of God and we may freely use the above title when we talk to him. We are also free to talk to God using any title, name or attribute of God we choose as long as it’s respectful and biblical. Let the Holy Spirit be your guide when talking with God in prayer. He will if you ask him. One of the duties of the Holy Spirit is to help us with our prayers to God so use him whenever you can.

1 John 3:1 – Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!

Romans 8:14 – For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

Mark 16:15 – (Jesus speaking) – Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

Isaiah 45:22 – Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.

My favorite attribute of God is “longsuffering.” Patience is one thing but longsuffering is harder. Longsuffering is patience on steroids. Longsuffering is being patient in the face of repeated and continual provocation over a long period of time. Longsuffering is like me poking God in the eye with a sharp stick over and over, because of my sins, for over fifty years yet God remains calm, never gets angry with me or abandons me. That is one truly amazing God! God planned for my life and knew everything about me before he laid the foundation of the world. God waited on me patiently for over 6000 years so he could give me my eternal spirit at conception in my mother’s womb. God waited patiently for me to be born, grow up to the age of decision, and then find him and accept the gift of salvation by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, at the age of twelve. I was then a backslider for over forty years yet God did not abandon me. God waited patiently for me to return to him in fellowship. God is currently waiting for me to complete the works he has planned for me to do from the foundation of the world.

Ephesians 1:4 – Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.

Matthew 25:34 – (Jesus speaking) – Then the King will say to those on His right hand, come you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

Christian blogging is what I call “passive witnessing” for Christ and I’m sure this work was also part of God’s plan for me. Finally, God is waiting patiently for my death so that he can take me home to live with him forever in heaven. I fondly refer to the Lord my God as the, “One who waits,” for me. God has been waiting a very long time for me to join him so I’m not afraid of dying. I am fearful that I haven’t witnessed for Christ well enough or long enough. That’s why the goal for the rest of my life is to save, “one more for Jesus.” I also feel my good works for the kingdom of God are inadequate based on the blessings I have received from God. I think most Christians feel this way because a seventy year life span, if we’re lucky, simply isn’t long enough to accomplish what we need to do for God. After our salvation, God leaves us on this earth to witness for Christ and to do good works. King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, figured out rightly in the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes that the only thing of importance in our lives is a right relationship with God. Everything else is meaningless. We are simply to do the best we can with who we are and what we have and then throw ourselves upon the mercy of a good, just and loving God. God is always faithful and we know he dotes on us. God will not fail those who love him.

1 Timothy 6:17-19 – Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

The riches stored up for me in heaven will be paltry compared to what I could have had and should have had. I think everyone who goes to heaven feels the same way. I know Jesus loves me and he’s waiting for me on the other side of the spiritual veil. I have been waiting to see Jesus for a long time too. It’ll be a joyous reunion in heaven when I finally get to see Jesus face to face. If you don’t know Jesus Christ yet then seek out the truth of God while you still can. My earliest blogs outlined all the proofs of God you will ever need to make an informed decision about the truth of God. The Holy Spirit will also convict you of your sins if you read God’s Word every day, especially if you read the gospels of Christ contained in the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Lord does not wait for me only. The Lord also waits for you, but he won’t wait forever for you to decide whether you will serve God or Satan. Time is short. Please don’t delay in making the right decision. The evidence for God is overwhelming if you take the time to look at it. Your eternal soul hangs in the balance. What say you?

Isaiah 30:18 – Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are those who wait for Him.

Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Psalm 116:15 – Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.

I’ve just finished reading a book that my cousin in Arizona recently recommended titled, “Heaven – An Unexpected Journey”, by James D. Woodford along with his ghost writer, Dr. Thom Gardner. I’ve been an avid reader all my life and even more so now that I’m retired. However, my passion for reading now is almost exclusively limited to reading the Bible and any and all books about God and the Christian faith. There has been a proliferation of books lately written by people who say they have been to heaven and back. I don’t believe everything I read but I absolutely do believe some of these stories to be true from people who say they have been to heaven. I believe Mr. Woodford.

By the same token, I also think some of these books are written by someone out to make a quick buck. You must be discerning. You must read all books of this genre with your BS detector up. If you’re a spiritually mature Christian you should be able to detect the fakes easier than most nonbelievers who may be searching for the truth of God. If you know your Bible you’ll know when people are not aligned with God’s Word.

Genesis 5:24 – And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

Malachi 3:6 – For I am the Lord, I do not change.

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

The first question you have to ask yourself is would God actually bring someone to heaven before their appointed time to die? Has God done this before? The answer is yes on both counts if we believe the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. We know God translated the prophets Enoch and Elijah directly to heaven without either of them having to die. We know the Apostle Paul made a visit to heaven; probably the time he was stoned to death in Lsytra, which is in modern-day Turkey. The Apostle John was brought to heaven to see his revelation of Christ, which became the last book of the New Testament.

In 2 Corinthians 12:2-4, the Apostle Paul is referring to himself in the third person as the man who was caught up to heaven. If this account is in the Bible it happened because Paul’s words flowed from the Holy Spirit and God does not lie. All the accounts of the people I’ve just mentioned who have had documented visits to heaven are just the ones we know about. There may be other past occurrences of people having gone to heaven. We just don’t know. The fact God mentions Paul being caught up to heaven twice in the same verse of Scripture below means it’s important for us to know.

2 Corinthians 12:2-4 – I know a man who fourteen years ago-whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows-such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man-whether in the body or out of the body I do not know-how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which is not lawful for a man to utter.

2 Timothy 4:1-2 – I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.

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

You might say that was then and this is now; that God does not do that kind of stuff today. You would be wrong because the Bible makes it clear that God does not change at all at any time. God still performs miracles and wondrous works today just like he did in the Old Testament times. That means if God took people to heaven back then he is probably doing the same thing today. We’ll never again see God part the sea or appear as a burning column of fire or as an ominous glory cloud because we now have Jesus Christ and that’s all we need going forward.

God speaks to us now through his word and through his Son Jesus Christ. All believers since Christ, and because of Christ, now have 24/7 access to the throne room of God through prayer because they are children of God through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. All believers since Pentecost of 33 AD are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God as their constant friend and helper. Jesus is on his throne as our Mediator with God. God has us covered like a blanket without all the theatrics of the past. Christians are so blessed to be living in these end times.

Psalm 34:15 – The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry.

Psalm 102:17 – He shall regard the prayer of the destitute, and shall not despise their prayer.

Psalm 6:9 – The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer.

My second question is why would God take the trouble to bring someone to heaven and show them the glory of God before their appointed time? The answer is God wants them to testify to the glory of heaven and the majesty of God. God never acts on a whim or does anything haphazardly. God always has a good reason foe everything he does. We just need to figure out what that reason is if we can. We know that God has revealed himself to us through Jesus Christ and through his word. God is multiple in everything he does and God never stops trying to reach mankind with the truth of God through various ingenious methods.

Christian writers are equipped by the Holy Spirit to give their testimony of God and reveal spiritual truths through books, articles, interviews and television programs, etc. God is reaching the whole world with the gospel message of Christ just as he said he would. Christian bloggers are the latest venue that God is using to reach out to believers and nonbelievers alike about the truth of God’s Word. For years I felt the Holy Spirit pushing me to write about God; never dreaming I would ultimately wind up as a Christian blogger. Yet here I am serving God the best way I know how. Christian blogging is nothing more than passive witnessing for Christ.

Hebrews 1:1-2 – God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 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.

2 Corinthians 13:1 – By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.

Romans 10:13 – For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Getting back to the book, “Heaven, an Unexpected Journey”, I can feel the passion in Mr. Woodford’s writing so I know he’s writing from his heart. I detect no deceit in Jim’s story. Everything Mr. Woodford describes seeing in heaven confirms what Scripture says. James was saved from hell by uttering six simple words. “God forgive me…God save me!” That is the grace of God at work. Nothing that happened to Mr. Woodford while he was in heaven contradicts God’s Word in any way. The Bible says the truth of any matter is confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses. In this instance we have the testimony of Lorraine, Mr. Woodford’s devout Christian wife, that what Jim says is the truth.

We also have the testimony of Jim’s co-writer, Dr. Thom Gardner, who is a pastor and an internationally known author and teacher of other pastors on how to walk with God. Mr. Gardner is a spiritually mature man of God and Mr. Woodford wouldn’t be able to fool him if he was lying about going to heaven. One of the reasons I believe Jim’s story is because Dr. Gardner does. I was so impressed with Dr. Gardner that I went on Ebay and purchased six of his books for my reference library. I can tell Dr. Thom Gardner walks humbly with God.

Hebrews 7:25 – Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Hebrews 4:12 – For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joint and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

1 Timothy 2:5 – For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Jesus Christ.

The most important reason I believe everything in James Woodford’s book is the changes made in his life. James was not a Christian; never read his Bible and never went to church unless he was forced to go on special occasions. James Woodford was all about himself; how much money he could make and what he could buy with that money. James came back to earth a changed man. Seeing Jesus face to face will do that to you. James became a devout Christian overnight who now shares his story with audiences throughout North and South America.

James also witnesses about the glories of heaven to people in hospices who are near the end of their lives. Only something very real and dramatic could effect such a change in a person. I think back to the conversion of Paul on the Damascus road when Jesus appeared to Paul and temporarily blinded him for three days. Paul went from the number one enemy of Christians to a devout preacher of God’s Word almost overnight. Only a face to face encounter with Jesus Christ could make such a drastic change in Paul in so short a time. James and Paul both met Jesus face to face with similar results so both stories are true.

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

1 Timothy 4:13 – Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

2 Timothy 2:15 – Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

The fact that James Woodford was clinically dead and had no brain activity for eleven hours and then came back to life without any brain damage is a miracle. The fact that Jim also had a rare and always fatal disease yet he came back from heaven without this disease is a second miracle. What are the odds of two miracles happening to the same person at the same time? With God there are no odds because all things are possible. The most important thing James learned in heaven, and his advice to all of us, is to study God’s Word for knowledge, understanding and wisdom. When Jim met Jesus he was also told by Jesus to, “Go back and tell your brothers and sisters of the wonders we have shown you.” Jesus was talking about the body of Christ. Jesus was also talking about witnessing for Christ to all the world.

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

Titus 3:8 – This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who believe in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.

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

James Woodford had to die and go to heaven to discover Jesus Christ and to find out what his purpose in life was. For the vast majority of believers the journey of faith is just the opposite. Heaven comes to us through the Bible and Jesus Christ is revealed in its pages. As believers we spiritually die with Christ; we don’t have to physically die before we find God. In both instances, we receive salvation unto eternal life by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. In both cases, we see the love, mercy and grace of God manifested in our lives. I discovered my purpose on this earth to be the same as Jim’s, which is just another proof his story is true. That’s why the twin themes of my blog site are, “studying God’s Word” and “witnessing for Christ.” God gives all believers the same marching orders. What are you waiting for?

The Old Testament book of Psalms is important to Christians because of the many prayers to God it contains. The remaining psalms (hymns) are primarily for the Jewish people because Christians have created their own hymnals to sing their praises to God. The book of Psalms is one of the largest books in the Bible and almost a third of these psalms are actually prayers to God from Moses, David and many other men of God. These prayers to God serve as an example for believers to follow in their own prayer lives. The prayers in Psalms are also useful for study because they show how God deals with the problems of his people in ancient times which proves God will do the same for us in our time. We must always pay close attention to whatever actions God has taken, what God says, and what God does in the life of his saints.

Psalm 4:1 – Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.

In my last blog I identified the five types of prayers I find in the Bible; namely prayers of thanksgiving, confession, asking for help, requesting protection and rejoicing in the Lord. In this blog I want to delve more into the mechanics of the first four types of prayers since almost all our prayers to God will fall into one of these four categories (prayers of rejoicing are rare). God made us all different and we all have to be who we are in this world. Prayers aren’t meant to be cookie-cutter but you can still use similar structures as long as they’re in agreement with God’s Word. Some people are extroverts and gregarious by nature. Their prayers will be different from mine because I’m basically a shy person who is also an introvert. Praying to God has always been hard for me, especially in a public setting. Am I addressing God in the right way? Am I saying the right things? Is God hearing me? Will God answer me? As long as you’re talking to God from your heart the style is less important than the message. It’s the content of your prayers that matter to God.

Psalm 6:9 – The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer.

I didn’t always have the confidence in God I should have had because I didn’t really know God all that well and that was totally my fault. Just because you know God is real and you’ve accepted his grace unto salvation doesn’t mean you really know God or how to pray in such a way that God will hear your prayers and answer them. God could choose to answer your prayers, or he might not; but the chances are God will turn a deaf ear to your prayers if you only come to him when you need him; if you haven’t beforehand established fellowship with God through daily Bible reading and prayer.

Proverbs 28:9 – One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.

Read Proverbs 28:9 above several times out loud; soaking in the meaning of each word in the verse. God’s Word, our Holy Bible, is God’s law. If you are turning away your ear from God’s law it means you’re not daily hearing the faith-filled words of the Bible in a worship service, Bible study or personal recitation of Bible verses. Indirectly the above verse also refers to you not reading your Bible daily for knowledge, understanding and wisdom. In Proverbs 28:9 God is referring to nonbelievers. God is always ready to hear from believers, even when they are out of fellowship with God. The use of the word “even” in this verse is key to understanding that nonbelievers are also an abomination to God along with any prayers they send to God. It’s critical for man not to be an abomination in the sight of God and that’s exactly what man is if they don’t accept the grace of God unto salvation through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Hebrews 11:6 – But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

God established the system of two-way communication between himself and his creation (us). God speaks to us through the pages of the Bible and we talk to God in prayer. That’s the way it’s supposed to work. That’s the way it must work if we want to really know God and have a personal relationship with him. If we don’t hold up our end of the bargain by praying and studying God’s Word so that we know God personally and are able to know and obey God’s commandments for our lives we are not communicating with God as he intended. We are not in fellowship with God and are therefore sinning against our creator. I’ve said before a good mantra to live by is love what God loves and hate what God hates. We can’t go wrong that way. When God hates something a lot he calls it an abomination.

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

When we pray to God as nonbelievers we’re mocking the Lord because we don’t believe God exists and we don’t expect an answer to our prayers. When nonbelievers pray it’s just for show. The prayers of nonbelievers are an abomination to the Lord. Don’t pray to God and ask for his help if you don’t serve him. Don’t call on God for help if you’re a stranger to him. Nonbelievers don’t fear the Lord enough to believe that he is. Nonbelievers don’t know God’s Word and they don’t obey his commandments therefore God will turn his ear away from their prayers. Their prayers will fall on deaf ears. The prayers of believers will also not be answered if they are not in fellowship with the Lord through Bible study and prayer. The noted theologian Karl Barth said it best when he said, “Prayer without study would be empty. Study without prayer would be blind.” When you study God’s Word you realize just how critical prayer is. Bible study and prayer are two sides of the same coin. You must have both Bible study and prayer to effectively communicate with God because one without the other is useless.

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

A good way of praying to God effectively is praying using God’s own words. God’s creative power is in his faith-filled words and as we speak God’s words in our prayers we harness God’s creative power in our own lives. We confirm and claim the promised blessings of God contained in the Bible. The spiritual world is controlled by God speaking his word. The physical world is also controlled by God’s Word. The difference is God is allowing us to also have control over the physical world with him by speaking God’s Word in faith because we are royalty in heaven and children of the Most High God. You can also learn more about praying Scripture at www.prayingscriptures.com and www.prayscripture.org.

Philippians 4:6 – Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Long ago I read a book from retired pastor and author Charles Capps titled, “The tongue – A Creative Force.” This little paperback is forty five years old and you can only buy it now on Ebay. It’s a classic. In this book pastor Capps expounds on the effective use of Scripture in prayers. Pastor Capps lists a series of prayers; verbal affirmations taken straight from the Bible that we as believers can claim with our faith-filled spoken words in prayer. Pastor Capps has broken these prayers into four categories; comfort and strength, wisdom and guidance, worry and fear and material needs. These four categories will generally fit into one of the four types of prayers I’ve listed in this blog. Since I’ve already recommended four primary prayer times (morning, noon, evening and night), I think it’s a good idea to recite a different set of these verbal Bible affirmations during each prayer session so you capture all the blessings that God has to offer.

Psalm 5:3 – My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; I will direct it up to You, and I will look up.

Praying Scripture using spoken Bible affirmations is a good way to start improving your prayer life. You’re safe using Scripture because the Bible is the truth of God and you can never go wrong speaking truth. When you pray Scripture you’re aligning yourself with the promises of God. By agreeing with God you’re accepting the promised blessings of God in your life. You can pray using straight Scripture or you can pray Scripture in combination with your own prayers from the heart. Once you’ve become a seasoned prayer warrior you may find you can dispense with praying Scriptures altogether. Your prayers to God will evolve over time to fit your personality so that your conversations with God become original, unique, and pleasing to God.

Colossians 4:2 – Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.

Now if you have a critical problem that needs addressing you can choose to use all four prayer times in that one area of need, such as if you need God to help you financially (material needs). God always answers the prayers of his saints. Praying one time probably won’t do it. The key is to keep praying out loud repeatedly in faith and don’t stop until you receive an answer from God. Remember that God’s timetable for responding won’t be the same as ours so don’t lose faith. You might have to pray for years before God answers you. The secret of the Christian faith is to continually pray using the words God said. I keep these prayers of Bible affirmations on 4″ X 6″ index cards so I can use them easily in prayer. I admit I don’t use them as often as I should. Here they are:

1. Worry and fear:

“No weapon formed against me shall prosper, for my righteousness is of the Lord. But whatever I do will prosper for I’m like a tree that’s planted by the rivers of water.” Ps 1:3

“No evil will befall me neither shall any plague come nigh my dwelling. For You have given Your angels charge over me and they keep me in all my ways, and in my pathway is life and there is no death.” Prov 12:28

“I am a doer of the Word of God and am blessed in my deeds. I am happy in those things which I do because I am a doer of the Word of God.” Jas 1:22

“Christ has redeemed me from the curse of the law. Therefore, I forbid any sickness or disease to come upon this body. Every disease germ and every virus that touches this body dies instantly in the name of Jesus. Every organ and every tissue of this body functions in the perfection to which God created it to function, and I forbid any malfunction in this body, in the name of Jesus.” Rom 8:11

“Great is the peace of my children, for they are taught of the Lord.” Isa 54:13

“The devil flees from me because I resist him in the name of Jesus.” Jas 4:7

“I am the body of Christ and Satan has no power over me. For I overcome evil with good.” 1 Cor 12:27

“I am of God and have overcome him (Satan). For greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world.” 1 Jn 4:4

“I will fear no evil for thou art with me Lord, your word and Your Spirit they comfort me.” Ps 23:4

“I am far from oppression, and fear does not come nigh me.” Isa 54:14

“I am delivered from the evils of this present world for it is the will of God.” Gal 1:4

“I take the shield of faith and I quench every fiery dart that the wicked one brings against me.” Eph 6:16

“I am an overcomer and I overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of my testimony.” Rev 12:11

“The Word of God is forever settled in heaven. Therefore, I establish His word upon this earth.” Ps 119:89

2. Material needs:

“I delight myself in the Lord and He gives me the desires of my heart.” Ps 37:4

“I have given and it is given unto me good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, men given unto my bosom.” Lk 6:38

“There is no lack for my God supplies all of my need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Phil 4:19

“And I, having received the gift of righteousness do reign as a king in life by Jesus Christ.” Rom 5:17

“With what measure I mete, it is measured unto me. I sow bountifully, therefore I reap bountifully. I give cheerfully, and my God has made all grace abound toward me and I having all sufficiency of all things do abound to all good works.” 2 Cor 9:6-8

“The Lord is my shepherd and I do not want because Jesus was made poor, that I through His poverty might have abundance. For He came that I might have life and have it more abundantly.” Ps 23:1

“The Lord has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant, and Abraham’s blessings are mine.” Ps 35:27

“Christ has redeemed me from the curse of the law. Christ has redeemed me from poverty. Christ has redeemed me from sickness. Christ has redeemed me from spiritual death.” Gal 3:13

“For poverty He has given me wealth, for sickness He has given me health, for death He has given me eternal life.” 2 Cor 8:9

“It is true unto me according to the Word of God.” Ps 119:25

“I have put off the old man and have put on the new man, which is renewed in the knowledge after the image of Him that created me.” Col 3:10

3. Wisdom and guidance:

“I trust in the Lord with all of my heart, and I lean not unto my own understanding.” Prov 3:5

“In all my ways I acknowledge Him and He directs my path.” Prov 3:6

“The Word of God is a lamp unto my feet, it is a light unto my path.” Ps 119:105

“The Lord will perfect that which concerns me.” Ps 138:8

“I am filled with the knowledge of the Lord’s will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.” Col 1:9

“I am a new creation in Christ, I am His workmanship created in Christ Jesus. Therefore, I have the mind of Christ and the wisdom of God is formed within me.” 2 Cor 5:17

“I let the Word of God dwell in me rightly in all wisdom.” Col 3:16

“The Spirit of truth abides in me and teaches me all things, and He guides me into all truths. Therefore, I confess I have perfect knowledge of every situation and every circumstance that I come up against. For I have the wisdom of God.” Jas 1:5

“I do follow the good shepherd and I know His voice and the voice of a stranger I will not follow.” Jn 10:4-5

“I have put off the old man and have put on the new man, which is renewed in the knowledge after the image of Him that created me.” Col 3:10

“Jesus is made unto me wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Therefore, I confess I have the wisdom of God, and I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.” 1 Cor 1:30

“I receive the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of my understanding being enlightened. And I am not conformed to this world but I am transformed by the renewing of my mind. My mind is renewed by the Word of God.” Rom 12:2

4. Comfort and strength:

“Jesus gave me the authority to use His name. And that which I bind on earth is bound in heaven. And that which I loose on earth is loosed in heaven. Therefore in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I bind the principalities, the powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world. I bind and cast down spiritual wickedness in high places and render them harmless and ineffective against me in the name of Jesus.” Matt 16:19

“I am a believer and these signs do follow me. In the name of Jesus I cast out demons, I speak with new tongues, I lay hands on the sick and they do recover.” Mk 16:17-18

“I let the peace of God rule my heart and I refuse to worry about anything.” Col 3:15

“I speak the truth of the Word of God in love and I grow up into the Lord Jesus Christ in all things.” Eph 4:15

“I am complete in Him who is the head of all principality and power. For I am his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God has before ordained that I should walk therein.” Eph 2:10

“I am increasing in the knowledge of God. I am strengthened with all might according to His glorious power.” Col 1:10-11

“I am delivered from the power of darkness and I am translated into the kingdom of His dear Son.” Col 1:13

“I am born of God and I have world overcoming faith residing on the inside of me. For greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world.” 1 Jn 4:4

“I will do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Phil 4:13

“I let no corrupt communication proceed out of my mouth, but that which is good to edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearer. I grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby I’m sealed unto the day of redemption.” Eph 4:29-30

“God is on my side. God is in me now, who can be against me? He has given unto me all things that pertain unto life and godliness. Therefore, I am a partaker of His divine nature.” 2 Cor 6:16

“No man shall take me out of His hand for I have eternal life.” Jn 10:29

“The peace of God which passes all understanding keeps my heart and my mind through Jesus Christ. And all things which are good, and pure, and perfect, and lovely, and of good report, I think on these things.” Phil 4:7-8

“The joy of the Lord is my strength. The Lord is the strength of my life.” Ps 27:1

“I will not let the Word of God depart from before my eyes for it is life to me for I have found it and it is health and healing to all my flesh.” Prov 4:21-22

“I’m the body of Christ, I am redeemed from the curse, and I forbid any sickness or disease to operate in this body. Every organ, every tissue will function properly, for greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.” Gal 3:13

“I am delivered from the power of darkness and I am translated into the kingdom of His dear Son.”

Your closeness to God (fellowship) will be in direct proportion to the amount of time you put into it. It’s no secret that if you want to please God you must read and study the Bible so that you gain knowledge, understanding and wisdom. To please God you also must intentionally seek him out to know all you can about God. The Bible is the primary revelation of God. In order to please God you must talk to him in prayer. Remember I said earlier that God talks to us through his word and we talk to God through prayer. It’s called two-way communication. We must talk with God regularly in order to achieve the closeness with God that we all desire. It’s up to us to initiate the communication that leads to true fellowship with God because God is always ready to hear from us.

Deuteronomy 7:9 – Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments.

Deuteronomy 33:27 – The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.

Hebrews 11:6 – But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

God is on his throne in heaven patiently waiting and hoping to hear from us, his beloved children. God has taken the first step by revealing himself in his word and telling us how to contact the Lord. Now we must act. We’ll never truly know how much God loves us until we get to heaven and every single person in heaven will regret they didn’t talk to God more while they here on earth. One other thing I’ve noticed about God is he loves a believer who comes to him with a contrite and humble heart. A prideful person is an abomination to the Lord. Human beings tend to love themselves and be full of pride. We must all fight against our prideful nature by focusing on the goodness and greatness of God instead of ourselves. It’s all a matter of perspective and attitude. Get your head on straight before going before the Lord in prayer; remember where you are; and don’t forget your audience is before your King and creator of the universe.

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

James 1:5 – If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

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

I personally need to be more disciplined in my reading of God’s Word. I think we all do. It’s the rare Christian that has the discipline and willpower to read and study God’s Word daily the way it should be done. We know how, we just don’t have the wherewithal to make it happen. Prayer is a different animal. While we still don’t have the discipline to achieve an active prayer life, the main problem there is most of us don’t know how to pray effectively to God. Most of us pray to God briefly at bedtime and call it good; me included. I pray to God at other times too but it’s sporadic and usually also brief. We should at least be praying lengthy prayers to God four times a day; in the morning, at noon, in the evening and at bedtime. Not to mention brief prayers with God at other times during the day. Everyone is in such a hurry these days that few people take the quality time needed to speak to the Lord in prayer. I’m guilty of this too and I don’t have an excuse because I’m retired.

There are five types of prayers to God that I’ve identified from reading the Bible:

1. Prayers thanking God – Every day we should offer up our praise and worship of God in prayer for his love, mercy and grace unto salvation through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. God made us all and we have our being by the power of God’s hand. God watches over his own and he numbers the believer’s steps. During prayer we should acknowledge our trust in the Lord and thank him for all the blessings in our life.

Psalm 34:1 – I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Psalm 105:1 – Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples!

Psalm 106:1 – Praise the Lord! Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

Psalm 112:1 – Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments.

Hebrews 13:15 – Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

2. Prayers of confession – Believers still have a sin nature and we sin every day. We can’t help it. We may sin less than we used to but everyone still sins while they live on this earth. That’s why each of us needs to confess those sins to God daily and ask for his forgiveness. We’re in luck, because in the Bible God has promised us that when we confess our sins before him they will be forgiven. Our eternal life in heaven is secure once we’re saved but the quicker we off-load our accumulated sins to God the better. There is no sin so grievous that it can’t be covered by God’s grace. In the Bible God says he’ll forgive our sins if we ask him. If you’ll notice, God didn’t put any limits, exemptions or qualifiers on which sins he would forgive. God meant all sins. God is our King and master of the universe and whatever he decides to do will stand. With God nothing is impossible. If God forgives you are forgiven indeed!

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.

Psalm 34:15 – The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ear open to their cry.

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

3. Prayers for help – Most of the prayers to God from his saints are because they want something from God. The Bible tells us repeatedly to come to God for help with whatever our needs are and God will give to us generously. God is not a blank check or slot machine but God gives us what we need. God will always give us the guidance, instruction and understanding we need to prosper if we ask him.

Philippians 4:6 – Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Colossians 4:2 – Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.

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

4. Prayers for protection – Satan and his demons are more powerful than we are and they are intent on our destruction. God is our refuge. Only God can protect us from evil and he has promised to do so in many verses of the Bible. We need to claim that promise from God through daily prayer and Bible reading and put ourselves under the protective hand of Almighty God. We also need to pray to God for protection against evil men and any other harmful thing.

Psalm 50:15 – Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.

Hebrews 4:16 – Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

James 5:15 – And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

5. Prayers of rejoicing – Prayers made to God simply to declare and rejoice in the goodness of God are rare as hen’s teeth today, especially for Christians. During their worship of God the Israelites expressed their joy and awe of God’s love through their many psalms and prayers of rejoicing. It wouldn’t hurt if we now and then worshipped God with prayers of rejoicing when we feel specially blessed by the Lord. Your children are a gift from God. Did you send God a prayer of rejoicing when your children were born safe and sound? Me neither, and looking back I should have. At the time I didn’t know I could have or should have, but now I do and you do too. All grandparents should also send prayers of rejoicing to God for their grandchildren. The Bible says the glory of an old man is his children’s children.

Romans 12:12 – Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer.

Philippians 4:4 – Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say, rejoice!

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

In the Bible there are many Godly men whom God loved; Abraham, Peter, John and Paul to name a few. However, there is only one person in all the Bible that God identified as, “a man after my own heart”, and that is King David. Why is that? I believe a humble man is a man after God’s own heart. In the Old Testament the two men closest to God were David and Moses. God called them his friends. Why is that? Both men were noted in the Bible to be humble men before their God. Their humility allowed them to see the majesty of God so they obeyed God without reservation and sought his mercy early when they sinned before God. We know that David developed a close relationship with God as a youth which continued until the day he died as a very old man.

1 John 3:22 – And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.

All his life David obeyed the Lord in all he did, with the two exceptions being his sin with Bathsheba and when he ordered the census of Israel. When David did sin before God he humbled himself immediately and asked for mercy, which God granted. David was a man of passion and he showed that emotion in his prayers to God. David was a humble man with a passion and love for the Lord who sincerely sought God’s mercy when he sinned. To me David’s prayers to God are masterpieces of literature; like Psalm 51 where David is asking for mercy from God after he sinned with Bathsheba. All believers are familiar with David’s 23rd Psalm, the best known verses in the entire Bible.

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

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

James 4:8 – Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands , you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Of all the godly men in the Bible, King David gave us the best prayers to God because they were heartfelt and full of emotion as he humbled himself before Almighty God. The book of Psalms contains many of David’s prayers to God and I especially like Psalm 86, which I think believers can adopt and repeat in their own prayer life to receive similar blessings from God that King David received when he prayed that psalm to God. All you have to do is believe you will receive what you ask for and then keep praying for it, even if it takes twenty years. Always pray for the things God tells you to pray for like strength, wisdom, laborers for God’s harvest field, the peace of God, others and, of course, Jerusalem.

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.

If you consciously pray for things that are also consistent with God’s will for your life you can rest assured your prayers will be answered to your satisfaction. We know King David came from humble beginnings as a shepherd. We know in the Old Testament times that only a select few men were ever indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and then only for a limited time. Before Jesus’ time I know of only two men from the Bible who were indwelt by the Holy Spirit their whole lives; that being King David and John the Baptist. The Holy Spirit helps us with our prayers which might explain why King David was so eloquent in prayer. All believers after the ascension of Christ and Pentecost are indwelt by the Holy Spirit while they live. We can pray for the Holy Spirit to help us with our prayers to God so they are more effective. We do not have God’s help because we do not ask for it. Let’s look at Psalm 86, which is wonderful prayer to God from King David.

Psalm 86:1-5 – Bow down Your ear, O Lord, hear me; for I am poor and needy. Preserve my life, for I am holy; You are my God; be merciful to me, O Lord, for I cry to You all day long. Rejoice the soul of Your servant, for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.

These first few verses of Psalm 86 tell me David knows and understands exactly who God is better than any other human being living in Old Testament times. David knows what God can do and what God is prepared to do for those who ask for his favor. David also knows believers are holy because we were made by God in his image. God is holy therefore we are holy. David understands God’s awesome power and God’s basic goodness and his desire to dispense mercy to his children.

Psalm 86:6-10 – Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications. In the day of my trouble I will call upon You, for You will answer me. Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord; nor are there any works like Your works. All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and shall glorify Your name. For You are great, and do wondrous things; You alone are God.

David knows all the other pagan religions are fake and their gods are false gods without works. David knows God answers the prayers of believers. David knows all nations will kneel before God on the last Day and worship him. David was the King of Israel but also a prophet of God in his own right. All believers will know David forever because in the millennial kingdom ruled by Jesus Christ David will serve as the Lord’s deputy.

Psalm 86:11-15 – Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; untie my heart to fear Your name. I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Your name forevermore. For great is Your mercy toward me, and You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. O God, the proud have risen against me, and a mob of violent men have sought my life, and have not set You before them. But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.

David obeys God’s statutes while offering praise, honor and glory to God. David knows God has saved his eternal soul from hell and he will now live in heaven with God forever. David lists some of the wonderful attributes of Almighty God.

Psalm 86:16-17 – Oh, turn to me, and have mercy on me! Give Your strength to Your servant, and save the son of Your maidservant. Show me a sign for good, that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed, because You, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

David asks for God’s saving grace. David asks for comfort and strength from God. While David does ask things of God in Psalm 86, the thing that stands out to me is how many times David honors God with is lips by using God’s name; how many times David offers praise to God; and how many times David has words of worship to God. David tries to cover all the bases in his prayer to make sure God is glorified to the greatest extent possible. In Psalm 86 David gives us a great example to follow when praying to God. When any believer enters the spiritual world through prayer he winds up in the throne room of heaven before Almighty God. Every prayer to God must start with praise of God and recognition that a Sovereign God can fulfill that prayer if he so chooses. You never want to cut to the chase when you pray to God and bypass the prayer protocol of heaven if you expect to have those prayers answered. There’s nothing wrong with borrowing David’s Psalm 86 and reciting it as your own prayer to God as long as you believe it.

Romans 8:26 – Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Part of our responsibility as believers is to obey God’s command to honor, praise, and worship him. God is not egotistical but he knows his worth. God knows he is worthy of our worship and he expects it as part of our reasonable service for what God has done for us. Worshipping God is the least we can do for the God who made us. Praising God is the least we can do for the God who has given us eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Honoring God is the least we can do for the God who has adopted us as his children and will show us many wonderful things in heaven and shower us with riches. God has done a wonderful thing for us which we don’t deserve. God has done a great thing out of his love for us. How can you not return that love to someone who loved you first? How can you not return that love to your father? We owe God everything we can give him for the love, mercy and grace he has shown toward us.

Psalm 34:1-2 – I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad.

Hebrews 13:15 – Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips.

Psalm 89:1 – I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; with my mouth I will make known Your faithfulness to all generations.

Revelation 19:15 – Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations.

The problem is not one person in ten actually knows how to go about worshipping God properly. First we need to use a dictionary to define the “worship” terms used in the Bible:

Worship – showing deep respect and admiration
Praise – expression of respect and gratitude, especially toward God
Honor – showing great respect
Reverence – showing deep respect or admiration
Fear (biblical meaning) – showing awe, deep respect and reverence for God
Glorify – praise and worship of God

The word respect is included in the definition of every single word surrounding the worship of God. It’s impossible to worship someone you don’t respect and especially God. The word admiration is mentioned twice in the definitions and it’s alluded to in the other four definitions listed. Worshipping God simply means to show respect and admiration for God and the terms worship, praise, honor and revere are used interchangeably for the most part. These are all secular terms. We want to make sure these terms are understood when used in the biblical sense when referring to God so in the Bible we use the terms “fear” and “glorify” to make sure we understand these adjectives refer to Jehovah, the Most High God.

Genesis 1:3 – Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

Psalms 63:5 – My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

Psalm 109:30 – I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth; yes, I will praise Him among the multitude.

Proverbs 18:7 – A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.

Notice the definitions of the worship terms contain action verbs meaning the person can’t just think this to themselves and call that worshipping God. They will have to take some outward action to show or prove they have these feelings toward God. If you keep these thoughts in your head God may give you some credit for it. I expect he will. But I do know if you verbalize you feelings for God by singing or speaking the words of worship to the world you’ll receive so much more credit from God because he is glorified even more when other people hear your praise of him and when other observers across the spiritual veil hear you worship God (i.e. angels and demons). I can find no Bible verses that confirm the effective worship of God can be achieved just by thinking good thoughts about God. On the other hand, there are numerous verses that say we are to praise and worship God with our lips.

Notice in all the examples I’ve provided that praise and worship of God proceeds from our lips; out of our mouth. God wants us to worship him with spoken words that we speak out of our mouth and that’s good enough for me. God gave us our voice for this reason. If you study the Bible you realize just how important the spoken word is to God. The host of heaven are singing the praises of God continually and we’ll be doing the same once we get there. God spoke his covenants into being and they will stand; God spoke the universe into existence and God’s word maintains it; we confess our sins with our words spoken to God and he forgives us; Jesus will defeat the evil forces at Armageddon with the spoken word.

Psalm 146:1-2 – Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! While I live I will praise the Lord; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

Psalm 145:21 – My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh shall bless His holy name forever and ever.

Matthew 15:11 – (Jesus speaking) – Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.

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

One thing I’ve learned during my study of the Bible is that we don’t always pray to God and worship him as effectively as we should. The Holy Spirit indwells all believers and he helps us by taking our ineffectual prayers to God the Father on our behalf. I’ve discovered that if you recite the parts of the Bible that praise God in your own worship of God you simply can’t go wrong because you’re including God’s own words as part of your prayers. How could God have a problem with that? I’ve found Psalm 71 to be the perfect way to praise, honor and worship God. I just verbally recite Psalm 71 as part of my worship prayers to God on a regular basis and I know I’m worshipping God as I should. You can also praise God in smaller bites by reciting just selected verses of Psalm 71 that you then supplement with your own comments.

Matthew 21:22 – (Jesus speaking) – And whatever things you ask for in prayer, believing, you will receive.

Psalm 55:16-17 – As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me. Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice.

Psalm 32:5 – I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.

Psalm 5:2 – Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation. Give heed to the voice of my cry, my King and my God, for to You I will pray.

You can have the best of both worlds. You can praise and worship God using his own words while at the same time adding spontaneity and originality with your own prayers from the heart about your particular circumstances. That way each time you worship God it’s fresh new material that incorporates your life experiences and glorifies God. As you deepen your relationship with God he will reciprocate. You can have true fellowship with God but it must start with you. When you recite Psalm 71 regularly it helps you to identify exactly what it is you should be thankful for as you honor God with your lips. Reciting Psalm 71 also reminds you what areas you’re deficient in. When you repeat something over and over your mind starts to believe what you’re saying and then acts on that belief. A regular reading of Psalm 71 is just another way to keep your faith strong, your eyes on God and Satan at arms length. There is also nothing wrong with worshipping God with words totally from your heart.

Psalm 71:1-3 – In You, O Lord, I put my trust; let me never be put to shame. Deliver me in your righteousness, and cause me to escape; incline your ear to me and save me. be my strong refuge, to which I may resort continually; You have given the commandment to save me, for You are my rock and my fortress.

You worship God when you pray to him using your lips. When you trust the Lord for your salvation that is the ultimate praise to God. Believers who accept God’s grace escape the fires of hell and the shame of nonbelievers who have to stand before Jesus at the Great White Throne judgment and have their sins revealed for all to hear. It is God who calls you and saves you unto eternal life by his grace. Once God saves you are eternally his and under his protection.

Psalm 71:4-6 – Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. For You are my hope, O Lord God; You are my trust from my youth. By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb. My praise shall be continually of You.

In these verses we acknowledge not only that God made us and knows every cell of our bodies, but also that God sustains us in our being during our lifetime. We are to praise God for our salvation (hope) and protection from all that is evil in the world.

Psalm 71:7-9 – I have become as a wonder to many, but You are my strong refuge. Let my mouth be filled with Your praise and with Your glory all the day. Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails.

Let your works so shine before men that God is glorified and nonbelievers are attracted to the word of God. Continually praise God and he will never forsake you once you are his possession.

Psalm 71:10-13 – For my enemies speak against me; and those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together, saying, “God has forsaken him; pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him.” O God, do not be far from me; O my God, make haste to help me! Let them be confounded and consumed who are adversaries of my life; let them be covered with reproach and dishonor who seek my hurt.

God is glorified when we pray for his protection and guidance in our lives.

Psalm 71:14-16 – But I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more. My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness and Your salvation all the day, for I do not know their limits. I will go in the strength of the Lord God; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.

We are to witness for Christ by telling others about our salvation experience. We are to tell others of God’s love, mercy, and grace unto eternal life.

Psalm 71:17-20 – O God, You have taught me from my youth; and to this day I declare Your wondrous works. Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come. Also Your righteousness , O God, is very high, You who have done great things; O God, who is like You? You, who have shown me great and severe troubles. shall revive me again, and bring me up again from the depths of the earth.

As soon as we receive God’s salvation it’s our responsibility to turn around and witness for Christ to all who will listen. God confirms we will have tribulation in this life all the way to the grave but the promise of God is that he will resurrect us on the last day just as he did for Jesus after he was three days in the earth.

Psalm 71:21-24 – You shall increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side. Also with the lute I will praise You-and Your faithfulness, O my God! To You I will sing with the harp, O Holy One of Israel. My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You, and my soul, which You have redeemed. My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long; for they are confounded, for they are brought to shame who seek my hurt.

We are to praise and worship God by speaking about and singing about what wonderful things God has done for us. God has saved us unto eternal life in heaven in the presence of God and we are to give our witness for Christ to all peoples and all nations while we live.