Jesus Is…, 38

~ Jesus Christ Is The Savior ~

Passages  ~  “Then they said to the woman, ‘Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world” (John 4:42).  “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” (1 John 4:14-15). 

Significance  ~  “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: if we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole.  This is the “stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.”  Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved’” (Acts 4:8-12).

Comment  ~  Salvation and eternal life with God is available to all—including you, right now wherever you are!

God Loves You  ~  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).  “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

Everyone Is A Sinner  ~  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).  “As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one’” (Romans 3:10).

God Has Provided A Remedy For Your Sin  ~  “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).  “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12).  “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

You May Be Saved Right Now!  ~  “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20).  “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).

the key question:  “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15).  This is the most important question you will ever answer.  If you do not answer it, or answer it incorrectly, you have made the biggest mistake anyone can make!

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .

Fact Check, 65

~ Religion Is The Solution ~

People Think  ~  “People need religion.”  Or, “If everyone would just follow the Golden Rule our problems would go away!”

The Bible Says  ~  Consider what Jesus Christ—The Messiah—had to say about the religious leaders of His time on earth.  “When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ‘Brood of vipers!’” (Matthew 3:7a).

Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  …  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets’” (Matthew 23:13-14, 23-30).

The Significance  ~  Religion is based on rules and regulations, do’s and do not’s!  The solution is a relationship with the very Son of God—Jesus Christ. 

Comment  ~  No person is capable of meeting the righteous required of a righteous God.  “For I [Jesus] say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees [who kept the rules], you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20).  

The Good News is that repentant sinners can be viewed by God as covered by the righteousness of Jesus Christ.  Listen to what He said:

“And Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.  But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.  All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.  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’” (John 6:35-40).

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .

Learn From Gideon, 29

~ God Chose To Reassure Gideon ~

The Biblical account of the life of Gideon provides for one of the most interesting character studies in all of Scripture.  In this series we will discover practical lessons for living the Christian life today.  

Scripture  ~  “And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion.  He said, ‘I have had a dream:  To my surprise, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed.’  Then his companion answered and said, ‘This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel!  Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp’” (Judges 7:13-14).   

Learn From Gideon  ~  God grows us in different ways and at different times.  In the life of Gideon we have seen:

1. A reluctant and doubting Gideon.  In fact, as long as we are proud of our own ability God cannot use us—we need to understand that it is God who works through us.  
2. God prepares those who He can use. 
3. God sometimes provides definite tangible reassurances such as we see in today’s passage. 
4. Notice that Gideon’s companion spoke of the future in the past tense! 

concluding comment  ~  We learn about Gideon primarily from Judges 6-8, but also Isaiah 9:1-7, and Hebrews 11:1-3, 32-34.

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .