Myth, 52

~ Sincerity Is What Counts ~

Assumption  ~  If you are sincere in your worship of God, regardless of which God or religion, you will end up pleasing God and going to heaven. 

Logic  ~  You don’t apply this kind of thinking to other areas of life.  First Example: If you were sincerely taking a test in school and all your answers were wrong—you wouldn’t pass the test.  Second Example: If you were on a factory line and sincerely assembling your product in the wrong way, the product would fail.  Third Example: If as a baseball player you swing sincerely at a bad pitch and strike out you are still out!  Fourth Example: If as a basketball player you score what you think is the winning basket only to find out you got turned around and scored at the wrong end of the floor—you wouldn’t win the game!

Charles Haddon Spurgeon (known as “The Prince of Preachers”) once put it this way: “If you sincerely drink poison, I will kill you!  If you sincerely cut your throat, you will die.  If you sincerely believe a lie, you will suffer the consequences.  You must not only be sincere, but you must be right.”

Scripture  ~  God the Father stated: “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3).  The Son of God said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6b).

Closing Comment  ~  Sincerity of belief does matter.  But what you believe in is even more important!  What is the object of your faith?  Are you doing things God’s way or Satan’s way?  Are you sure?  If, when life is over, you find you were in trusting wrong things the consequences will be enormous.  Maybe, just maybe, it is wise to listen to what your Creator says about eternal matters. 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

Be an insider!  Sign up for his author NEWSLETTER and receive occasional news and special offers.  His books have won national and international literary awards.  Subscribe today and receive a welcome gift.  Your email will never be sold, given, or used in any other way.  You can easily unsubscribe at any time. 

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/ .

Fear God, 176

~ Pilate Feared God ~

God does not want His children living in fear.  “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue” (2 Peter 1:2-3).  However, God does want His children to have a proper respect and reverence for Him.  We are told in many places in Scripture to “fear God.”  

This Week’s Passage  ~  “Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, ‘Crucify Him, crucify Him!’  Pilate said to them, ‘You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.’  The Jews answered him, ‘We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.’  Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, ‘Where are You from?’  But Jesus gave him no answer.  Then Pilate said to Him, "Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?’  Jesus answered, ‘You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above.  Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.’  From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, ‘If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend.  Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar’” (John 19:6-12).

Fearing God Results in Salvation  ~  “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).  “A wise person fears and departs from evil, but a fool rages and is self-confident” (Proverbs 14:16).  This does not mean the Christian is to live a fearful life—but a life which reverences God and seeks to do His will. 

Fearing God Results in Fearlessness  ~  “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1).  The answer is: only God.  With the gift of salvation comes responsibility.

Fearing God Results in Witnessing  ~  “Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will declare what He has done for my soul” (Psalm 66:16). 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

Be an insider!  Sign up for his author NEWSLETTER and receive occasional news and special offers.  His books have won national and international literary awards.  Subscribe today and receive a welcome gift.  Your email will never be sold, given, or used in any other way.  You can easily unsubscribe at any time. 

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/ .