There is Right and Wrong, Truth and Lies, but no Little White Lies

God has a master design for eternal life. His family, the body of Christ will join him for all of eternity. There will be no sorrow, no sickness, and no heartache. We will not know each other in heaven as mom, dad, husband, wife, aunt, uncle, grandma, grandpa, cousin, boyfriend, girlfriend, best friend, or by any otherworldly connection. We will know each other as the bride of Christ, brothers, and sisters in Christ; family in the highest sense.

I have heard several people say that when they know it’s their time to go, they’ll get right with God then and start living right, asking God to forgive them of all their sins. They think that life with Christ is boring and plain, but it is just the opposite. To know Christ as your personal Lord and Savior is to truly be alive. You may not have the opportunity to realize that you are dying or going to die soon. It may come unexpectedly like a thief in the night. There may not be any time to whisper, “God I accept you into my heart, forgive me of all my sins.”

God judges us according to our hearts. You can accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and change your heart daily by trying to be more and more like him and live a life manifesting the fruit of the Holy Spirit like joy, peace beyond all human understanding, and hope. On the flip side, you can continue living in sin and by living in sin changing your heart daily to be less and less like him until you have no desire left to be a son or daughter of God.

Sin changes people. It has been scientifically proven that prolonged drug use, alcohol use, frequent use of pornography and other sins can change the way that a person’s brain is wired. With every conscious sin, you allow more and more darkness into your heart. Yes, a person can come back from that, but it is a much harder road than if they had realized God’s bountiful promises and unconditional love much sooner.
When you do something wrong and want to hide it so that other’s will not find out, God knows all about it. When you want to hang on to a habit that is contrary to God’s will for you and your life and sonship rights, God knows all about it. When you want to hang on to a lifestyle, a person who won’t go to church with you or give his or her life to God and you put that person and relationship ahead of God, God knows all about it.

Jesus Christ is our advocate. Our husband, mom, dad, brother, sister, child, nor anyone else can stand in front of God for you and say it’s my fault he didn’t live right. It’s my fault he didn’t live for you. It’s my fault he didn’t live by your statutes and stand up for what is right according to your word. Jesus is the only door. Regardless of what you have done or how long you have been running, he is there waiting with a loving heart to welcome you into your family in Christ and a life of him being by your side, strengthening you, uplifting you, giving you peace and blessings.

Now is the time to worship who you will spend all of your eternal life with. Now is the time to give your heart to the one who you will be subjected to for all of eternal life. Will you choose a loving father and eternal life of peace or will you choose hell, so that you can continue to live riotously in this passing world?

I choose God, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, Wonderful, Counselor, Father, Alpha and Omega. I choose my heavenly father. I look forward to praising him for all of eternity. People will fail you. They are human beings. Things will fail you. Ideals will fail you. Some dreams will not come to pass. But our God will always be praiseworthy. He will never leave us nor forsake us. He has a plan for each one of us. He knew each of us before we were formed in our mother’s womb and he loves us unconditionally; so much so that he gives us free will, the choice to choose what our heart desires.

Who did you choose when you woke up this morning? Every day is a new day. Every morning is a fresh beginning.

Written by Lisa Clewis 22September2019

We are Redeemed

God works in mysterious ways. He may use us to introduce someone to the gospel of Christ. He may use us to be an example of what God's love looks like so that others will want to know him. In Jesus's teaching of the shepherd who left 99 sheep to find the one who was lost we learn that every lost person is important. God loves his children who have not strayed but rejoices over saving one who is lost because it is not his will for anyone to perish.

There are people in this world who you may think don't deserve forgiveness or a second chance but that won't change God's mind about them because he knows we are all sinners and we all needed saving. We all can be changed by accepting Christ as our Lord and Savior and taking up our cross and following him, by practicing self-control, and by overcoming the things that drag us down and tear us away from a close relationship with God. Sometimes we may feel like forgiving someone is a sacrifice because we've been hurt so deeply, but Christ came to save all. He died so that everyone who believes can be forgiven.

The Pharisees laughed at and scorned Jesus for eating and drinking with sinners. He associated with people who needed him, who needed saving. He rescued people from their current heart status to one of being made righteous through him. We are not to judge others. We are not to judge someone according to their mistakes or poor decisions. We are not to judge anyone.

We are all sinners. If in your heart you hate your brother you are guilty of murder. God knows all hearts. Even children of God hurt each other unintentionally because they're not keeping a check on their heart and constantly realigning it with God's will. We are to show compassion and love. We are to put our own feelings aside and let Christ shine through us.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that you and your wants and needs are more important than anyone else's. Jesus gives us the strength to overcome any adversity. Jesus takes away alcoholism. Jesus takes away drug addiction. Sometimes the transformation isn't easy. That's why we should be ready with an encouraging word to help others. Don't let your feelings rob you of what you have in Christ. Don't sacrifice the abundance of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in your life for hate, revenge, or bitterness.

Be a light to others. Put your feelings aside until you can have and show the compassion that Jesus gave us. We're none better than anyone else. God is not a respecter of persons. Jesus didn't put any limitations on who can be saved or who can be forgiven. He didn't come to condemn, but to save.

Lisa C