Articles

So often today you hear people say they don't want to hear the gospel or anything about God yet these same people have no problem using God's name in vain during general conversation. Why is that? Here's why! 2 Cor. 4:3-4 tells us, "The Good News is hidden from those on the road to eternal death. Satan, who is the god of this evil world, has made them blind, unable to see the glorious light of the Gospel that is shining upon them, or to understand the amazing message about the glory of Christ, who is God." BELIEVE IT OR NOT, IT'S THE TRUTH. Only you can change that.

Romans 8 tells us, following after the Holy Spirit leads to life and peace but those who follow their own nature and live only to please themselves leads to death. There is NO CONDEMNATION awaiting those who belong to Jesus Christ. Romans 10:9 tells us if you tell others with your own mouth that Jesus Christ is YOUR Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. IT'S SO SIMPLE YET PEOPLE WOULD RATHER GO THROUGH LIFE WITHOUT FILLING THE VOID WHICH PROVIDES TRUE HAPPINESS. Resist the devil and he will flee. (James 4:7) Remember we are spirit beings living in human flesh and it's up to us which spirit guides us through our lives. All our thoughts are not our own.

In Gen. 3 God told Adam and Eve to eat any fruit in the garden except from the tree of life or they'll die. Satan came along and told them the opposite and lied to them saying they could of it and not die. Satan said eating from the tree of life would open their eyes, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Eve was deceived into thinking the tree was good and desirable to make one wise. Only doubt of God's Word and motives could have led to this tragedy. This lie 'to be like gods' meant not having to serve God. This sin of pride which caused Satan to be cast out of heaven had now infected the hearts and minds of Adam and Eve resulting in shame, loss of wisdom, ruin and death.

Not much has changed since then since mankind is still consumed with pride and the thought that they worked for everything they have and owe no one a thing. Although partially true, this cunning half-truth leads one to glorify self instead of God. This is pride and wounded pride and stirred up emotions leads to other sins like anger, hate, jealousy and ingratitude. 'In His image' simply means human beings were created as He imagined them just as when we build things we work to have them turn out the way we imagined.

Humans are like a puzzle made up of many parts with one part missing from the puzzle. This missing piece is the void people keep trying to fill on their own by success, family, friends, etc. but are never truly satisfied and can lead to depression. Jesus said we must we must be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven. This new birth is a spiritual birth whereby we are filled with the Holy Spirit to complete the puzzle.

Scripture tells us if we repent and ask forgiveness of our sins, believe in our heart that Jesus died as a living sacrifice for our sins, then rose from the dead on the third day, and ask God to fill us with His Holy Spirit to help us be the person God created us to be, we will be saved and will be assured of eternal life. Scripture also tells us that through this born again experience we become a new creation and old things are passed away with all past sins forgiven, never again to be remembered by God. We are also told that with the Holy Spirit we can experience heaven on earth. Galatians 5:22 tells us we will now begin having fruit of the spirit, filling the void we had before. This includes love, joy, peace, patience, forgiveness, self-control and others we receive when pride gets out of the way. This is when we begin the process of being in His likeness.

We should always strive to be Christ-like in all things and is only possible with the help of the Holy Spirit. Reading His word, prayer, going to church and associating with other Christians for encouragement all help us to be the person God created us to be. This doesn't mean we won't have issues but it does mean we'll be better able to deal with them knowing "All things work together for good to them that love the Lord." (Romans 8:28)