Encouragement
The main reason of CHISTWORKS.NET is to allow you to further explore the realm of Christ in this age. This blessing that He promises is available for you, and is already being enjoyed and practiced among His people today.
I was a skeptic. A hard nosed, prove it to me type, left brained, analytical engineer. Many people came and went in my life, but the real reason that I first sought out Christ, was due to the glimpse that I was given in a real Christian family setting. Yes, they experience hardships throughout life like the rest of the world, but there is a peace, a joy, a balance in their life which is a true blessing to those who live it. This life is irresistible once you come to know it. If you wonder if you have ever experienced true love, I hope you recognize that it exists here. This is your invitation to come and enjoy the experience among God's people. We hope you come to stay.
But, we encourage you not to delay your decision. Indeed, If you feel the call of the Spirit, I encourage you to take that step today.
The bible tells us all will be judged. Those who have heard the Gospel as well as those who have not. Today could be your last chance to make this decision as your life could be ended today, as no man knows when his final hour will be, here on earth.
The bible tells us that when a man hears the Gospel of the Lord that has two effects. It either softens the heart, or hardens it.
What is the condition of your heart today? Take advantage of His calling when you hear it. And draw close to know Him better. Consider this story given of a man considering Jesus:
Mark 9:
17Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. 18And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not."
19He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me." 20Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.
21So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?"
And he said, "From childhood. 22And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."
23Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."
24Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"
25When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it,
"Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!" 26Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead." 27But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.The important message here is that God works with what you have. This man had enough belief to bring his son among the crowds in front of Jesus to ask for His healing. He also had enough faith to be persistent to not only have the disciples( The twelve apostles) try and fail, but to continue all the way to the feet of Jesus. The man also exclaimed that he believed, and yet had unbelief.
Ask the Lord, Jesus to cure your unbelief. The very act of humbling yourself, to pray for help, could be your very first step both in acknowledging your faith to God, and softening your heart to open it up to Jesus.
Take the time to seek out the Lord. Set aside some time and get yourself a good bible. As you open it, let the Lord guide you to where you need to read in it. To those who seek Him with all their heart, He promises that you will find Him.
Remember the purpose of Jesus' coming. He came to heal man's broken heart. He came to give life, and life more abundantly for this life time and throughout eternity.
Remember God's purpose for creating man. So that He could have a relationship with every one of us. All are called.
Remember that He gave Jesus His son as a gift to you, and If you accept His gift, He sends you His helper, His Spirit to dwell within you.
Remember that there is not one Sin so grave that it would keep God from entering into a covenant with you. But, any sin, not covered by the blood of His son Jesus Christ will cause eternal separation between you.
Separation from God in this world, means you will live life as just another in the drag net waiting for that last day when the net is pulled in and the fish are sorted out. God tells us we can be consumed with the cares of this world that it blinds our eyes and makes hearts dull. Yes, you can chase after the things of this world without God, but these things are all temporary. Consider this parable of two lives both in this world and in the next.
Luke 16:
19"There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24
"Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ 25But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 26And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’27
"Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, 28for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ 29Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ 30And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’"The ruler of this world, Satan, a fallen angel, another creation of God, but one that was not with God, Full of pride and deceit caused the original fall of man from the beginning in the Garden of Eden. His power is allowed to run its course to the end of this age; when the full power of Jesus will be revealed and Satan will be cast into Hell, as well as those who are not with God. Those who have not accepted Jesus into their hearts.
God gives you this time of trial and testing. To accept Him or reject Him. Know that you are choosing between blessing and cursing. Know that the following is intended for all:
Deuteronomy 30
1"Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God drives you, 2and you return to the LORD your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3that the LORD your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the LORD your God has scattered you. 4If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you. 5Then the LORD your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. 6And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
7"Also the LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. 8And you will again obey the voice of the LORD and do all His commandments which I command you today. 9The LORD your God will make you abound in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your land for good. For the LORD will again rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers, 10if you obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
11"For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. 12It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.
15"See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. 17But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, 18I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. 19I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; 20that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."
Jesus also confirmed that all, given in the Law and the prophets, would come to pass: Luke 17: "16"The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it. 17And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.."
Do you doubt that you are a sinner? Do you doubt that you have sinned? We are told by God, that we all fall short of the Kingdom of God. Go to the commandments and Law of God, or
Fill the void now. Take the last step.