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All posts tagged Gospel

What is the Bible?

_{^{Written by: George J. Elling}}

The word “bible” simply means “book.” It has sometimes been called “The Book” or “The Good Book” because it is the most widely published book of all time and because of its content.

Actually, the Bible is not really a single book. Its content was written over a period of about 1,500 years by approximately 40 authors. The subsections of the Bible, also called “books”, consist of various types of literature; from historical narratives to poetry, proverbs, letters, and prophecies. These books are grouped into two main sections: The Old Testament, originally written almost exclusively in Hebrew, and the New Testament, originally written in the common Greek of the first century A.D.

The first 5 books are called the Books of Moses, or the law (“Torah” in Hebrew). They tell us about the creation of man, how we came to be separated from a personal relationship with God, and the consequences of that. They also tell us about the beginnings of God’s plan to bring us back to Himself.

First God called a man, Abram (later called Abraham), to have faith in Him. From the descendants of this one man, God promised to bring blessing and created a nation known today as the Hebrew or Jewish people. Early in their existence, the Hebrews became enslaved in Egypt. So, God called another man, named Moses, to lead the Hebrew people out of slavery and give them laws and regulations to become the nation known as Israel. In this process, God entered into a covenant with the Hebrews such that they would become a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” with the task of revealing God’s Word to others. The history of Israel and God’s revelations through them make up the rest of the Old Testament until we come to the time of Christ, the Messiah.

Many people do not realize that the word “Christ” is a title and means the same thing as “the Messiah”. The term “Christ” is from the Greek and “Messiah” is from the Hebrew. Translated into English, these terms mean “anointed one.”

As God had sent a deliverer to lead the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt, God spoke to the Hebrew prophets, priests, and kings about a coming anointed one who would be a deliverer to redeem all people of all nations from their bondage to “sin”, i.e., their acts and attitudes that fall short of God’s holiness and perfection. This sin is what separates us from God and from each other leading to conflicts. The Bible says:

“for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God;”
Romans 3:23

The arrival the Christ and the consequential changes brought about in people’s lives is the story of the New Testament. The New Testament describes Christ’s coming as Jesus of Nazareth, his ministry on earth, his death on a cross, his resurrection to new life, and the development of the early church. The New Testament ends with prophecies of things to come.

The New Testament tells us that Jesus Christ’s death redeemed us from our sins and through his resurrection we are given new life, His life, in and by the Holy Spirit. That is, we can now have a spiritual rebirth through the spirit. The Bible says:

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 6:23

Thus, the Bible is sometimes referred to as “the gospel” which means “good news.” Yes, the Bible has some hard things to say about us, and the people whose stories it recounts. But it also tells us how we can now be reborn spiritually, and in the future, experience a resurrection to life with God eternally and restoring the relationship we were created to have with Him.

How do you avail yourself of this opportunity for new birth, for a spiritual reset? The Bible says:

⁸ “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
⁹ “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
¹⁰ “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
¹¹ “For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
¹² “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
¹³ “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Romans 10:8-13

You can call upon the name of the Lord by prayer. Prayer is simply talking to God by faith, out loud or silently in your heart. Express to Him your need for a Savior, or Redeemer, and invite Christ into your life to change you into the person He would have you to be. Then thank Him for His death on the cross for the forgiveness of your sin and for the promise of the Holy Spirit in your life. You will now experience a new life, Christ’s life in your heart.

To grow in your understanding and to express worship to God and to experience fellowship with other believers, seek out a good Bible-teaching church and go there. Ask God to lead you to the right church. As with anything new, it will take some time for you to adjust to what God is doing in your life now that you have placed your faith and trust in Christ. Also, spend some time reading the Bible each day to better understand what is happening in your life. I’d recommend that you start with the New Testament section of the Bible, the section that recounts the Life of Christ on earth and the teachings of the early church. In time you will learn about the Old Testament section of the Bible that recounts what led up to the arrival of Christ on earth and it will give you more foundation for your faith.

Additional Notes about the Bible Quotes:

The words after the biblical quotes, for example, “Romans 10: 8-13”, refer to where the quote came from in the Bible. First is the name of the book within the Bible (Romans 10: 8-13). In this example, the book is called “Romans.” The numbers after the book’s name refer to the chapter and verse, or range of verses where the quote is found (Romans 10: 8-13). In this example, it is chapter 10, verses 8 through 13.

If you are not familiar with the books of the Bible you can look them up in the table of contents in the front of most Bibles.

-GJE

©Mark Davis 2021

Continue Reading:

2 Comments

by gje49 on May 28, 2021 • Permalink

Posted in Devotional, Discipleship, George Elling, The Holy Scriptures

Tagged Bible, Books of Moses, Books of the Bible, Christ, Christians Are Us, George Elling, God's Word, Good Book, Gospel, Holy Scriptures, New Testament, Old Testament, Prayer, Salvation, sin, Torah

Posted by gje49 on May 28, 2021

https://christiansareus.com/2021/05/28/what-is-the-bible/

The Trojan Horse Infiltrates the Church

Please Click on above link to read complete article before reading further down!

The Gavel and The Bible

I have noticed a trend for quite some time now as I peruse the internet, various blogs, Facebook and other social media; the people or organizations that take a stand as you do here (and I on my blog) have a sparse following, while those who talk about “God’s Love” or anything “Jesus” (Jesus movement) and how the most important thing that we need to do is LOVE one another and NOT judge others and we must have a “relationship with Jesus”, but they never talk about true salvation or how we are supposed to know the scripture and to be able to discern teachings to know if they are right or wrong according to the Word of God.

It chaps my hide to hear all of this and I believe that the founding of these teachings is incorrect teachings from Bible versions that soften the Gospel of Christ.

If we were to go back to the first few centuries A.D., some of the most harsh competition to the true Church were the gnostics that would take a bit of the truth that everyone knew was true and twist it slightly to fit their agenda. The result of this teaching and twisting the Scriptures was that those that were weak in their faith would slide over to their more friendly church and soon they were following everything that they had to offer and shunning the truth that they had been taught in the first place. We have that problem today with the Pentecostals and Charismatics among other sects and cults. In fact some of them have some truly hardcore stances of some very true, straight-line teachings but then in other teachings they are totally off base.

It seems that if you want to spread something that is wrong, it is so readily accepted, where if you speak the truth, people call you harsh and unloving and push you away.

Thank you, Jim, for writing this post.

–Mark

©2014 Mark Davis

Continued Reading:

What Has Happened?

Written by: Robert L. Davis
December 19, 2013

“If my people, which are called by my name,
shall humble themselves, and pray,
and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways;
then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin,
and will heal their land.”
— 2 Chronicles 7:14

This verse is clear and precise. It would be easy to think of how many people this passage of scripture would apply to… if they would only pay attention. In reality, this is exactly what is needed by everyone that names the name of Jesus Christ as their Saviour.

We can coast along in life thinking that all is well and what we have to do now is to go through some religious procedures and all will be wonderful. We might even try to deny that we have any responsibility to God or to the lost world around us.

One day (possibly very soon), the trumpet will sound, the voice of the archangel will echo throughout the world and the dead in Christ will be resurrected. Then, the living (in Christ) will be caught away to be with the Lord forever (1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18). We can think of what it will be like then and rejoice, and rightfully so.

But, what about the opportunities that we have and do not use wisely for the glory of God?

What went wrong?

Why is there so much corruption and sin in the world and even in many churches?

Is this just a normal thing or can something be done about it? Oh yes, we can sit back and observe and even criticize what is going on nationally, politically, socially and religiously. But, what are we willing to do about it?

In the Word of God, we are told that there will be wars and rumors of wars, famines, earth quakes, and pestilence in the time before the Lord Jesus Christ returns for the “blood-bought”, redeemed ones. And yet, even though we do not like to hear of these things or experience them, they are happening, and with increasing frequency.

Are we going to stick our head in the sand and pretend that these things are only figurative or even a myth or a mirage?

I am sure we will not be able to cause a tsunami to be calm or a tornado to not tear its way through cities or the countryside. Just possibly these things are being used by God to try to get our attention so we will cling close to Him and serve Him in these last days. We can be used of God to reach souls with the gospel message before it is eternally too late.

Not too many years ago, you could go into most churches and hear a good Bible message delivered by a godly pastor who loved his people and was interested in seeing that they were fed from the Word of God. You could expect to see souls won to the Lord and new Christians baptized on a regular basis. There was an alter call and people responding by either getting saved or, possibly, there was some pressing spiritual need in their lives.

But, the picture has changed considerably. In many of the churches that were once enthusiastic for the Gospel and serving God there is now a coldness and complacency. The preacher seems to be more interested in his retirement, golf score or going to some ecumenical function which would demand compromise of the doctrines of the Word of God.

The gospel message has been so watered down in most churches that you cannot find anything that faintly resembles salvation by grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

You might listen, without success, to find these facts:

Man is a sinner, totally depraved and on his way to a Christ-less eternity in the Lake of Fire;
Jesus (the perfect, sinless, virgin-born Son of God) was the only one qualified to take on Himself the sins of all mankind;
He was buried and rose from the dead on the third day, then, after several days, ascended into heaven to be once again with the Father;
We can have forgiveness of our sins through faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross at Calvary;
Being born-again, we can now live victorious lives by God’s power.

What has happened to cause such a massive devastation of the foundational truths of the Word of God?

It has been a sly, steady denial of the Word. In many areas, it started with a new beat of music (or rather noise). Some thought that they needed to compromise the music standards to, hopefully, attract people to attend their services. They brought in the music of the ungodly world and incorporated it into the services. They had their combos and many of the 7–11 type songs (that is 7 words sung over and over again for about 11 times). They called them “praise songs”. They even had their special praise teams.

Then, some of those cold, dormant churches even sent some of their promising young people off to Bible college or seminary. Some of those schools have long since departed from the teaching of the Word of God. Instead, they teach evolution, nice sounding theories, and other non-Biblical doctrines and subjects.

Then, there are the Bible colleges and universities that teach many right things… but, the vast majority are failing miserably to train their young, potential preachers how to preach the Word, and how to win souls to Christ. They are turning out future missionaries and pastors who are not in tune with what the gospel is. They might preach well on things pertaining to the Christian life and give encouragement, but they are not preaching the gospel!!!

Earnestly contending for the faith (Jude 3) is unheard of… I personally had the occasion where I asked 6 people who were seasoned church members: “What is the gospel”? One by one they gave their idea as to what they thought the gospel is. Some said it was the Bible, another said it was the teachings of Jesus… whatever that meant, I am not really sure. Others gave a philosophy or idea. I never heard from them what the gospel is, as explained so plainly in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.

I believe the leadership of our schools, Bible colleges and universities needs to train these students in what the gospel is and how to effectively present it in their teaching and preaching. Doesn’t the Bible proclaim that if the gospel is hid, it is hidden from the lost in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4?

Are there other things that have led us down the road of ineffectiveness? YES, there is more. We have only touched the “tip of the iceberg”.

Consider the vast confusion that has set into many churches about “which Bible should I use?” Some so-called scholars have thought it necessary to revise, re-translate, mutilate, and desecrate the Word of God. I believe Satan knows that his time is getting short and the catching away of the born-again ones is getting very close. He is bringing out his ”big guns”. He wants to create as much doubt and confusion as he can possibly muster up.

Do a search on the internet regarding how many English translations there are. I was amazed to learn that there are 250 (plus or minus a few). Some of these translations are done by people who have a certain pet “viewpoint”. Some translators are unbelievers and some dearly love the Lord and His Word. Some have an agenda they are trying to sell to the public.

Why can’t we stick with a good, standard translation that we can memorize, read, preach from, and win souls from??? I highly recommend the King James Version. It has what is needed today. It is very accurate and needs no apology.

There is also the ecumenical movement. This is an effort of some “religious” groups to bring all churches into line with a common goal, doctrine, and message. Their message is plainly a deviation from the faith that was once delivered to the saints. They have departed from the solid teachings of the Word of God.

They would rather give up the teachings of the scripture for the sake of “getting together”. This is compromise. Many of these people are blind leaders of the blind. They are teaching the Devil’s gospel. Sometimes this process starts small with a cooperation outreach of some kind, or ministerial alliance, or a council of churches. They all involve compromise and a forsaking of the teachings of the Word of God.

God has told us that He wants us to “Preach the Word”. Second Timothy 4:2 tells us: “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” God doesn’t want His people to compromise the things of God with the tricks and devices of Satan. We must stay faithful to the Word.

Remember… The church is no stronger than its leaders. Weak leaders will result in weak undernourished people. God exhorts us in Ephesians 6:10, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.”

We need revival.

We need to get back to the “BOOK”.

We need to make sure our schools are strong and stay strong.

We need to encourage godly pastors and missionaries to stay true to the Word of God.

We need to do our part as individuals who have trusted Christ as our Saviour, in staying in the Word, witnessing and winning souls to the Lord Jesus.

May the Lord Jesus find us faithful to His great cause until we are caught up to be with the Lord, to be with Him forever.

R.L.D.

©2013 Mark Davis

Continued Reading:

How To Be Saved – Step by Step Instructions

Roman’s Road to Salvation:

1. Establish the need of salvation. Determine that all have sinned and are in need of redemption.

Romans 3:10 – “As it is written, there are none righteous, no not one.”
Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God:”

2. Establish the penalty for their sin.

Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.“

3. God provided a way out

John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Romans 5:8 – “But God commended his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”

4. How can we take advantage of this FREE gift from God?

Romans 10:9-10 – “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Romans 10:13 – “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

“I’ve been a really good person. I think I can get to heaven that way.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 – “For by Grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God lest any man should boast.”
Matthew 19:24-26 – “And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved ? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, with men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”
Acts 4:12 – “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved”
Titus 3:5 – “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; “

“I want to become a Christian now, what do I do?” Pray a very simple sinner’s prayer*. “You can repeat after me if you would like to. I’ll start out:”

“Dear Lord Jesus –repeat– I know that I’m a sinner and that I don’t deserve your salvation – repeat – but Your Word says that if I ask, You will forgive me of my sins –repeat– Lord, I’m asking you now if you will forgive me of my sins and cleanse me from all unrighteousness –repeat– Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul from eternal damnation in hell – repeat – and for providing me a place in Heaven with you when I die or when You come back for us, whichever comes first. –repeat– Lord, please go with me as I begin my Christian journey –repeat– , watch over me and guide my every move- repeat– In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

Your prospect is now a new convert and a baby Christian. You should help guide him/her along to the next step of their journey: Getting them into a good Bible preaching church where they can get baptized and start their walk with God. I’ll also give you a few other Bible verses that you might be able to comfort your convert with. Some verses have already been listed and are still great ones to know and to keep at hand.

Supporting Article – Top 10 Bible Truths

*Please know that there is nothing in the Bible that says that your “prospect” has to say a prayer. Many people will argue that they don’t have to. It is only listed here because it insures that the command/qualification for salvation that we see in Romans 10:9-10 where it says that “with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”. Without saying it somehow out loud, it is hard to verify if that command has been followed through with. It is still very possible for a “prospect” to become saved without opening their mouth. It happens like that every day.

©2013 Mark Davis

Continued Reading:

What is the Romans Road to salvation? (altruistico.wordpress.com)

25 Comments

by Christians Are Us on May 28, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Bible Verses, Gospel Presentations, How To Be Saved, Salvation

Posted by Christians Are Us on May 28, 2013

https://christiansareus.com/2013/05/28/how-to-be-saved-step-by-step-instructions/

WHY Do I NOT See The Blessings of God In My Life?

“I thought that things were going O.K. lately and didn’t realize that I was doing something wrong but apparently I guess I have been.”

Have you thought that recently but then in your daily life you don’t seem to see God’s hand working in your life? You haven’t really seen God’s blessings apparent in your life or surrounding you? If you are a “child” (under 18 or still living with mom and dad), has it seemed that you aren’t getting things like you would like them?

I could take this any number of different directions and none of them would be off course. But, I will only try to stick to a couple of different avenues here.

I constantly hear people wanting to know how to find the will of God for their lives. I also hear some of the same people ask why they don’t seem to see God’s blessings in their lives.

What do I mean by God’s blessings? Some of us might think that God’s blessings would be just waking up in the morning and they would be correct, but people seem to take things like that for granted. Most people consider God’s blessings to be something like finding a $10 bill on the sidewalk or something out of the blue like that. Maybe it could be that your car broke down and a friend of yours fixed it for you without you having to incur major labor bills to get it fixed.

You see, when you are doing God’s will you will start to see some of these blessings pop up. You also must realize that when you are doing God’s will, you are also accumulating rewards and riches in heaven rather than on earth, so, you may not see some of your “blessings” here on earth, but eventually you will see them and going the extra mile to do God’s will will actually be worth it for you.

We find may places in scripture telling us what to do and what not to do. It spells things out pretty clearly what God wants us to do to receive the blessings for our actions. The above verse tells us that we are to think on, and eventually do, all of these things: True, Honest, Just, Pure, Lovely, Of Good Report, Virtuous and Worthy Of Praise — we are to “think on these things”.

How many times do we go through our days, one after the other, in our ruts, and we do the same things day after day… and everything we are doing (or at least most everything) is for us. It’s all about “ME”. We are all worried about ourselves and what affects us and our well being. If something goes against US then we will most likely not do it.

When was the last time you held a door open for someone behind you going into a fast food restaurant and let them go into the line in front of you? When was the last time you, when driving, let someone in in front of you when you didn’t really have to, instead of squeezing them out and not letting them in? After all, they were the ones that were merging, not you.

That is just a couple of examples of selfishness – and I could go on and on with many more examples, but I think you might have the idea that I am getting at here.

Many times in the Bible, we see that God is telling us that we should always put others first before ourselves.

Proverbs 18:24 “A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly…” — Here we see that we are to act first before we get the reward. Here the action is to be friendly and the reward is to have friends.

Rarely is it that we get something before we do something to get it. We aren’t going to get paid for doing a job before we do the job.

The Bible lays it out for us: if we are to receive a blessing, we are first to act in a manner that is bless-able (I’m sure that isn’t a word, but it works). I have prepared a post that lists a whole bunch of Bible verses that spell out what IS the will of God, how to FIND the will of God and what to DO to be in the will of God. You can read it here.

I will give you a few references here that will give you an idea what I was talking about before – just so you know that this isn’t just me trying to get you to do something for ME but rather for your own well-being and for you to receive the blessings of God. Keep following me here:

1 Peter 3:17 “For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.” — We are told here that we should do the right thing (“well doing”) even if it means that we suffer for it.

Mark 3:35 “For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.“ — If we do the will of God as it is spelled out, we act as the family of Jesus. What better blessing can there be than that?

2 Corinthians 8:5 “And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.” — Putting themselves last, they first gave themselves to the Lord as is the will of God. If we do this, we will be more willing to put others before ourselves and therefore receive the blessing.

Ephesians 6:6 “Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;” — If we do the will of God from the heart, with the right spirit, we are the servants of Christ. Because we are doing it in the right spirit, we are doing it for God rather than so that others can see us and we can receive the glory of men for it.

1 Thessalonians 4:3 “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:” — Staying away from fornication is just another way to do the will of God.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” — It is the will of God that we give thanks – even if things don’t go the way that we want them to go. Remember that God has a master plan for our lives that we don’t know about. Every time that something goes “wrong”, it might be an inconvenience to us, but in reality, it prepares us to be able to serve Him in another area, another time. Give thanks, always!

Hebrews 10:36 “For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” — Patience is required. God’s timing is perfect regardless what we think it should be or not, He knows what is best for us. He promises to take care of us. Give it to Him and let Him live out His promise.

1 Peter 2:15 “For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:” — Remember that when you are doing the will of God, the other “men” are the ignorant and foolish ones – not you! Don’t worry about what they might say about you or do to you.

1 Peter 4:2 “That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.” — The “flesh” is the lusts of men — the desires to live in sin and the sin nature that we, as Christians, have sworn off — we should live out the rest of our lives doing the will of God.

1 Peter 4:19 “Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.” — We are God’s, as Christians. Therefore, as we suffer for doing the will of God we are to allow God to take care of us.

1 John 2:17 “And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” — This goes with the previous verse: the things of the world are only temporary and also the pleasure that is derived from doing the things of the world and those things will pass away – they are only pleasurable in this life – but, if we do the will of God, we will live forever with God in heaven.

Matthew 20:16 “So the last shall be first, and the first last:” — As we go through our lives and live for ourselves, putting ourselves first, the Bible here indicates that the first (or those who live for themselves as being first) will be the last, but those who live for others (putting themselves after others – last) will end up being first. This can almost be a selfish thing to do. If you live for others for yourself, you will not receive a reward, but rather, if you live for others in the right spirit, then you will receive the reward and thus become first.

1 Corinthians 10:31 “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” — As we are living for others and in the right spirit, we deflect the glory from ourselves and onto God. He alone should receive the glory.

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” — I mentioned this verse earlier, but it comes into play here again, if we do all of these things and receive any “virtue” lavished onto ourselves, we are to give that virtue and any praise that might be given you, to Christ. This is similar to the wide receiver in a football game that receives a touchdown pass and kneels in the end zone and says a small prayer to show the fans that he is not taking the praise for the achievement but rather giving it to God. This is not a show-off thing for him to do to make him look better but rather he wants God to look better for allowing him and giving him the strength and ability to get that touchdown…

John 15:5 “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” — We can do NOTHING without the power of God — even if a person isn’t a Christian, God has created them and has given them the ability to do whatever we/they do. Without God, we are powerless!

I hope that with this list of verses, you can see that it is the will of God that we DO NOT live for ourselves, but rather for others. We need to put this acronym into action:

J — Jesus
O — Others
Y — You

If you do things in this order you will experience true JOY. It takes a lot of effort to do this and it really isn’t easy to start with, but once you start doing it, and in the right spirit, you will start seeing God’s blessings in your life and you will have more happiness than you have ever experienced before.

Teens reading this:
If you start living like this, your parents will think that an alien has taken their child. If you do things when they ask you to do them — “Delayed obedience is disobedience”; “Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right” (Ephesians 6:1, Colossians 3:20) — you will be doing the will of God in this regard and will notice that the air in your house will be much easier to breathe. Your parents will not believe it is you.

If you are a new Christian and start living like this, you will be living as God wants you to live and you will make your parents wonder what it is that makes the difference in your life and that will give you the opportunity to share the gospel with them as well. If they see no difference in you, you may never see them in heaven with you.

Continued Reading:

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by Christians Are Us on May 14, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Bible Studies, Discipleship

Posted by Christians Are Us on May 14, 2013

https://christiansareus.com/2013/05/14/why-do-i-not-see-the-blessings-of-god-in-my-life/

How To Be Saved – Presentation Booklet

Instructions:

The following images are taken by permission from the author from a little pocket sized booklet that is intended to aid in the presentation of the Gospel to the unsaved. This is NOT a tract that you give to someone. It is a booklet that you carry around and keep it handy so that when the opportunity comes up, you can share God’s plan of salvation with them.

The intent is that you read each page with the prospect and then ask the questions as they come up. Make sure you read the Bible passages that are listed to reinforce the subject.

Remember: Never argue with the prospect. Nothing is EVER accomplished by arguing and it may possibly change the person’s opinion of the Gospel. If they don’t answer the question as intended on the page, go back and read the question again and finally get them to answer in one of the ways indicated on the page. This procedure is very effective if it is used correctly. But, remember that we are not salesmen(people) and trying to shove something down their throats. Rather, we are God’s messenger and just presenting the Gospel to them. Once they hear the Gospel, the Holy Spirit will use the information that they just heard and will either soften their heart and eventually they will get saved – either by our hand or someone else’s but that is up to God. Don’t let that stop you from giving the invitation and asking them if they would like to make the decision at that point — but don’t force them.

If they have a question in the middle of the presentation, simply say, “That’s a great question, and I’ll be happy to answer it when we are done with this.” Stay on track and don’t divert the course. If the question comes back up after the presentation, then answer it, again, not arguing. If you don’t know the answer, call your pastor or post the question on this blog and we will do our best to answer the question from the Bible only, if possible. If we don’t know, we will call our pastor. Bottom line is that, where we may not know everything, we are good friends with the One who does.

If the prospect does make the decision to receive Christ as their personal Savior, then make sure that you do your best to get them hooked up into a good Bible-believing, Bible-preaching church where they can get plugged in and learn more about the Gospel and how to present it to others. If you happen to have a spare booklet like the one here, give it to them so that they can hit the ground running and share the Gospel with their friends and relatives.

If at all possible, get the newly converted prospect (new convert) to come to this blog site and go to our Discipleship section and start our Bible study that is geared toward the new converts and starting them off right. It is a thirteen week study that walks them through the basics of the Christian life. It is called Growing in Grace. You can follow this link and it will take you right to it.

The following subject matter is copyrighted ©by Dr. Roland Garlick and is meant for use solely as it is produced here and may not be changed in any way shape or form. If you would like to print it out or format it into a booklet as it is actually intended, you are more than welcome to do that as long as the subject matter is not changed in the slightest bit.

Click HERE to go to the English version of the printable version of this booklet. The printable version is intended to be printed front and back (ie. Page 1 – Front; Page 2 – Back, etc.) in order to work correctly. It will yeild 2 booklets with each completed printing.

Happy witnessing and I pray that God blesses your efforts. Just remember that God’s word will not return to Him void. If you make the effort to put His word out there, His Spirit will work in the hearts of those that you share with. You may not get a conversion immediately, but if the person submits to God’s will, he/she will make the decision at some time in the future.

I Corinthians 3:6-8; “⁶I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. ⁷ So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. ⁸ Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.”

We don’t do this for our own notoriety, we do this because God commands us to do it. All we have to do is plant the seed and then God will make the rest happen. You might be able to lead the person to Christ at that time or you leave the person with the information that is needed to make the decision at some point in the future. Someone else down the road may talk to them and push the seed a little deeper and water it and the Spirit will make it grow and they will be led to Christ and accept Jesus into their heart to be their personal Savior. God Bless you in your efforts. You will get your reward in Heaven! Now get out there and start presenting the Gospel.

God Speed!