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Serving the Lord
Is there a penalty to be paid if I do not serve the Lord? I believe the
answer is "Yes". Let's begin by looking at Deuteronomy 28:47-48 which says,
"Because thou servest not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with
gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore shalt thou
serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and
in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a
yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee."
These are mighty harsh words to those who choose not to serve the
Lord! Perhaps service to the Lord is ignored because salvation is a free
gift received by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 4:5) and cannot be lost
(John 6:37-39), nor can it be affected by anything (Romans 8:38-39). If we
have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour our salvation is
secure and we are assured of entering heaven (John 14:2-3).
How God deals with us during the present life and the giving of rewards
or loss of rewards as we enter heaven are based upon our works or deeds.
Strong warnings are given throughout the Bible. II Corinthians 5:10
says, "For we (Christians) must all appear before the judgment seat of
Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to
that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."
Serving the Lord includes every activity that is specifically named or
is implied as related to our Christian life (Romans 12:1-2). Such activity
is not related to our salvation (eligibility to enter heaven), but has
everything to do with our power, joy, fellowship, peace and rewards.
Church attendance and giving are two areas that we will look at from
God's Word. Both are specific obligations to a believer. Look at Hebrews
10:25. "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner
of some is; but exhorting one another; and so much the more as ye see the
day approaching." Here we are clearly told without question that we are not
to forsake assembling together with other believers. The believers in our
church assemble each Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday
evening. Therefore, we are responsible to attend church, to assemble with
other believers.
Giving. Look at I Corinthians 16:2. "Upon the first day (Sunday) of
the week let everyone of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him,
that there be no gatherings when I come." Every Christian is responsible to
give-whether man, woman or child. We are to give a percentage of how God
has prospered us. We are obligated to attend church and to give our money.
If you have joined a church, you have also made a commitment to attend
with that body of believers and to give to meet the needs of its
programs. Therefore, you have made a vow! God tells us that we are
accountable for our vows! "When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to
pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed
(Ecclesiastes 5:4)."
There is no way out except to pay the vow! We cannot say that it was
all a mistake. Read Ecclesiastes 5:6. "Suffer (allow) not thy mouth to
cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an
error: wherefore, should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of
thine hands?"
God tells us we cannot take anything into the next world (heaven) that
we can carry in our hands. "As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked
shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labours,
which he may carry away in his hand (Ecclesiastes 5:15)." However, Jesus
tells us how we can send treasures on ahead of us saying, "Lay up for
yourselves treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:20)." How much treasure have you
been sending ahead for yourself? There is a time of accountability-all
Christians are going to be held responsible!
The man who is living for the world and does not consider his
responsibilities and obligations is the man Jesus Christ calls a
fool. Consider this passage in Luke Chapter 12, "And I will say to my soul,
Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat,
drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul
shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast
provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich
toward God."
"Sell that ye have and give alms; provide yourselves bags which grow
not old, a treasure in the heaven that faileth not, where no thief
approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there
will your heart be also."
Luke 12:33-34.
Which do you want for yourself, a curse or a blessing? God's blessing
comes as we choose to serve Him. Begin to do the things you know that God
wants you to do. As you do these, He will show more of His will (John
7:17).
"You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded
you, that you may live, and that it may be well with you, and that you may
prolong your days in the land which you shall possess." Deuteronomy 5:33.
When Christians willingly serve the Lord out of a love for their
Saviour, the whole church body is blessed. When some Christians fail to
serve, the whole body suffers from their lack of service. God wants to use
you and bless you. Why not make a decision today to serve the Lord
wholeheartedly!
* Written by Dr. Hank Lindstrom
The moment you put your trust in Jesus Christ, God who can read your
mind knows, saves YOU and gives you the Gift of God, eternal Life.
You do not need anyone to pray over you, or pray for you, because this is
between you and God in heaven. Because of your new trust in the shed blood
of Jesus Christ you are now a child of God. Before you trusted in Jesus, God
was your creator but now and forevermore he will be your father.
You are saved in a moment of time, because you are trusting in the
true Savior now, not working your way to heaven day by day which is not even
possible.
Once saved you can never be lost, for any reason. This is because you were
born spiritually the moment you put your trust in Him. Just like your
physical birth which brought you into this human world, your spiritual birth
gave you a new spiritual life that is permanent. You were born-again, made
righteous and holy in Gods eyes. In fact you have the righteousness of God
himself, your are sinless and perfect in God's eyes now and that's why you
can enter into a perfect heaven.
My favorite saying is:
God will not save anyone who is trying to be saved, He will only
save those who are trusting to be saved.
You MUST put ALL your trust in Jesus to be saved, trust in the blood that He
shed on the cross, trust that He is God in the flesh, trust that He made the
complete payment for your sins, not just part; He paid for ALL of your sins
(past, present, and future)! Trust that He rose again from the dead after 3
days and 3 nights, and in return for this trust, He gives YOU Eternal Life.
All false Christians put part of their trust in Jesus and part of their
trust the Church and part of their trust in themselves. If you put 99.99%
trust in Jesus and 00.01% in something else, you will go to hell. It must be
100% trust in Jesus and what He did and 0% in you or your church! This
information in critical... (grace always cancels works!) You are going to
hell if it's by your works or you are going to heaven by Gods grace. It's as
simple as that.
So I guess the question comes down to who are you trusting. Are you trusting
yourself to get to heaven by being a good person and giving lots of money to
your church or are you trusting Jesus, the lamb of God, that was slain for
the sins of the world to get you to heaven? You receive the Gift of God
(Eternal Life) as soon as you stop trusting in yourself, your church, your
synagogue, your mosque, your money, or any other works and put your trust in
Him and Him ALONE, Jesus Christ, Yeshua, The King of Kings, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace, the Alpha and Omega, the Mighty God.
False religions are everywhere and they will find you, the one true
God and His plan of salvation must be found.
If all this makes sense to you and you would like to trust Jesus as
your personal Savior right now then
tell the Mighty God in Heaven of your decision to trust Jesus Christ as your
only hope of heaven. Tell Him that you are no longer putting your trust in
your actions, or your church, or your church membership, or in your money,
or in your Rabbi, or in your synagogue or your Mosque but that you are
putting all of your trust in Him and the shed blood of the cross to pay your
sin debt. Thank Him for doing it for you! Thank Him for giving you the Gift
of Eternal Life that He paid for with His life. There is no greater deed
than that of laying down your life for another.
Will you trust Jesus as your Savior right now, the one who shed His
precious blood on the cross of Calvary to pay for all your sins?
Sinners Prayer:
Lord, I admit that I'm a sinner & I don't understand a whole lot about the
bible, but I do believe that Jesus Christ died & paid for my sins in full,
by His death & shed blood on the cross. I trust right now the He died for
me, was buried & rose again from the dead and will live forever more. I
trust Jesus Christ right now to save me, to be my savior, to forgive my
sins & to give me the GIFT OF GOD Eternal Life. Amen
By reading this sinners prayer aloud, you are putting your trust in God and
His plan of salvation. You are not saved by saying this prayer, you are
saved the moment your mind made the switch from trusting in yourself to
putting your COMPLETE TRUST IN JESUS CHRIST. That moment may have been five
paragraphs up on this page or that moment may have been on another one of
our pages. You will not feel any different, but you will be changed and
changed for the better forever. Once you have trusted Jesus as your savior
and received his gift of eternal life, this gift can NEVER be lost. You can
NEVER go to hell for ANY reason. Your past, present and future sins were
paid in full the moment you put your trust in Him. You are blameless and
Holy in God's eyes now and FOREVER. If you have eternal life today what kind
of life will you have in five years? ETERNAL! What kind of life will you
have in ten years? ETERNAL!! What kind of life will you have in 50 years?
ETERNAL!!! God does not give probationary life or temporary life, His gift
is ETERNAL LIFE! Thanks be to GOD!
Why be good, now that I am assured of going to heaven? Because God's law of
sowing and reaping still applies to you and me. You will reap what you sow.
You will reap more than you sow and you will reap later than you sow. If you
drink alcohol like a fish, you will reap a diseased liver. If you smoke like
a chimney everyday, you will reap lung cancer. If you rob, murder, and steal
you will reap a life in prison. You will reap what you sow. I guarantee it!
Now that you are saved, when you do good things you WILL be rewarded here on
earth and in Heaven. And when you do bad things you WILL lose rewards that
God had planned on giving you here on earth and in Heaven. But you will NEVER lose
your guarantee of going to heaven. That can never be lost for any reason!!
You have God's word that your salvation can never be lost for any reason.
You did not earn salvation and you do not work to keep salvation! Eternal
Life, salvation, being born again, becoming a child of God, was, is,
and always will be the GIFT OF GOD.
Remember: If your not saved forever... you are not saved!
Why is this true you might ask? Because if a person is not sure that they
are saved TODAY / RIGHT NOW it means that they are still trying to be the
savior! They can't be sure they are going to heaven because they don't know
what sin's they may commit next week, next month or next year. We who have
trusted in Jesus alone, can have comfort knowing that all our sins have been
paid in full on the Cross of Calvary (past, present, and future sins). Jesus
has already died for my sins so I don't need to pay for any sin I have or
will commit in the future because Jesus already paid the price in full with
His blood. So called Christians who say that you can lose your salvation
because of suicide or murder or falling away from the church don't have a
clue what the Bible says and clearly have not trusted Jesus ALONE!
Biblical Salvation is forsaking any other means of salvation but
Christ and casting ourselves fully upon Him for eternal life.
The Gift of God, Eternal Life can never be lost once possessed for any
reason. John 6:39 " And this is the Father's will which hath sent Me, that
of all which He hath given Me I should LOSE NOTHING, but should raise it up
again at the last day." You have God's promise that once you put your trust
in Jesus you can never be lost for ANY reason whatsoever.
"For the gifts and
calling of God are
without repentance” Romans 11:29 Again, God is telling you that this Gift of
God that you have just received is without repentance. He can never take His
gift back for any reason, no matter how bad you get, or how bad your sins
are it is not possible. God would have to cease to exist for that to happen
because He cannot lie.
Thanks for visiting GetGodsGift.
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