I BELIEVE!

"All Scripture is God-breathed  and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." - 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)

I've slacked off on posting my blog the last few days, but God has still been guiding me in my Bible study each day. There are just some days where I think I've blogged so much about the subject I'm studying that I feel I have nothing else to say about it. However, God still has alot to say about every subject and it's not up to me to decide whether the subject has been talked to death or not. Today, though, I just want to blog about what I believe the Bible says about certain things.

As this verse in Timothy says, I BELIEVE the Bible is God's Holy Word. I believe everything in it, no matter how far-fetched it may seem to others. It is God-breathed and every word in there is there for a reason. Every miracle happened: Moses parted the Red Sea (Exodus 14:15-30 NIV); Jesus walked on water (Matthew 14:22-25 NIV); Jonah was swallowed (and not killed!) by a big fish (Jonah 1:17 - 2:10 NIV); Jesus suffered, died and rose again on the third day to conquer death and offer us eternal life through salvation (Mark 15:21 - 16:7 NIV); God blessed Abraham and Sarah with a child in their old age (Genesis 21:1-7 NIV); Joshua collapsed the walls of Jericho by only marching, blowing trumpets and shouting (Joshua 6:15-20 NIV) - these are just a few of the miracles God has performed and that I believe are true.

Other things the Bible says that I believe:

I BELIEVE that Jesus is the Son of God. He took on human form for one reason: to take on my sin and become a living sacrifice for that sin so that, through Him, I would have eternal life. "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him." (John 3:16-17 NIV).

I BELIEVE that we cannot go to heaven by doing good deeds; we MUST accept Jesus' grace and mercy by accepting Him as our Lord and Savior in order to have eternal life in heaven. This is a gift we cannot earn. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV). And Isaiah 64:6 NIV tells me: "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away."

I BELIEVE that once we are saved, we can never lose our salvation. Jesus sacrificed Himself one time. When you accept Him as Your Savior and your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life, it cannot be removed from that book. "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one." (John 10:28-30 NIV). And "In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:37-39 NIV). Also, Ephesians 1:13-14 NIV reveals: "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the Word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession - to the praise of His glory."

I BELIEVE that all those who do not accept Jesus as their Savior will go to hell, because, no matter how good of a person we think we are, we are all sinners. God is just and righteous and will not allow sin to go unpunished. That's why He sent Jesus to pay for our sins. God gives us our whole lives to come to the realization that Jesus is His Son and for us to accept that He is the ONLY way to heaven. If we make the choice not to accept Jesus, they we've made our bed with the devil and choose to spend eternity in agony. It's not a choice God wants us to make, but He has given us free will to choose: Heaven or Hell.  "Then He will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels....Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." (Matthew 25:41 & 46 NIV). And John 3:18 NIV says, "Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.".

I BELIEVE Jesus is alive and in Heaven, sitting at the right hand of God, waiting for the day of Rapture to take all of His believers up to Heaven with Him. "After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was taken up into Heaven and He sat at the right hand of God." (Mark 16:19 NIV). In Matthew 26:64 NIV, Jesus Himself says, "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. "But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."

The question now is: what do YOU believe? Have you accepted Jesus into your heart as your Lord and Savior? Do you believe He is the Son of God and came to die for your sins? Do you realize that Jesus is the only way to Heaven; otherwise you're headed for hell? Don't believe this just because I do or because I said so. Find out for yourself. Study His Word. Believe!!

"He who created us without our help will not save us without our consent." - Augustine

Dear Gracious, Loving God, I lift up my thanks to You for my salvation and for the guidance of the Holy Spirit and Your Word. I pray for those who do not yet know Your Son as their Lord and Savior. May their eyes and hearts be opened to the truth; may they desire to know Jesus. Lead them to Your Son, dear God. In Jesus' name I ask, Amen.