Thursday 5 February 2015

Guest Post ------- Jessica van der Zwaag


Okay, so I asked Jessica do to a guest post... and YAY! she did! :) so this is it... 
(i know it's long, but take the time to read it! It's amazingly good!)

This world is filled with evil desires and temptations. Everywhere we look we can see Satan’s hand at work, but if we look even closer we can see Gods message coming into this evil world through his own people. When we see the message which the followers of Christ have speed, working in the hearts of those that don’t know the Lord, we feel joy well up inside our hearts. As we feel it we know what a joy there will be in heaven and on earth if they accept Jesus as their Saviour. Then again we also know the deep sorrow of when someone leaves the faith. We have seen ourselves and other fall into Satan’s traps and with the Holy spirits guiding have, been able to leave our sinful ways and cleave to Gods right ways again. Then why is it that some of those who fall into Satan’s traps never come out of them again? Is it because God doesn’t love them that they have fallen so deep down in sin that He himself can’t pull them out. Maybe God is too busy to care about them. We could list a number of reasons why we think God hasn’t rescued them from the pit of destruction, BUT! Have we ever checked our reasons with God’s word? Or are we trying to blame God for them leaving the faith? In John 3:16 it says  
16 “For God soloved the world, that Hegave His[e]only begotten Son, that whoeverbelieves in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” 
 If we think about this verse we see that God loved the world. The word world here is meaning the people who live in this world. If God loved this world so much that He sent His son to this earth to save sinners, then why is it that God does not pull them out of the pit of destruction? In Psalm 81:15 it says  
15 “Those who hate theLordwouldpretend obedience to Him, And their timeof punishmentwould be forever. 
 So people are good pretenders and they may fool us, but they will not fool God. Maybe that is why God never pulled them out of the pit or maybe God decided that the right time has not yet come. We do know that whatever it is that what God chooses is best In Romans 6 it says;  
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become [a]united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be [b]in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old [c]self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be [d]done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is [e]freed from sin. 
8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, [f]is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting [g]the members of your body to sin as[h]instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as[i]instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. 
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! 16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin [j]resulting in death, or of obedience [k]resulting in righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that [l]though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness,[m]resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness,[n]resulting in sanctification. 
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 Therefore what[o]benefit were you then [p]deriving [q]from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. 22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you[r]derive your [s]benefit, [t]resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 
Have you ever thought about these words and then how many people in this world that have never heard or understood (Including those who have fallen away yet not come back to the Lord.) them? Have you ever thought about explaining those words and the many other texts from the Bible to those who are lost in there sins? Next time you see someone you know is lost doing something wrong, are you going to turn away as if you never saw them do it or are you going to tell him the words of Romans 6? 
( What shall we say then? Are we tocontinue in sin so that grace may increase?2 May it never be! How shall we whodied to sin still live in it?3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized intoChrist Jesus have been baptized into His death?.....12 Therefore do not let sinreign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,13 and do not go on presenting[g]the members of your body to sinas[h]instruments of unrighteousness; butpresent yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your membersas[i]instruments of righteousness to God.14 Forsin shall notbe master over you, foryou are not under law butunder grace......) 
I know you would do it if I gave you $100. It’s the same way with God. He also will give you a reward if you do something for his kingdom. In Revelation 22:14 (Kings James) it says. 
14 Blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city (heaven). 
In Mark 16:15 Jesus commands his disciples and us saying.  
15 And He said to them,“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 
This does not mean that every one of us has to become a missionary and go and live in a strange country, but it does mean we all should pray for and talk with those around us that don’t know Jesus as Saviour or have fallen away. We should also go about our daily activities with a Christian motive, for our actions speak louder that our words. 
  So what are you going to do next time you see someone you know, that is lost, doing something wrong? Are you going to talk with them and pray for them or are you going to turn AWAY? 
 Next time you see someone doing wrong or needing Spiritual advice, DO NOT just sit there, but DO something about IT. 

1 comment:

I would thank you if you would not use swear words.