To The One Who Conquers

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In Revelation chapter 2-3, Jesus speaks to the first Churches in history. He gives them rebuke, encouragement, time for repentance, promises, and an invitation to finish well. These chapters have got to be some of my favorites in the whole Bible. What the Lord said then to the Churches He is still saying to us today. This is true for the entire Bible as well, but were just looking at this chapter today.

Jesus gives us amazing, precious promises if we conquer. Meaning if we fight the good fight of faith and finish well, we will spend eternity with Him. That alone is an amazing promises, but we’re gonna look at the ones in Revelation 2-3.

1. “To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” 2:7

2. “The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.” 2:11

3. “To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.” 2:17

4. ^“The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father.” 2:26-27

5. “The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.” 3:5

6. “The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.” 3:12

7. ^“The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with Me on My throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.” 3:21

Meditate on these promises that the Lord Jesus has promises His children. These promises are so precious, take time to thank the Lord for them.

The Chief End of Man

Every person in the world wants to have meaning. Meaning to live, meaning to have a job, meaning to have a family, etc. We actually dare i say NEED to have meaning, or else we are utterly hopeless, lost in a world of lies that say we came to existence by mere mistake. That lie is a tragedy that ruins men and women today. But we know that that theory isn’t true. That this all was not just a mistake. That the humans race can’t have just happened by a mistake.

This world, the universes, people, creatures, and all of it’s beauty, could not have just been made by mere coincidence, or else, we all should just go and kill ourselves right? Because if we think about it, if we evolved, and there is no God, then life means nothing. There is no hope, no meaning, no nothing. You may say, “That’s not true! i can go enjoy life and drink and be merry! death is just a natural process!” To you my friend, look to your death. If we die and there is no God, then why do you fear death? Since it’s natural, you shouldn’t be afraid of death, but you are. But thanks be to God, that there is hope and meaning.(we will get to that). So, why don’t we just commit suicide? Because WE DO NOT WANT TO DIE. Why do hate our loved ones dying? Because death is our enemy. Everyone fears dying. That is simply something you cannot deny. Why do we not want to die? Because WE WERE MADE TO LIVE. We have meaning because of the True God who alone is God. The only meaning in this life is glorify God, and enjoy Him forever.

The Chief End of Man: To glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Now, when i say “God” i ain’t talking about this far away being that we know nothing about like all religions say about their god or gods. There is no truth in any other religion apart from Christianity. if you don’t believe me, study every other religion apart from Christianity. Not one will have A God-man who predicted and pulled of His own death and resurrection from the dead. Not one will give an answer to why we die that actually makes sense. Not one deals judgment to the wrong in the world. And not one will the most historically accurate book in the whole world that has about 2400 prophecies with about 2000 already fulfilled. Only Christianity has these answers. Jesus Christ says ” I am the Truth, the Way, and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6. That means every other proclaimed “way” is false.

In this i conclude, Jesus Christ is the only hope the human race has. He alone gives life, meaning, purpose, satisfaction, all consuming love that is greater than life, peace, and a reason to live. Not any other religion in the entire world has Someone who actually conquered death. Every other one is fake. Take heed to this word. Jesus Christ died for you and me, and resurrected three days later conquering sin, death, and the devil. Give your life to Him. Accept Him into your heart as Lord and Savior, and surrender your life forever to Him. Ask Him to forgive you of your sins, and repent of them, and turn to Him and pursue a life of righteousness, by His Holy Spirit in you. Christ has done everything He possibly could to show you how much He loves you. Why wouldn’t you give all you are to Him?

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C.S. Lewis Quote of the Week

i think i’m going to start doing posts of the week for certain things. Bible verses, studies, good worships songs, quotes from authors, etc. Just makes things a bit more organized.

Anyways, the first quote of the week comes from one of my favorite authors, C.S. Lewis. Lewis’s series of Narnia books are just awesome. Although i have only seen the movies, i can assume the books are pretty dang good. Aside from that, here is the quote:

“Wrong will be right,
when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bares his teeth,
winter meets its death,
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.” – C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.’

Aslan, the Lion, is a perfect example of who Christ is. When Jesus comes back, He will right every wrong, He will take all of our sorrows away, and winter will meet it’s death, meaning we will finally be in heaven, with Him, forevermore. This day remember the fact the Christ is coming soon. Be on guard, living each to fully for the glory of God. “Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds.” Revelation 22:12.

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Though you Can’t See Him

1 Peter 3:8-9 is a couple verses that i have been really enjoying lately. Peter speaking says,

“You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.”

This is true for all of us Christians. We haven’t seen the Lord Jesus, but we love Him more than anything, (or should at least should be aspiring to).  We don’t see Him now, but we trust in Him. and we have inexpressible joy that this world knows nothing of. one of the sweetest verses, the last one: “The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.” Now that my friends, is a promise of all promises. Salvation. Heaven forever with Jesus. Everything will be perfect with no more sin, evil, death, or sorrow, or tears. Trust in Jesus today, and if you have trouble believing so, ask God to give you the faith to believe in Him. As well read the Bible, and be open to Him.

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Bless the Lord

There is this great song by Matt Redman, called, “10,000 Reasons”. we worship at Church with this song, and it’s pretty dang good. normally, i don’t post just about good songs, but this one is good i’d like to just go over the chorus with you:

“Bless the Lord, oh my soul, oh my soul, worship His holy Name, Sing like never before, oh my soul, i’ll worship Your holy Name”

how awesome is that? it’s so simple, and to the point. it’s also good because it’s simply praising God. and that’s what a worship song should just be about right? not about us at all, just blessing Him. let’s compare it to a psalm of David:

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
² Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
³ who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
⁵ who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

listen to it right here:

The Prodigal son

Yesterday morning before school, i flipped my Bible open to Luke 15:22. The story of the prodigal son. it’s a very very good story that depicts our situation perfectly.  We have a perfect situation, a Father, heaven, everything we could want we got. Then, we say to God,” Hey. i know You have provided everything, i know that You can satisfy everything i want, and i know Your better than anything i could want, but i’m gonna do my own thing, go my own way, and disrespect You in the process. the son says to the father give me my inheritance early so i can leave you and do my own thing. Sounds familiar right?By the way, if you ask for your inheritance early, basically what that means is your saying to your parent, “your as good as good as dead to me, i don’t want nothing to do with you, i’m gonna do my own thing.” dang. that’s pretty disrespectful. we suck. we are wrong.

Next what what happens is the son takes his inheritance, squanders it on prostitutes and partying, and ends up in a pig’s pen trying to get some of their food. That is us. when we go our own way and wonder from God, we end up like the son. so then the son says hey, my fathers servants have better living than i, so i will go back, ask him to be a servant, and live as one. so that’s what he does. on his way home, his father sees him. the Father sees his son who has rejected him, and his heart bursts with love and compassion at the sight of his son coming home. the Father races to his son and hugs him and kisses him. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ but you know what the father says to his son who has rejected, disrespected, and hurt him?  ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴ For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

wow. what a beautiful picture of the Gospel. That God puts a ring upon our finger, meaning that He now owns us, and rejoices so much he kills a fattened calf and throws a party for him. how much more does God rejoice over us coming home, than an earthly father? His love is truly better than life. Today, remember the compassion Christ has had on us, and thank Him with all your heart, He is worthy of it.

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Who is your Lord?

We all are slaves. you make think, Austin, you crazy. my ancestors came to America to gain freedom so that they wouldn’t be slaves! American, land of the Free, home of the Brave. yes, these thing are true. But the Bible doesn’t say that we are physically slaves to people, but spiritually.
Jesus says anyone who sins is a slave to sin(John 8:34). So, since everyone has sinned this makes us slaves of sin, as The Lord says. do you know how much that sucks? It’s absolutely horrible. It means that as free as we think we are, we always will enslaved to sin. and, “The wages of sin is death.”(Romans 6:23). so, were enslaved and dead.
But thanks be to our Lord Jesus who breaks the bondage and slavery of sin by the Cross. He broke the chains and fetters binding you to your former master sin. He lets you go if you accept Him as Lord and Master. Whoa, i understand its good that im not a slave to sin anymore, but if im leaving slavering why am i going back to it? That is a great question. Jesus’ yoke is easy, and wonderful. It is not only the biggest privilege in the entire universe to serve Jesus as Lord, but it is the only way that we can truly be free. Crazy right? Well it’s true. We were never meant to run our own lives, and live for our own glory. We were made completely to depend on God and worship Him because He is so dang good. Since we sinned, sin became our master. This corrupts us, and lies to us saying that if your not completely dependent on God as Lord, you’ll be unhappy and oppressed. On the contrary, sin is that. To be a slave of the God of universe who is the greatest blessing we could ever think of. It is so awesome we should be flipping out because of the grace of God to allow us to be His slaves and Children, who rightfully deserve  damnation, and hell.

this whole post is about one question: who is your master? who is your Lord? Jesus says we can only serve one master, and hate one and love the other. you can accept thing King of glory who loves you more than you could ever fathom today, or you can go on be a slave to sin and death. choose wisely today, God waits for you.

jeremymskinner.files.wordpress.com

 

The Importance of Trusting in God

Faith. It’s something that we all have it. It may be having faith that when you drive your car another driver won’t hit you. Or having faith that when your in a building it doesn’t collapse on you. All of us have faith. Dare i say, a whole lot of it.

People say it’s just too hard to believe in God. It’s too hard to believe that there was a flood and Noah built an ark. it’s too hard to believe that Adam was real. It’s to hard to believe that Jesus died for their sins. It’s too hard to believe that He resurrected from the dead. It’s actually not. and here’s why:

1. The Bible. Not only is the Bible the most historically accurate Book in the world, but 2000 of the 2400 prophecies have come true. God is so kind to give us these prophecies to show that He alone is God, and that He is true. plus, if you have any hint of faith in God, when you read the Words on the pages, there is no possible way that these Words are of man. no way no how.

2. God will not fail. God has not left us alone. He gives us the faith to believe in Him. Through His Word, the Gospel, and by the power of the Holy Spirit. God can give you faith to believe in Him, you just need to be willing to trust in Him

put your trust in Him today, “for without faith it is impossible to please God”- Hebrews 11:6

He is trustworthy, and is the only One who won’t fail you.

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4 Promises That Should Make you Rejoice

The Bible, is just amazing. God gives us His Word, and His Word never fails. So all He says is absolute truth, and it always will be.  The same goes for His promises. The promises of God are such treasures that we, as Children of God take for granted. Here are just 12 of Gods promises that should make you want to give Jesus all your love, worship, and glory.

1. Deuteronomy 31:6- “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

2. Philippians 1:6-  ^“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

3. Isaiah 41:10- “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

4.Romans 8:28- “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Praise God for these promises today!

We Are Not As Good As We Think

People nowadays misunderstand Christianity as being a “good person”. If you just do better, if you just try harder, and do more good things, that’s it! If i walk an old lady across the street, give so and so a compliment every day, am nice to everyone i meet, pick up trash, recycle, give money to the homeless man on the corner, and boom! i made it to heaven. God will accept me because i did all of these good things! Sadly, people think this is true. It’s not.

Because everyone who stands at the foot of the cross is equal. You are guilty, sinful, rebellious, and evil cause of your sin. A holy God cannot be with sin, and God being a perfect Judge cannot look past it. If He did not hold us accountable, He would not be just. But since He is just, and perfect, and holy, there has to be payment. you are guilty. i am guilty. “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—” Romans 5:12 says. We are dead in our sin, awaiting judgment from God. But thanks be to God! Because of the Cross, He made payment for us. He poured out the wrath we deserved on His own Son so that whoever believes in His Name shall not perish but have eternal life. That’s the Gospel. WE HAVE BEEN REALLY REALLY BAD, but GOD has been REALLY REALLY GOOD, to people who don’t deserve jack or squat.

Jesus says this you today Christian. To you today non-believer. To you one who has been rejected. To you downcast one. To you broken one. To you failure. To you man who is trying desperately to be accepted. To you woman who is trying so hard to look attractive. to YOU. He says this. “I made you. I love you more than you can fathom. I died for you. I accept you as you are. Do you accept me?”

That’s the decision. That’s a must do today. Are you going to accept Him? For He accepts you. Or are you going to run away from the God who was scourged, beaten, mocked, ridiculed, and crucified for you, as well took the wrath you deserve from God for you? Jesus loves you today! and forever! why would you run from His love today. Accept Jesus into your heart as Lord and Savior of your life, put your trust in Him, and give yourself forever to Him. He is the only Way to live, or have life. He is the life. He is the Truth, the Way, and the Life. Ask Him to forgive you of your sins, and apologize for them.

you need Jesus Christ. He doesn’t need you, but He wants you. Don’t run from Him and longer.

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