To Be Least

"Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment." (Heb. 9:27) I will die someday, so will you. Being relatively young, it is hard for me to actually realize this. When you can grasp that you are mortal and eventually you will die, you can realize the importance of focusing your life on serving God with everything while you have the chance. You can begin to see the importance of living holy lives in light of eternity.

James says that our lives "are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." (Ja. 4:14) Compare the long life of a 100 years to 100 billion years. This is nothing compared to eternity in heaven or hell, which is beyond what our mind can comprehend.

When you compare our life to this amount of time spent after our physical bodies die, you realize that our life is indeed a mist. If not less than that. It is so short, yet our life decides where we will be for a incomprehensible amount of time. For infinity to be exact. Because of this, we should "work out our salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12), knowing that this is the only life we get and it is the life that determines our eternal destination.

I have been thinking about being a witness for Christ a lot recently. I am going to spill out what I know, and I hope you will share what you know about being a witness.

I think that our actions are a lot more effective than what we say. In fact, our actions either support or destroy the message that we have about Jesus. If we say that we are Christians, but act like the secular world, our witness is not going to be effective. However if we treat others with love and respect, they will want to know what is different about us and will be more open to hearing the truth.

So I think that we should first live as Jesus showed us and also be bold about sharing the good news that we possess. Working together, we can be an effective witness for Jesus Christ.

Does anyone have any thoughts, experiences, and advice on being a witness for Christ. I am listening.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (Matthew 16:24)

      What does it mean to deny yourself. When you think about it, that is a pretty strong word. It does not say just to try to deny what you want. It says you must deny yourself.
      When you deny the existence of God, you act as if God does not exist. In the same way, when we deny ourselves, we must act like we no longer exist. We must live our life completely for the service of others and for God. We need to come to the place where we no longer care for what we want, but have our minds set on the needs of God and others.

      "It is by grace you have been saved, through faith." (Ephesians 2:8) That said, must we continue in our faith until the day we die in order to inherit eternal life? If we do not continue in our faith, will we inherit eternal life?

      I firmly believe that we do indeed have to continue in our faith to spend eternity with God. Why? Read on.

      The following is an excerpt from my mothers post which explains some key truths on this subject.

For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." (Romans 1:17)

      What does this verse teach us? This passage from Romans 1:17 quotes from Habakkuk 2:4 which is prefaced by the words, "a righteousness that is by faith from first to last." Another translation says, "from faith to faith." This expression implies an ongoing life of faith until one breathes his last. It is this kind of enduring faith which is required to guarantee salvation. The importance of this message is evident in that this same passage is quoted two other times in scripture: Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38.

      The other passage of scripture regarding salvation that is often quoted in the New Testament is from Genesis 15:6: "Abram believed the Lord, and he was credited it to him as righteousness." In the Hebrew, the word for "believed" is "aman." This word implies an enduring, steadfast faith which is immovable. It is this kind of faith which credited Abram with righteousness. This passage, too, is quoted several times in scripture: Romans 4:3, 4:22; Galatians 3:6; and James 2:23. When a passage of scripture is repeated so many times, the reader should take note. God tells us five times in scripture that an enduring, steadfast faith will credit us with righteousness. Nowhere does it say that a fleeting moment of faith will credit us with righteousness.

      With that thought in mind, consider the following :

All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. (Matthew 10:22)

(to the Gentile believers) "For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in His kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off." (Romans 11:21-22)

By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:2)

"But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in sight, without blemish and free from accusation-if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel…" (Colossians 1:22-23b)

"But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and hope of which we boast." (Hebrews 3:6)

"We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first." (Hebrews 3:14)

"You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. For in just a little while, `He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him. But we are not those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved." (Hebrews 10:36-39)

Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Revelation 2:10)

      These verses make it clear that only those who stand "firm to the end will be saved." Romans says that righteousness is "by faith from first to last." Faith that will save us is not something that is a one time decision, although it does start there. It is a faith that continues until God calls us home.

      A while ago, I had committed many sins. I had lied, stolen, and filled my heart with lust and anger. Instead of following God, I had followed my money.
      Eventually I was caught in my crimes and was brought before God to be judged. I was immediately found guilty of sinning against God. God decreed that my punishment was execution. In great sorrow, I proceeded to go to my punishment.
      When the time came for my execution, something unexpected happened. God in his great mercy intervened and had his own Son take my place. Because of his mercy, he had taken his own perfect Son and had him executed instead of me. From that day on, I vowed to be God's slave and obey God for as long as I should live.

      After the attacks on the two Trade Towers, there was an increase of the usage of "God bless America." It appeared on signs, you heard people use it and of course it was in the songs. However, will God really bless America?

See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse- the blessing if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the LORD your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known. (Deut. 11:26-28)

      This quote is God speaking to the Israelites, after God had told them all His requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands. This verse very clearly states that God will bless the Israelites if they obey his commands, but a curse if they do not.
      When you turn on the television, it does not take long to figure out that the majority of the programming is immoral. The American culture as a whole has become saturated in immorality. America as a whole has turned away from the Lord and has disobeyed his commands.
      Because the majority of America has been living disobedient lives, I think it is very possible that God will not bless America. When the Israelites started living in disobedience, God removed His blessing. He sent other nations to attack and defeat Israel. However, when they turned back to God and obeyed His commands, God blessed them and gave them victory over their enemies. I believe the same applies to America and every other nation.