Keep Moving!!!

We all know people who have supposedly “fallen away” spiritually. Sometimes people make changes in their lives, start going to church, and get all excited about the Bible. Then suddenly they bail, never to return. For the most part, we say, “Oh, that is sad. They are backsliding.” However, I suggest to you that many of these people never were true believers to begin with. The true test is where they wind up.

A true believer will always come back home eventually. A person who is not a true believer won’t. My mother, for example, spent most of her life as a prodigal, but she came home in the end.
We must keep our guard up, because anyone can backslide and become a prodigal. Backsliding is not something you plan on doing. You do not call up your Christian friend and say, “Hey, instead of going to church tonight, do you want to go backslide instead?” The point is that backsliding happens. In fact, one of the signs of the last days is that “some would fall from the faith.” It could happen to anyone, if certain precautions are not taken.
I suggest to you that there are people out there who are fully backslidden, but they do not even know it! And this is because they do not understand what the word backslide even means.
The Bible certainly warns against it. Jeremiah 3:22 says, “Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding.” Jeremiah 2:19 tells us, “‘Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the LORD your God and have no awe of me,’ declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.”
You might protest, “I don’t think I have actually backslidden!” It sounds so dramatic. “OK, so I am not as active spiritually as I once was. I still go to church (when I can find the time). I still read the Bible (when I get around to it). I still obey God (unless it conflicts with what I want to do).”
Listen, falling away or backsliding is something that we as Christians need to constantly be aware of. If we are not moving forward in Christ, we are naturally going backward. There is no standing still in the Christian life; we are either progressing or regressing, moving forward or backward. The Christian life is like a greased pole; you are either climbing or slipping.
I once saw a sign along the road at the end of an airport runway that read “Keep moving. If you stop, you are in danger, and a danger to those flying.” Unless we make progress in the Christian life, we jeopardize ourselves and others. In fact, the moment you cease to progress and grow as a Christian is when the process of backsliding begins.
So make every effort to move forward spiritually!

Messages From Heaven: Guided Missiles!!!

Messages From Heaven: Guided Missiles!!!: As we fight the spiritual battle, we need spiritual weaponry. Let’s consider our shield. The apostle Paul writes, “Above all, taking the ...

Guided Missiles!!!

As we fight the spiritual battle, we need spiritual weaponry.
Let’s consider our shield. The apostle Paul writes, “Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one” (Ephesians 6:16).
The words above all mean that faith is of paramount importance. The other armor won’t function apart from faith.
The shields that Roman soldiers would use were made of wood and then covered with cloth and leather. They were large, rectangular objects about four feet high and two feet wide. By crouching behind it, the soldier could completely hide himself.
The term fiery darts that Paul uses refers to one of the most commonly-used enemy tactics of his day. Prior to a face-to-face engagement with the enemy, a warrior would often encounter a barrage of flaming arrows coming from all directions. Their sole purpose was to demoralize and confuse him.
Our modern equivalent might be guided missiles or rockets.
The Roman soldier had to hold up his shield to protect himself from those fiery arrows. Sometimes, he would dip his shield in water so the fire-tipped arrows would be extinguished when they struck the shield.
Satan has his “flaming arrows,” or “guided missiles,” which he shoots our way. They are swift and silent and we receive no advance warning of their arrival. You can wake up in the morning, and the enemy will hit you with a flaming arrow before your feet even hit the floor.
It might be an impure thought or a thought of complete despair. You may be gripped with intense fear and terror. “What if this happens, or if that happens?”
It might be a thought of hatred toward someone. It might even be a blasphemous thought or a thought of doubt.
When do these “flaming arrows” come? At strategic times—like when you decide to read the Bible.
Isn’t it amazing that you can open the newspaper and maintain your full ability to concentrate with no distractions? You can get through the whole thing—the want ads, the comics, and all the advertisements—with no disruption whatsoever.
Or you may watch some mindless TV program and you’ll get through it with no phone calls, no distractions, and no problems.
But try opening the Bible and watch as “all hell breaks loose” and those flaming arrows start flying!
It might be an inability to concentrate. It might be a hundred and one things you should be doing that come to mind. They aren’t necessarily evil thoughts per se—just things like: “Oh boy! I forgot to go do this” or “I’ve got to pick up the cleaning,” or “I need to return that phone call,” etc.
Listen—the enemy’s primary objective is to keep you from the Word of God.
These “guided missiles” will also come during times of trial and hardship. Satan will whisper in your ear, “God has abandoned you. He’s left you. He doesn’t love you!”
I know about this personally and so do many of you. It is then that I hold up the shield of faith.
Here, faith means the ability to quickly apply what we believe so as to repel everything the devil attempts to do to us.
My relationship with God is not built on fleeting emotions or feelings, but on faith in what He has said to me in His Word. The “shield of faith” is turning to God and His Word in time of attack, and not focusing on our fluctuating feelings or emotions.
Scripture does not say, “Resist Satan, steadfast in your emotions,” but rather, “Resist him, steadfast in the faith” (1 Peter 5:9 NKJV).
So use your shield today! It could make all the difference.

Messages From Heaven: History's Greatest Happening Bar None!

Messages From Heaven: History's Greatest Happening Bar None!: "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given..." Isaiah 9:6 . Some years ago, an American astronaut climbed down a ladd...

History's Greatest Happening Bar None!

"For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given..." Isaiah 9:6.
Some years ago, an American astronaut climbed down a ladder and put his feet on the surface of the moon, and the President of the United States said that was the greatest event in human history. With all due respect to that President, the greatest event in human history was not when man first put his feet upon the moon but when Almighty God came down and walked upon this earth. We call that the incarnation, and we celebrate it at Christmas. If you do not understand this event, you don't have the golden key of all history.
How sad to know biology, the study of life, and not know Jesus Christ the Giver of life. How sad to know astronomy, the study of the stars and of the heavens, and not to know Jesus Christ the bright and morning Star and how to go to heaven. How sad to know geology, the study of rocks and geological ages, and not know Jesus Christ, the Rock of ages. How sad to know botany, the study of flowers, and not to know Sharon's sweetest Rose. How sad to know history from beginning to end and to miss the central event in history, which is the story of Jesus — His story. A wise man is ignorant, a rich man is poor, and a strong man is weak until he knows the Lord Jesus Christ.

The God-Man
Who is Jesus? Isaiah, seven hundred years before the birth of Christ, wrote, "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given." Now that's not just a repeat of the same thought. There are two distinct thoughts there. "A Child" speaks of the humanity of Jesus, and "a Son" refers to His deity. God sent His Christmas gift to this earth. It was the gift of Himself — deity wrapped in humanity. Jesus Christ did not have His beginning in Bethlehem. John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word (Jesus). And the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Jesus was the One Who spoke the world into existence. And then God translated deity into humanity. That little baby in a manger is the great God Who created the universe. The little baby of Luke two is the great God of Genesis one. God became flesh.
You may say, "I don't understand that." Well, I'd be ashamed of you if you said you did understand it. None of us understand it. You see, the miracle of the ages is the virgin conception of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Miracle of the Ages
But you don't have to understand it to believe it. If you have difficulty believing in the virgin birth, you really have difficulty believing in God. Why would you have difficulty believing that a child could come into this world without an earthly father when God made the first woman and the first man out of nothing?

If you doubt the virgin birth, you really have difficulty with...
- the character of the Word of God — The Word of God plainly teaches that Jesus was born of a virgin.
- the character of Mary — If Jesus were not born of a virgin, Mary was a harlot and conceived out of wedlock.
- the character of Jesus — If Jesus were not born of a virgin, He was a descendant of Adam, and "in Adam, all die" (see 1 Corinthians 15:22). You see, if there were no virgin birth, there would be no sinless Christ. No sinless Christ...no atonement. No atonement...no forgiveness. No forgiveness...no hope of heaven. No hope of heaven...we would all die and go to hell. Thank God for the virgin birth. If you take away the virgin birth, the whole house of Christianity collapses like a house of cards.
Now, you may be wondering what this is it all about? Let me just sum it up. Let me just tell you what Christmas is all about. God came to this earth to live, breath, work, laugh, cry, weep and teach, then carry our sins to the cross and die. Jesus is the virgin-born Son of God sent into this dark world to redeem us. He is the greatest Gift and history's greatest happening. He will save you if you will trust Him. Do you know Jesus?

Messages From Heaven: Is There Room for Jesus This Christmas?

Messages From Heaven: Is There Room for Jesus This Christmas?: It may be difficult to believe, but rather than drawing us closer to God, sometimes Christmas actually draws us away! For many, this Christ...

Is There Room for Jesus This Christmas?

It may be difficult to believe, but rather than drawing us closer to God, sometimes Christmas actually draws us away!
For many, this Christmas season will be filled with rushing, hurrying, and milling around department stores, feet aching, head throbbing, nerves frazzled. No wonder the little girl who was praying “forgive us our trespasses” got confused and said, “forgive us our Christmases.” Sometimes we need to be forgiven for our Christmases. We simply leave no room for Jesus.

 

That First Christmas
There was no room for Him in the inn that first Christmas. In fact, the only place Jerusalem had for Him was a cross. Even in His death there was no room for Him, for He was buried in a borrowed tomb.

One reason there was no room for the Lord Jesus was ignorance. The innkeeper didn’t know the baby about to be born was the Son of God. Mary and Joseph certainly knew. The shepherds, the wise men, Anna and Simeon in the temple, and Elizabeth knew; but the innkeeper did not.
Another reason there was no room for Jesus was indifference. Can you imagine the innkeeper as he shuttles a young woman about to give birth off into a cow stall? He simply had no concern.
Or perhaps the innkeeper was too involved. He was so busy, he just didn’t have time. His rooms were filling with guests and his purse was filling with gold. Like many of us, he was too busy with others things. He had no room for the Lord Jesus.
But it was no accident that all of this happened. It was prophesied in the Bible: “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.” (Isaiah 53:3)

What about This Christmas?
Today there is still little room for the Lord Jesus Christ. Some insist that the days surrounding the Lord’s birthday not be called “Christmas Holidays,” but “Winter Break.” Irreverent and irrelevant Christmas cards fly off the shelves. The heroes of Christmas are Tiny Tim, Rudolph, Frosty, and Santa. Could it be that we too are ignorant, indifferent, or overly involved? Christmas is supposed to be the happiest time of the year, but for you, it may be the saddest. Perhaps Christmas is not all you feel it ought to be. Somehow you’re trying to be happy and find satisfaction in gifts and parties. Maybe you’re lonely this Christmas — everyone else is going to parties, but you’re not invited. Everyone seems to have a house full of loved ones, but you’re alone.
I have a word for you: Jesus is here, and His name is “Emmanuel” — God with us. God loves you. He knows all about you, and He still loves you. He understands you. He knows your every weakness. He wants to have a relationship with you so much that He suffered, bled, and died for you. The deepest need of your life is met in the One we call Jesus.
If you want to find Jesus Christ today, you’ll never find Him as an “insider.” You’ll always find Jesus on the outside. Don’t go to the inn; go to the stable. Don’t go inside the city; go outside the city where they crucified Him. You won’t find Him in bars, parties, or ball games. That’s not what Christmas is all about. It’s not important that you’re surrounded with friends, family, fun and food. Rather, it’s important that you’re with Jesus.

 

 One Day, There Will Be...
While the world has no room for Jesus now, it won’t always be that way. When He was here the first time, He stood before Pilate. When He comes again, Pilate will stand before Him. When He came the first time, He came as a baby. When He comes again, He will come as King. When He came the first time, He was rejected; but our Lord says, “As I live saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me and every tongue shall confess to God.” (Romans 14:11) There’s no room for Him now, but one of these days, they’ll say, “Make room for the King!”

If I had a thousand lives, I’d give every one to God. Will you give Him your life today? “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:11-13).
Is there room for the Lord Jesus in your heart this Christmas?