"Jesus Saves," courtesy of free graphic art, lostseed.com Many precious thanks!
PART ONE:
Faith, Why Wait to Accept Jesus? and The Reasons to Go Forward
"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12
(New International Version, NIV)
http://biblehub.com/acts/4-12.htm
Why Do We Care So Much?!
~~~People~~~!
(Please forgive some of the spacing on this posting; having done the best that I can, the editing is not cooperating with me.)
God has been beckoning and urging me to continue writing this particular post and to, indeed, send it out! I offer no apology in Christ, ever. Who could adequately argue with our Creator: the Son of God, Jesus Christ, Who was and is the perfect Lamb of God; Who allowed Himself to become fully Man, while remaining fully Holy God~~~ to come to earth as a Babe, grow up, leave home the last three years of His Life on earth to preach The Gospel, The Good News of Jesus Christ, that is made for each and every human being, then to be sacrificed on the cross in complete Holiness while having the heaping of all sin upon Him that was ever committed before and after that time; to die and then to be resurrected to seal the cap to prove once and for all, that He was, indeed, King of kings and Lord of lords?!
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Son of God, gives us the Good News, the
Gospel, that He offers to each and every person, of all nations, creeds, races, and groups. We each stand on level ground at the foot of the cross, a wise friend, Jan Bracken, has said.
I hope that this message will encourage people who have not yet accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord~ and also those who may have accepted Him at one time, but are not standing with Him now. In addition, I hope to encourage people who are in Christ NOT to give up on their loved ones and to keep praying for them and listening to God's leading in prayer and truth for their loved ones. I include any and all people, everywhere, for whom Prayer Warriors are praying for Salvation. There might be people for whom no one is praying for them- how sad!
Yet, we are assured that God loves them, and Christians love you because we want to share the life-affirming and giving faith of Christ Jesus, Who loves each and all, and wants no one to fall and, thus,
to be set apart from His love forever
(by rejecting his offer of Salvation).
I truly am assured, as I think about intercessory prayers for others and one another, that somewhere in the world, there is always a disciple of Jesus Christ who is whispering-telling-speaking prayers to God for every single person~~~because YOU and I count in God's Kingdom!!
Indeed, we know from The Holy Bible that Jesus Himself is sitting at the right hand of the Father interceding for you and me! Jesus is our High Priest. His work and goodness did not stop at the cross...it continues in Him abundantly, exceedingly abundantly, and richly in the grace of the riches of
Who He IS,
I AM WHO I AM.
God's Truth, and Mine, as I Have Learned and Lived
I know these things to be absolutely Truth: God has given us the One and Only Way to the Father~~~that is believing in and on Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ~ Who is the Messiah, Yeshua, the One Promised, the Anointed One. When a person says, "Yes, Jesus, I believe in You. Please forgive me of my sins; I want You to be the Lord and Savior of my life. Please come into my heart, forever," then the Holy Spirit of God comes in and seals you with Himself forever and ever.
Believers are to keep on walking with the Lord, day-to-day, sometimes, hour-to-hour or minute-by-minute: to worship, praise and go to our
Father God, with all of our joys, sorrows, and needs~ and to love and to help others, as they do for themselves, to the very last day here on earth. Then, His children will go immediately to Heaven, like the batting of your eyes and shutting them- that quickly! we will go with and to the LORD!
God is forgiving, longsuffering, loving, and merciful even during (perhaps, especially during...) the hard or terrible times. He does want good things for us, and He wants to grow us in our relationship with Jesus Christ.
Now is the appointed time~~~! Today is the day of Salvation~~~!
Encourage One Another
I want to encourage family members and loved ones who are praying and very concerned about their family and friends, even enemies, who are unsaved. I in no way want to alienate any person, whatsoever, but this would be small discomfort to me or anyone who needs to accept Jesus for his or her eternity. It is but a twinkling of the eye that we are here, and forever goes on~~~exactly that, forever and always!
Do we want to please people or the Lord?
We can barely understand such a concept of living and loving in the Savior's grace (which we who are believers do now), and in His Light and Love for eternity, but, truly, the Bible speaks that Heaven is more REAL than what we experience in the here and now on this earth.
My love to each and every one of you... God knows the very heart and mind of each soul Whom He created, each special, lovely person~~~
you, oh dear ones.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever!
What gladness, joy, hope and promise we have in Him, now and always :) May each of us be quickened to God's mercy and grace, His choice of freedom in His Son, Jesus, now and always. So be it.
To My Family, My Most Beloved (Close Friends Can Count in Here, Too :) Anyone to Whom You Give Your Heart in the Best Ways, A Love that is Like or Closer Than a Brother
You are either for Him or against Him...as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD...lambs to the right; goats to His left.
Not to decide IS to decide!
In other words, take hold of Christ now, for now is the expected time!
Paul's Hardships and God's Grace
1And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain-- 2for He says, "AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU, AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU." Behold, now is "THE ACCEPTABLE TIME," behold, now is "THE DAY OF S
ALVATION "-- 3giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited,..2 Corinthians 6:1-3; and 2 Corinthians 6
To the Ones
I Love Most in My Life
Should I leave you alone, without the Lord God as your Savior? No, never! I shouldn't, wouldn't, couldn't, even as I full well know that only
the Holy Spirit has the ability to draw you to Himself.
I try to be discerning when and when not to speak and what to say;
God is faithful~~~He often guides me in this endeavor, even putting words in my mouth which I had not intended to speak- Praise Him! Jesus is my Example and the One for each and all; so, I in Him, am His example.
The reason I will not leave you alone is because I love you more than I could ever express, from the deepest parts of myself in words that cannot be uttered, only understood by God the Father, His Son Jesus, and the Spirit of God.
I love you more than anything, but do I love you as much as your
Creator Who made you loves you?
No, we do not love each other as much as Jesus loves each of us...
we can begin to understand His love toward us, however.
Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven With the saving strength of His right hand.
Psalm 20:6 NASB
- See more at:
I want to grab up into my arms
my most loved family members and say, “What must you be thinking?!!" They have made it clear that they are unsure whom they believe in.
I would go on to say,
"Why won’t you accept Christ’s free gift of Salvation?"
He paid the full price, His Life, and forever set you free from sin, and it is yours for free. He the Only One, fully God and fully Man, Who could do that for us- He was comletely without sin.
You either say "Yes, Lord!" or you are saying "No," by putting the decision aside; not paying attention to Him or your decision; by remaining unsure; making reasons such as "I will do that later sometime;" refusing Him, or
out-and-out continuing to speak against Him and trampling upon Jesus.
Take that step of faith in accepting Jesus Christ's Salvation and Lordship for you by telling Him that you want Him in your life. Ask Him for the forgiveness of your not having done everything right/making mistakes/missing the mark. It is not necessary or possible fully to know ALL there is about God in taking that faith step to Jesus. No one understands everything, and ask God to help you learn more about Him!! He wants to. He wants a relationship with you, Beloved Ones!!
"Listen to me, please: You could get in a plane, and before you
crashed, if you had no relationship with Jesus, and you didn’t shout out 'Jesus, Help me!' before you even hit the ground,
you would be gone forever- away from God and away from us, your family- away from me. I cannot bear to think of how lost I would
feel if you had not chosen salvation! Only He, Jesus, could be and is the perfect Blood Atonement, given by the Father (the First Person of the Trinity of our One God) for us. Think of that- the power and the love from God in that for you and me! No animal, however perfect, could atone for us- only the Perfect Lamb of God, Jesus, His Son, the Son of God- the Second Person in the Trinity. God is Spirit, also, Who is the Third Person in the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.
God is love, and God is longsuffering, and He is also holy and just;
however, He will not suffer your
rejection of Him forever!"
You may say, “What kind of a God does this?” and yet, I say,
“What kind of people do not take the Lord Jesus’ opportunity of salvation of
their own free will, which He gave you- everything and all?…Your very life and breath, an eternal life, which you surely must want to spend with Him forever, not separated from Him forever! He gave you Salvation, which is truly through His love for free will for us, gives you the choice to accept or reject His Gift.
What kind of people keep refusing Him, time and time again?”
In some regions and with various people/s, these dear ones hear the Gospel once, and they accept Christ right there! They know the truth when they hear it! Have we been so babied and pampered with plenty that we are numb to the Truth? Do we take God for granted, thinking,
"Well, I will think about that some more..."
There was a stretch of time, particularly in my college and early 20s when I questioned, even made fun of a young man who was telling me about Christ from the Bible in an eatery/pub in our college town. It strickens me to know I did that- and other things, extremely displeasing to God. However!! I know that He has forgotten those things, putting them as far as the east is to the west; they are at the bottom of the ocean, and He no longer remembers them- ONLY BECAUSE HE FORGAVE ME AS HE PROMISED THAT HE WOULD WHEN I CAME TO HIM IN TRUE REPENTANCE FOR MY SINS AND TOLD HIM THAT I ACCEPT HIS SALVATION FOR ME~~~ THAT HE MADE POSSIBLE BY HIS DEATH ON THE CROSS, HIS RESURRECTION, AND NOW LIFE IN THE HEAVENLIES AND WITH US IN OUR HEARTS UNTIL HE RETURNS SOON,
TOTALLY TRIUMPHANT!!!
I have heard twice within a few weeks' time, which some of us call "God's Echoes," that I did not disappoint the Lord with recent, seeming failures; in fact, I KNOW that He used them for our family's GOOD, drawing us closer together and humbling and building character for my husband and me. Many Prayer Warriors were praying, and God worked in amazing ways for Royce and me throughout! Look for my next postings:
"Looking Up to God When Nothing Makes Sense"
and
"God's Amazing Ways: the Power of Prayer
for the Gospel of Jesus Christ"
Why think some more?
Is there a question that needs answering?
Then, move forward until it is answered- talk to a trusted Christian friend or pastor. Dig into a Bible, and find the answer! Ask God and keep on asking Him diligently to answer the questions that hold you back. He most certainly will find a way to answer you; be sure to listen!
Websites such as BibleGateway.com or BibleHub.com are great Scripture finders and commentaries to answer your valid, seeking question/s. Google your questions or key in some of the most important words in your search. (Please be sure you are acquiring answers from credible, Christian-only sources, not offbeat groups or cults, false faiths or false teachers.)
There are often helpful concordances/indexes in the backs of Bible pages, even commentaries therein or to be found separately.
In truth, the Bible says that God can harden our hearts when He knows that we will not hear or listen to Him, after so long.
You do not want to be that person who has a hardened heart.
If you have a question, please, contact me at: donnaandroyce@gmail.com and put BLOG in the subject title. I will do my very best to get you the correct answer to your question/s.
***See below, shortly, and read/say in your own words to God a
Salvation Prayer!!
Jesus stands at the Door~
He is the Door of Life~
Ask, Seek, Knock
Do not waste one more second or day in finding the answers!
It is going to take your stepping across the line of faith to be sealed in the Holy Spirit for you to begin to understand some things, and there are mysteries of God's Word and its subjects that can be discussed with different perspectives, and some questions we will not know until we walk into Heaven~~~the rest of life and forever. God has made the Way for us through Jesus Christ! Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God- He came to earth as a little baby, grew up, where even at an early age, He astounded people in the Temple with His wisdom.
Jesus went on to perform many, many miracles.
Jesus Christ truly was and is the Son of God, the Messiah,
the Prince of Peace! He does and will rule forever and ever. Amen.
Again, I Say:
To my beloved, again, I say, "What if you were to be hit suddenly from another car, and you are struck to death before you even know it? There may be absolutely NO time to think or cry out to God.
Do you truly and so unwisely! want to take the chance to wait until your dying breath- IF you are cognizant?
Many people accept Christ's Salvation on their death bed, Praise God, but do you want to take that chance, that long, or even in the next minutes?
Do you want to waste all that time without Him?"
+++I could have died without having been saved...
That is how easily it could have been for me. I was in
a serious one-car accident 12 years ago where my neck at the C2 (second cervical bone) was broken; my right leg was broken in the two bones in the lower leg, the tibia and the fibula; that ankle crushed; tailbone broken; head cut badly that hit hard to break the glass in the car; and the glass shattered on the back of my head that left dents in it where the cuts hit and then staples were put in to heal that area. I had retrograde amnesia and could not remember the last hour of my driving, which has never come back to me (that is okay- God saved me from many torturous memories) from that day when the car spun out of control. (I easily could have died right there
on the road. I could have had severe brain
trauma, been put into a pervasive, vegetative state with no recourse for a normal
life.) No, those latter things did not happen-
yes, I had the broken neck, a badly broken tibia and fibula, coccyx, plus
lacerations, and retrograde amnesia… but, I had my husband there who is well-trained, who saw the whole thing in his rear-view mirror, as he drove a
second vehicle ahead of me. He said he had just looked in his rear-view mirror, and I looked fully awake. God sent the volunteer chief out on the small,
two-lane highway that day on a Kansas road (we had no cell phones at the time). By the Lord’s gracious design, the chief was merely driving along that old,
country highway where I had lost control, and slid down a
12-foot embankment and
crashed headlong into a cement ditch.
Through this horrifying experience and the aftermath that still touches my family and me today, I became so very, very close to the LORD God that I am extremely thankful that He saved me and that I can be an instrument in telling people how fantastic it is to be a true child of God, saved and in due time, I will be with Him and my beloved in Heaven always!!
I think Jesus saved me from the car crash and also SAVED (Salvation) me for His own for His Kingdom so that I could tell people about Christ's Love and Salvation, including writing this blog! There were times after the accident that I thought it would be better if I had passed on, I regret to admit, but then one night in the hospital in a ward for rehabilitation with several extremely ill/recuperating women like myself, I saw God's angels in my room with a great Light, and I immediately closed my eyes, and said, "Please, Lord, do not take me away from my family; they need me so much!" I had come to realize in the weeks after the accident how important to them I was. I will do a posting on the visit from the Lord's angels and other true stories that are similar.
Back to the subject at hand and that I had already made my Choice for Christ before I could have been instantly killed; where would I have gone?...
GREAT NEWS of GOD's GOOD NEWS!
Number One Importance:
If I had been killed, I would have gone straight
to Heaven to be with my Lord and Savior, Jesus, forever and ever!
Doubtlessly, I will die someday and because of Jesus Christ's redemptive power and my hearing and accepting His Gift, I will be immediately with God!!
(We will talk soon in a new blog posting, yet-to-come, about why we die
in order to be with the LORD.)
We are confident, I say, and willing, when the time comes,
to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
American King James Version 2 Corinthians 5:8
In addition to God's blessed assurance to us, who choose His Salvation, I have these additional trusts in Him:
How can I be so sure?
I have been saved by Him, and Him Alone (Only Him)...
There have been other times when God has allowed the most frightening incidents to happen to me (NOT from Him). He also heals and protects, comforts and loves us in many ways and times, sometimes we do not realize, or only later, does the awareness of His doing so, comes into play in our minds and hearts :)
Through the Holy Spirit Who lives within my soul, through the Father! in His Heaven, and through His Son, my most precious Savior and the LORD of my life~~~
my loved ones, others, and I were kept from deadly harm.
For example, I immediately began calling out to Jesus, in my mind, thinking that I did not want our young children at home to be without their mother...as a man on drugs with a gun was robbing me, yet he did not touch me, nor hurt me.
Another time, the LORD, unmistakably, told me the word, "Danger," in my left ear, as our young daughter, who was in the back seat of our car, was sleeping. We were driving on a two-lane road, and with that warning, which I took without question, God prepared me mindfully and physically as I drove just then to take extra care. I braced the steering wheel, was watching, and waited to see what was going to occur, but nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. Very quickly thereafter, a Mac truck in the oncoming traffic was passing a school bus, and the semi-truck came directly into my lane, heading toward us. Since I was already on alert, I drove over to the shoulder of the highway, or we would have had a headlong crash with the Mac truck that was now in our lane on the wrong side of the road, undoubtedly crushing our daughter and me, having further repurcussions, almost certainly killing many persons and children.
When our amazing first-born, our daughter, was being born during a long labor, then difficult delivery/birth, she became distressed and timing was of the essence; it took two doctors and two pair of forceps to bring her into the world, where she was put in extra care before we could hold her. I later told my husband that I was so glad it only took about 20 minutes for the delivery because I would not have made it/been able to continue if the delivery were a longer time; he told me we had been in there for 2 hours! I had absolutely no pain medicine because it became too late to give it to me, and the Lord altered time in my mind, or I would not have been able to continue in the process of helping her into this life and world, which could have jeopardized our daughter's very life,
even additionally to what the danger was already.
God stood faithfully by and ministered to Royce and me and our young son for a period of time when our pediatrician was shocked and fearful at a strange rash that developed suddenly on our son's trunk and stomach. We had to take our boy into the pediatrician every day for blood tests...God gave me a "peace that passes understanding," that I have only rarely experienced, and there was no cancer whatsoever for our most precious, dear son!!
Thank You, Lord God.
Genesis 50:20 Good News Translation (GNT)
You plotted evil against me, but God turned it into good, in order to preserve the lives of many people who are alive today because of what happened.
~~~
That is, Satan means evil for us, but God, in His Supreme Love, Power and Authority over all things, intends and makes Good for us!
~~~
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28 Holman Christian Standard Bible
~~~A SALVATION PRAYER TO SAY, FROM THE HEART, FOR
JESUS CHRIST, OUR LORD AND SAVIOR~~~
***Dear Father in Heaven, I know that you cannot have sin
for you are completely Holy. You are also patient and longsuffering, kind and
loving, most merciful. You made me because you simply want me to be made in Your image so that
we can have a genuine, loving relationship together.
I have fallen short, made mistakes, and sinned many times.
You know that I am not perfect and cannot be perfect in this world, but I do
want to say, "Yes, Lord!" I believe in You, Jesus, as my personal
Lord and Savior. Please come into my life and make me a new creation. I know
you love me more than I can fully understand right now, and You can help me
to grow and to live in your will for my life. I want to live always with You,
not separated for eternity. Thank You!
In Jesus' Name, Amen.
This song is dedicated to our
Daughter!! We love you!
Remember that day recently that I left you a voicemail? I said,
"It's a spiritual thing." This song* is the one I was listening
to-
it's from me to you via the Holy Spirit, so it is between us~ you and me~
and also amongst
the three of us :)
Breathtakingly Beautiful Song: Deeper by Nicole Binion!! Enjoy.
Two
versions:
1) Shorter version with beautiful pictures of nature, including Nicole and David Binion picture, name of album, etc.
Deeper with Nicole and David Binion
*(I was listening to this first version on a cd in my car...my daughter :)
2) Longer version with Nicole singing, much praise and worship, crying out to
God, with Juanita Bynum
May God richly bless you, as only He can!
In Jesus' care, as always, and then you and I meet again!!
Donna M.
