Leaning on Grace

James 4:17

Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

There are a lot people that are leaning on God’s grace that will find themselves sentenced to Hell on Judgment Day. Jesus died on the cross so that our sins will be forgiven but there seems to be a grave misunderstanding on this subject and its consequences are far too great to risk.

Jesus died so that we would receive grace and that our sins would be forgiven, but he did not die so that we can knowingly sin. Just because he offered salvation to us doesn’t mean that he granted us permission to do any and everything that we want to do. I’m sure most of you who are reading this can relate to what I’m saying in your own personal life.

If your 11 year old son is constantly lying, beating up other kids in school, and talking back, would you allow them to keep doing so just because you love them? Of course not. Does your love for them mean that it is okay for them to act in such a way and that you won’t get mad? Of course not! So why would our Father take pleasure in watching us do things that he doesn’t approve of?

Just because we can’t see him, doesn’t mean that he isn’t angry. There will come a day when he pours out his anger on those who deliberately disobey him. There will come a day when the liars, thieves, murderers, sexually immoral will have to pay for the life that they lived.

The devil wants you to believe that you can do all of these things plus some and that all you have to do is believe that God exists, and you will be pardoned. He wants you to keep gossiping about your neighbors and sowing discord because he knows that the Bible teaches us that it is an abomination to God. Whatever you do, don’t let the enemy trick you out of your spot in Heaven.

We serve a just God but that doesn’t mean that he is a push over. The good news is that he doesn’t expect us to be perfect and that he understands that we will make mistakes. He understands that there will be times that we come short but those that honestly try and also ask for forgiveness, will find grace.

We are going to be judged by the contents that are inside of our heart. Are you filled with love, peace, and the fear of God or are you filled with hatred, unforgiveness, violence, and discord? Whatever you are filled with will show in your deeds and your speech. The book of Proverbs tells us that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

It is impossible to be full of love, but treat everyone else mean and hateful. I urge you to not lean on grace, but to live in such a way that you know will be pleasing to God. Love the things that God loves and hate the things that God hates. Do everything to be able to stand on the day of judgment.

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed–not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence–continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling Phillipians 2:12

Marques The Writer is a bestselling author and journalist with over 20 years of writing experience. The Spiritual World and How It Influences Your Everyday Life and Satan’s Lies: Exposed are currently available at: http://www.mcbooks.storenvy.com

Helping Others Is Not An Option

Many people come up with their own ideologies about life, the scriptures, and death which prompts them to have hypothetical conversations. Fortunately, the Bible provides insight on every aspect of life which eliminates the “guess work” for those who are diligent enough to seek out wisdom.

The parable of Lazarus and the rich man spreads insight on charitable givings. This passage tells a story of a man that was very rich and also very stingy. He lived in luxury and could afford to buy anything that he wanted. Some of the finest food was served within the walls of his huge mansion.

There was a man named Lazarus that was the complete opposite. He was very poor, homeless, and hungry. He desired to eat the left-overs from the rich mans house, even if it was just small bits. He wished that the rich man would have compassion on him and help his days to be more bearable but unfortunately, there was no compassion at all for the starving man.

Many people that will read the first few paragraphs, will think “wow, that is really messed up” yet we see this same story played out on a daily basis. How many people did you pass by today that you could tell were hungry and thirsty? Did you help them? Everyone isn’t as rich as the man in the parable, so giving to everyone every single day could put you in a real hardship, but you should be able to give something at least sometimes. Don’t be that person that sit in the comfort of your home, eating and drinking until your heart is content and then leave your house and past right by Lazarus.

This parable provides insight on how God feel about charitable works and that it is one thing that he judges. Matthew 25 provides further insight.

“Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; ⁴²for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ ⁴⁵Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life”.

Which path will you choose?

Are You Ready?

Occasionally, I hear people mentioning the end times. They search scriptures, read books searching for signs. It’s great to observe the signs, as a matter of fact, the bible instructs us to do so. However, we shouldn’t become preoccupied with the end times to the point that we forget that the end of our life may occur first.

As Christians, we have to remember that we’re only passing through this life and that Earth, in no way, is our home. Instead, we should focus on doing God’s work.

My old Pastor used to always end his sermons saying, “It’s only what you do for Christ that will last.” We are here to do Gods work, not to greedily chase riches. What good is $1 billion to a dead man? Even worst, what profit is for a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?

Non-Christians believe that Earth is our final estate and it is evident in their actions. They lie, steal, kill, cheat, and blaspeme the name of our Lord, with no fear at all. Many, don’t even believe in our God, but would rather worship man-made gods.

It doesn’t really matter when the world is going to end if your death precedes the end of the world. I hear a lot of people professing that they’re not afraid to die. Some of these people may be telling the truth. Let me ask you this, would you be eager to step into eternity knowing that you are not in good standings with God?

If the robber held you up at gun point, would you think to yourself, “I have fought the fight, I have finished my course, now it’s time to rest” or would you enter a moment of uncertainty that causes you to freeze up? I’m talking about a moment where you doubt your own salvation because you know that you’ve been serving the flesh-that you’ve been pushing Satan’s agenda instead of God’s.

What if you were in a situation where an oppressor was beheading everyone who professed their faith in God? Would you know deep down in your heart that your soul is going to a better place or would you succumb to their demands due to to uncertainty?

Brothers and Sisters, we are living in a time where we have to be more focused than ever. We have to renew our minds daily, be consistent in prayer, and earnestly try to keep God’s commandments. We were all appointed a day of birth and day of death. Don’t find yourself at the end of the road only to realize that you’ve been traveling down the wrong road. Make a decision today to travel down “Broad Way” road, so that when this world or your life is over, which ever one comes first, you’ll be prepared to meet our father.

Dangers of Being Unequally Yoked

“Can a man take fire in his bosom And his clothes not be burned” Proverbs 6:27

It is not uncommon to see intimate relationships where the two are unequally yoked, meaning they have two different religions. Some argue that it doesn’t matter as long as they are in love. Others argue that eventually the person will convert to their religion.

Being unequally yoked is a dangerous position to be in because what if instead of them converting to Christianity, you end up converting to their religion? King Solomon is a fine example of the danger of being unequally yoked. Solomon was the wisest person and the greatest king in the history of Israel. The bible tells us that he had anything that he wanted or even imagined. He put some of the worlds biggest players to shame with his 500 wives and 500 concubines.

His downfall arose when he allowed these women to sway his heart from the true God to Moloch. He changed despite the many blessings that he witnessed with his own eyes. We’re not talking about a man who was barely coming to know God, but a man who knew of the heroic triumph that his father (David) received against Goliath and the Philistines. If a man of his wisdom and awareness can be persuaded to convert, anyone can. Is being in love really worth your soul?

End Times

As Christians, we have to remember that we’re only passing through this life and that Earth, in no way, is our home. Instead, we should focus on doing God’s work.

Don’t find yourself at the end of the road only to realize that you’ve been traveling down the wrong road. Make a decision today to travel down “Broad Way” road, so that when this world or your life is over, which ever one comes first, you’ll be prepared to meet our father.

Soul Ties: The Danger of Ungodly Bonds.

The spirit of bondage is constantly seeking its next victim while trying immensely to not lose those that are already in captivity. When people create bonds with things and other people, those bonds are known as Soul Ties.

Soul Ties can utterly destroy your life because it tends to trap you and make you feel like you can’t live with it but at the same time that you can’t live with out it. Your mind is saying no, but you are fighting a war in the spiritual realm that is screaming yes. It is telling you that you know that the person or situation is horrible but you’ve went too far down that road to just up and turn around.

In life you have to be careful about who you interact with because simple interaction can easily turn into a long-term, unhealthy bond. Take relationships for example. In most cases, physical infidelity doesn’t just happen immediately after two people speak to each other. The temptation to sleep with a person outside of your relationship and the probability for it to happen, is measured by the bond that is created.

That bond starts with simple conversation and then is eventually followed by longer, deeper conversations. Those simple hellos start turning into lunch dates or texting each other all throughout the day. In time, the bond between the two of you start developing stronger and stronger. Eventually, not only did infidelity happen emotionally but also physically.

1 Corinthians 6:16 tells us that when a person fornicates, the two souls are combined. So not only did you cheat, but you also brought another soul and the baggage that comes with them into your relationship.

Many people that seem to be good people find it difficult to be in a long-term, loving relationship because of the evil spirits that they gained through sex, especially if they had a lot of partners. Their soul is fragmented and is not able to easily bond with their new partner.

Many look at soul ties as just a sexual bond between two people but it’s much deeper than that. It can be with your friends also. If you have known your friend for a majority of your life but than you two grow apart tremendously, the soul tie that bound you may still be there and need to be broken.

During your early adult years, you two may have drank together, went to the club together, or whatever it is that bound you. In time, if you are growing and maturing yet they are still doing the things that you all did 20 years ago, you will outgrow them.

I have friends that I love dearly and at one point we were bound together. I felt compelled to always keep them in my life because of the history that we shared. But I realized that the way that I live and the way that they live are polar opposites.

I no longer found our conversations meaningful and had no desire to do those things that I did in my youthful for years, so I severed the friendship. But to sever the friendship, the soul tie had to be broken.

Just like there are ungodly soul ties there are Godly soul ties. Marriage is one of them. Ephesians 5:31 tells us that a man will be joined with the woman and those two will become one flesh.

If you are a victim of ungodly soul ties, it is not too late to get rid of them and to lead a healthy life. It’s not enough to just know about them, get rid of them. Pray that you will be delivered and that the desire inside of you that is caused by the spirit of bondage will be destroyed.

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15

The Loss of a Loved One

There is a time for everything under the sun.

Ecclesiastes chapter 3 tells us that there is a time for everything under the sun which includes a time to be born and a time to die. While the first is usually celebrated and the latter is mourned, we have to remember that everything is part of God’s perfect will.

Long life isn’t granted as a blessing nor is a short life a curse. Our number of days are based on the time given to complete specific assignments and once that time is up, so is our earthly life. Some were created to change the world, while others were created to help others. Some were created to instill knowledge, while others were created to birth those that will change the world. While we aren’t born with knowledge of our life’s assignments, we inevitably come to terms with them.

Jesus was the most holy man to come to the earth but he died at young age. His mission was completed in 33 years. So again, life is not measured by the number of years but by the quality of life.

On a deeper note, we have to understand that we aren’t mere mortals that can die but were made immortal and will never truly die. We are born with a life on earth but after that we pass on to the second aspect of our life-heaven or hell. Matthew 10:28 tells us to not be afraid of those that can kill the body but to be afraid of the one that can kill both soul and body in throw it in hell.

Our time on earth is a prerequisite for the second phase of our life. Though it is heartbreaking when someone close to us die, there is a brighter side. The brighter side is that the struggling, aches, stress, and any other problem that we faced on earth is over.

If they accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, we can have joy and peace inside knowing that they are in a better place. Yes, of course, we will miss them but I’m sure that if they had the chance to choose, they would rather stay where they are.

It is natural to cry, mourn, miss them, and to even feel lost but understand that death is not a punishment nor is the end.

When God Seems Absent

Even though we may have an active prayer life, there are times when we will face difficulties. The difficulties may be so great or so consistent that it seems like God isn’t even there. Hard times is something that we are absolutely guaranteed to have in life and there is no way to escape it. The good news though is that if God will allow you to face it, he will allow you to get through it.

I have a friend that I knew for a little over ten years, name Jesse. For most of his life he seemed very blessed. He excelled in everything that he tried to do and quickly climbed the ranks at the law firm that he worked at.

Though it took him 32 years to build his life to be the way that he always envisioned, everything seemed to come crashing down almost overnight.

One day he came home from a long, hard day at the office but instead of being greeted by his lovely wife, he was greeted with divorce papers and a note. Day after day, he prayed that she would understand that he worked those long hours away from home for them and that she would have a change of heart.

At the same time, he was mourning the death of his aunt that passed away a couple weeks ago. She was like the staple of the family, the one that held everyone together.

The more things went bad, the harder he prayed but eventually it seemed as if he were praying to a God that couldn’t hear. It seemed as if none of his prayers were being answered. The strong, cheerful, and confident friend that I once knew had sunk into a deep depression.

He no longer had the joy and the ambition that used to be easily seen in him. I encouraged him to not give up and to keep pressing. I reminded him that Ephesians 6:12 tells us that we wrestle not against flesh and blood. That the battle with his wife was one that could only be won in the spiritual realm-with prayer and fasting.

Though he nearly lost his mind, he mustered up the strength to keep going. A little bit at a time, day by day.

Today (three years later) he is doing better than ever. He opened his own law firm, his marriage was reconciled, and many other blessings. It seems as if the things that he prayed for were being stored up and that blessings were raining down on him.

There will be times when it seems like nothing is going right and that God doesn’t hear you but I can assure you that he will never leave you. Keep praying and never stop believing and one day, you will see your blessings.

Marques The Writer is a bestselling author and journalist with over 20 years of writing experience.

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