Recently, My oldest son, Tom (18)  and I have enjoyed looking at the census in England and Wales tracing relatives. This information does not explain why someone died, or the quality of his life.  Dates, place of birth and occupation can only tell you so much. We came across a ninety year old who was born at sea in the 1760s . She was of independent means and when she was old she lived with her daughter. She was one of  Martyn’s (my husband) ancestors. The men in his family seemed to have lived much shorter lives, leaving behind young widows and small children. This has prompted me to encourage the males in my family to live healthy lives to move away from any genetic curse!

Did our Relatives Believe in God?

I have also wondered whether these long forgotten family members are in heaven. Was the inclusion of a name like Joshua indicative of  faithful parents or was it a fashionable name  in the late nineteenth century? In nineteenth century Britain it is likely that most of our relatives at least believed in the existence of God, in the same way that most early Americans did. But we should understand that  acknowledging God’s existence is not enough.

Is Believing in God Enough to go to Heaven?

The Bible explains that the devil believes in God: James 2:19 “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?” This verse does not say that faith is unimportant- it is essential. However if someone does  not exhibit any Christ like behavior, that person is not a Christian. Real faith results in a changed life, impacted profoundly by the Holy Spirit. Even the devil believes that Jesus is God.  We need to encourage others to enter into a relationship with Jesus rather than there being satisfied with an awareness of His existence.

The fact is that I will not know the fate of most of our ancestors this side of heaven, but I can impact the eternal future of  those who are alive now. So much is achieved through prayer. We should pray persistently for those who are spiritually lost and we should seek opportunities to help them understand how much Jesus loves them.

Will Our Relatives Find our Names in the Census ?

One day we may be a name, attached to a date of birth with an address that a future relative discovers on a census. How sad that in many cases we do not even know the full names of our great grandparents and we can’t even find them on a census. In truth, none of this is of any importance compared with whether our names and those of our loved ones are written in Jesus’s Book of Life. Unlike the census, we are not recorded in it because we live in a certain place. Rather,  our names will be there if our sins have been forgiven by Jesus; if we have received the Holy Spirit and if we are “new creations ” : God’s children. Please pray that your loved ones will be adopted into God’s family through faith in Jesus, through His grace that we can never earn..His gift is free but life changing.

Jesus’s “Book of Life” is Like a Census for Eternity

Hopefully we will meet ancestors in Heaven. I can do nothing to influence this, but I will strive to pray, encourage, and help those who are living that they may be added to God’s eternal “census”: never to be forgotten by the “King of Kings”. Instead of reminding us of dead relatives, the “Book of Life” reminds of wonderful, eternal life in heaven. I hope to see you there!

This is a post from: WomenRespond.com

The Book of Life is like a Census. Are our Names in it?

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Yesterday I taught the Bible to teenagers at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ club at my daughter, Alice’s, middle school. I wanted them to understand the differences between a child of God and a child of the devil. I drew two columns on the white board, one for each type of child. There is a tendency in this culture to either over or under emphasize the devil. The children are usually shocked when I mention him and they are also offended by “hell” considering it to be a bad swear word rather than a real place where many are heading.

The kids wanted me to create a third column for those people who were not Christians but did not intentionally get involved with devil worship or witchcraft. I explained that I could not as the Bible clearly teaches that unless we are rescued out of the kingdom of darkness by Jesus ( Colossians 1:13 ) we are under the power of the evil one and are children of the devil.

I taught from 1 John 3:7-10: “Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love his brother does not belong to God.”

This passage does not say that by behaving well we can earn our way into the family of God. Instead it explains that when we become part of God’s family, Jesus enters us and because we are now led by the Holy Spirit, we are changed and we cannot keep sinning routinely (although we will still make mistakes).

How do we become part of God’s family? The teenagers who prepared their testimonies believed that baptism was the clear proof that someone had become a child of God. The Bible explains that baptism is symbolic of a believer passing from death to new life and this is a powerful image. The reality is that some people get baptized and then settle down to a life of sin with the smug assumption that they have done what it takes to go to heaven one day. A baptism must be accompanied by a dramatic spiritual new birth, if it is to be more than a historic ritual. John 1 explains that ..”to all who believed Him and accepted Him, he gave the right to become children of God.” They are reborn-not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan but a birth that comes from God.” God re- creates us when we respond to Him, believing and receiving Him, accepting Him as Lord of our new life and repenting of the messy lives we used to live.

Once we are under the leadership of Christ, rather than (wittingly or unwittingly) under the devil’s authority, we will change, so long as we really are living under the authority of Christ with His Spirit.1 John 2:3 says that ..”we can be sure that we know Him if we obey His commandments.” If we refuse to obey Jesus we are not His children. Jesus commands us to love one another in a Christ like way. 1 John 4:17 challenges us to copy Jesus. He showed us real love by giving up His life for us. Similarly, “..we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” This is made even more challenging by the following verse: “Dear children let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”

We are taught to be like Jesus: “Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.” If we are Christians we will obey Him and resemble Him, otherwise we are not His children. I John makes this very clear. A very important part of being a Christian is loving God and loving other Christians. Elsewhere we are also told to love our enemies: we are commanded to love everyone, but if Christians fail to love those who are members of the body of Christ, how can we effectively help people who are not part of the Christian family? We know that walking as Jesus did involved meeting all sorts of people, to heal them, to cast out demons, to teach them the truth and to invite them into a relationship with Him. Without Christ’s love we will fail to reach out to those who so desperately need His love.

If we are God’s children are we letting Him lead us, are we obedient, do we give up our lives to help others, are we asking Jesus to fill us with His Holy Spirit? Thankfully Jesus will forgive us and re-instate us as he did with Peter. We are told in 1 John that we will not continue to live a life of sin once we have been dramatically re-created as Christians, as Jesus is in charge of us. I John 1:8-10 encourages us that when we confess our sins Jesus will forgive us and purify us. Sin should be the exception rather than the routine. Let’s make sure that we are truly living as children of God: forgiven, transformed and radiating the love of Jesus in action. We can be full of good intentions but thankfully Jesus did not just profess His love for us but He demonstrated it on the cross. Let’s follow his lead and show others that we are truly God’s children expressing His love, extending His hand of mercy. If you are not yet a child of God, ask Him to rescue you from the kingdom of darkness and receive Him so that He will live in you, dramatically changing your life.

This is a post from: WomenRespond.com

A Child of God, or a Child of the Devil?

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My parents were children in Britain during World War II and growing up we heard many of their stories about bombing, rationing and their Mickey Mouse gas masks. Mustard gas was an awful weapon used with lethal results by the Germans in the first world war. Many were blinded and the British took seriously the threat of Germany invading Britain during the second world war, bringing with them, the nightmarish gas. Thankfully, the Germans lost the Battle of Britain in the air and they failed to invade Britain, but we were ready. The Mickey Mouse gas masks were designed for the children. They were made to look fun so that the kids would be prepared to put them on. They had practices so that the school children were ready if gas became a threat. My mother’s family lived near London and the bombing during the Blitz forced them to initially hide in their cupboard, under the stairs and later to go in the air raid shelter that they had built in their garden. Living like this became a routine. It was a way of life.

I know that men and women who have fought in battle understand the necessity of being prepared, knowing exactly what to do when attacked. As a Christian I believe that we need to be aware that there is a fierce battle going on right now, in our midst. If you are not a Christian you may not be aware of this. Jesus came to earth two thousand years ago to rescue us from the power of darkness. In Colossians 1: 13 Paul writes that God “has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness”. Unless we reach out to Jesus and receive His salvation we are in darkness, under the power of the evil one, the devil. Paul continues that God “transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son (Jesus), who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.”

How did Jesus purchase our freedom? He died for us, He bled for us. He bought us with His blood. Imagine a Jew in Germany trying to escape. He might purchase his freedom by bribing a guard or paying for a ticket to get on a ship to leave the darkness that was engulfing him in Germany. Jesus purchased our freedom. We belong to Satan’s kingdom of darkness but we cannot enter God’s kingdom of light unless Jesus pays the ransom. We actually deserve to die. Paul writes “You were His enemies, separated from Him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now He has reconciled you to Himself through the death of Christ in His physical body, As a result, He has bought you into His own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before Him without a single fault.” (Colossians 1:21,22)

We need to realize that, unless we come before Jesus thankfully and humbly to receive the forgiveness that He secured for us by bleeding to death on the wooden cross, we will remain in the darkness. The devil wants to keep us there. It would be like sunbathing when the German bomber planes were attacking your neighborhood, but worse. If you are not a Christian please read the Bible, talk to a Christian who takes his faith seriously and wake up to the spiritual battle that is raging. Jesus has already defeated the devil but unless you have put yourself on Jesus’ side, becoming part of His Kingdom, you are in danger. If you are a Christian, are you pointing your friends to Jesus the Savior? Are you helping them understand the nature of the battle and are you seeking the protection that we need from Jesus as we deal with the backlash from Satan that we will receive?

As we remember those who died for their country let’s also remember Jesus who died for our eternal freedom. Unlike all the other war heroes who died, Jesus rose from the dead and He continues to battle on our behalf. He protects us and rescues those who believe from the Kingdom of darkness.

This is a post from: WomenRespond.com

Veterans Day: A Christian Response

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Our "lawn"

We covered the seed with wire netting, we added compost to the soil to make it richer and we watered it consistently when we remembered. I have to say “we” as, to be honest, my husband, Martyn, has been more wholehearted in his attempts to grow the grass than me.

Our livelihood does not rely on the success or the failure of our grass seed and nor does our eternal future. This is apparent because much of our grass has died thanks to the birds, rabbits, the scorching sun and the lack of water. We have left the ground bare. We have simply given up. For a farmer this would be a catastrophe but for us we simply put up with ugliness.

In Matthew 13 when Jesus told the story about the sower, it is likely that most understood seed sowing much better than me but they may have struggled to understand the meaning of Jesus’ story. Some of the seed fell on the path and was eaten by birds. In verse 18, Jesus explains that the soil is like a person’s heart and when the seed is immediately snatched away from the path it is like Satan snatching away the good news from a listener’s heart. Perhaps a friend shows a moment of interest during a conversation or after a Christian movie and then Satan distracts her or presents her with doubt or confusion.

Perhaps you are like I was when I was a teenager, when I did not believe in Satan or the Devil or Lucifer. These are all names for the enemy of Jesus who is also described in the Bible as “the father of lies” and the “evil one”. He is not an illusion but a cunning evil being who is more powerful than us but less powerful than Jesus. If we do not allow Jesus to help us, Satan will deceive us. No wonder many people fail to really hear the words of hope that Jesus offers. They are under his spell.

Please recognize that the power of darkness is very strong and unless we have specifically prayed for Jesus to set us free from Satan’s deception, we will be blinded by it. The Amplified version of the Bible explains that “the god of the world has blinded the unbelievers’ minds (that they should not discern the truth), preventing them from seeing the illuminating light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ (the Messiah), who is the Image and Likeness of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:4). The little ‘g’ in the word god makes it clear that the one doing the blinding is not Almighty God but His enemy the devil.

If you agree with what I have written, I hope that you will see clearly that one of the reasons that many people are not Christians is because they are blinded by unbelief by a powerful and evil deceiver. If we did not take action by putting netting over our grass seed nothing would be left. The local birds would get fatter and fatter. Satan is compared with the birds in Jesus’ story.

Is there any preventative action that we can take to protect one another from Satan’s grip, like covering the seed with netting? Absolutely there is! In the most famous prayer in the Bible, the Lord’s prayer, Jesus teaches His disciples to pray, including “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” We are taught to resist Satan through prayer and as we do so we need to ask Christ to arm us with Spiritual armor for protection. This is described in Ephesians chapter 6. Paul exhorts us to “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6: 11-12).

We are not merely looking at a sweet story about birds and seed. Jesus’ story illustrates the threatening and dreadful attack of a supernatural enemy who has spiritual forces of evil under him. Let’s wake up from any ill informed lethargy and read Ephesians chapter 6. In prayer ask Jesus to equip you with the spiritual “armor” that you need and find Christian friends to join in the prayer battle. The Devil threatens the growth of all the seeds, trying to stop the growth of faith in human hearts. Jesus already won the battle when he died on the cross and rose again two thousand years ago. We must spend time reading His word, the Bible and praying for His protection. Wake up and pray, for human lives are at stake, including our own.

This is a post from: WomenRespond.com

The Devil blinds us from seeing the truth.

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