“God ‘s Secret Plan”

 “God’s Secret Plan”

 

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who LOVE Him.  1 Corinthians 2:9

 

The first thing we must understand about this verse is, it is NOT talking about Heaven, even though Heaven is a GLORIOUS, MAGNIFICENT, AWESOME place, I’m SURE.  If you have read the SCRIPTURES in the BOOK of REVELATION, the Apostle John describes what Heaven is like.  This Scripture is actually talking about the SECRET PLAN that comes from the very HEART of FATHER GOD, and that PLAN was PREPARED and CARRIED OUT by the LORD JESUS CHRIST, and it is APPLIED to the BELIEVERS, by GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT.

Of course, we are talking about GOD’S SECRET PLAN of SALVATION.  The Apostle Paul was talking to the Corinthians about having a WISDOM that is NOT the WISDOM of this world.  In verse seven, Paul tells us that GOD’S SECRET PLAN was previously HIDDEN, even though He made it for OUR ULTIMATE GLORY, BEFORE the world BEGAN.  Paul goes on to say that the rulers of this world have NOT UNDERSTOOD it.

The ONLY WAY the Corinthians could KNOW this PLAN was by the HOLY SPIRIT, who KNOWS and REVEALS these DEEP THINGS of GOD, concerning SALVATION.  Nobody can KNOW the thoughts of someone else, so HOW can they KNOW the THOUGHTS of GOD without the HELP of the HOLY SPIRIT.  So, how much MORE is the work of the HOLY SPIRIT needed, if the thoughts of GOD are to be KNOWN.

God wants the believer to KNOW about this SECRET PLAN and to KNOW what God has PREPARED for those who LOVE HIM.  If YOU don’t BELIEVE in God and HAVE a GENUINE LOVE for Him and His SON, JESUS CHRIST, the ONLY ONE who COULD provide SALVATION, through GOD’S PLAN, then you do NOT BELONG to HIM and are NOT a part of His FAMILY.  And your destiny will be an ETERNITY in HELL with ALL its HORRORS and NO WAY to ESCAPE ONCE you are there. 

However, a PART of God’s SECRET PLAN is; for YOU to ADMIT that YOU are a SINNER in NEED of the SAVIOR, JESUS.  And YOU MUST BELIEVE, with ALL your HEART, that JESUS DIED for YOU, and that He is ALIVE in Heaven, making intercession for you before God. Then YOU MUST CONFESS your SINS to Him and ASK Him for His FORGIVENESS.  You MUST be WILLING to TURN AWAY FROM your SINFUL LIFESTYLE and TURN TO GOD with a TRUE REPENTANT HEART.  You MUST ACCEPT God’s Gift of SALVATION and the HELP of His HOLY. SPIRIT, who will REVEAL GOD’S SECRET PLAN that He has PREPARED for you.  Do this NOW, while you STILL can.  He’s WAITING and COMING SOON!!!  Don’t Be LEFT BEHIND!!!

 

“How Much God Loves This World”

 “How Much God Loves This World”

 

“For this is how God loved the world:  He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have Eternal Life.   John 3:16

 

When you think of the word “SALVATION”, do you ever consider what the COST was for the CREATOR of this WORLD, and EVERYTHING in it?  Our verse is a VERY WELL-KNOWN VERSE that is memorized by a lot of PEOPLE.  But I wonder how many people realize the CRITICAL IMPORTANCE and the IMPACT that it makes on the DESTINY of the Human Race.

This verse tells us of the MAGNITUDE of God’s UNFAILING, AMAZING LOVE, for mankind.  And to what EXTENT it goes.  He LOVED the world SO MUCH that His LOVE COMPELLED Him to take action for His PLAN of SALVATION.  So, He sent His ONE and ONLY SON, the LORD JESUS CHRIST into the WORLD as a TINY NEWBORN BABE who grew in WISDOM and STATURE and in FAVOR with GOD and ALL the people. (Lk 2:52)

 Jesus was not only a MAN, like other MEN, but He was WITHOUT SIN.  And He became the SUPREME SACRIFICE for ALL of MANKIND, who, by the way was VERY SINFUL, And I hate to say it, but they STILL ARE. 

Jesus, being ALL MAN, was/is ALL GOD, and “He came into the very world He CREATED, but the world did NOT recognize Him. He came to His own people, and they REJECTED HIM.  But to ALL who BELIEVED in Him and ACCEPTED Him, He GAVE the RIGHT to become Children of the LIVING GOD.  They are REBORN—NOT with a PHYSICAL BIRTH, resulting from HUMAN PASSION or PLAN but a BIRTH that comes from GOD.”  (1:10-13)

Our Lord SUFFERED HORRIBLY from TERRIBLE BEATINGS, and other forms of TORTURE. Then He was NAILED to an OLD RUGGED CROSS and SHED His LIFE’S BLOOD to bring SALVATION and ETERNAL LIFE in HEAVEN, to this LOST and DYING WORLD. 

The LOVE of THE ALMIGHTY GOD does not STOP with the JEWISH PEOPLE, but it EXTENDS to ALL MANKIND of ALL RACES and of ALL the AGES. It is His WISH that ALL, EVERYONE, who BELIEVES in JESUS, and His SALVATION will NOT PERISH, but have ETERNAL LIFE in HEAVEN, with the FATHER and His SON.   Will you be able to do that? 

You will, IF you will ADMIT that YOU are a SINNER in NEED of the SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST, and if you will BELIEVE, with ALL your HEART that JESUS died for YOU, and that He is ALIVE in HEAVEN making intercession for YOU before God.  And if you will CONFESS your SINS to JESUS, asking Him for His FORGIVENESS.  Then you MUST be WILLING to TURN AWAY FROM your SINFUL LIFESTYLE and TURN TO GOD with a TRUE REPENTANT HEART.  And  yo ACCEPT God’s Gift of SALVATION then you will be able to have ETERNAL LIFE in HEAVEN with ALL its BLESSINGS, and to be ABLE to ESCAPE HELL, with ALL its HORRORS, and NO WAY to ESCAPE once you are there.  So, if you have NOT done this, PLEASE do it NOW, BEFORE it’s TOO LATE.  He’s WAITING and COMING SOON!!!  Don’t Be LEFT BEHIND!!!

“Behold God”

 “Behold God”

 

“Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid for Yah, the LORD is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.”   Isaiah 12:2

 

I LOVE this song, thank you, Booth Brothers for recording it.  This is a SONG of PRAISE, to the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. He is YAH, (shortened name for YAHWEH), the LORD.  Now, from what I understand, the Jewish people would NOT say the name of GOD, they considered it to be too HOLY to speak so, they called Him YAH.

This SONG of PRAISE is a SONG which will be for the JEWS to SING when the MILLENNIUM comes, and their Nation is RESTORED, and they RECOGNIZE and ACCEPT the LORD JESUS CHRIST as their MESSIAH, KING, LORD, and REDEEMER.

I LOVE the way this SONG begins: “Behold, God is MY SALVATION, I will TRUST and NOT BE AFRAID”!!  This SONG of PRAISE is a GREAT REMINDER to those of US who have ACCEPTED JESUS as our SAVIOR and LORD and we too CAN TRUST HIM and NOT BE AFRAID, because He is OUR SALVATION, OUR STRENGTH, OUR LORD and OUR SONG!!

We MUST TRUST and NOT be AFRAID, because He will be with us EVERY STEP of our WALK with Him.  We are the SHEEP of HIS Pasture, and HE is the GOOD SHEPHERD, who will take care of US.  And He has MADE it POSSIBLE for US to be a part of GOD’S FAMILY, no matter WHAT may come our WAY, we can TRUST and NOT be AFRAID, because He is our SALVATION!!  Is He YOUR SALVATION??

He can be, if YOU will ACCEPT HIM as YOUR SAVIOR and LORD. You too can experience His LOVE and FORGIVENESS and TRUST HIM and DON’T BE AFRAID, because He will be YOUR STRENGTH and YOUR SALVATION.  This is what YOU MUST DO; first, ADMIT that YOU are a SINNER in NEED of the SAVIOR, the Lord Jesus Christ, the ONE who DIED so you could be FORGIVEN of your SINS.  You MUST BELIEVE, with ALL your HEART that He DIED for YOU, and that He is ALIVE in Heaven making intercession for YOU before God.  You MUST CONFESS YOUR SINS to Him and ASK HIM for His FORGIVENESS.  You MUST be WILLING to TURN AWAY FROM your SINFUL LIFE-STYLE and TURN TO GOD with a TRUE REPENTANT HEART.  You MUST ACCEPT God’s Gift of SALVATION, and BE ABLE to PROCLAIM: “BEHOLD, GOD is MY SALVATION, I WILL TRUST and NOT be AFRAID, because HE is MY STRENGTH and MY SONG.

Do this NOW, while YOU STILL can.  He’s WAITING and COMING SOON!!!  Don’t Be LEFT BEHIND!!!

“ Short Commands”

 “Short Commands”

 

Do not quench the Spirit.  Do not despise prophecies.  Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.  1st Thessalonians 5:19-22

 

The Apostle Paul, in his sermon to the Thessalonians, gave them and US, quite a few SHORT COMMANDS that we SHOULD carry out until JESUS returns, to gather up His Church.  Paul’s commands are to HELP us in our last days on earth. 

Let us look at some of these SHORT COMMANDS.  In verse nineteen he advises us to NOT QUENCH the HOLY SPIRIT.  The word QUENCH means to SUPPRESS, so the Apostle Paul tells us, “Do NOT QUENCH or SUPPRESS the work of God’s Holy Spirit.  We are to allow God’s Spirit to do His WORK in our LIVES, because He who calls you to do a specific work is FAITHFUL.  And we CAN and SHOULD TRUST His Calling on our LIVES. 

Another SHORT COMMAND of the Apostle is that we should NOT. DESPISE PROPHECIES, but we should TEST ALL THINGS that are said.  If it goes AGAINST the WORD of GOD (Bible) then it is FALSE, and you should refrain from what is said or being taught.  But you SHOULD HOLD FAST to what is GOOD! 

The next SHORT COMMAND is that we SHOULD ABSTAIN FROM EVERY FORM of EVIL.  Even to the APPEARANCE of EVIL that could cause someone else to SIN.  These are only a few of the commands.  They are the ones that are SHORT and SIMPLE but FOLLOWING them is a LONG and HARD walk, sometimes.  And we NEED HELP, that is where the HOLY SPIRIT, who LIVES IN US, comes in.  He is there to be our GUIDE, COUNSELLOR, and COMPANION. 

So, if you are a CHILD of the LIVING GOD, then my advice to you is to READ the whole chapter five of 1st Thessalonians for ALL of Paul’s SHORT COMMANDS. And if you have NOT given your HEART and LIFE to GOD, then you are NOT a CHILD of GOD, and you’re facing GOD, who will pass JUDGMENT on you for FOLLOWING your SINFUL NATURE.  And REJECTING God’s Gift of SALVATION, and NOT FOLLOWING His SPIRIT but FOLLOWING the DEVIL, who will lead you to an ETERNITY in HELL, with ALL it’s HORRORS and NO WAY to ESCAPE, ONCE you are there. 

So, in order to ESCAPE such a DESTINY, you MUST ADMIT that YOU are a SINNER, in NEED of the SAVIOR, the LORD JESUS CHRIST.  You MUST BELIEVE that JESUS is the SON of GOD, and that He SHED HIS BLOOD to PAY the RANSOM for YOUR WRETCHED soul.  You MUST CONFESS your SINS to HIM and ASK Him for His FORGIVENESS.  You MUST be WILLING to TURN AWAY FROM your SINFUL LIFESTYLE and TURN TO GOD with a TRUE REPENTANT HEART.  You MUST ACCEPT God’s Gift of SALVATION and FOLLOW these SHORT COMMANDS that are LED by His HOLY SPIRIT.  Do this NOW, while you STILL can.  He’s WAITING and COMING SOON!!!   Don’t Be LEFT BEHIND!!!

“ Hold Tightly”

 “Hold Tightly”

 

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His Promise.  Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.  And let us NOT neglect our meeting together. As some people do, but encourage one another, especially NOW that the Day of His Return is drawing NEAR.   Hebrews 10:23-25

Our RELATIONSHIP with the Almighty God, is very IMPORTANT to our OBEDIENCE to Him.  And the ONLY WAY to have a RELATIONSHIP with our Creator, comes from our RELATIONSHIP with His ONE and ONLY Son, the LORD JESUS CHRIST. The ONLY One who could PROVIDE that RELATIONSHIP.  It was with His OWN SUFFERING, the SHEDDING of His OWN BLOOD, and His DEATH, and RESURRECTION. 

This HOPE is what we MUST HOLD TIGHTLY, without WAVERING. This HOPE is what we PROFESS. And we PROCLAIM it to others, because God CAN be TRUSTED to KEEP His Promises.  He is FAITHFUL and TRUSTWORTHY.  And as His CHILDREN, we MUST BE SUPPORTIVE of our WORSHIP to the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. He ALONE is WORTHY. 

It is ALSO IMPORTANT that we find ways to MOTIVATE and ENCOURAGE others to participate in ACTS of LOVE and GOOD WORKS.  And we MUST NOT FORSAKE our MEETING TOGETHER, as GOD’S CHILDREN, in LOVE and UNITY, for the GOOD of the BODY of the LORD JESUS CHRIST (the Church). 

We NEED to ENCOURAGE one another, and possibly RECEIVE some ENCOURAGEMENT also.  And the QUICKER, the BETTER.  ESPECIALLY because the DAY of CHRIST’S RETURN is IMMINENT. Are you READY for Him to say to YOU: “WELL DONE, My GOOD and FAITHFUL SERVANT”?  Or will He have to say to YOU: “DEPART FROM ME, I DON’T KNOW YOU”?

If you are a Child of God, but you are NOT attending Church, because, of some SELFISH, SELF-CENTERED desires, OR things are NOT going YOUR way.  Remember, You’re there to WORSHIP GOD WITH YOUR BROTHERS and SISTERS in the LORD.  It’s ALL about GOD and His SON, and NOT ABOUT YOUR SELF-CENTERED WORSHIP and PRAISE. Now I’m talking about people who don’t attend church, and they don’t attend because THEY DON’T WANT TO, it’s not because they are SICK, in the HOSPITAL or NURSING HOME or some other SITUATION that may come up, one that you DON’T HAVE ANY CONTROL over. They just don’t want to ATTEND.  

And if you are NOT a CHILD of GOD, and DON’T GO to Church, then your DESTINY is at SERIOUS RISK.  The LORD JESUS is COMING BACK SOON!!  We don’t KNOW when, but we KNOW it will be SOON, because there are SIGNS that indicate His IMMINENT RETURN. Then comes JUDGMENT.  If you don’t want to spend ALL of YOUR ETERNITY in HELL with ALL its HORRORS, and NO WAY to ESCAPE, once you are there, you MUST CHANGE that destiny by: ADMITTING that YOU are a SINNER in NEED of the SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST, the ONLY ONE able to KEEP YOU from an ETERNITY in HELL .  And YOU MUST BELIEVE with ALL your HEART, that JESUS DIED for YOU, and that He is ALIVE in Heaven, making intercession for you, before God.  You then, MUST CONFESS your SINS to Him and ASK Him for His FORGIVENESS.  You MUST be WILLING to TURN AWAY FROM your SINS and TURN TO GOD with a TRUE REPENTANT HEART.  You MUST ACCEPT God’s Gift of SALVATION and HOLD TIGHTLY to this HOPE.  DON’T GIVE Your ETERNAL DESTINATION to the DEVIL. Do this NOW, while you STILL can!  He’s WAITING and COMING SOON!!!  Don’t Be LEFT BEHIND!!!

“Led By God’s Truth”

 “Led By God’s Truth”

 

Lead me by Your truth and teach me, for You are the God who saves me.   Psalms 25:5

 

We are living in a world that has changed the TRUTH for LIES.  Many people seem to think that LIVING a LIE is EASIER than being TRUTHFUL.  So, they put themselves into the leadership of the DEVIL, who is the MASTER of DECEIT. And he makes LIVING A LIE, appear so MUCH BETTER, and EASIER, but he HIDES the DISASTROUS ending. 

Some are SO proficient at it, that they really don’t know what the TRUTH is.  And so, they CONTINUE to LIVE a LIE. And they LEAD others down the WRONG PATH. A PATH that can ONLY lead to a HORRENDOUS outcome, and to an ETERNAL TRAGEDY.    Hopefully, YOU are not going down this PATH.

King David is the Psalmist, and I detect a little bit of urgency.  In vv 1-3, David seems somewhat distraught, he says: “O LORD, I give my LIFE to YOU. I TRUST in You, MY GOD! Do not let me be DISGRACED, or let my enemies REJOICE in my DEFEAT.  No one who TRUSTS in You will ever be DISGRACED, but DISGRACE comes to those who try to DECEIVE others. 

In verse five David says: “LEAD ME by Your TRUTH and TEACH ME. All day long I PUT my HOPE in YOU.  He is IMPLORING God to LEAD him with His TRUTH, and to TEACH him about that TRUTH.  So, that he might NOT be guilty of DECEIVING others and end up DISGRACED. 

Like David, we NEED to SEEK God to LEAD US, by HIS truth.  And when we are SUBMISSIVE to His LEADERSHIP, we will be able to BE TAUGHT the TRUTH of GOD, and to LIVE our LIVES in HIS TRUTH, and NOT be GUILTY of DECEIVING others, and we will NOT be DISGRACED.

If you belong to GOD, HOPEFULLY, you are LIVING under the LEADERSHIP of His TRUTH, and you are being TAUGHT His TRUTH.  However, if you have NOT given your HEART and LIFE to God, then you are NOT BEING LED by His TRUTH, but you are functioning under the LEADERSHIP of the Devil, and your DESTINY will be an ETERNITY in HELL, with ALL its HORRORS, and NO WAY to ESCAPE once you are there, UNLESS, you ADMIT that YOU are a SINNER, in NEED of the SAVIOR, the LORD JESUS CHRIST, the ONLY SON of the LIVING GOD, who DIED to bring you an ETERNAL LIFE in HEAVEN with ALL its BLESSINGS.  You MUST BELIEVE, with ALL your HEART that JESUS DIED for YOU, and that He is ALIVE in Heaven, making intercession for you, before God.  You MUST CONFESS your SINS to Him and ask Him for His FORGIVENESS.  You MUST be WILLING to TURN AWAY from your SINS and TURN TO GOD with a TRUE REPENTANT HEART.   You MUST ACCEPT God’s Gift of SALVATION and be LED BY HIS TRUTH!!  So, do this NOW, while you STILL can!!!  He’s WAITING and COMING SOON!!!  Don’t Be LEFT BEHIND!!!  

 

 

“Opened Eyes”

 “Opened Eyes”

 

“I want you to open their eyes, so they will turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.  Then their sins will be forgiven and by faith in Me they will become part of God’s Holy People.”   Acts 26:18

 

The Apostle Paul was at one time a STRONG PERSECUTOR of the TRUE BELIEVERS of the LORD JESUS CHRIST.   BUT all of that CHANGED and Paul went from being a STRONG PERSECUTOR to being a STRONG WITNESS to the GENTILES (non-Jews).  This was quite a TRANSFORMATION for Paul, and it literally OPENED his EYES to the TRUTH of the GOSPEL of JESUS CHRIST.

You see, Paul had an ENCOUNTER with JESUS, one day, after the DEATH and RESURRECTION of the Lord.  Paul was on the road to Damascus, to hunt down the followers of Jesus.   When Paul met Jesus, it was like NO ENCOUNTER that Paul ever had.  He began telling of his ENCOUNTER, to King Agrippa.  “I was on the road to Damascus, when a light from heaven brighter than the sun shone down on me and my companions.  We ALL fell down, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?  It is USELESS for you to FIGHT AGAINST My WILL’.

Then Jesus told Paul: “Get to your feet!  For I have appeared to you to appoint you as My Servant and Witness.’  And Jesus said: “Yes, I am SENDING you to the GENTILES to OPEN their EYES so they may TURN from DARKNESS to LIGHT and from the POWER of SATAN to GOD. Then they will receive FORGIVENESS for their SINS and be given a PLACE among GOD’S People, who are SET APART (sanctified) by FAITH in ME.”  And that was Paul’s COMMISSIONING by the Lord Jesus Christ.   

Paul was GLORIOUSLY SAVED and SANCTIFIED to OPEN the EYES of all that he encountered.  And Paul was OBEDIENT to God, and MANY were TURNED AWAY FROM the POWER of Satan to the POWER of the ALMIGHTY GOD. And they had their EYES OPENED to the TRUTH of God’s Holy Word.   Anybody who receives Christ as their SAVIOR and LORD, is given this SAME MANDATE.  Matthew 28:18-20, is the COMMISSION for EVERY TRUE BELIEVER.  The Lord Jesus Christ says, “Therefore, GO and MAKE disciples of ALL the nations, BAPTIZING them in the NAME of the FATHER and the SON, and the HOLY SPIRIT. TEACH (Open eyes) these NEW DISCIPLES to OBEY ALL the COMMANDS I have given YOU.  And be SURE of this:  I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS EVEN TO THE END OF THE AGE.”

If you have NOT given your HEART and LIFE to God, by coming to JESUS for your SALVATION, then you are STILL UNDER the POWER of SATAN, and your EYES have NOT been OPENED, and you are STILL LIVING in DARKNESS, and headed for an ETERNITY in HELL with ALL its HORRORS, and NO WAY to ESCAPE once you are there.  In order to CHANGE your DESTINY, you MUST COME to JESUS and ADMIT that YOU are a SINNER in NEED of the SAVIOR.  And you MUST BELIEVE, with ALL your HEART that JESUS DIED for YOU and is ALIVE in HEAVEN, making intercession for you, before God.  You MUST CONFESS your SINS to Him and ask Him for His FORGIVENESS.  You MUST BE WILLING to TURN AWAY FROM your SINFUL LIFESTYLE and TURN TO GOD with a TRUE REPENTANT HEART.  You MUST ACCEPT God’s Gift of SALVATION and COME OUT of the DARKNESS and into the LIGHT and have your EYES OPENED to the TRUTH!   And RECEIVE YOUR COMMISSION.  Do this NOW, while you STILL can.  He’s WAITING and COMING SOON!!!  DON’T BE LEFT BEHIND!!!