Faith

I used to have this scripture written on a piece of paper hanging near the computer in my office, so I’d often see it:

"Faith* comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17 – NKJV)

The problem was that it never made much sense to me. Why? Because I was blind to the truth, even though at that time I wanted to convince my self otherwise.

The lack of reading or hearing the Word of God was like a dry field with no rain. How could anything grow if there was no seed and no rain?

My understanding came after I received my salvation. The springs of the well of my heart were overflowing with living waters.

I had begun reading the Bible and listening to preachers speak. No longer would I be hindered by only hearing a few repeated scriptures year after year. That lack of knowledge had left me numb and unfufilled.

Now my eyes had begun to open to see the truth, and my ears were opened to hear the truth, too. My heart was now being filled with the love of God, and I wanted to give Him all my praise. Now, I wanted to honor Him with my life.

The Bible tells us that “…the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:7 – NKJV)

I began to understand what it meant to have faith in God. I realized how much God truly loved me, and that I could completely trust Him.

In Hebrews 11:6 (KJV) of the Bible we find that: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”

God allows us to find Him when we truly seek Him. Once we accept God’s free gift of salvation, our faith grows through a confident trust, and we want to please Him.

“Jesus said to them, ‘… for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.’ ” (Matthew 17:20 – NKJV)

I believe the miracle of moving mountains by faith, which was proven to me again in my life in July 2012. I had prayed with faith for God to sell my house and be able to simultaneously buy another, less expensive house at a new location. I told others that I believed God would do this for me. I knew that He would because of this confident faith I have in Him. All this occurred in an economy when most houses were not selling. In an economy in America comparable to the Great Depression, God answered my prayer of faith. Although doubt would arise, trust would be released to God with greater faith restored, as the mountains moved.

As children of God (saved believers), we can move these mountains with confident trust and faith in Him: “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)

Until we virtually meet again, may God call you to Himself.

God’s Word for Today: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1 – NKJV)

*All words emphasized in bold are my addition to make the word(s) more noticeable.

Copyright © 2012 by Patricia Shehan

Salvation

Salvation? What is it? I didn’t really understand what it meant when I was growing up inside “ritualized religion.” No one ever talked about it.

The definition of salvation from a combination of dictionaries describes this word as being delivered from the consequences of sin and preserved from destruction.

I knew I had sinned (and we have all sinned, because we were born into sin), but I didn’t know that I would need to be “saved.” For the first time, as an adult, I was once asked, “Are you saved?” Yet, I didn’t know what this meant. I was ignorant!

I believed that if you didn’t go to Heaven, then you would certainly go to Hell. For awhile, I believed if you were on your way to Heaven, but needed to still get rid of some sin, then you would go to a holding place called Purgatory. However, I was very disturbed by this teaching that someone had to pray for you to get out of there. I questioned my mom by asking her what would happen if no one prayed for you? Then you’d be stuck in this limbo forever? This is not Biblical at all!

I certainly wanted to go to Heaven, but I never had any assurance that I would get there when I died. I certainly did not want to go to Purgatory or to Hell!

How about you? When you were growing up, did you have a confidence that you would go to Heaven when you died? Did you have this in adulthood? Or do you have the confidence of salvation now?

God knew that someday I would come to a point in my life where I would call out to Him and He would save me. He knew that I would fully surrender myself and my life to Him. My faith would grow and I would come to understand that I could have this confidence of salvation and Heaven. I grew to love God with all my heart. I had a yearning to know Him.

“For God says, ‘At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.’ Indeed, the ‘right time’ is now. Today is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2 – NLT)

God accepts our repentance when we ask for forgiveness. He helps us to be able to turn away from sin. He has mercy on us, and we can receive His grace. Salvation becomes available to us because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In Romans 10:10 (NKJV) of the Bible, we learn that “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” [My emphasis in bold]

The Bible tells us that: “…every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in My presence only, but now much more in My absence, work out your own salvation [my emphasis] with fear and trembling. For it is God that works in you both to will and to do His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:11-13 – NJKV)

"For by grace you have been saved [my emphasis] through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, we are saved by faith." (Ephesians 2:8 – NKJV)

I came to learn that some Christians even have a saying that they believe. They say, “once saved, always saved.” In many scriptures, this can hold truth for the follower of Jesus Christ. However, this statement also proves false, because I believe that it is possible to lose our salvation. Many are conflicted on this particular determination.

The scriptures explain that there is a way to either never gain salvation or to lose it altogether. Read these Bible scriptures as follows:

"When people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before. It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life." (2 Peter 2:20-21 – NLT)

"For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened — those who have experienced the good things of Heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the power of the age to come — and who then turn away from God. It is impossible [my emphasis] to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing Him to the cross again and holding Him up to public shame." (Hebrews 6:4-6 – NLT) – [My emphasis in bold.]

When we receive this beautiful gift of salvation; we can choose to keep it or not. We can continue to accept God and live our lives with Him and for Him, or we can decide to reject Him. This is our choice. Salvation is a choice. Have you chosen salvation? Only God can give us salvation through our faith. It is a free gift through grace from God. I pray (if you haven’t already) that you will be saved today!

“Show us your mercy, Lord, and grant us your salvation.” – (Psalm 85:7 – NKJV) [My emphasis in bold.]

Until we virtually meet again, may God call you to Himself.

God’s Word for Today: “Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim the good news of His salvation [my emphasis in bold] from day to day. (1 Chronicles 16:23 – NKJV)

Copyright © 2012 by Patricia Shehan

Don't Look Back!

We just recently moved. Most would consider it to be a major move, although we are still living in the same state. It’s a journey to where the Lord was leading us.

In the Word of God, we learn that Lot and his family were living in the midst of Sodom. They were led by the Lord’s angels to make a major move, too, or they would have been destroyed with everyone living in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

“When they were safely out of the city, one of the angels ordered, "Run for your lives! And don't look back or stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away!” (Genesis 19:17 — NLT) — [My emphasis in bold.]

                                                           

The Bible continues to inform us that “Lot reached the village just as the sun was rising over the horizon. Then the Lord rained down fire and burning sulfur [brimstone] from the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah. He utterly destroyed them, along with the other cities and villages of the plain, wiping out all the people and every bit of vegetation. But Lot's wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt." (Genesis 19:23-26 — NLT) — [My emphasis in bold.]

This story is so amazing, not only because God completely destroyed everything in these cites (due to the horrible sins being committed by the people living there), but also because Lot’s wife decided to look back after they had escaped, and she turned into a pillar of salt. She was warned not to look back, but she did it anyway. 

Many times in the past, I’ve looked back at my life, and wondered and questioned so much of it. I feel quite blessed that I am still alive!

Why do we dwell on the past? Does it do us any good in the present or for our future? Even if our past has taught us a lesson, we don’t need to look back anymore.

When I began to read the Bible, I realized that I really needed to stop thinking about all that had happened in my past. I needed to forgive others and move on. God was leading me in a new direction, a better direction, because now I was following Him.

God teaches us that the “renewing of your mind” is how we should live (see Romans 12:2).

To realize that the Lord does not want us to look back, is to see that He wants us to stay focused on Him and on the present. We are in the palm of God’s hand when we allow Him to be in control of our lives. We have free will, but our will can be His will when we choose to follow Him.

Don’t look back; you’re not going that way! Look in front of you! Look forward with hope.

Until we virtually meet again, may God call you to Himself.

God’s Word for Today: “ ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ ” (Jeremiah 29:11 — NIV) — [My emphasis in bold.]

Copyright © 2012 by Patricia Shehan

Baptism

Have you been baptized? When? If not, why?

For me, I was originally baptized as an infant (just a tiny baby!) and I was certainly not aware of what was taking place. This is the tradition of the Catholic church. Their belief is that this “sacrament” cleanses the original sin of Adam, so that if you were to die, you’d be forgiven and ready for eternal life with God.

I believe baptism is very important. However, it wasn’t until much later in my life that I would come to understand why I should be the one to make this decision to be baptized, and why no one else could really make it for me!

“John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” (Mark 1:4 — KJV)

Initially, after accepting Jesus Christ into my heart and following Him, I didn’t think I needed to be baptized again! Yet, we are given choices. If we have been given a sound mind, we need to choose to follow God’s way.

"Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned." (Mark 16:16 — NLT)

How is that possible if you’re a baby? Someone else decides for you. I found that this did not "line up" with the Word of God (the Bible).

"Peter replied, 'Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.' " (Acts 2:38 — NLT)

You cannot repent of your own sins when you are merely a baby. You must be old enough to have a sound mind to make this decision for yourself. You cannot turn to God for salvation, which is also required unless you can understand and that can't be so when you are baby either. You must be old enough to understand.

John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way of the Lord, Jesus Christ. "He went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had turned to God to receive forgiveness for their sins" [bold my emphasis]. (Luke 3:3 NLT,

God showed me another bit of wisdom through the symbolism in my dream (see entry entitled: “I Surrender All”), which was the fact that water can drown out or destroy fire. The symbolism of water can be seen as washing away our past sin. The way to wash away sin is to repent (ask God for forgiveness, receive it, and change your ways), and to be baptized in water.

“And this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also — not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God" [bold my emphasis]. "It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 3:21 — NIV)

This scripture indicates that we must have “a good conscience toward God” and that water symbolizes baptism, which also saves, as it cleanses from sin.

The Bible also tells us that: “In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with [Him] through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses.” (Colossians 2:11-13 — NKJV)

“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 2:38-41 — KJV)

The Bible tells us: “Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, [here is] water. What hinders me from being baptized?" When Philip preached the gospel to the eunuch, that man's heart was ravished by the Word. Immediately, he begged to be baptized. Philip said to him, ‘...If thou believe with all thy heart, thou may...’ ” (Acts 8:36-37 — NKJV)

Wow! You see, when God places the call on your life, you will follow. You will be baptized!

The act of being baptized cleanses our lives of ALL prior sin. Baptism provides us with a way to show others our commitment of dedicating ourselves to following God and becoming Christlike, leaving our old sinful ways and habits behind.

God helps us to change. We cannot do it on our own. We do, however, have to make the choice to allow Him to change us. We have to be willing.

Some teach that baptism is not required. They say that the man on the cross next to Jesus was told he’d be in paradise with Jesus that very same day, and he was never baptized. Well, I say there was an exception, but that was before Jesus had been resurrected. Jesus' own words after His resurrection were recorded in the Bible, and He tells us that we must be baptized. According to the Bible, baptism is required to be saved.

“He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16 — NJKV)

My daughter and I both were baptized (again) as Christians, no longer unaware of what we were doing, as it was when we were baptized as babies! This time we had a clear conscience to make our own decision to be baptized, as the eunuch in the story mentioned earlier. If you haven’t been baptized yet, or if you were baptized as an infant without making the decision yourself, please consider the great reward of this action to follow God.

Until we virtually meet again, may God call you to Himself.

God’s Word for Today: “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4 — NKJV)

*All words in bold are my own added emphasis.

Copyright © 2012 by Patricia Shehan

Born Again!

Until I read the Bible, I had no idea that the words “born again” were in there. I was quite surprised!

Many years ago, as a young adult, I was invited by a friend of mine to go to an event at a Baptist church. We were both “practicing Catholics” at the time.

At the end of the event, everyone got into a circle to pray. I felt very strange! I had never prayed out loud before in a group setting. I thought to myself, there was no way I was going to say anything! I felt relieved when they announced the option to “pass” if you didn’t have anything to say.

Of course, when the prayer time came to me, I quietly muttered: “Pass.”

Afterward, one of the girls from this church came over to me and asked if I was “born again.”

I thought to myself, “Are you kidding me?” That sounded so crazy to me at the time. I replied by saying, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She questioned me further. I felt really dumb! I said I was Catholic. I didn’t know the slightest thing about defending my faith, but she certainly did!

I was so blinded by the truth, and I wanted to know more, but it would still be many, many years before I would understand.

In the Bible, Jesus’ words speak of being “born again” of “water” and of “spirit.”

I thought back to that time when that girl so long ago had questioned me about being born again.

The Bible describes Jesus Christ speaking to Nicodemus (a Jewish religious leader; a Pharisee who had come to Jesus at night to question Him). Nicodemus knew that God had sent Jesus to teach him and others, and he had noted the miraculous signs as evidence of this.

Jesus told Nicodemus that he would not see God’s Kingdom unless he was “born again,” but Nicodemus did not understand. How could a person be “born again” after already being birthed from their mother’s womb?

Jesus states the difference. A human can produce another human birth, but only the spirit can produce a spiritual birth. So, Jesus tells Nicodemus not to be surprised by this truth. (See John 3:6.)

Spiritual rebirth cannot be explained, Jesus tells Nicodemus, because it is spiritual. Jesus says in John 3:8: “The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can't tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can't explain how people are born of the Spirit.”

Nicodemus still did not understand how this was possible, as Jesus Christ noted that he's a respected Jewish religious leader!

I did not understand this for quite awhile myself. I merely heard the terms “born again” and thought it sounded really weird. Not anymore!

If you’re reading this and you think it’s crazy like I used to think, I am praying for you! Because if you’re not “born again” of the Spirit, it means you will die in your sins and you won’t be able to enter Heaven.

You have a choice. God loves you. Yet, God won’t force anyone to love Him back or accept Him in their heart. He gives us free will. I hope you will choose wisely so that you can be “born again” into the Kingdom of God. I want to see you in Heaven! God wants everyone to be there with Him someday!

Simply open your heart to God today. Believe that Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son died on the cross for your sins. Speak it aloud. Tell God you believe in Him and what He has done for us by allowing us direct access to Him, through His Son, and His Holy Spirit that He freely gives to us upon our belief in Him. Accept Him into your heart. Speak it aloud. Believe that Jesus rose from the dead to give you new life for you to be born again. Speak it aloud. Ask Jesus Christ to forgive you of all your sins, as only He can, and tell Him you will no longer commit those sins as you repent and He helps you to change. Speak it aloud. Accept His Holy Spirit into your life and you, too, can be born again. Speak it aloud. You are a new creation in Christ. Now, you must be baptized, too. This symbolizes the washing away of your old life of sin in front of a group of witnesses, and that the new life you will now live is by committing yourself to obey God and live out your days as a Christian. You will desire baptism now, as the Holy Spirit makes His home in your own dwelling inside of  you where you were once separated from Him by sin. Be born again by God, as only He can give to you. Believe, accept, become a new "babe in Christ." You will always be grateful for your choice both here and in the world to come for eternity! God was waiting for you all along to choose to love Him back. He loves what He has created. We are His creation. We were separated from Him due to sin. Now, we have been given this free will to choose to be born again into the Kingdom of God to receive Him (for God is love), and to regain our right relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. Amen! (See: Romans 10:9-10 and Mark 16:16)

Until we virtually meet again, may God call you to Himself to believe, repent, be baptized, and be born again! Hallelujah!

God’s Word for Today: “Jesus answered, ‘Verily verily, I say to you, unless you are born again (of water and the Spirit) you cannot see (or enter into) the Kingdom of God.’ ” (John 3:3 & 5)

Copyright © 2012 by Patricia Shehan