YOU COULD BE DEBT-FREE

Do you ever wish you were debt-free? How and when can that happen? You would need to start by identifying your debtor, figuring out how much you owe, when payment is due, and how to settle that debt. So, who are your debtors? What would you do if you couldn’t afford to pay that debt? You might file for bankruptcy or try to find someone to pay on your behalf.

I’m sure my questions so far make you think of your financial obligations. While they are important, I’m actually talking about your spiritual debt, which you may not even know you have. This is what God says: “Everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standards” (Romans 3:23). How did we fall short? “When Adam [our ancestor] sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned” (Romans 15:12).

God, being holy and just, has to punish sin, and He declares what the punishment is: “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Although He has clearly stated the punishment, He has also shown us how to be debt-free—how to receive debt forgiveness. It isn’t that our sins will be swept under the carpet, but rather, someone else has already taken our punishment on Himself—Jesus Christ, the Son of God. God’s justice is therefore satisfied in Christ.

We each have a role to play. Although Jesus paid our debt, each individual has to personally accept Jesus’ payment as their own, and pray, asking God for forgiveness based on that. Anyone who does not take this step cannot benefit from Jesus’ work, which means that person will have to pay for their own debt through death, also known as eternal separation from God in hell.     

What would you like to do now, or have you settled this issue already? If not, where would you go if you died tonight: heaven or hell? This question is important because “Each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). If you are not sure where you’ll go, I’d like to encourage you to call on Jesus today; tomorrow might be too late. You can repent and ask for forgiveness only while you’re alive.

 If you have prayed and asked God for forgiveness, I’d like to welcome you to the family of God. He has forgiven you and adopted you into His family, and has come to dwell in your heart through His Holy Spirit. Now you are His child—a new person: “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

So, as a new person, where do you go from here? The Holy Spirit is going to direct you as you pray and read the Bible: “Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation” (1 Peter 2:2). As you obey what you read, your desires and interests will begin to change gradually to line up with the Bible. You should focus on becoming more like Jesus: “You must be holy because I am holy” (1 Peter 116). In addition, seek to join other believers for fellowship, prayer, and studying the Word of God. And don’t forget to share your experience with others who need to do the same thing. Again, welcome to the family of God; rejoice that God has removed your sins as far away as the east is from the west, never to be brought up again. Your debt is fully paid! 

OUR DISOBEDIENCE HURTS GOD

Disobedience is neglecting or refusing to obey; not doing what is commanded, or doing what is prohibited, and not being observant of duty or rules prescribed by an authority.

Beginning with Adam and Eve, God has communicated with people through instructions and commands. The first couple were instructed what to and not to eat, plus they were told to name the animals and to multiply and fill the earth. Later, Noah was asked to build a large boat, bring in his family, the animals, food, etc. At the end of the flood, God let them out of the boat, blessed them, and commanded them to multiply and fill the earth (see Genesis 9:1). After many years, God called Abraham and asked him to leave his native country, relatives, and family, and go and start life all over in another land (see Genesis 12:1). And now, through the Scriptures, He commands us to turn away from sin, trust in Jesus for salvation, and live godly lives.

God, being the Creator and in charge of everything, does not need instructions from anyone; we can petition Him, but nothing more. It is encouraging, however, to know that God has our welfare at heart, and so His instructions are for our good: not because He wants to be bossy. He has the right to be whatever He chooses and does not have to answer to anyone. He loves to bless us and help us to thrive, but the only way He will to do that is if we obey Him.

When we choose to go our own way and not obey Him, we give Him no choice but to:

●     Withhold blessings—Adam and Eve were cursed when they disobeyed. When Cain killed Abel, he was cursed.

●     Punish us—Jonah went in the opposite direction of where his assignment should have taken him; God prepared a great fish to swallow him, and he was in the belly of the fish for three days and nights. (See Jonah 1: 1-17). When Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, lied to Peter and the Holy Spirit, they were severely punished, each dropping dead on the spot (see Acts 5:1-5; 8-10).

●     Cause Himself pain because of our pain.

It is quite evident through his relationship with the Israelites that God hates to punish us; He’d rather we obey so He can bless us: “Oh, that they would always have hearts like this, that they might fear me and obey all my commands! If they did, they and their descendants would prosper forever” (Deuteronomy 5:29). God is so ready to bless us in any way possible (see Deuteronomy 28:1-14). He literally begged them to repent so He could withdraw whichever calamity He had brought upon them. He had given them the commandment to not worship anything except Him, the One true God who, through performing all kinds of miracles, brought them out of slavery in Egypt. In the wilderness, He provided manna and quails for food, provided water from the rock, and made paths in the Red Sea and the Jordan River to get them into the Promised Land.

How else did they want Him to prove that He could and would take care of them? They disobeyed Him again and again, doing abominable things like sacrificing their children to Baal. God was flabbergasted and lamented because it had never even crossed His mind to command something like that (see Jeremiah 19:5). 

How about us, His children, today? Are we obeying Him? The honest answer is NO! We don’t obey all the time; we are selective in our obedience. Let’s consider a couple simple examples: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and, and thank him for all he has done” (Philippians 4:6). Which one of us obeys this command one hundred percent of the time? To our shame, we worry about health, finances, and you name it. How about “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Are we thankful in all situations, knowing that it is God’s will for us? No! When things are going well, we claim the glory for ourselves instead of thanking God for it. And when things are not going well, we find no reason or joy in giving thanks; we behave like the Israelites did in the wilderness, murmuring and complaining with no gratitude.

So, we see we are no different than the Israelites. May God help us to start taking Him seriously, and obey Him; after all, it’s for our own good! If we do, He’ll bless us for His glory, and He won’t have to lament over situations so much!

THE UNBORN ARE THE PLAINTIFF IN GOD’S COURT

GOD—This court is in session; let’s hear the plaintiff’s case.

UNBORN –Thank you, your Honor! It gives us great pleasure that we can come before you, King of kings, Lord of lords, the One who does no wrong, the One who is Just and does not let the guilty go unpunished. Your Honor, please hear us out.

Your Honor, You created us in our mothers’ wombs (Isaiah 49:1) and gave us 37 to 40 weeks in which to be fed, loved, and nurtured inside the womb: how much time You set for us to be fully developed and be born, to do what You have planned for us before the foundation of the world. However, our parents made lame excuses and interrupted our development. They yanked us out of our comfortable environments through the cruelest procedures imaginable.

They made excuses: they were too young, still in school, had no money, and didn’t have a place of their own. They apparently didn’t want children until they finished school and got jobs, money, housing, and spouses. Wow! Why didn’t they wait until they were ready to have sex? Why should we suffer to make life convenient for them? Your Honor, even worse, some of our parents actually have all these things already, but came up with another excuse to get rid of us. They convinced themselves and whoever would listen that they already had all the children they wanted and could take care of.

In the instances when our mothers wanted to keep us, our fathers objected and put so much pressure on our mothers that they relented. On other occasions, our fathers wanted us, but couldn’t convince our mothers to have us because our mothers can do whatever they want with their bodies! Your Honor, is it true that they have the right to do as they please with their bodies? Maybe so, but we are not their bodies; their bodies are housing us, only temporarily. Oh, and there were times when our fathers were unaware that we even existed; our mothers just decided on their own and got rid of us. 

Your Honor, there were times when we were the products of rape or incest, a very tragic situation indeed. But should we suffer for the behavior of irresponsible adults? No matter how we came to be, our rights should still be protected; we deserve to live. Another unfortunate situation, Your Honor, is where some of our mothers’ have run into health complications during their pregnancy; it was either our life or theirs. In those instances, Your Honor, shouldn’t they include you in the decision-making as to who lives or dies?     

Your Honor, our complaint is not only against our parents, but also against our grandparents, society, the abortion industry, and the government, for the roles they played in our demise. Some grandparents forbade our mothers: “You can’t bring a baby here,” they said; they threatened to kick them out of the house if they had a baby. Some said our mothers were too young, and some tried to dissuade their daughters by saying they couldn’t help with our care. Our own grandparents couldn’t love us enough to fight for us!

Your Honor, we have a case against society because they say we are not human until we are born; they are so wrong! We move, suck our thumbs, and feel pain, among other things. They also agree that the mothers have a right to do as they please with their bodies. We aren’t their bodies - we are human. How about our right to live? Doesn’t anybody care? Didn’t You say to Jeremiah, the prophet, “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5 NLT)? So, we were humans right from the beginning of conception.

The abortionist and their staff, day after day, leave home under the pretext of going to work, and their work is to kill us! How can killing innocent people be categorized as work? Killing is not work; it's murder! Would they murder their own children?

Now, your Honor, our case is also against the government. It failed to defend our rights as humans and to add insult to injury, it pays for us to get murdered. Shouldn’t the government put some law in place that protects us? We need the government to make some provisions to protect us; that’s the least we can ask for.

Your Honor, we rest our case, knowing that You are just and hate evil. We leave our concerns with You and trust that You will vindicate us, and make an end to this practice of murdering the unborn. This is our prayer, “O LORD, the God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, let your glorious justice shine forth! Arise, O judge of the earth. Give the proud what they deserve” (Psalm 94:1-2). Thank you!  

GOD—Dear children, I give you My Word! All those involved in interfering with My plans are going to answer to Me, no matter how long it takes. What don’t they understand about, “You must not murder” (Exodus 20:13 NLT)? Anyone who has played a role in your murder I will hold responsible unless they repent.

Your parents need to understand that I hate fornication (see 1 Corinthians 6:9-10). They also need to know that children are My gift to them (see Psalm 127:3); when they abort their children, they have broken My law, despised my gift, and committed murder. I will hold them responsible for all this unless they repent.   

My response to the government is this: “How long will you hand down unjust decisions by favoring the wicked? Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. Rescue the poor and helpless; deliver them from the grasp of evil people” (Psalm 82:2-4 NLT).

To those who are indifferent to the situation and don’t speak up against this evil, I say, “Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to die; save them as they stagger to their death. Don’t excuse yourself by saying, ‘Look, we didn’t know.’ For God understands all hearts, and sees you. He who guards your soul knows you knew. He will repay all people as their action deserves” (Proverbs 24:11-12 NLT).

My warning to all who directly or indirectly murder the unborn: “Their blood is crying out to me for vengeance, and I will avenge their blood unless you repent” (see Genesis 4:10). I am the LORD! 

RECONSIDER YOUR PRIORITIES

 

Priorities are the things, responsibilities, needs, and the like that you’d consider most important to you; things that you like to take care of before anything else. So, having defined the word, what is your most important need right now? We all have needs and we like to categorize them in a particular order based on how important or urgent we think they are, and how much time we have. However, there are times when what we consider the most important really isn’t as critical as we think; we’ve just categorized it wrong.

 Here’s a case in point. One afternoon, after Pentecost, Peter and John encountered a lame man at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple. That had been the lame man’s spot day after day, where he always sat and begged from those who passed by, going into the Temple. This man’s need appeared to be money to provide for himself. Many people would agree that in his situation—being lame and therefore unemployed-- money was his most crucial need.

Peter, however, thought healing was the man’s most pressing need. If he had health, he could work and take care of himself and would not need to depend on the kindness of others to survive. So, Peter did not give him a couple of coins and wish him a good afternoon, as the man might have expected. Instead, Peter got the man’s attention and then said to him, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk” (Acts 3:6). Peter took the lame man by the hand and helped him up; he received instant healing—he began to walk and leap, praising God. That man’s life was forever changed! I’d assume he stopped begging and went on to work to take care of himself!

How about you and me? What do we need the most? And what do we ask of God when we pray? Generally speaking, we often pray for our needs and those of our loved ones to be met. We pray for needs that just show up, our jobs, etc. But are those really our greatest needs? The Scriptures have the answer for us: “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” (Matthew 6:33). For our needs to be met, we need to focus on God’s business, which is loving Him and obeying His Word. Loving Him will be evident through our obedience, our soul-winning efforts, and our eager expectation of His return. This should be our number one priority! And since God is faithful, we should rest assured that He will provide for us.

Also, the apostle Paul directs our attention to the same thing when he reminds the church of Colosse: “Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:1-3). Our focus and priority should be on God and heaven.  

Let’s pray for God’s help so we’ll be able to put Him first at all times and in all things. Psalm 24:1tells us: “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.” If we believe this verse, trusting Him with our lives and needs should be easy. People, without us saying a word, should be able to figure out what our top priority is, simply by watching how we live our lives! Let’s take the time every now and then to make sure our priorities are in the right order: always with God at the top of our list!