WHEN ALIVE ISN’T LIVING AND DEAD ISN’T DYING
My good friend Greg O’neal asked us to pray for his mom who is in the ICU. I did and continue to uplift her to the Great Physician. This morning while at the gym the Lord spoke again to me about eternal life. His mother is alive but not really living with all the tubes and medical gadgets attached to her. She is “hanging in there” while the Lord uses the finest medical team in her world to keep her going. Greg is a great evangelist who has taken the Good News to many countries where thousands have received the assurance of eternal life. He knows his mom is “safe” but only Jesus knows she’s saved. He’s lived the life of Jesus before her as well as “preached” it as well. Surely she has made her peace with God who loves her.
How about you? Do you have the assurance that if you were to die today you would spend eternity with the Lord in Heaven? Either you do or you don’t. Either way, this message is for you. If you are alive in Jesus you can’t die. Jesus said this while standing at the grave of Lazarus. Then He raised him to life while the throng gathered there, gasped. Jesus Christ is God and has made promises that we must hold onto in order to be with Lazarus, and others who placed their full trust in Him. If you tell me you have done that, please don’t be offended if I ask you to prove it. If you have you will take delight in my challenge. If you have only partially placed your trust in Jesus, you’ll want to argue with me.
How do I know this? Simple, I’m always presenting Jesus to somebody. Those who have Him light up like a bulb. It’s as if I clicked a switch inside them and they begin to glow. Why, once they were the walking dead but now they are eternally alive in Him and know it. Salvation isn’t us stating some “facts” about Jesus. If you think so, please continue to read and see that our faith in Jesus is just the key to life. Once we say we believe in Him we should remember the devil does too. We must believe that His death on the cross was our death and His resurrection was ours before we can really make the eternal connection by being born again. Salvation is the result of our willingness to die to our will and surrender to Jesus Christ who is Lord. I will not argue with anyone on this for it would be a waste of my time.
Religion has overtaken the Good News and because of it, billions are now enslaved by rules and regulations not directed by the Holy Spirit. If you’ve submitted to them, I fear for you. You must break free and see Jesus dying for you personally and appeal to Him for His forgiveness.
It’s between you and Him. Think of a marriage, isn’t it between the man and his wife? Their union isn’t between them and their “family tree” of relatives. Having said that, allow me to say, Jesus adds us to the Body of Christ at our being born again of His Spirit. Do you understand that His Holy Spirit comes inside us when we’re Saved? It’s He who binds us to other born again Christians. His Body is world wide, not in a building or even a denomination. When I was young I was told by a priest in the Catholic Church, if I wasn’t a Catholic I’d go to hell. With many tears I told him that I was an Episcopalian and I was going to heaven. He believed his position and I definitely believed mine but we were both wrong.
Jesus didn’t go into all the world and make Catholics and Episcopalians, Baptist or any other denomination. No, He said go into to all the world and make disciples. Now lets let some rubber hit the road, are you a disciple? I wasn’t until I was almost 33. I could hold my own with anyone who wanted to compare our labors in our church fellowship. There wasn’t much I hadn’t done or would be willing if asked. The problem, as I learned later my service was always on my terms, and not God’s.
This changed after my wife met Jesus in 1971. Six weeks or so later I met Him in my pastor’s office. This “experience” is still with me. That night the Holy Spirit came to my bed where I lay praying. He covered me from my tip toes to my head with His power to witness. I haven’t stopped as you can see reading this message. You can also receive the same power by reading Luke 3:16, understanding what is being said and then asking the Lord to come upon you so you can be a witness too. If you love Him and are afraid to tell others why, this may be the reason. You have been trying to do it in your power and not His.
Once you‘re engaged with the Lord nothing is better. You can see He’s using you to bring dead folks to life; where their life will never end, even if they should experience a physical death. Sound exciting? You bet and you can start right now. Jesus hangs out at the cross. Go and tell Him how you feel about Him dying for you. Ask Him to forgive you, then ask Him to save your soul. He Will!
In His Service,
Capt. Ben Marler
captben61@gmail.com captben61.blogspot.com
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