Correction

Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,

Last Days: Days of Great Tribulation

Incorrect:
We are told of the many perils Jews and Christians will endure as a result of the diabolical powers of the Anti-Christ during "Great Tribulation".


Correct:
We are told of the many perils Christians (Christian Jews and Gentiles) will endure as a result of the diabolical powers of the Anti-Christ during "Great Tribulation."

Yours in Christ's love,
Denise

The New Birth

Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,

Last season we realized that we are living in the Last Days of this dispensation, meaning Christ's return is even sooner than we had thought. We had said how to prepare for meeting the Savior, only in passing though, so in this blog we will talk more.

We begin the Race to salvation by first believing The Word of Truth when it is revealed to us for "without faith, it is impossible to please [God]…" (Hebrews 11:6). Jesus Christ is Lord because with His Life He paid for our sin. God raised Jesus from the dead and gave Him the greatest Name making Jesus Lord. Unfortunately some are disqualified at this first part of the Race simply for not believing. In Jesus Parable of The Sower and the Seed, this is the group represented by the Wayside. We have avoided disqualification here so now we are "on our marks."

The next step in the Christian Race is to repent of our past sins and determine to live like Jesus in the future. Those who fall out of the Race at this stage do not endure temptations. They either enjoy the pleasures of sin instead of the rewards of righteousness, or they are weak so they fall when tempted to continue transgressing against the Law of God. If already a believer, the temptation is to commit sin randomly. Whether unbelievers or Christians, we have to take the Way God has made for us to escape temptation: faith in His Word. When Jesus was tempted in the Wilderness, He used the Word of God to endure. Using the Word of God is easy, for example, the next time we are tempted to mistreat someone we should say aloud with faith, It is written, "You shall
love your neighbor as yourself," and we too shall endure temptations (Mark 12:31). To prevent disqualification for sin, believers must obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We have reached the Water Baptism stage. In this part of the Race we have to find a local church and express our wish to be Water Baptized. I had to take a class for several weeks to learn the implications of my decision for Water Baptism. Upon successful completion of the course, I was baptized in the Name of Jesus. The year was 2004. Christ Himself was Water Baptized in the River Jordan before beginning Service to God, the Father. It is written that "the Spirit like a dove [descended] upon Him" immediately after He came up out of the water (Mk. 1:10). If you guessed that receiving the Gift of the Holy Spirit is next, you are right.

We have made it to another important first part of the Christian Race—the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Yes, we are still only in the early stages. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is a little more complicated than Water Baptism, which is probably why it has been misunderstood. We have gone from "tarrying" for the Holy Spirit to excluding Him altogether. What happened? The former probably due to ignorance, God knows the reason for the latter. I thank the Lord for helping us to grow, since receiving the Gift of the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential to the life of the believer. According to Scripture, we must express this wish as well. At this stage in the Christian Race, we simply let the minister know that we would like to receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, now we have made Jesus Christ our Lord and have been Water Baptized in His Name.

We may not have to be Water Baptized before Baptism of the Holy Spirit can take place, but we must have received Christ Jesus as our Lord before we can receive the Gift of God's Holy Spirit. Accepting Jesus as Lord is a spiritual cleansing prerequisite to receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost.

The minister will ensure that all the conditions have been met, and then he or she will most likely pray to God first for the Promise. One of two things could happen next, we could just begin to speak with other tongues after hearing the spoken Word of God like Cornelius and his household did, or he may lay hands on us and the Gift of the Holy Ghost be imparted then (Acts 10:44, 19:6). Either way we will speak in other tongues (foreign languages) as the Spirit gives us the Words to say (utterance) (The Amplified Bible, Acts 2:4). We may even prophesy at the same time, but we must speak in tongues, else we have not yet received the Gift of the Holy Spirit. I did both. I spoke in other tongues and prophesied like the Ephesians in Acts Chapter 19, when I first received the Holy Spirit more than a decade ago. Speaking in tongues was my most memorable New Birth experience.

If you thought we felt like a brand new person in the earlier stages of the Christian Race, you have not spoken in tongues yet. For me saying Words I do not understand is very humbling, but again absolutely vital to the life of the believer, as the infilling of the Holy Spirit advances us to the next lap in the Race to Salvation.

You may have noticed I was Water Baptized after receiving the Holy Spirit (like Cornelius and his household). Incidentally, I had begun the Race to Salvation at the age of 12. I had made Jesus my Lord, had gotten Water Baptized and was "tarrying"
for the Holy Ghost, but my life was uncommitted, so in the late 90's, I began the Race again from scratch and have been obedient to the Gospel of Jesus Christ ever since, so help me God. Maybe I could have just picked up where I had left off, but I had been living in sin for years, and I believe the Holy Ghost led me to start over.

If we have not been disqualified so far, we are now ready for perfecting. At this next lap in the Race, finding a group of Christians to assemble with regularly is not a bad idea. Actually it is written that we should congregate with other Christians (Hebrews 10:25). This means becoming a member of a local church. It may be the same church in which we began the Race. It must be a church that believes and practices the Gospel of Jesus Christ; knowing that the Race is not over, but that we are all running together, helping to perfect each other all the way.

Finally remember: Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. And now that we are born again children of God, The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong…. But he [who] shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved (John 3:3, Ecclesiastes 9:11, Mk. 13:13).

Yours in Christ's Love, Denise.

Last Days: Days of Great Tribulation

Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,

The election of our souls is the single most important decision we will ever make as it determines if we will perish or live forever.

The age-old question of the Anti-Crhist does not come up often enough in in Christian circles but when it does, I as a Christian, join the debate. There are many Scriptures to study concerning the Anti-Christ that diligent Bible scholars have for hundreds of years now. With the help of the Holy Spirit I myself was able to search for the Truth. In this blog we will talk about the Anti-Christ, compare the times we are living in to his generation, and review our options.

The Holy Scriptures calls the Anti-Christ: The Anti-Christ, The Man of Sin, The Son of Perdition, and The Beast (1 John 2:18, 2 Thessalonians 2:3, Revelation 13:18). Before going and further, let us read the definition of Anti-Christ: He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son (1 John 2:22). The Word of God also tells us that the spirit of Antichrist was already in the world at the time of writing of the Epistle of John.

The above just confirmed what many Christians already know, we are living in the Last Days (Hebrews 1:1-2); the characteristics of which Jesus describes in Matthew 24 and Luke 21. I counted more than 15 End Time prophecies in these two chapters, and again with the help of the Holy Spirit, I confirmed that the majority of them are already fulfilled, including the start of "Great Tribulation". We are told of the many perils Jews and Christians will endure as a result of the diabolical powers of the Anti-Christ during "Great Tribulation". For the Witness of Jesus Christ, he will "make war with the saints, and [prevail]" (Revelation 13:7).

I take this opportunity to encourage all Christians reading this blog to examine himself and ensure that he is in the family of God and Christ, and to continue believing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, undeterred by the power of the Anti-Christ. Let the Light of Christ shine more and more in your hearts and all around you, as you abound more and more in love (Philippians 1:9).

To those of you who have not accepted Jesus as Lord, please do so now and save yourselves. Only abiding faith in the Lord Jesus can save us. Pray this prayer out loud from your heart:

Heavenly Father, I know that I am a sinner, but I believe that You sent Your Son, Jesus, to die for my sins. And I believe that You raised Jesus from the dead, and made Him Lord. Heavenly Father, please forgive me of my sins. I don't want to sin anymore. I welcome Jesus into my heart and my life as my Lord and Savior right now. Please help me to live like Jesus. In the Name of Jesus I pray, and give you thanks. Amen.

All those who worship the Anti-Christ or his image will have denied God, the Father and Jesus of Nazareth His Son. Every worshipper of the Anti-Christ will accept a mark known as "The Mark of the Beast." They will allow themselves to be deluded by the ballyhooed acts of wickedness performed by the Anti-Christ and the False Prophet who caball the arenas of justice throughout the world with theatrical and spectacular signs—wicked power God will allow Satan to give them for a time. Whoever accepts "The Mark of the Beast" shall be doomed (Rev. 19:20-21).

Over a decade ago I decided to renew my vows to make Jesus of Nazareth my Lord and Savior, and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. I decided again to get water baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ also. Since then I have never looked back and as Christ continues to strengthen me, I never will. It is my desire to save my soul from the eternal flames of Hell and the Lake of Fire: two very real places described in the Holy Scriptures where all sinners will spend eternity (Rev 14:9-11, 19:20, 20:10).

I am convinced that Jesus is Lord, Son of God, Who died for the sins of the world, and Whom God raised from the dead. The Name of Jesus Christ means Anointed Savior, God chose Jesus (The Amplified Bible, Matt. 1:1, 21). The Scripture says Jesus was born in Bethlehem and that He lived in Nazareth, Israel; that He was empowered by the Holy Spirit to go about teaching the Gospel, and doing good, and that He takes away the sins of the world (Jhn. 1:29, 1 Jhn. 2:22).

Because Jesus is Lord of lords and Savior, I choose to worship Him, and to accept His seal (2 Timothy 2:19). Who do you choose to worship, the True God through faith in His Son Jesus Who has all power, or do you choose the worship the Anti-Christ and accept his mark?