But I'm A Believer

"Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.  But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul." Hebrews 10:38-39

In the last post, I wrote how John 6:66 indicates a line of demarcation between those who continue on with the Lord and those who depart from Him.  The difference?  Faith in God's words.

Some believed that Jesus' words were truth (even if they didn't fully understand them), while others rejected Jesus' words as truth because they didn't understand them.  In fact, they were offended by them.

When you read through the Chapter, you can see that their defection was no surprise of course to Jesus.  One thing that becomes clear is that belief in Jesus is synonymous with belief in His words.  In other words, Jesus had stated in John 6:40 that it is the will of the Father for everyone who sees Jesus to believe on Him and receive eternal life.  Yet, when many disciples began to question and get offended at Jesus' words, He said it was because they did not believe (John 6:64).

Jesus equated belief in Him with belief in His words. Although many professing Christians do this today, Jesus knew that one could not claim to believe in Him, yet not believe God's words.

Going Where Christ is Going

Or Choosing to Walk With Him No More

During prayer yesterday morning, the image of a parent and child at the mall came to mind.

The parent tells the young child to stay with them and the child readily agrees.  The parent starts walking and the child begins to follow closely behind.  As they continue through the mall, the child's attention is occasionally drawn away from the parent as he looks around at all of the shiny & noisy distractions.

Pretty soon, the child's steps become slower as more of their attention is captured by the things around them.  If they are not careful, soon the child may find that the parent is no longer in view; that the gap between them has gotten so large he will be unable to hear even if the parent calls out for him.

What must the child do?  Adjust his vision, forget about what is going on around him, return his focus to the parent, and get back in lockstep with the parent again.  And if he doesn't?  He might very well find himself lost.

While not a perfect analogy, my point is that Jesus is moving...and I don't mean in the soulish way where people might say how the "Holy Spirit was mooooving in Church this morning."  I mean that Jesus is always about the Father's business.  Even now, the reason He has a Body still on the earth is because there is work yet to do (John 14:12).

There are places Jesus wants to take you...but will you follow?

Does God Love Those He Sends to Hell?

Since the CD player in our car is broken, we have been listening to Christian radio stations.  As I did so today, it dawned on me how many songs are about God's love for us.

Song after song spoke of how God loves us anyway in spite of our sin.  How God's love lifts me up when I am down.  How God's love catches me when I fall.  How God's love carries me when I am weak...

Don't get me wrong, God's love is an absolutely wonderful thing!  It is beyond comprehension and I am ever grateful for it.  And while I noted the recurring theme of the songs, I sang right along with most of them.

Yet, how many realize that God's love is not the problem with mankind?  The issue is not whether God loves us, but whether we love Him.