2006 Questions
New Postings:I received a privet email and the questions asked by the writer of this email regarding myself and my book contains many of the same questions others have asked. Therefore, in this section, I would like to share these with you as well as my answers...
posted by B. W. Melvin | Monday, November 20, 2006
6 Comments:
Here is part of a Privet Email I received from GM. His questions are from the heart especially questions Four and Five. In answering these, I hope that you will discover a deeper walk with the Lord of Glory and how to overcome and live a true Christian Life in this world...
GM Writes:
Bryan,
I enjoyed your testimony (as far as one could) about your experience.
1. I would like to know how it has changed your life?
2. Do you find that you still sin?
3. How did the people who went to Church end up in hell?
4. How does someone get Jesus out of their head and into their heart?
5. Is there any hope?
Thanks,
GM
GM’s Question:
1. I would like to know how it has changed your life?
My Answer:
It has given me a new perspective on life. Our mortal life is temporary and we get caught up in so many things that are not necessary like how people hold grudges, struggle to be number one without regard to the cost this imposes, all kinds of addictions, feelings of isolation people feel from each other, backstabbing, backbiting, various lust, etc and etc.
How important are these in the light of the eternal? What do they do for us is fleeting, selfish, and contains nothing of substance whatsoever. Yet, we human beings govern our lives by these standards and what for?
I guess you can say that after my encounter, I see things differently than I did before it happened. What the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:13-16 sums up my outlook on things: "My friends, I don't feel that I have already arrived. But I forget what is behind, and I struggle for what is ahead. I run toward the goal, so that I can win the prize of being called to heaven. This is the prize that God offers because of what Christ Jesus has done. All of us who are mature should think in this same way. And if any of you think differently, God will make it clear to you. But we must keep going in the direction that we are now headed..." CEV
Paul’s statement sums up this new perspective I have: with it, you come in conflict with the world and other people as you reveal that things – ‘the mortal ‘now’ – can be different than they are.
GM’s Question Two:
2. Do you still find that you sin?
My Answer:
Yes, but I am learning to sin less that I did the day before as I John 1:7-10 teaches, “But if we live in the light, as God does, we share in life with each other. And the blood of his Son Jesus washes all our sins away. If we say that we have not sinned, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth isn't in our hearts. But if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away. If we say that we have not sinned, we make God a liar, and his message isn't in our hearts.” 1 Jo 2:1, “My children, I am writing this so that you won't sin. But if you do sin, Jesus Christ always does the right thing, and he will speak to the Father for us.” CEV
1 John 2:6 also states, “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” KJV
That is how you learn to sin less-than-the-day-before. Would Jesus say what we say and do as we just did? If not – confess it and let the Lord Jesus Christ have his cleansing ways and you will stop sinning that same old plaguing repeating sin and it loses it hold on you. After this, another sin is revealed and the process continues until we reach Heavens’ Home and are purified as the bible teaches.
GM’s Question Three:
3. How did the people who went to Church end up in hell?
My Answer:
First, they were not Christians. The bible speaks of false brethren [2 Corinthians 11:26] and hypocrites [Matthew 6:2-16 and Mathew 24: 51]. These types of individuals were never truly born again but rather live or govern their life according to the ways of the world. These persons govern their life according what the bible speaks of as ‘the works’ of the flesh:
Galatians 5:19-21, “Now the works of the flesh are clearly revealed, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lustfulness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, fightings, jealousies, angers, rivalries, divisions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness , revelings, and things like these; of which I tell you beforehand, as I also said before, that the ones practicing such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” LITV
Can these people attend church? Yes. What saves a person – church or Jesus Christ? Only false brethren and hypocrites can fall away as they were never born again as evidenced by how they live their lives. Their lives never bear the good fruit that God’s Holy Spirit produces.
I know that there are those that claim that a true Christian can lose his or her salvation but this cannot be the case because as for this to happen would make the blood of Christ insufficient to save to the uttermost as well as necessitate the need for Jesus Christ to be crucified daily, hourly, minutely, every millisecond for Christians everywhere. This is impossible as the bible declares:
Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” LITV
John 10:27-29, “My sheep know my voice, and I know them. They follow me, and I give them eternal life, so that they will never be lost. No one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father gave them to me, and he is greater than all others. No one can snatch them from his hands.” CEV
You have Jesus’ own words on this hotly debated matter – who do you trust? Man’s ideas of what the bible says or what Jesus plainly says about it without the need of lengthy scripture wars? Therefore only false brethren and hypocrites can fall away, as they never were ‘born again’ as evidenced by how they live their lives. A true ‘born again’ Christian can never lose the gift of God’s salvation. The gifts and callings of God are never reneged.
A true born again Christian is learning to shed the darkness of their lives and are learning to live by what the bible calls the works of the Spirit. False brethren and hypocrites do not.
Galatians 5:22-26, “But the fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control. Against such things there is not a law. But the ones belonging to Christ crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another.” LITV
Romans 13:11-14 Also this, knowing the time, that it is now the hour for you to be aroused from sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we believed. The night is far gone, and the day has drawn near; then let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the weapons of the light. Let us walk becomingly, as in the day, not in carousings and drunkennesses, not in co-habitation and lustful acts, not in fighting and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not make forethought of the flesh, for its lusts.” LITV
1 John 3:8-10, “Anyone who keeps on sinning belongs to the devil. He has sinned from the beginning, but the Son of God came to destroy all that he has done. God's children cannot keep on being sinful. His life-giving power lives in them and makes them his children, so that they cannot keep on sinning. You can tell God's children from the devil's children, because those who belong to the devil refuse to do right or to love each other.” CEV
If you are struggling with sin, as we all do, and feel guilt over it. Learn to change, let Christ teach you how. That is the mark of a true believer. These lessons can be painful. It is the fear of facing these growing pains that keeps one bound to live in the darkness of one’s soul. Growth pushes this ink black darkness out and new life is slowly revealed like the first rays of light gracing the dawn of a brilliant day.
Never fear that you have lost or can lose your salvation after coming to Christ. God does not take back his gifts that he gives. Those passages in the book of Hebrews that people like to use to prove that a person can lose their salvation actually are saying something quite different in the original Greek. In fact, they declare it is impossible by stating that to be possible would necessitate Christ to be crucified every second. Hebrew 6:4-10 and Hebrews 10 must be read in context – not selected verses. What about the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit?
The blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is none other than the complete rejection of Christ Jesus and his work as evidenced by how one governs their life. Note context of Matthew 12:30-37. When it tells us, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” it is referring to how one lives or what ones life really produces. The work of God’s Spirit within us cleans us up from darkness and our conduct changes. Yes sin happens but a true child of God learns from his or her sinful mistakes and changes. They feel remorse and guilt and submit to the workings of the Holy Spirit.
How you receive the Holy Spirit is to become Born Again as Jesus taught in John chapter Three. You ask and receive. Simple faith, simple belief – that’s all. Those that really blasphemy the Holy Spirit are those that reject being born again - never submitting to the Lord. In my book – I reveal this as ‘ordering and sorting.’
Now to those reading this, what governs your life? What turns you on? What do you pursue? It is time to repent and change your ways. Come to Christ and he will give you the life you seek. The night is far spent a new dawn approaches. What will it be? Light? Darkness? What will it be?
GM’s Question Four:
4. How does someone get Jesus out of their head and into their heart?
My Answer:
Good question! Many a book has been written on this very subject. I may not have the best answer regarding how. First, many people attain an intellectual ‘head knowledge’ of the historical Jesus, they read the bible, and believe in the rote of the written text regarding salivation. Here they reside, never proceeding further. Christianity becomes a series of Church social functions and excellent sermons interspaced with carefully timed bouts of quiet time to feed one’s hungry soul.
Everything soon becomes based solely on non-threatening intellect and lofty interrelated biblical textual woven reason. Soon, many become discouraged and wonder what happened to the life Christ promised pondering what happen to that warm glow once felt before. This is what I refer to as having Jesus inside one’s intellectual head. I think you are referring to the same thing and maybe even feeling the same way.
Now, how do you get Christ into your heart so that you can feel, experience, know Christ as real and not as some idyllic philosophic idea in the intellect of one’s head? I think my answers to this will not be sufficient to explain precisely how in any easy step by step method that so many write countless books about. Therefore, I’ll keep it short and simple: Just Ask.
Just ask the Lord to reveal himself to you and talk to him as you do you closet friend. Do you speak King James English to your friend? Do you come to a dear friend and say, “I humbly beseech thee – oh hear my cry?” I think not. Be real with Jesus and He will be real with you. Yes, there is a certain amount of respect to show to the Lord of Glory but always remember – God sees everyone as they are. The Lord is closer than a brother or even a sister which ever context fits best for you.
Just ask and explain how and what you are feeling. Be honest. Hide nothing. Just Ask. This is called true prayer. As you read your bible – just ask that he reveal something from it to you. Sit quietly if you can while reaching for God with a longing heart. Soon rays from heaven will pierce the darkness of intellect that has kept you from encountering Jesus for so long. You will know when it arrives. There is no mistaking it.
Always acknowledge the Lord in all you do with that style of true prayer and he will direct your steps to find him within your heart. You may soon discover that He’s been in your heart all along telling your head to stop blocking the light: just ask.
Matthew 7:7-11 “Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you. Everyone who asks will receive. Everyone who searches will find. And the door will be opened for everyone who knocks. Would any of you give your hungry child a stone, if the child asked for some bread? Would you give your child a snake if the child asked for a fish? As bad as you are, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. But your heavenly Father is even more ready to give good things to people who ask.” CEV
GM’s Question Four:
5. Is there any hope?
My Answer:
Is there any hope to have Jesus remain in your heart instead of your head?
Yes – just ask. Just the fact that you asked this question regarding ‘ is there any hope’ within the context of your last question of ‘getting Jesus into your heart’ shows that you have a longing heart for God. There is hope. A longing heart is where you begin.
How do you find hope, abide in it, and never lose it? The answer is not an easy one because one learns of hope through adversity. All the toils, trials, let downs, betrayals, discouragements, pains, and sorrows we all experience during this mortal life teach us hope.
From these pains we also learn what joy is, blessings are, happiness is, true goodness consist of, and thus our hope grows. All the tests of life, both the bad and the good, generate faith – faith in Christ knowing that he will never let you go and that he will always be closer than the truest of confidants.
From this process, you learn what it means to have the love of Christ shed within your heart. You learn to understand and come to know Christ as real and not as some intellectual idea. You learn what Godly love truly is about as a reality and not as some impression of what we humans think how God’s love ought to be.
From this, your life changes and you’ll never be the same. Sin loses it grip upon your throat. You’ll stop choking and begin to breathe again in newness of life. All this comes from a yearning heart: a sincere longing to search for and know God.
A yearning for something better: a heart that seeks after God. The Lord Jesus Christ is our hope; therefore, let us learn to lay hold of Christ with a yearning heart midst all of life’s adversities and blessings.
Romans 5:2-5, “By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” KJV
There is hope. It comes by seeking God with a yearning heart no matter the circumstance. Much like how a child cries for his or her parents – “hold me daddy, I’m scared!” We need such a cry from Christ Church today.
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