A Misconception of Faith

I was reading some Devotionals and I was inspired to post this blog. There are too many misconceptions of Christianity in our world. It's easy to fall into these traps and make wrong assumptions about Faith and what it means. However, when studying the Scriptures from the Bible we can have a better understanding of What Faith is. I would Like to address A Misconception of Faith that I feel is the Biggest posing threat to becoming a Christian.

If you are a good person, God loves you and will accept you into heaven./ You don't have to be a Christian to go to Heaven.

While it IS true that God loves us all, it is NOT true that God can accept you if you are not a born again Christian. This always gets a lot of criticism in our world. While it is nice that you are a good person, God makes it clear through scripture what it means to be a Christian. In the Bible we are told that all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God. We are all sinners, every single one of us. None of us are "good," and most certainly not "good" enough to get to God. That is why God sent his son, Jesus, to die for us. Without Jesus, there is no way to God, because we have sinned. Further, God cannot accept you if you reject him, even if you are a good person, because God is Holy and perfect. He turns his head from sin. This is demonstrated when Jesus is on the cross bearing all our sins on his shoulders. He cries out to God asking why God had Forsaken Him, or turned away from Him. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, we have the chance to one day enter God's Holy and perfect kingdom. But No matter how hard we try, we cannot get to God through good works alone. Take a look at these verses from the New Testament:

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God" Romans 3:23

"As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one...they all have
turned aside; They together have become unprofitable; there is none who
does good, no, not one." Romans 3:10, 12

"But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the spirit of
God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, he is
not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of
sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness...For if you live according
to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of
the body, you will live." Romans 8:9-10, 13

"But the scripture has confirmed all under sin, that the promise by faith
in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe." Galatians 3:22

"For by Grace, you have been saved though Faith, and that not of
yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." Ephesians 2:8-9

"He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not Know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" John 1:10-13

These are just a few of MANY verses in the Bible that talk about sin and salvation. Wat do you think about the good works of man now? Now lets see what Jesus himself says...

"Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him i will also deny before My Father who is in heaven." Matthew 10:32

"Jesus answered and said to him, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God" John 3:3

"Jesus said to him,'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father, except through Me." John 14:6

"I am the good Shepherd, the good Shepherd gives his life for the sheep." John 10:11

"I am the door, if anyone enters by me, he will be saved and he will go in and out and find pasture." John 10:9

"Jesus said to her,'I am the Resurrection and the Life, any one who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?' John 11:25

Once again;...these are just a FEW verses from scripture where Jesus explains
salvation. The Bible is Clear, the only way to God is through Jesus
Christ, not good works. So keep feeding the poor and loving your neighbor
as yourself, BUT do NOT neglect to love, accept, and confess the one who Died
for you so that YOU will know God! He is the ONLY way!

Just another day...

I will be finishing my last post with all the Prophesies as soon as I can...Its a VERY important Post to me...It actually gives me chills to think about God's word coming true! I Love this topic! However...its a very lengthy list...and i am STILL exploring all of them myself...sooo...as soon as possible I will try to finish it.

ON another note..I'm thinking about making myself a web comic to update every week! :)

The problem is....i have very little ideas at the moment! :/

I need a name...firstly...and theme...i kinda just want it to be about teen/college students' everyday life and their struggles (What I know best right now! being 19 yrs old! ;) If you have any ideas...let me know! :)

FINALLY! I have gotten OBSESSIVE with the National Zoo Website (I Love Washington D.C. And I LOVE Pandas...so i was checking up on the pandas on the Live Animal cam...and drifted off to the photo galleries) This is by far one of the prettiest pics ever...and i thought i would Share it! Isnt God Amazing? :)

Photo Courtesy of http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ (If you have a chance...go check it out! The panda Cams are GREAT!)

He IS who he says he is.

Is Jesus really the son of God? Scary question huh? But Can we really JUST believe what the New Testament tells us? I believe we absolutely CAN! Jesus fufills s many prophesies in the New Testament...its hard for me to NOT believe in him. Here are some examples...

1.) The Messiah will come out of Bethleham

• Old Testament Scripture: "But you, Bethleham Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousdands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Isreal, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting." Michah 5:2
• New Testament Scripture: "Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the ity of Nazareth, into Judea, to the City of David, which is called Bethleham, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his bethrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and lai Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." Luke 2:4-7

2.) The Messiah will be born of a virgin

• Old Testament Scripture: "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14
• New Testament Scripture: "Then Mary said to the angel, 'How can this be since be, since I do not know a man?" Luke 1:34 "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit." Matthew 1:18

3.) The Messiah will be a descendant of David (and Abraham)

• Old Testament Scripture: "Behold, the days are coming' says the Lord, 'That I will raise to David a branch of righteousness. A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgement and righteousness in the earth. In His days, Judah will be saved, and Isreal will dwell safly; Now this is His name by which he will be called: THE LORD OUR RIHTEOUSNESS" Jeremiah 23:5-6
• New Testament Scripture: "The book of the genealogyof Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham:" "So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations from Daviduntil the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity of Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations." Matthew 1:1 and 17

4.) Worshipped by Shepherds

• Old Testament Scripture: "Those who dwell in the wilderness will bowbefore him and his enemies will lick the dust" Psalm 72:9
• New Testament Scripture: "So it was, when the angels hd gone away from them into Heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, 'let us go to Bethlahem and see this thing that has come to pass, whihc te Lod has made known to us.' And they came with haste and found Mary and Jpseph, and the "Babe lying in a manger." "Then the Shpherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen." Luke 2:13-16, 20

5.) Honored by Great Kings

• Old Testament Scripture: "The kings of Tarnish and of the isles will bring presents; The kings Sheba and Seba will offer gifts. Yes all kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve Him." Psalm 72:10-11
• New Testament Scripture: "When they say the star, they rejoiced with exceddingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary His mother , and fell down and worshipped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh." Matthew 2:10-11

Maintenance! O.o

Ok...so I am an artist...shoot me! HA HA...sometimes I tend to be a little bit...Creative and Artsy...so i like to change things up and use different Styles and colors and whatnot! So dont Freak out if my blog is compltely different every now and then (just every once in a while I Promise! ;) I just like being creative! Maybe one day I will get brave and make my own background...hmmm... ;P

How Bad can you Hate someone??

Ok...so the Tile is a little bit odd because we all know we are not supposed to HATE people...but it fits what i want to say. Last Weekend Dr. Alan Reid was a guest speaker at my church (Sevier Heights Baptist of Knoxville). He told us about A hard core atheist who was a...magician...i think. We actually watched a video that the athiest had posted on youtube. Anyway, after one of his shows, a man came up to him, looked him straight in the eyes, handed him a Bible and told him he needed Jesus and he would pray for him. Then he smiled and walked away. This man had a HUGE affect on the Athiest. Although it didnt change his life, or cause him to decide there was a God, it did leave a mark on his heart. He couldnt believe there was "Christain" out there that would care about him, and not "shove thier religion down his throat." He appreciated how genuine the man was and how he looked him right in the eyes. He then went on to say smething that struck me HARD. He said...

"if you believe without a doubt that there is a God, and there is a Heaven and
Hell, then How bad would you have to hate someone to NOT tell them the truth
and spare them from an eternity in Hell."

This Athiest (suprisingly) has the right idea! So many times we get caught up in going to church and praying before we eat and being "good christians" that we forget to "spread the word." As Christians, we are commanded to go out into all nations and tell the good news of Jesus! Dont get me wrong, it's important to go to church and try to be good, but we should also be whitnessing to everybody around us.

I never would have thought that not telling somebody about Jesus meant that i hated them! Thats crazy! But is it really? The one and only way to God (and Heaven and the most amazing and wonderful eternity anybody could possibly EVER imagine worshiping the creator of life!) is through Jesus and the alternative is not a pretty outcome...it's awful really. So how much could you hate somebody to not tell them? And that goes for everybody, even your enemies. Surely, you dont dislike even them enough to want them to endure something as awful as eternal seperation from God. it's a very scay thing.

Anyway, I feel this is an important message! Im still trying to take it in and figure out how to most effectively whitness to everybody around me. I know one of the best ways is to just be a good example in your everyday life. Have a great attitude and show the world that you are different...because you are...you have Christ (the Holy Spirit) living inside you! So let it show! Smile to everybody and work on having such a positive attitude that nobody can ever not see your light shine! It's not as easy as it sounds...but it's deffinately my goal in life!

That's all for now! Remember...Our God Lives..and Saves...so get the word out!! It's meant to be shared! ~God Bless~

~*!Morgan Nicole!*~