Bible

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The other day I posted a short note and in it I stated that I had gotten hung up on the word works...Allow me to wade through this and hopefully while wading I will not slip up and fall. Not exactly sure how to share my thoughts so if it reads that I am going around in circles, well I very well may be, should it make any sense at all, well I'll give credit to the Holt Spirit ..

I suppose the best starting place is Eph. 2:8 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast". Yes I originally was in Titus, and elsewhere in Scripture it clearly speaks of the Christian and the good works he/she is to do. I suppose where I got off track is on the Christian and their focus on the good works thing. I do not know how many times after a person's funeral I have heard the phrase---"he or she was such a good person, and much on their good works." Now that is a nice thing to be remembered by, but this good works do not get us into heaven. Scripture speaks of levels or degrees of hell and heaven, where this good works stuff fits in there I do not know nor will I even attempt to go there. Way beyond my pay grade .

John 6:28-29-------"Then they said to Him, what shall we do, that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, THIS IS THE WOK OF GOD, THAT YOU BELIEVE IN HIM WHOM HE SENT." (nothing more or less...BELIEVE)----Remember the thief on the cross was a bad guy, safe to say he never been to a worship service, never tithed, never baptized......he in his last moments here on earth just ask Jesus to remember him, and Jesus acknowledge his wish.....Then that ever so popular piece of Scripture "John 3:16----For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." ------2 things here to think on---
1---perish, John used the Greek word "apol-loo-mee"--To destroy fully, to die, lose----Opinion here, to me that means gone, poof, to be no more......

2.---believes---In the N.T. belief denotes more than an assent to a fact----the Greek word....pistis, noun; pisteuo, verb-----means adherence to, committal to, faith in, reliance upon, trust in a person or object, and this not only involves the consent of the mind, but an act of the heart." (from Scofield Study Bible.). I always thought of this as glue, "IF" you believe. A lot there to think on. Today we in the faith use the word believe very loosely, real simple to say "yep I believe" and accept that as our EZ-PASS into heaven and maybe easy putting on the back burner God's Grace.

Now when I go here I am not condemning another, just pointing out our human nature.....it is so easy to get so tied up in helping the poor, feeding the children, directing the choir, preaching or speaking from the pulpit or the other hundreds of good works the Church promotes, to put God over there and issue all the credit to our good works------The devil is real busy everywhere in our world and do not think for a moment he ain't busy in our local churches, do not think for a moment he ain't real busy in the heart and mind of each and every professing Christian----See, those of the world are already on his side, he has them, it is the professing Christian that the ole devil is after and no better tool than personal pride to use to steal a soul.

So much that all organized religions teach and preach on the subject of "doing good works", give here, feed here, so on and so forth, that we collect all the credit for good works that we do and somehow or another we allow God to just fall through the cracks. I try to give credit to the Holy Spirit for my good works, then every now and then I fall off the wagon and take personal credit ...A simple example----I often see beggars out on the street....there are so many out there making a good living that a person, like me, has become cold to the real need....I have learned that when I see a beggar I take a moment and ask the Holy Spirit---:"do I help or do I ignore", now allow me to be honest, sometimes I don't think to do this, but when I do I get my answer......if I get a feeling to do something I do it, if I feel nothing I ignore....I use the same approach to some of these popular preachers-----God always answers

God Bless and think a pinch on your faith, your true belief,