Category Archives: Christian Life

SO SEND I YOU

Christian Life, ,

John 20:21-22 NIV
[21] Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” [22] And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit…”

Was this instruction only for Jesus’  twelve disciples, eleven at that stage because Judas was no more? Was this a unique calling on these men to become the message they were to take to the world?

Any other messenger who is given a message, simply passes on what they were told to deliver and continues to live, unchanged by what they had to say, good or bad. Not so with those who follow Jesus.

Jesus came to earth from the Father as both messenger and message. He had a message to deliver from God…

Mark 1:14-15 NIV
[14] “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. [15] “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

… And a message to model in His own life and death.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV
[21] “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

As time went on, those whom He had called to follow Jesus became
aware that He was far more than just another man with a message. He was more than a prophet with a word from God. Others who interacted with Him saw a man with unusual wisdom and power but still only a man…

Matthew 16:13-14 NIV
[13] “When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” [14] They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

…but spokesman Peter saw someone who was far greater than a mere man, a human who somehow resembled and acted like God. He was bold enough to give Jesus His proper identity, the Son of God, without fully grasping what he was saying.

Peter’s insufficient understanding led him to protest when Jesus spoke of His sacrificial death.

Matthew 16:21-23 NIV
[21] “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. [22] Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” [23] Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

What a comedown! From a sublime moment of revelation to an ignominious rebuke, “Get behind me, Satan!” Peter still had to walk a long road before he fully understood who and what this “Son of God” was. Only the Holy Spirit, by His powerful anointing and indwelling presence, could complete that revelation.

Spokesman Peter, again, on the day of Pentecost, declared that this “Son of God” whom he once only vaguely knew, was indeed God’s Messiah, both Suffering Servant and Conquering King.

Acts 2:32-33, 36 NIV
[32] “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. [33] Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear…
[36] “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

To Peter and his fellow disciples, their message was to be far more than who Jesus was in His earthly life, powerful ministry, humiliating death, and triumphant resurrection. These facts of history became the very means by which His life became their lives from the moment they were invaded by the Holy Spirit’s presence.

Jesus promised another like Himself, to represent His own presence within them.

John 14:16-18 NIV
[16″And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— [17] the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. [18] I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

The impossible imperative to become the message is made possible by Jesus’ presence in us, doing the transforming work. This change happens when a person sees it at work in another and brought about through the Holy Spirit within.

So, John writes,

1 John 1:1-4 NIV
[1] “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. [2] The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. [3] We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. [4] We write this to make our joy complete.”

1 John 5:11-12 NIV
[11]”And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. [12] Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

On the strength, then, of His Spirit within, Jesus sent His disciples out, together with all who believed their message after them, from then until now, to be the embodiment of Himself and His message to a world of rebels.

John 20:21-22 NIV
[21] “Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” [22] And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 1:8 NIV
[8] “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

1 John 2:5-6, 20, 24-25 NIV
[5]” But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: [6] Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did….
[20] But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth….
[24] As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. [25] And this is what he promised us—eternal life.”

Transformed lives are the witness to the real Jesus.

2 Corinthians 3:2-3 NIV
[2]” You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. [3] You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”

Christ’s church on earth, made up of millions of individuals, saved by grace, and in the process of being transformed into the likeness of Jesus, whose role is to put God’s glory on display, is the messenger and the message.

1 Peter 2:9 NIV
[9]”But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

Wherever it happens, whatever the cost, the instruction is to us as well,

“As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.”

“So send I you to labour unrewarded,
To serve unpaid, unloved, unsought, unknown,
To bear rebuke, to suffer scorn and scoffing,
So send I you to toil for Me alone.

So send I you to bind the bruised and broken,
O’er wandering souls to work, to weep, to wake,
To bear the burdens of a world a-weary,
So send I you to suffer for My sake.

So send I you to loneliness and longing,
With heart a-hungering for the loved and known,
Forsaking kin and kindred, friend and dear one,
So send I you to know My love alone.

So send I you to leave your life’s ambition,
To die to dear desire, self-will resign,
To labour long, and love where men revile you,
So send I you to lose you life in Mine.

So send I you to hearts made hard by hatred,
To eyes made blind because they will not see,
To spend, though it be blood to spend and spare not,
So send I you to taste of Calvary.”

Author: Margaret Clarkson 1915 -?
Source: https://God‘s word is truth.wordpress.com…

In 1963, Clarkson published the second part of her hymn which tells of victory through God’s grace.

“So send I you – by grace made strong to triumph.
O’er hosts of hell, o’er darkness, death, and sin,
My name to bear, and in that name to conquer.,
So send I you, my victory to win.

So send I you – to take to souls in bondage
The word of truth that sets the captive free,
To break the bonds of sin, to loose death’s fetters,
So send I you, to bring the lost to me.

So send I you – my strength to know in weakness,
My joy in grief, my perfect peace in pain,
To prove My power, My grace, My promised presence,
So send I you, eternal fruit to gain.

So send I you – to bear My cross with patience,
And then one day with joy to lay it down,
To hear My voice, “Well done, My faithful servant,
Come, share My throne, My kingdom, and My crown!”

THE WILL OF GOD, WHAT IS IT?

Christian Life, ,

We all want to do God’s will. We talk about the will of God for our lives, but we often struggle to know what His will for us is. We perhaps think that God’s will has to do with where we live, what we do, who we marry etc. It can and it does, but these are all details and peripheral to the perfect will of God. In His Word, God’s will has more to do with who we are and how we live than the “where” and “what” details in which we do His will.

Is God’s will the same for everyone or does His will differ from person to person? Let’s see what the Bible says.

Living according to God’s will or not, first, has eternal significance, according to John. He said that loving this world cancels out loving God. If we love the world and follow its dictates, everything we run after is transient. It will disappear. Only those who love God and do His will, will live eternally.

1 John 2:15-17 NLT
[15] “Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. [16] For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. [17] And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.”

My second consideration, then, is…do I want to do God’s will? If so, then I must cut ties with the world and its ways. The culture and practices of the world must never intrude into the way my faith in Jesus directs my life. I cannot serve two masters. I must choose my master and stick with my choice.

God’s perfect will is always done in His realm where His angelic hosts live in perfect union with Him, obedience to Him, and in harmony with one another. They have specific roles in His kingdom which they fulfil without question.

Psalms 103:21 NLT
[21] “Yes, praise the Lord, you armies of angels who serve him and do his will!”

So, Jesus taught His disciples to pray that God’s will be done in this realm, on earth, just as perfectly as it is done in heaven.

Matthew 6:9-10 NIV
[9] “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, [10] your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

We know that His will is good, acceptable and perfect. We enter this awareness through our willingness to entrust ourselves entirely to Him, body, soul, and spirit, because of His mercy to us.

Romans 12:1-2 NIV
[1] “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. [2] Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Only as we entrust our lives to God and learn to think like He thinks, do we realise that what He wants for us is the best.

Once we have accepted that God’s will is always the best for us, regardless of what it is, thirdly, we are ready to carry out His requirements because we know He is sovereign and directs our lives towards His goal.

Let’s examine one of His clear directives.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT
[18] “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

This instruction teaches us that God wants us to pay attention to our hearts. When stuff happens, good or bad, we must decide who is responsible and what our attitude to our circumstances must be. If we are convinced that God supervises every detail of our lives, we can thank Him even in the difficult times because He has a plan. A thankful heart is one that trusts Him even in the dark because He is good and He knows where He is taking us.

There are many references but few specifics in Scripture relating to God’s will. We must deduce the details from His character and requirements. The best way to find out what He wants is to examine His commandments and His promises.

If God tells us to do something, it must be His will. In the Old Covenant, He gave detailed instructions to His people, 613 of them, to teach His people about His holiness, and their utter inability to satisfy His holy standards by their own efforts.

Romans 3:20 NLT
[20] “For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.”

Most of the time, they gave up on trying and went their own way with terrible consequences. God did not change His standards to meet them half way. He cannot, because He is God.

Instead, He sent Jesus, His Son, to pay for their failure, to restore them to His family as sons and daughters, and to provide help in the person of His Holy Spirit. He reduced all His 613 laws to two simple instructions that cover everything in principle that His Old Covenant laws had given them in detail.

1 John 3:21-24 NIV
[21] “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God [22] and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. [23] And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. [24] The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”

This is God’s will for His redeemed children in a nutshell. His will is expressed in two simple commandments and made do-able through His Spirit.

Believe in the name of His Son…faith in Jesus, entrusting ourselves uncondionally to Him, takes care of our past present and future. We give Him absolute allegiance and no longer go our own way. We lean all our weight on Jesus.

Love one another…living our lives by working out our faith in Jesus in the way we treat one another through the Holy Spirit, “Christ in us”. He wants us to show who owns us by the way we treat each other.

Not only does God tell us what He wants, He also provides the means by which we can do what He wants.

2 Peter 1:3-4 NIV
[3] “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. [4] Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”

God’s promises are a declaration of what He intends to do in us, so that we know where He is going when we hit rough patches. His destiny for us is nothing less than to perfectly resemble His Son.

Romans 8:28-30 NIV
[28]”And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. [29] For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. [30] And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”

God’s will is all about becoming like Jesus…and, from God’s perspective, it’s already done.

So, in actual fact, although we are the players in this game of life, God is the one who acts for us and in us to move us towards His goal. For example,

Ephesians 1:4-5 NIV
[4] “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love [5] he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will…”

Philippians 2:12-13 NIV
[12] “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, [13] for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”

This is the marvel and mystery of God’s will. He not only tells us what He wants us to do, but He also does it in us as we obey His Word and trust His Spirit who works in us.

Ephesians 1:11 NLT
[11]”Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.”

How wonderful is our God! He not only wants us to do His will and tells us what He wants but He also gave us His promises through which He does His will in and through us as we choose to obey Him. This is His guarantee that He will carry out His will on earth just as it is done in heaven.

So, although He directs us to where we should live, what we should do, who we should marry etc., in all these details He is using our circumstances to conform us to character of Jesus.

WHAT’S IN YOUR HEART?

Christian Life, ,

Everyone is born with two hearts. One heart pumps blood around our bodies to keep us alive. The other heart regulates our thoughts and intentions, the deep inner part of “us”, the core, if you like, that cannot be seen but is real and powerful in its effects on us and on others in the world around us.

This may sound somewhat spooky, like some unseen force that drives us from within, but its not that bad! Our “hearts” encompass our thoughts, choices, decisions, and feelings, which reveal everything about us that relates to who we are, and influences the way we show who we are to those around us.

Unfortunately, everyone is born with a birth defect, a diseased “heart”. The diagnosis is ominous and has serious repercussions if we do nothing about our condition.

Jeremiah 17:9 NLT
[9] “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?”

The Bible has a lot to say about this heart. Apart from the diagnosis that every heart is initially rotten to the core, God’s Word helps us to understand what it does, and reveals how this “diseased heart” can be cured and made new.

Romans 1:18-32 gives us a resume of the way the wicked heart functions. What we desire, we do, and what we do reveals what is in the heart. Since the heart we were born with hates God, everything we think and do defies who He is and what He requires of us.

Romans 1:28, 32 NLT
[28] “Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done…
[32] They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.”

Isaiah 64:6 NLT
[6]”We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.”

Now, let’s see what can be done about our wicked hearts. Is there any possibility that we can change? Does God have a cure that will alter the course of our lives from where our evil hearts are taking us?

Thankfully, there is! We can do nothing to change our hearts but God can.

God promised wayward, idol-worshipping, stubborn Israel,

Ezekiel 36:25-27 NLT
[25] “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. [26] And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. [27] And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.”

God promised His people a spiritual and supernatural heart transplant. How would this happen? Not by trying harder but by putting their faith in God’s solution.

Romans 10:6-9 NLT
[6] “But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth). [7] And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” [8] In fact, it says, “The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.” And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: [9] If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

What is Paul saying? “Don’t try to fathom the mechanisms of God’s salvation. How can Jesus save us by coming to earth and dying? Believe that He did it and confess that He is Lord! If you embrace this truth in your heart, you will become a new you with a transformed heart and life.”

Whew! God’s escape route from the destiny that our evil hearts threatened is faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection. He paid our debt of sin and changed our status before God and the direction of our lives from hell to heaven. Now we are going to Him, not away from Him. Not inly does God forgive our sin but He also changes us from the inside out.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT
[17] “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

However, although God has given us new hearts, we are still capable of following sinful desires, depending on which desires we cultivate. The Holy Spirit in us grows fruit that reveals His life at work in our hearts. At the same time, we are surrounded by temptations from within and without, to follow our old desires.

God has given us the responsibility to feed holy, not selfish desires.

Proverbs 4:11-13, 20-23, 26-27 NLT
[11] “I will teach you wisdom’s ways and lead you in straight paths. [12] When you walk, you won’t be held back; when you run, you won’t stumble. [13] Take hold of my instructions; don’t let them go. Guard them, for they are the key to life….
[20] My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. [21] Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, [22] for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body. [23] Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
[26] Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path…. [27] Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.”

Three simple instructions for preserving the integrity of our hearts.

Feed our hearts with God’s wisdom.
Guard our hearts from unholy desires.
Stay away from evil behaviour.

How do we know what is in our hearts? David asked the Lord to search his heart for any “anxious (disquieting) thoughts” that lurked inside him. “Disquieting” means anything disturbing, that causes uneasiness.

Paul has a solution for “anxious thoughts”…

Philippians 4:6-7 NIV
[6] “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. [7] And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

God’s peace acts as a referee in our hearts to tell us whether our thoughts are anxious or not. Anxious thoughts reveal that we are not trusting God in uncertain circumstances. We allow fear, anxiety, insecurity to cancel our faith, and our loss of God’s peace alerts us to the problem. He restores His peace in our hearts when we confess these toxic thoughts to the Lord.

We need never leave the condition of our hearts to chance. God gives us clear teaching in His Word that He will transplant our hearts when we put our trust in Jesus, and He will transform our hearts as we keep replacing our old sinful thoughts with holy desires.

The acid test is simple. Like a computer, what we put in must come out. If we put truth into our hearts, truth will come out of our mouths because what us inside will come out.

Proverbs 18:21 NLT
[21] “The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.”

Luke 6:45 NLT
[45] “A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.”

What is in your heart? Listen to what you say!

MOLLY AND ME – GOAD TO THE GOAL

Christian Life, ,

Molly doesn’t know it, but when we go outside for toilet purposes or for our daily walk, I have a goal which I intend to achieve. She meanders around with no set purpose. Everything is interesting, to be smelt and explored, and time means nothing. My goal is to finish what I intended. Her goal is…well…I’m never really sure!

You see, being a dog, she doesn’t understand my thinking. Even if I encourage her with words, she is none the wiser. She lives in her “dog” world which is very different from mine. The only way I can guide her towards my intended purpose is to goad her, gently, in the right direction.

Molly reminds me of myself and God. Since I live in my “people” world, I don’t always know where God is leading or in which direction to go. I need Him to nudge me along the correct path with a goad that sometimes pricks and hurts.

Before he found the correct path for his life, the Apostle Paul was subject to God’s goad. He was on a path to destroy the early church by arresting and hauling Christians before the Sanhedrin for trial and execution. Wrong way, Saul! That’s not God’s plan for you.

So, this fanatical Pharisee was stopped short on his murderous mission. Flat on his face in the dust, Jesus Himself confronted him.

Acts 9:4-5 NKJV
[4] “Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” [5] And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”

Until that moment, Saul resisted the goads that Jesus used to steer him towards His plan. Now it was time to change.

Sometimes our conscience, sometimes our circumstances, sometimes God’s Word, and sometimes the people in our Iives act as goads. Whatever God uses to get our attention and redirect us along His path, best we heed the goads if we want to end up where He wants us to be.

The solution is simple

Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT
[5] “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. [6] Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

Let’s not wait for the Lord to use His goad against our stubborn resistance. He will get us to where He wants to be, whatever it takes. Goads hurt! Seek His will to avoid the pain. He only uses goads when necessary.

GOD’S LIBRARY

Christian Life, ,

The Bible is a library of books with one author, the Holy Spirit, and one theme, the story of God and people. The Bible is  a miracle of unity although it was written by more than forty people over more than 2000 years. It’s the only book in the world that is indestructible, despite every human effort to wipe it out; universal…its characters include everyone who has ever lived and will live; and is powerful enough to affect the destiny of every person who reads it.

The Bible bears testimony to itself, that it is the very word of God, infallible in its message, divine in its authorship, and eternal in its duration.

There is no other book on earth like the Bible. People either love it, believe it, and experience eternal life through its message, or they hate it, fear it, run from it, or even  try to discredit it by ridiculing, denying, or twisting its message.

The Bible is divinely protected, divinely inspired, and divinely empowered to transform the lives of all who read and believe the one who wrote it.

The Bible is God’s gift to all people on earth.

However, the Bible also speaks of heavenly books which record the names and biographies of every person from the beginning of time, and books that record each person’s destiny.

Let’s examine a few of these books.

Psalms 139:16 NIV
[16] “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

God’s record of our lives was written even before we lived. That’s amazing! How can anyone write a biography before the main character was even born? So astonishing is God’s omniscience that He has done that! His “library” contains the life story of everyone who has lived on earth, even those who have never seen the light of day.

What would God say to those who have snuffed out the lives of their unborn babies for the sake of convenience? What happened to their story?

Then there is the book of life. What is this “book of life”?

“Revelation 20:15 declares, “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” The Book of Life, in this context, is the set of names of those who will live with God forever in heaven. It is the roll of those who are saved. This Book of Life is also mentioned in Revelation 3:5; 20:12; and Philippians 4:3. The same book is also called the Lamb’s Book of Life because it contains the names of those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus (Revelation 13:8; 21:27).

“God keeps good records. He knows His own, and He has set the names of His children permanently in His book.”
(https://www.gotquestions.org – article “What is the Book of Life?”)

Moses refers to God’s “book” in his plea on behalf of Israel. He was willing to forfeit his own place in heaven for the sake of his wayward people. God refused his request. Everyone must take responsibility for his/her own life. He said.

Exodus 32:32-33 NIV
[32] “But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.” [33] The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book.”

Is it possible to have one’s name erased from God’s book, blotting out the record of one’s life forever because of persistent sin?

Revelation 20:11-12, 15 NIV
[11] Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. [12] And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books….
[15]”Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”

God assures us that the names of those who persevere in faith and obedience will never be erased from His book. On judgement day, their names will be found written in the book of life.

Revelation 3:5 NIV
[5] “The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels.”

Are there other books in God’s library?

Revelation 20:12-13 NIV
[12]”And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened….”

We don’t know what is written in these books. Let’s look a bit deeper.

What does God record in these books?

Jesus, speaking to the Pharisees…

Matthew 12:34-37 NIV
[34]”You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. [35] A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. [36] But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. [37] For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

What did the Pharisees say?

Matthew 12:24 NIV
[24]”But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”

It’s all becoming clear.  According to Jeremiah…

Jeremiah 17:9 NIV
[9]”The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”

According to Jesus…

Luke 6:45 NIV
[45] “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”

…which means that God’s books record everything we have said!

Our spoken words betray our hidden hearts, it’s up to us to put into our hearts what is good, true, and wholesome.

How can we change what is concealed in our hearts?

Philippians 4:8-9 NLT
[8]” And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. [9] Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

Romans 12:2 NLT
[2]” Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

How can we ensure that our names will be in the Lamb’s book of life?

It seems that the names of every human being has been  written in God’s books before time began. Only persistent unbelief and the sinful lives which are the fruit of unbelief will obliterate those names from God’s books. Cut off from God in hell, it will be as though they never existed.

Only persistent faith in Jesus and perseverence in obedience and holiness, which God guarantees to those who have been supernaturally born into His kingdom, will ensure that our names are never erased from God’s books.

Adherence to the truths written in God’s book on earth will ensure that my name is indelibly recorded in God’s books in heaven.