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SOME OF MY STRONGEST BELIEFS AFTER A SERIOUS WAKE-UP CALL
I am an 86 year old semi-retired psychiatrist who passed out early in the morning some months ago. I regained conciousness in a few minutes but my wife called 911 and I was hospitalized.
That night I suddenly became unconscious from a massive bloody vomiting. A digestive surgeon (Dr Schmitz) was on emergency call and diagnosed an esophageal ulcer. He surgically repaired the ulcer, and after the surgery (wearing part of his pajamas) told my large family that if I had not been in the hospital when the rapid bleeding occurred I probably would have died.
When I learned how close I came to leaving this world, I came to the conclusion that God had more work for me to do.
I believe that many people in our day are convinced that, “If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God and accept Him as your personal Savior, you are saved, and nothing you can do will cause you to lose that salvation." But our Savior made it abundantly clear that His expectations are quite high for His true disciples. In Matt chapter 10 He said [37] He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. [38] And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.- - - [22] And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Then He said in John 14:[15] If ye love me, keep my commandments.
I believe that God would be greatly pleased if everyone on the face of the earth would be saved. See 2 Peter 3:[9] The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any of them should perish.
Jesus said in Luke 15:[[7] I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repen tance.
See the words of the thief on the cross in Luke 23:[42] He said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. [43] And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
See Luke 18:[9] And Jesus spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: [10] Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. [11] The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. [12] I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. [13] And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. [14] I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
If we have truly repented and have trusted in Jesus as the Son of God, let us be sure we are not like the Pharisee above in Luke ch.18 who prayed WITH HIMSELF that he was not like the publican (who Jesus said was justified when he went down to his house.)
Timothy Keller in his book, THE REASON FOR GOD, Belief in an Age of Skepticism, wrote that, "Good works may produce a great deal of moral behavior in your life, but inside you are filled with self-righteousness, cruelty and bigotry. You are always comparing yourself to other people and are never sure you are being good enough - by trying to be a good person through an act of will. You need a complete transformation of the very motives of your heart."
He wrote that the devil prefers Pharisees, who try to save themselves, rather than trusting Jesus to save them.
We read in Eph.2:[8] For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:[9] Not of works, lest any man should boast.
If we truly have received the Holy Spirit, it will bring forth good works in and through us, and we have nothing of which we can boast.
We cannot boast of our natural good works, since Isaiah said in Isa. 64:[6] All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.
I understand that the scribes and pharisees in the days of Jesus had over 600 individual laws that they claimed to be following, but Jesus said in Matt. 22:37-40 that the law of righteousness was encompassed in the two GREAT COMMANDMENTS; to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves.
The Apostle Paul summarized this in Rom. 7:[6] But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
The Apostle Paul summarized this in Rom. 7:[6] But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
If we truly believe that Jesus is the Son of God and and receive the Holy Spirit, that Spirit working in us and through us will help us in keeping His commandments out of our love to Jesus. We have nothing in our nature of which we can boast.
In closing, one of my strongest beliefs is that those who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ should unite to demonstrate by the works of the Holy Spirit that they are truly devoted to doing the will of our heavenly Father. The Apostle Paul wrote in I Cor. 1:[10] Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. John 7:[17] If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.
See Matt. 7:22 "NOT EVERY ONE THAT SAITH, LORD. LORD,SHALL ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD, BUT HE THAT DOETH THE WILL OF MY FATHER WHICH IS IN HEAVEN."
Best wishes to all who are seeking to know and do THE WILL OF GOD.
Bob Moderator cut: email address removed
Last edited by mensaguy; 07-29-2017 at 06:22 PM..
Reason: Email address removed.
SOME OF MY STRONGEST BELIEFS AFTER A SERIOUS WAKE-UP CALL
I am an 86 year old semi-retired psychiatrist who passed out early in the morning some months ago. I regained conciousness in a few minutes but my wife called 911 and I was hospitalized.
That night I suddenly became unconscious from a massive bloody vomiting. A digestive surgeon (Dr Schmitz) was on emergency call and diagnosed an esophageal ulcer. He surgically repaired the ulcer, and after the surgery (wearing part of his pajamas) told my large family that if I had not been in the hospital when the rapid bleeding occurred I probably would have died.
When I learned how close I came to leaving this world, I came to the conclusion that God had more work for me to do.
I believe that many people in our day are convinced that, “If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God and accept Him as your personal Savior, you are saved, and nothing you can do will cause you to lose that salvation." But our Savior made it abundantly clear that His expectations are quite high for His true disciples. In Matt chapter 10 He said [37] He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. [38] And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.- - - [22] And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Then He said in John 14:[15] If ye love me, keep my commandments.
I believe that God would be greatly pleased if everyone on the face of the earth would be saved. See 2 Peter 3:[9] The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any of them should perish.
Jesus said in Luke 15:[[7] I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repen tance.
See the words of the thief on the cross in Luke 23:[42] He said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. [43] And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
See Luke 18:[9] And Jesus spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: [10] Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. [11] The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. [12] I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. [13] And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. [14] I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
If we have truly repented and have trusted in Jesus as the Son of God, let us be sure we are not like the Pharisee above in Luke ch.18 who prayed WITH HIMSELF that he was not like the publican (who Jesus said was justified when he went down to his house.)
Timothy Keller in his book, THE REASON FOR GOD, Belief in an Age of Skepticism, wrote that, "Good works may produce a great deal of moral behavior in your life, but inside you are filled with self-righteousness, cruelty and bigotry. You are always comparing yourself to other people and are never sure you are being good enough - by trying to be a good person through an act of will. You need a complete transformation of the very motives of your heart."
He wrote that the devil prefers Pharisees, who try to save themselves, rather than trusting Jesus to save them.
We read in Eph.2:[8] For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:[9] Not of works, lest any man should boast.
If we truly have received the Holy Spirit, it will bring forth good works in and through us, and we have nothing of which we can boast.
We cannot boast of our natural good works, since Isaiah said in Isa. 64:[6] All our righteousness are as filthy rags.
I understand that the scribes and pharisees in the days of Jesus had over 600 individual laws that they claimed to be following, but Jesus said in Matt. 22:37-40 that the law of righteousness was encompassed in the two GREAT COMMANDMENTS; to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves.
The Apostle Paul summarized this in Rom. 7:[6] But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
The Apostle Paul summarized this in Rom. 7:[6] But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
If we truly believe that Jesus is the Son of God and and receive the Holy Spirit, that Spirit working in us and through us will help us in keeping His commandments out of our love to Jesus. We have nothing in our nature of which we can boast.
In closing, one of my strongest beliefs is that those who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ should unite to demonstrate by the works of the Holy Spirit that they are truly devoted to doing the will of our heavenly Father. The Apostle Paul wrote in I Cor. 1:[10] Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. John 7:[17] If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.
See Matt. 7:22 "NOT EVERY ONE THAT SAITH, LORD. LORD,SHALL ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD, BUT HE THAT DOETH THE WILL OF MY FATHER WHICH IS IN HEAVEN."
Best wishes to all who are seeking to know and do THE WILL OF GOD.
Bob Moderator cut: Email address removed.
Haven't you posted this several times, minus the email?
Last edited by mensaguy; 07-29-2017 at 05:27 PM..
Reason: Quoted post edited
I believe that God would be greatly pleased if everyone on the face of the earth would be saved.
I can't think of a better way for God to accomplish this than by just appearing and telling us He'd like for all of us to be saved. The fact He doesn't tells me it's not really that big a concern to Him. Certainly there are millions who would believe on Jesus in a heartbeat if He did appear and hundreds of them right here on CD have voiced their commitment to believe in Jesus if He'd just acquiesce. So why is God so camera-shy with our souls on the line?
I can't think of a better way for God to accomplish this than by just appearing and telling us He'd like for all of us to be saved. The fact He doesn't tells me it's not really that big a concern to Him. Certainly there are millions who would believe on Jesus in a heartbeat if He did appear and hundreds of them right here on CD have voiced their commitment to believe in Jesus if He'd just acquiesce. So why is God so camera-shy with our souls on the line?
I believe that everyone who accepts Jesus as the Son of God, sincerely repenting of past sins, and asking God to give them the Holy Spirit will be given that Spirit to help lead their thoughts and deeds. We are not to boast of any of our natural good deeds.
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