Christian Concepts

Bringing your Potential to Light

Eternal Security

Perspective Matters More Than You Think

Perspective Matters More Than You Think

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Reading time: 3 minutes

Jesus reveals the ultimate perspective on life with His statement “…seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33 ESV). A perspective is one view from one particular person. No one (except Jesus) can see life with absolute clarity. Everyone lives with lies–distortions in the lens of perspective.

Perspective Determines Life Direction

The Christian life is a state of mind–a battle for what is real. People can’t control what happens to them, but they can exercise their perspective like they would a muscle. Then can train to identify and believe what is true over what is false.

You might be thinking ignorance is bliss or what I don’t know can’t hurt me. But those are deceptive statements. What we don’t know has hurt us, is hurting us, and will hurt us. A blind person will have trouble avoiding hazards. When people don’t know they have cancer and believe they are healthy, it is all the more devastating when they must come face to face with the truth.

Your perspective on what life is makes all the difference in how your life will turn out. How would you feel if, while running a race, you find out you’ve been running in the wrong direction for most of it? Make no mistake, life is like a race. There is a finish line and there is only one way to get there. You must run your own race on the path God has set before you. It’s different from anyone else’s path, but God chose your path when He created you as you are.

The battle for seeing reality (what is true from God’s perspective) will never be over in this life. But you can continue to shift the balance from more deceived to more enlightened. In fact, that should be everyone’s primary purpose. But choosing the enlightened path is much harder than it looks.

Perspective Determines Eternity’s Direction

Everyone wants to be enlightened, but the path of wisdom runs in a different direction than the path of comfort in this immediate, material life. I don’t think there is any scripture that can better make this point than the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man from Luke 16.

“But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. And besides, there is a great chasm separating us. No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there.’

“Then the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, at least send him to my father’s home. For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this place of torment.’ “But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote.’

“The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.’ “But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Luke 16:25-31 NLT

Are you able to see the differences in how Lazarus and the Rich Man perceive life both before and after death? If you can see it enough to choose God’s kingdom over your immediate comfort, then there is hope for you! If you can’t see it yet, consider reading Mark 10:17-27 for more inspiration.

The first, and perhaps most important, step is to be able to see clearly. Then we can work on taking the appropriate actions. If we try to act before we understand, we can end up a long way down a path that leads to nowhere.

A comfortable life today provides no clue as to what eternity will be like.

More about gaining awareness of God’s Kingdom.
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Coping Is Temporary But Healing Is Forever

Coping Is Temporary But Healing Is Forever

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Reading time: 3 minutes

Many people look for ways to cope with the pain they encounter. Coping is a good option in the short term but it’s a horrible option long term.

Coping Doesn’t Fix The Problem

Using coping skills is a good idea. Coping allows you to get through the day without becoming overwhelmed by the sensation of pain. But relying on coping as the solution is a mistake that only creates a bigger problem.

Coping numbs your pain. When you don’t feel your pain, you will feel relieved and maybe even hopeful. But coping, without a long-term solution, only produces a false sense of hope.

The world doesn’t have a solution to pain and suffering. Coping is its best attempt. Have you bought into its subtle message? The world tells us to focus on the pleasure we can experience today. Be greedy. As long as you feel good today, you don’t have to worry about tomorrow. You can’t do any better than maximizing your happiness each day.

But what if there is something even better than happiness that you’ll never experience if you follow the world’s advice?

Jesus said to not worry about tomorrow (Matthew 6:25-34). So a worry-free life is the right approach. However, Jesus’ advice is radically different than the world’s. The reason believers shouldn’t worry is exactly the opposite of non-believers. God guarantees that believers have a hopeful future and non-believers have a hopeless future.

The real problem is that everybody is going to die physically and in the meantime, life can be confusing and gut-wrenchingly painful. Even coping can’t shut out this reality completely.

A hopeless future is unbearable, so it makes some sense to avoid its pain. If you’re not going to choose to follow Jesus, then coping is your next best option. But it’s not a solution and doesn’t even come close to what God offers.

Choose Healing Over Coping Whenever Possible

Everything you pursue, except eternal life through Jesus Christ, will leave you thirsty again. When you drink a glass of water, it only temporarily relieves your thirst. You will need more soon enough. But eternal life results from an endless supply of spiritual nourishment.

Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

John 4:13-14 NLT

For Jesus’s truth to work for you, you need to be willing to give up feeling good all the time. If you’re feeling good while preoccupied with the pleasures of this life, you probably won’t develop a craving for Jesus water.

For those who follow Jesus, our best option is to face the pain now. We can face the pain because it grows our faith and allows healing. Facing the pain drives us to drink the water Jesus promises will satisfy us.

The bubbling spring is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit guides believers into all truth (John 16:13). The first step to receiving healing is to receive the truth.

Imagine you are walking in the wilderness. You are tired and hungry. You have a long way to go until you reach home. How do you feel?

How much difference would it make in your mood if you knew you were going to make it home sometime in the near future? In real life, the Holy Spirit is the one who whispers, “Keep going. You’re going to make it. Don’t give up!” Are you willing to receive this truth? If you can, the journey becomes easier mentally, even when it doesn’t become any easier physically.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Colossians 3:1-4 NLT

Read more about how people use addictions to cope.
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Unbelief Is The Only Unforgivable Sin

Unbelief Is The Only Unforgivable Sin

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Reading time: 5 minutes

Persistent unbelief is the only evidence of unforgivable sin. Have you ever read a seemingly scary passage in the Bible and wondered if you were going to make it into heaven? If so, I have good news. Because you care about your salvation, then you are open the to Gospel message. You are either a believer or you have the potential to become one.

Here are the two verses from Matthew that create some spiritual confusion about the “unforgivable sin.”

Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

Matthew 12:31-32 ESV

The Person Who Believes Has The Holy Spirit Forever

To be capable of speaking against the Holy Spirit, a person cannot already have the Holy Spirit.

Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:13 NIV

If you consider the context of Jesus’s statement that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is unforgivable, you will see that the bottom-line meaning of blasphemy is persistent, absolute unbelief.

If you die while still not believing in the power of the Holy Spirit to raise you from the dead, this is unforgivable; You won’t be in heaven. But, for example, if you became a born-again believer ten years ago, you lied to someone yesterday, and you died today, you would still be in heaven. That’s because by being born-again you have the saving power of the Spirit living within you. Committing further sin does not evict the Holy Spirit. Your sin will grieve the Holy Spirit, but God will never abandon you.

This also means if you at one time in your life claimed, “The Holy Spirit isn’t real,” or “The Holy Spirit has no power to save,” but today you believe, then you will still be in heaven when you die. You couldn’t have committed the unpardonable sin. Peter, a believer, denied Christ three times, but Jesus didn’t consider Peter a lost cause.

The sin of unbelief only becomes unforgivable after you die. Before you die, all sin is forgivable. Even the thief on the cross with Jesus became a believer only hours before his death.

Unbelief in The Power of The Holy Spirit Is Unforgivable

The role of the Holy Spirit is to convict the believer of sin. If a person denies the power of the Holy Spirit, then there is no power that can bring a person to repentance.

Jesus makes a powerful logical argument for why the Pharisees are spiritually blind.

Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

Matthew 12:22-30 ESV

In context, Jesus is saying that only a person aligned with Satan would deny that the Holy Spirit has power. Meaning: only someone with unbelief toward God and who attributes miracles to the power of Satan. A person can’t reject the work of the Holy Spirit in their life and be saved.

But, anyone who accepts the work of the Holy Spirit will be saved. As long as you have the Holy Spirit, you have access to repentance and “forgiveness for every sin and blasphemy.”

Jesus’s explanation in verses 22 to 30 is a logical proof. There are two powers: one of evil and one of good. Evil does not work against evil. Good does not work against good. Only an evil spirit can work against a good Spirit (also see Matthew 12:33-37). Only a good Spirit can work against an evil spirit. If a person attributes the work of the Holy Spirit to the work of Satan, that person must be blind to the truth (unsaved). They stand in judgment and condemnation.

A person who is still concerned about their sin still has a conscience which means the Holy Spirit is still working in the person’s life. After a person commits the unforgivable sin, the Holy Spirit cannot indwell the person.

If you care about your salvation and can repent, there’s still hope for you. But for the person who doesn’t care, this person doesn’t believe in heaven or hell, and therefore this person won’t feel any concern about their disbelief. They are ignorant of the truth.

A person who cannot believe the truth does not have access to the power of the Holy Spirit and therefore cannot believe the Holy Spirit is real, and therefore can only conclude that Satan works against Satan, as absurd as that is. The person who so deliberately aligns themselves with absolute darkness and against the light stands eternally condemned. The Holy Spirit cannot grant them repentance.

How about you, are you aware of or ignorant of the truth? It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that a person becomes aware of the truth.

Read about the full assurance of hope that is yours.
Read about forgiving others.
Image by Marlon Sommer from Pixabay
More about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit:
Eternal Sin. Note: I don’t agree with everything said.
Beyond Forgiveness. Note: I don’t agree with everything said.

Fulfillment Is Determined By Your Focus

Fulfillment Is Determined By Your Focus

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Reading time: 3 minutes

What would bring you the most fulfillment? If you could pursue it, should you pursue it? The answer depends on what you believe will bring fulfillment.

Think about a time when you purchased something that delivered much less satisfaction than you first imagined it would. Who or what can you blame? Was it the slick salesperson? Was it hyped-up advertising? Or perhaps it was your deep longing for fulfillment that you blindly projected onto the purchased item.

Life Often Lacks Fulfilllment

Put your hope in Christ instead of what happens to you, because:

This earthly life doesn’t have any guarantees… but God’s promise of eternal life does come with guarantees.

You might not deserve God’s love… but you have it and can never lose it.

You might disappoint God… but you are never a disappointment.

You might feel lonely… but you are never alone.

You might feel unwanted… but God made you for a purpose.

You might live with a chronic sense of shame and worthlessness… but God assigned you great value simply by creating you as unique in His image.

You might feel powerless… but the greatest power in all existence lives within you if you believe in Jesus Christ.

You might be down… but you are not out. If you don’t have everything you want in this life exactly the way you want it, that is perfectly alright. You can’t find any real fulfillment in anything this world offers (1 John 2:15-17).

Fulfillment Mostly Comes From the Next Life

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

2 Corinthians 4:17 NIV

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

Romans 8:18 NIV

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

1 Peter 5:10 NIV

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33 NIV

‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Revelation 21:4 NIV

Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

James 2:5 NIV

All of these scriptures point to one significant meaning: don’t put so much emphasis on what happens to you in this life. The more you are willing to give up in this life, for the cause of Jesus Christ, the more your reward will be in heaven (Matthew 19:29). The more you cling to what you can gain in this life, the more empty-handed you will be in the next life (and the emptier you will be in this life).

And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!

Luke 6:20-22 ESV

Allow your deepest hunger, your deepest lacking of fulfillment, to drive you to God for the only true fulfillment (John 4:14).

More on Pursuing Fulfillment
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3 Reasons Hope Is Always Attainable

3 Reasons Hope Is Always Attainable

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Reading time: 3 minutes

Hope might be easy to lose but it is also easy to gain. If you’ve ever become discouraged, I bet something negative happened that you weren’t expecting. Sometimes it doesn’t take much to feel crushed. Even a small amount of hate from another can weigh you down. Read on if you want to feel hopeful instead of discouraged.

It’s only possible to lose hope when you lose focus on what matters most. Biblical hope is the “joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation.” If you’re focused on anything else as a source of hope, you risk becoming disappointed or full of despair. Consider the following verse which is meant to increase your confidence in your salvation.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13 NIV

Verses like this one lead believers to know their salvation is secure. God wants you to feel hopeful because of your salvation. If your salvation wasn’t secure, what is there left to put your hope in? Yes, the Christian life is based on faith, but it is based on the guaranteed future reality of eternal life, not a one-in-a-million chance. Believers must have faith in God, trust God, and hope in God because what God promises is in the future. When you see the word hope in a verse, think of the biblical definition, not the I hope I win the lottery use.

You Can Hope Because Jesus Crucified Sin

Sin might have some immediate (as in earthly) consequences, but Jesus has saved you from the worst possible consequence: spiritual death. When you become a believer, you are no longer condemned, so you are no longer without hope. Nothing can separate you from God’s love (Romans 8:1, 38-39).

You Can Hope Because God Made You An Expert

No human is gifted in every way possible. Your weaknesses tell you what not to pursue in life just like your strengths tell you what you should pursue. Both are necessary. You’ll make yourself sick if you try to compete in areas where you lack ability. But you’ll experience peace and joy when you understand (and live out) the reasons why God created you.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

God has a purpose and a plan for your life. Stay on target and you’ll feel hopeful.

You Can Hope Because You Are Growing

Not only are we not born perfect, but we also aren’t born mature. God isn’t done with you yet. It’s okay if you need more time to fully mature into all God is making you to be. It’s possible what you aren’t capable of today, you will be capable of tomorrow. If you have seen enough reasons to hope yet, here is another:

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

2 Timothy 1:6-7

God wants you to grow the gifting He’s given you. God is the author and perfecter of your faith (Hebrews 12:2). Do your part to receive what God has given you and allow God to do His part to shape you into the work of art He has in mind. Keep both of these in balance and you will overflow with hope.

See the definition of the word hope.
Read about how to increase hope.
Image by Meine Reise geht hier leider zu Ende. Märchen beginnen mit from Pixabay

3 Deaths And You Are Out Forever

3 Deaths And You Are Out Forever

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Reading time: 5 minutes

A baseball player has three strikes before he is out. People have three deaths before they run out of life. Everyone will experience at least two deaths(*1), but some will manage to get a hit before striking out.

  1. People are born into a physical life and a spiritual death (strike 1!)
  2. People will eventually experience a physical death (strike 2!)
  3. People who have not experienced a spiritual rebirth will experience the final death (strike 3!)

Just like there are two states of spiritual health, there will be two different experiences of judgment at the end of our physical lives. God will judge believers and unbelievers differently.

God Will Judge Unbelievers and Assign Death as Punishment

If people are already spiritually dead at birth, why is a final death needed? I think it is related to the tree of life found in the garden of Eden. The tree of life causes people to live forever (Genesis 3:22). God didn’t want Adam and Eve to live forever as physically alive but spiritually dead. Similarly, the final death removes all opportunity for the physically dead to ever become alive spiritually. It’s permanent like losing a body part that won’t grow back.

When unsaved people die, they face God’s judgment for their sin. Without Jesus to intervene, God will judge them guilty. He will hold their sin against them. The judgment will be straightforward. Those whose names aren’t found written in the Book of Life will be sentenced to the final death (Revelation 20:11-15). There won’t be an appeal process, but only a final and permanent removal of all opportunity for life.

God Will Judge Believers and Reward Valuable Work

Saved people will bypass the unbeliever’s judgment because Jesus knows their names are written in the Book of Life. They will be judged righteous based on Jesus’s record.

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

John 5:24 ESV

However, saved people will not escape all forms of judgment. They won’t be judged as to whether they will end up in heaven or hell. Everyone who is saved goes to heaven. The believer’s judgment will be more like the grading of a capstone project. In 2 Corinthians chapter 5, Paul describes the judgment of believers.

For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.

2 Corinthians 5:10 NLT

Could this verse be addressing both saved and unsaved people? Is it meant to instill fear in believers that Jesus will judge their sin and find their name isn’t written in the Book of Life? No, the context of verse 10 is not discussing the state of a person’s salvation (verses 1-9).

Even so, some people attempt to use this verse to argue that no one can know until the moment of judgment if they are entering heaven. They argue that this is necessary to prevent people from being lazy after they become saved. If a person knows for sure they will be saved, why would they try to be a better person? What incentive do they have to stop sinning? But this goes against many scriptures (Titus 1:1-2, 3:7, Romans 8:1, John 10:27-28, and John 5:24, to name several.

God is going to judge us believers for what we do with the talents God gives us (Matthew 25:14–30). This will be positive overall, however, this is also where we get to see if our work holds up to the test.

Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.

1 Corinthians 3:12-15 NLT (my emphasis added)

So, believers will be saved, but they will be judged for the quality of their work. If you don’t build well, you may lose your reward, but not your life.

So this judgment is not meant to be a to-the-death competition. Instead of God using fear to motivate good behavior, He uses love. God empowers the believer to succeed. If a person refuses to try, obey, and love, this is evidence that they aren’t saved.

It’s not like there’s only one first place and we need to fight each other for it. Instead, based on the Parable of the Talents, we are each to give our all according to the gifts and abilities God has given us. Those who are genuine believers can obey and love by the power of the Holy Spirit (1 John 2).

You are running a race in which the only competition is yourself. I like this because I can experience both the security of knowing God’s love and provision for me and also the challenge of expressing my will to be all that God made me to be. I want to cooperate with God during the sanctification process. I want to stay connected with Jesus so I can bear fruit.

You should feel positively motivated to serve God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. If you’re not, consider what is missing from your relationship with God.

This post is part of a series on eternal security. You can read the introductory post: eternal security means full assurance of salvation.
For more on judgment, consider this article I found.
(*1) except for Jesus (no spiritual birth or death), Enoch and Elijah (no physical death), Adam and Even (no physical birth).
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