There's a Cost

I went to Derby I was on a mission for some peel off Christmas stencils to use on my cards only to find that Wilkinson no longer do them, (it was their own brand) why I didn't buy more than one at the time is beyond me, they have had so much use they are started to tear, hence my desire to purchase new ones.

I had a walk round and as I came around a corner there was this rather tall, yellow lady handing out lollipops, quite a few people went to take one but before they could take it out of her hand she had moved it to point down to a bowl on the floor, this treat was not free you had to put some money in the bowl first. Quite a few people didn't take the sweet but just walked off.

There are lot of things to entice us, we are tempted by all kinds of pleasures but very rarely does anyone tell us there will be a cost. Satan certainly isn't going to tell you that you will have to pay for the life you are leading, unlike the yellow lady pointing to her bowl he isn't going to point to the punishment that all men will receive for their sin, the greatest of which is the rejection of God's Son, Jesus Christ. Many people say, "well I don't do anybody any harm, I don't go round stealing, and committing adultery, I don't lie", really!!

Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?

Be honest with yourself have you never told a lie? Have you never ever stolen anything? Have you never looked at a member of the opposite sex with lust? Jesus said,

Matthew 5:28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

That goes for the ladies too, Jesus is talking about everyone

The Bible warns us of the cost of staying in our present state, a sinner, rejecting Jesus and not accepting the free gift of salvation from God.

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

There is not one person who can stand before God and say that he is worthy to go to heaven by his own merit for the Bible says,

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

Just as we are punished by our own judicial system if we break the law, so God will judge everyone and those who are not righteous will be punished. The only way we can avoid this is by asking God to forgive our sins and ask Jesus into our lives, Jesus has taken the punishment for our sins, when He died on the cross at Calvary He took your place and mine so that we would not be condemned and eternally punished.

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh but according the the Spirit.

What an exchange, my sin for His righteousness.

Think carefully, is a few moments pleasure really worth an eternity of punishment. Would you not rather have something that doesn't fade, that isn't gone in a moment? True love, true joy, true peace and lasting pleasure are all found in Christ Jesus alone, no one and nothing else can offer you what He can.

John 6:68 But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

Genuine

There are times when it is hard to tell if something is genuine, when my daughter was a child she looked at a leather belt that said genuine leather and asked "where's genuine?"

Oft times we can get away without using the genuine article sometimes something that is compatible will do and probably be much cheaper and with something’s it doesn't matter. I recently purchased a Samsung laser printer and bought toner that was compatible, once the toner ran out and I replaced it the printer just wouldn't print right, there was no way it would accept these toners so I ordered Samsung toners and it worked fine.

It maybe doesn't matter so much with things but what about faith, religion, Christianity etc.? Does it matter what church I go to, what religion I belong to, don’t all have the same God it’s just different roads to heaven? I mean surely as long as I go to church and do good things and work hard to be good myself that’s all that really matters?

I would like to quote you something quite startling from the Bible that Jesus Himself said Matthew 7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!

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So not everyone who thinks they are going to heaven are!!

How then can anyone get to heaven?

There is only one way, and that is through the Lord Jesus it has nothing to do with church attendance, it has nothing to do with how many committees you are on, it has nothing to do with good works, it has nothing to do with confessing to priests etc. etc. It has everything to do with God’s grace, if you want to be a genuine Christian. 

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. 

Redemption is a gift from God and when we repent, believe then our sins are forgiven and we walk in God’s light, we are new creatures in Him which will produce good fruit, we will want then to please and serve Him.

There is only one genuine religion, there is only one genuine God, there is only one genuine way to be saved from sin, guilt, shame and the wrath to come and the only way to find out is by reading the word of God, the Holy Bible prayerfully asking for understanding and guidance from God the Holy Spirit.

Those that enter the kingdom of heaven will be those who do the will of the Father, 

Matthew 7:21  “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven, 

Acts 17:30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 

so, this is the will of the Father that we repent, how?

Acts 2 :38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

There are a lot of counterfeits and they are not compatible, only one way.....JESUS.