'TWAS THE NIGHT JESUS CAME

'Twas the night Jesus came and all through the house
Not a person was praying, not one in the house.
The Bibles were left on the shelf without care,
For no one thought that Jesus would come there.
The children were dressing to crawl into bed,
Not once ever kneeling or bowing a head.
And mom in her rocker with baby in her lap
Was watching the Late Show while I took a nap.

When out of the east there rose such a clatter,
I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash
Tore open the shutters and lifted the sash!
When what to my wondering eyes should appear
But angels proclaiming that Jesus was here!

The light of His face made me cover my head --
It was Jesus returning, just as He said.
And though I possessed worldly wisdom and wealth,
I cried when I saw Him in spite of myself.
In the Book of Life which He held in His hand
Was written the name of every saved man.
He spoke not a word as He searched for my name;
When He said, "It's not here" my head hung in shame.

The people whose names had been written with love
He gathered to take to His Father above.
With those who were ready He rose without a sound
While all the rest were left standing around.
I fell to my knees, but it was too late;
I had waited too long and thus sealed my fate.
I stood and I cried as they rose out of sight;
Oh, if only I'd known that this was the night.

In the words of this poem the meaning is clear;
The coming of Jesus is now drawing near.
There's only one life and when comes the last call
We'll find that the Bible was true after all.

- Margie Knight

Where did Sin come from?
Did God create it?

Original Sin

 God is Holy and therefore incapable of sin.  He hates sin and did not create sin.   God created the angel Lucifer to praise and worship Him, but He also gave Lucifer a free will.  Lucifer became jealous of God and decided that he wanted to overthrow Him and rule instead of God.  Lucifer deceived a 1/3 of the other angels in heaven and convinced them to join him in his cause.  To punish them, God cast Lucifer down to the Earth and all of the angels who had chosen to follow his leadership with him.  
 
  Lucifer became known as Satan the devil and the angels who followed him became known as demons.  Sin is defined as any type of rebellion against God.  Satan was the first to rebel against God and therefore is the originator of sin. 
 
  I don't believe that salvation is available to angels if they have made a final and binding decision to reject Christ or God.  Like when a human who's final decision is to reject Christ and then he dies.  Once dead he has no more chances, no more hope of salvation.   God says in His word that Satan (and I believe it also says his angels) will be cast into the eternal lake of fire and be eternally separated from God.  Everyone else at this point who has rejected Christ as Savior and also those who have taken the mark of the beast (thereby also rejecting Christ as Savior) will also be cast into the lake of fire.  This is the second death and is eternal  separation from God. 
 
   When God created Adam and Eve they were innocent in mind, heart, and spirit.  They had no knowledge of good and evil.  Satan tempted Eve to rebel against God by going against God's command not to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  This was the only tree that God had commanded Adam and Eve not to eat from.  Satan tempted and deceived Eve with lies likely similar to those he told the angels he deceived in heaven.  He told Eve that nothing bad would happen to her if she ate the fruit, but that God was just afraid if she ate it that she would be just like Him.  That she would have knowledge of good and evil and be just like God.  Eve decided to trust the snake (Satan) and gave the fruit to Adam to eat as well.  When they ate of the fruit they were immediately aware that they were naked and tried to hide themselves from God.  Their innocent minds and hearts were now tainted with sin and because they were the first humans to
willingly rebel against God they brought the curses of sin upon all their descendants/ mankind.  They received the curse God had warned them about if they ate of this forbidden fruit.  Mankind would now know death, pain, suffering, and separation from God.  He would have to labor and sweat to bring forth crops and earn his meals.  Life would no longer be in complete harmony with God and His other creatures in a living paradise.  Now mankind would be born into sin and be separated from God at birth.  God had to slay an animal in the garden to clothe Adam and Eve.  This was the first innocent blood shed to cover the sins of man.
 
 Because God loved Adam and Eve, He cast them out of the garden.  If they had stayed in the garden and eaten of the tree of life man would have lived forever in his fallen state with no hope of redemption and ultimate peace with God in heaven.  It was a blessing that God cast them out of the garden and put angels on the parameters to guard the entrances. 
 
  God loves Adam, Eve and all of mankind.  He has made a way for all people to be redeemed and to know him as he originally intended.  Out of His great love for us He sent His only Son Jesus Christ to earth to live a perfect sinless life and die in place of us as a sacrifice for our sins. He paid your sin debt.  He paid my sin debt.  Yet he freely gives salvation to whosoever will come to Him.
 
  He was born of a virgin so He did not have the curses of man upon him.  Jesus had to come and lead a perfect sinless life and fulfill the laws of God because no human can ever keep all of the laws or ten commandments of God perfectly.  Christ was tempted in all ways that humans are tempted and yet he did not give in and sin on any account.  No sin can enter into heaven and humans can never be sinless.  It is only by accepting Christ as our personal savior that we can have our sins covered by the blood of Christ and forgiven completely by God.  God says that He casts them as far as the east is from the west into the sea of forgetfulness.  God desires a personal relationship with each of us and loves us more than we can comprehend no matter who we are, what we've done, or where we've been.  To be saved is to become a new creature in Christ and have a new heart created within you.  No specific words or any action of your own can save
you, but Christ can and wants to.  If you truly realize you are a sinner and need God to save you, cry out to Him and seek His face sincerely and with your whole heart.  God has promised He will not hide His face from you.  You must believe that Christ was born of a virgin, was crucified, died, buried, and arose again so that you could be saved.   He paid the ultimate price for your sins so that you could be saved and forgiven by God and live with Him eternally in heaven when you die.  Truly believe this in your heart and trust Christ to save you if you ask him.  Ask Him for forgiveness of your sins, to cleanse you, and make you whole.  Invite Him to be the Lord of your life.  Speak honestly and earnestly to Him from your heart.  He will save you, and you will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you will go to heaven when you die.  
 
  Even as Christians we can never be perfect or sinless, but we can be forgiven and blameless in the eyes of God.  If we love Him we will try to keep His commandments as best we can even though we will inevitably make mistakes.  This is not the same as continual, willing, habitual sin (a whole other discussion).
 
  If we could ever be good enough to earn our salvation or deserve heaven, then Christ died in vain and there was no point for him to come, die as a sacrifice for our sins, and rise again.

  God loves us as we are, but loves us too much to leave us that way.  He wants us to know life to it's fullest, peace that lasts through the storms we face, and happiness in this life and in the one to come.  He can and wants to restore us to a right relationship with Him through His Son Jesus Christ so that we can come to live in the eternal paradise of Heaven when we die.
 
 
 
God Bless You and Yours and may you know the peace that only He can give!


Tabatha Pack

Are We All Children of God?

We are all creations of God and in that way are all connected, but we are not part of the family of God until we are born again in and through Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives. Only then can we be a child of God and have a relationship with Him as our Father and therefore be able to "inherit" Heaven when we die----we are able to live there with Him without sorrow, pain, or death for all eternity.

This also helps us to see why we don't all automatically just go to Heaven when we die. There is a point in everyones' life when we will decide to accept or reject the love and truth of Jesus Christ as our personal savior. It is not God's will that any should perish or go to Hell, but that all would have eternal life and peace with Him in Heaven. He cherishes us above all creation and yet He has given us free will to choose for ourselves and our decision is final and binding once we leave this life. Whatever our decision, we shall live with it throughout eternity.