Month: July 2023

THIS ADVENTURE CALLED LIFE

~ Tony Busquets ~ Leave a comment

Ever wonder what life is all about?  Ever think “Why am I here?” 

We have all had that thought. In an earlier post I stated that we are here to fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus Christ, that is to seek and save the lost. However, the basic meaning of life is to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and to bring others to Jesus. We have to take that first step of accepting him. However, many people say “But my life is not where I want it to be?” or “How can Jesus love a person like me.”

To those who doubt that Jesus would want you, I have something to say – Jesus loves you and wants you with Him in Heaven. He will meet you where you are and will help you turn your life around. All you have to do is accept Him as your Lord and Savior, submit to His will, and repent of your sins.

Repent is an old military term from the Roman Legion days that means “To do an about-face, to turn 180 degrees”.

Jesus can for us. Luke 19:10 states that Jesus came to save us. Here is the verse from the English Standard Version “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

To understand this, we need to look at the most famous passage in the Bible – John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”. God wants a relationship with you. He sent Jesus as our Mercy giver, our healer, and our Spiritual Doctor.

The truth is that if we look at the next verses you will see how much love God has for us. And it is important to read and understand these two verses and not read anything into it. Verses 16 and 17 of the third chapter of the book of John says: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” God does not want to be separated from you, He wants you to be with Him in Heaven for all eternity. You are His creation and He loves you.

God did not send Jesus into the world to condemn it but to save it. Others would have you think that we have an unmerciful God, or a Vengeful God. In fact, we have the opposite, we have a very loving and merciful God. God is not a god who wants to hurt you, punish you, condemn you, or destroy you. Our God is a god who wants to redeem you and have a relationship with you. He wants you for Himself because He loves you.

If you’re a parent, could you watch your child be tortured, humiliated, and ultimately killed for not committing any crimes except to bring you hope and a future? Would you be able to sit and watch your own child be flogged, whipped and have their entire body ripped to shreds, then spit on, and finally executed for not committing any crimes? That is the price God paid to have a relationship with you. He sacrificed His own Son for you because our Lord loves you.

Several times in Scripture God has written the following “Be holy, because I am holy.”  God cannot accept someone who is filled with sin into His Kingdom.  However He made a way for us thru Jesus – “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” John 14:6.  Many times in the New Testament Jesus states that only thru Him is the way to Heaven.  Only thru Jesus can we have fellowship with the Father. 

And yet, this is a major stumbling block to many. How can Jesus be the only way to God? The reason is because God designed it that way. After all, Jesus redeemed us thru His blood on the Cross. There are no other ways to Heaven or to God. There is only one way to Heaven.

There is no other way to God. There is no other way to Heaven. There is only one way and that is thru Jesus.

I want to ask you to take a moment and figure out where you are in life, where are you in your spiritual walk with Jesus? And I want to ask you to think about where do you want to spend eternity? Do you want to spend eternity in paradise with Jesus and God and the rest of the saints who have paved the path for us? Or do you want to continue in life with no hope and in the end, face judgment and eternal punishment?
If you want to spend life in Heaven and Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, or you feel you have backslidden and want to repent then please pray this prayer:

DEAR LORD, I KNOW I AM A SINNER.  I KNOW I HAVE HOPE IN JESUS.  I WANT TO REPENT OF MY SINS AND COME TO YOU TO ASK FORGIVENESS.  I WANT TO ASK YOU TO FORGIVE MY SINS, CLEANSE ME OF MY SINS, GIVE ME THE HOPE OF ETERNAL LIFE WITH JESUS, AND I WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE JESUS IS MY LORD AND SAVIOR AND HE GAVE HIS LIFE FOR ME.  I ASK THE HOLY SPIRIT TO COME INTO ME AS THE GUARANTEE OF MY SALVATION AND WANT TO REPENT OF MY SINS.  ALL THIS I ASK IN JESUS HOLY AND PRECIOUS NAME, AMEN

If you prayed that prayer then I want to say CONGRATULATIONS AND WELCOME TO THE FAMILY OF BELIEVERS. You are now one of the Saints of God! You are a Christian! The Angels, The Saints, The Lord Jesus, and all who have gone before us are having a party in Heaven because you chose Jesus. And I want to welcome you to the family. Find a good Bible-based church and continue to learn about Jesus. We are all on this Journey together. And in the end we will hear God say “Well Done my good and faithful servant!” And I hope to see you in Heaven with me!

OUR MORAL COMPASS

~ Tony Busquets ~ Leave a comment

Everyone has a definition of right and wrong.  Right and wrong are mostly defined by what we ourselves or what society defines as right and wrong.  This definition can be altered based on our perception of right and wrong, the current societal perception of right and wrong, political perception, business perception, ethical perception, or any other perception that we feel should be considered based on current events or current circumstances.

What if I were to tell you that there is a perception that is always correct for every circumstance and can give an unbiased perspective on right and wrong? 

In the book of Proverbs Chapter 1, we are treated to the introduction of right and wrong.  I will quote the first four verses here:

1 These are the proverbs of Solomon, David’s son, king of Israel.

2 Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline,
    to help them understand the insights of the wise.
3 Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives,
    to help them do what is right, just, and fair.
4 These proverbs will give insight to the simple,
    knowledge and discernment to the young.

The entire Bible is filled with examples of right and wrong.  The Proverbs and the Ten Commandments of God are a great starting place.  Those give us the ultimate test of right and wrong. 

What is the ultimate test of right and wrong?  We can start with the Ten Commandments, which were the first laws given to Moses from God, to guide us into living a righteous life.  These are found in the Book of Exodus in Chapter 20 of the Bible.  I will place the portions of the commandments here for all to see.

20 Then God gave the people all these instructions[a]:

2 “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.

3 “You must not have any other god but me.

4 “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. 5 You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. 6 But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those[b] who love me and obey my commands

7 “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.

8 “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

12 “Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

13 “You must not murder.

14 “You must not commit adultery.

15 “You must not steal.

16 “You must not testify falsely against your neighbor.

17 “You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.”

Basically, they are broken down in this way:

  1. You shall have no other gods before Me. (God is our God.  There are no other Gods)
  2. You shall make no idols. (Do not worship anything or anyone except God.  And there are no other Gods and nothing can take the place of our God)
  3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
  4. Keep the Sabbath day holy.
  5. Honor your father and your mother.
  6. You shall not murder.
  7. You shall not commit adultery.
  8. You shall not steal.
  9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (Don’t lie)
  10. You shall not covet. (Don’t be jealous because your friend or neighbor may have a better car, a nice house, a beautiful wife or muscular husband, etc.).

The book of Proverbs in the Bible provides more instructions on right and wrong.  They will help guide you to make the best decisions using the standards God has given us thru the prophets. 

We get more instructions from Jesus himself.  In John 14: 6 Jesus tells us “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”  He gives us instructions on how to live and know the difference between right and wrong. 

Digging a little deeper Jesus told us in John 8: 31-32 “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  Knowing the truth from the point of view of Jesus provides us with a compass detailing what is right and what is wrong.  It provides us with the best way to live and the best way to make a difference in the world to those who are hurting or those who need to understand the difference between right and wrong. 

In Psalm 43:3 the author writes the following: “Send out your light and your truth;
    let them guide me” The author was asking God to show him what is right, what is the right thing to do or to say.  If we look further down in the rest of verse 3 and into verse 4 we can read the following: “Let them lead me to your holy mountain,
    to the place where you live.
There I will go to the altar of God,
    to God—the source of all my joy.
I will praise you with my harp,
    O God, my God!”

Right and truth is what God loves.  Doing the right thing according to God pleases Him.  Understanding His truth and His righteousness helps us to understand Him and have a deeper relationship with God. 

The words that come from our lips or the actions we take are the results of things we have in our hearts.  Matthew 15: 17 – 18 states 17 “Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer. 18 But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you.”  Our actions define us.  What we say or do determines how others view us – Good or Bad.   What we learn and how we react is what defines us. 

Thru the salvation given to us by Jesus we are also given the truth.  We are given truth from God thru Jesus.   We have had the truth with us from the beginning of time.  Psalm 26: 3 states “For I am always aware of your unfailing love,
    and I have lived according to your truth.” 

We can fill ourselves with the truth that comes from God thru the Bible.  This will be our Moral Compass and our guide to right and wrong – an infallible guide, an inerrant guide.  What we feed our hearts is what will come out.  Food only fills us for a short time.  The truth stays with us forever. The definition of right and wrong remains in us, and we can be a better example of parents, friends, managers, employees, etc.  We will be the ones who are trustworthy, and no one can fault a trustworthy person.

I remember a saying from Frank Jackson that goes like this: “Watch your thoughts, they become words.  Watch your words, they become your actions.  What your actions, they become habits.  What your habits, they become character.  Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” 

How do you want your ultimate destiny defined?  Where do you want to spend eternity?  In the smoking or non-smoking section of eternity (Heaven or Hell)?  I am not saying good works and good character will get you into Heaven.  Only believing and accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and repenting of your sins will open the doors to Heaven for you.  Understanding what is truly right and truly wrong thru God’s eyes will provide a better life for you.  There will be some trials and troubles, Christianity does not give you an escape from trouble.  But with Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we can have peace during the troubles.

Feeding our minds with the Word of God will help us to get closer to our Creator.  Understanding God and his definition of right and wrong will help us lead better lives.  We will become better people for the sake of our Creator and our Savior.  We will make mistakes and we will slip up, that happens.  We have mercy and grace from our God who will forgive us our sins.  That does not give us a right to sin (which will be discussed later), but we have a merciful God who forgives us and welcomes us back when we sin.  We are all born as sinners and we need forgiveness.  We need to acknowledge that Jesus is our Savior, who died on the cross for us to have freedom from Sin, and rose again three days later so we can have freedom from death.  If we acknowledge all this and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we will have eternal life.  Understanding his teachings and the teachings in the rest of the Bible will help us to know what is truly right and truly wrong.  And we will live a better life. 

So, when the last day on Earth has come and you have slipped past this world and gone into the afterlife, how do you want to be remembered?  What epitaph do you want to be left for you?  What would you like people to truly say about you?  And where do you want to spend eternity?