Daniel 6 : Act Faithfully

Don't let persecution keep you from performing you service to God. Follow Daniel's example and keep your spiritual routines. Text is from Daniel 6

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Bible Study for October 11 : God's Promise of a New Home : Revelation 21

I may not be at Sunday School this week so here's the lesson.

Why don't we hear God?

Once when I was teaching 3rd grade Sunday School, the lesson was about Jeremiah. I mentioned that God told Jeremiah to write down his message and give it to the king. One of the boys in the class asked me, "You mean God really talked to Jeremiah?" "Yes," I answered. "God doesn't talk to me," he replied. I responded, "When was the last time you talked to God?"

We may not hear God talking to us because we don't spend any time talking to him. Or if we do, it's just to ask him for something. If the only time you hear from your friend is when he is begging you for something, would you want to talk to him?

I can personally testify to many times when I was sure God was talking to me. Once was when he told me where to go to college. Another was when he told me to be a high school teacher.

A main reason we don't hear God is because we are not listening. If I don't care about what someone is saying, I won't listen as well. Then I can't tell you what he said. Often we don't remember God talking because we don't care or want to hear what he's saying. Or we may be distracted by something else while he's talking.

In order to hear God, we must be paying attention and be ready to hear what he has to say. It helps if we are in the habit of talking to him, too.

Do You Know Jesus?

The reason this ministry exists is to tell others about Jesus. Because, in the long run, it doesn't matter what you believe about creation. It doesn't matter what you believe about science, abortion, then end times or anything else. All that matters is, do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?

In the beginning, God made Adam and Eve. (Genesis 1:27, 2:7, 2:22) He told them they could do whatever they wanted except eat from one particular tree.(Genesis 2:17)  After listening to Satan, they chose to eat from the tree anyway. (Genesis 3:6) Please notice; their sin wasn't eating the fruit, it was that they disobeyed God. That's all that sin is, disobeying God.

Since God is perfect, he can't tolerate sinfulness in his presence. Man has to do something to pay for his sin. Since the consequence of sin is death, (Romans 6:23) something has to die to make up for man's sin. God started a sacrificial system to do this. However, sacrificing animals doesn't really cover man's sin because the animal is incapable of sin itself. The only one who can die for a human's sin is another human. The problem is that all humans have their own sins for which to die. I can't die for your sin because I have my own sin to die for. The only acceptable sacrifice would be a human who had never sinned himself. But all humans have sinned (Romans 3:23) so it seems there is no hope of making up with God.

Knowing this, God already had a plan. He would come to the world himself as a human to be the sacrifice. Temporarily setting aside some of his Godly attributes, God came to Earth as the man Jesus. Jesus was born as a human, lived as a human, and experienced human emotion and feelings, including pain and temptation. He taught us about the way God wants us to live. He taught us that God judges our intents, not our actions. (Matthew 5)

Jesus allowed himself to be killed in the most horrific and painful way man has ever devised as the sacrifice for our sins. But three days later, he physically and bodily rose from the dead to show his power over death and as a promise that, one day, we will live forever as well in resurrected perfect bodies.

Do you want to live forever? All it takes is to receive this gift from God. We can't earn our way into Heaven. There is nothing we can do that is so good that God must let us into Heaven for our actions. But also, there is nothing so bad that we can do that God can't forgive us if we repent and ask forgiveness. God wants us to be with him forever. But to do so, we must admit that we can't make it on our own. We must agree with God that we are sinners and repent of 
our sins. That means to turn away from our bad actions and thoughts and honestly try not to sin again. (John 8:10-11) We must believe that Christ died for our sins and accept his death as our sacrifice. We must accept Christ as our savior and Lord. That means we must ask Jesus to enter our lives and rule over us. We must be willing to submit to the authority of Christ and follow his lead in our lives.

Simply pray a prayer like this and be honest about it.

Father,

I know I am a sinner. I know I've done things that displease you. Right now I want to repent of my sins. I want to turn my life around and follow your lead. I believe that Christ died for my sins. I accept his sacrifice as payment for my sins. Please come into my life as my savior and Lord. Please help me to follow your instructions. Thank you for hearing me and saving me.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

If you prayed that prayer and meant it, congratulations, you are now part of God's family. You are an adopted child of God and heir to his richness. And, I, and many others, will see you in Heaven someday.

Now for the awful truth. You are still going to commit sins. Being saved doesn't make you perfect, and it doesn't mean your life will suddenly become a bed of roses. But it does mean that you can always pray for help. You can trust God to hear you. You are also part of a worldwide family of Christians. I highly recommend that you become involved in a local church. Tell the pastor of your decision to become a Christian. He will be thrilled. Follow the lead of Christ in baptism. Get involved in church activities and become friends with other Christians. This will give you the strength to follow Christ. Most of all begin a regular habit of prayer and Bible study. And, if Satan tries to remind you of your past life, remember that you are a child of God, now and you belong to Him. And he will never let you go. Nothing you did before matters, now.

Please let me know of your decision, too so I can pray for you. Comment on this post or send an e-mail to bvermeer0@gmail.com. I'm waiting to hear from you.