Window Sticker!

I saw something tonight that just made me stop dead in my tracks. I volunteer with our local food bank handing out food to people who are in need. They order online and then on the designated date they come and pick it up at a specified location. They just drive up and we load it up for them, and off they go. Well tonight I saw something that I could not believe. I stood there and stared in disbelief at what I was seeing. A car pulled up with a couple of young ladies in it. As it pulled into position to get loaded, and I pushed the cart towards their trunk, I noticed a sticker in the back window. It wasn't large or obnoxious, but what it said was disturbing, at least to me. It said that "Satan Loves Me." I could not believe it. My first instinct was to go over there and tear it off, but that would be kind of frowned upon. I thought to myself, "my dear girl." "If you only knew the truth." Satan doesn't really love you. He is a liar. In fact he is the father of lies.

John 8:44 New Living Translation (NLT)
⁴⁴ For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Satan's job is to steal, kill and destroy. Not to love. The only thing that he loves is to get us further away from Jesus.

John 10:10 New Living Translation (NLT)
¹⁰ The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy.

I prayed a quick prayer for her. If she only knew how much God loved her, that she might know the truth. He wants her to live and have an abundant life.

John 10:10 New Living Translation (NLT)
¹⁰ My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

He loves us so much, that He sent His only Son to die for us. So that we might have eternal life.

John 3:16 New International Version (NIV)
¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

He loves us so much that He is patient with us. Waiting for us to believe in Him and His truth. He wants to spend eternity with us.

2 Peter 3:9 The Message (MSG)
^8-9 Don’t overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change.

I pray that one day, in a moment of  time, God will soften this young women's heart and she will seek Jesus' love. Not Satan's. I pray that the next time that I see her vehicle, that sticker would be gone.
 

Getting Into Heaven!

I had a conversation the other day with a friend of mine about getting into heaven. He was telling me about a friend of his who was in my friends opinion a "saint". There is no way that his friend was not getting into heaven because of the kind of person he was. My friend was telling me about how hard his friend worked. Provided for his family. Helped out at church and was very generous in their giving, of both money and time. As he was talking, I stood there shaking my head a little at what I was hearing. He finally asked my why I was shaking my head. I told him "dude, it doesn't work that way." "You can't work or give your way into heaven." I told him that you can do everything right according to our human way, but this is what God's word says.

Romans 3:23 New Living Translation (NLT)
²³ For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

That's right. We are all still sinners. Until we get to heaven to spend eternity with our Lord and Savior, we will still sin and fall short of God's standard for us.

Romans 6:23 New Living Translation (NLT)
²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Aren't you glad that God doesn't give us what we deserve, but He gives us grace, which is enough!

Ephesians 2:8-9 New Living Translation (NLT)
⁸ God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

We can't earn our salvation. It is a free gift from God. All we have to do is accept it. People will try to talk a good game to get on the good side of The Lord but,

Matthew 7:21 Living Bible (TLB)
²¹ “Not all who sound religious are really godly people. They may refer to me as ‘Lord,’ but still won’t get to heaven. For the decisive question is whether they obey my Father in heaven.

Jesus wants us to repent and turn from our sins. Accept Him as our personal savior.

Mark 1:15 New Living Translation (NLT)
¹⁵ “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”

So I explained all of this to my friend. Telling him there is only one way to get to heaven and none of it involves what he does on his own.