Sin turned into Glory?

First of all, I really hate that I've become so jaded that I am so skeptical about everything I read (not just skeptical, but SO skeptical). I suppose that's better than being naive or overly trusting in this world today, but it also takes a bit of the joy out of some things, too. Anyway, I'm going to assume this is a true story and with that assumption say this: Wow.

If you didn't click on the link yet- here is a very quick summary: it is the story of a man addicted to sex. He seeks it wherever he can. Then, he finds God and is saved, but still struggles with it. After confessing about an episode with a prostitute during one of his "slips", his Pastor encourages him to apologize to the prostititute. What results is a perfect example of God using our sin-nature to bring Glory to His kingdom. It's not a long story, you really should read it.

What an amazing testimony of the power of our God to redeem and forgive. What an amazing example of our God using weakness and sinfulness to showcase His glory.

How many of us have felt we are beyond saving? How many of us have felt trapped in our weakness and sin and totally separate from God because of it? How many of us have underestimated or, worse, not even considered how God could work through that very sin and weakness to show His love to us and others?

God is longing to forgive, redeem, and use all of us. Don't let Satan mess with you by allowing that doubt to block your relationship with our Lord.

"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst."
1 Timothy 1:15

If you are already saved and have a relationship with God- take heart! We are always going to struggle with sin as long as we live on this earth. It is our reality being sons and daughters of Adam and Eve.  The Bible makes that clear- very very clear, so don't fret and beat yourself up about it:

"For all of sinned and fall short of the glory of God"  Romans 3:23

"Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins" Ecclesiastes 7:20

"For as by one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so that by one man's obedience the many will be made righteous" Romans 5:19

God does not expect us to be perfect.  How do we know that?  Because He sent his son Jesus Christ to die on a cross for us in order that we may be saved and enter His kingdom DESPITE our sinful and wicked ways.  It is a gift from a Lord who loves us deeply.  Accept this give with open arms and open hearts and repent.  THEN- use it to help others enter the kingdom with you.  

If you are not already saved or are skeptical about God- take heart!!  God loves you, too, and as long as there is breath in your lungs it is never ever too late!  God forgives us all, no matter what our sin, and no matter what our age.  I was 41 years old when I accepted Jesus into my heart, I mean REALLY accepted him (I'm the queen of surface level Christians).  I consider myself one of the luckiest people alive that I didn't die before I had a chance at salvation because let me tell you, the things I have done in my life would most definitely land me deep in the pit of hell without it.  

Don't just skate through your life letting "fate" or the power of your own will dictate eternity for you. Consider that God is a real, living God who loves you and pursues you.  How do you know?  You are reading this post, aren't you?  GOD works through people like me, I could never do this on my own power! 

Keep reading about God, keep thinking about God, keep asking the questions that are in your heart.  God will answer, and eventually (hopefully not before it is too late) you will see the truth like I saw the truth, and your life will be CHANGED and will never be the same again.  Thank GOD for that!  

What comes first with God?

A friend of mine shared a blog post on Facebook titled: For Years I Pleaded with God to Make Me Straight, So Why Did My Prayers Go Unanswered?

This blog post is about way more than homosexuality. It is about our hearts. It is about getting our hearts right and being in relationship with God. This is what must come first, before anything else in our lives will start to turn around. If we are living in sin, or struggling with sin; if we are unhappy because what we WANT to do goes against what the Bible tells us to do (if we want to have sex before marriage, if we want to be in a gay relationship, if we want to skip praying for others in favor of everything else that seems more fun, if we want out of our marriage to find a better marriage, etc.) then we need to look at our true relationship with God and what we are giving TO God before we can question why He is not answering our prayers. God does answer prayers, but He expects us to give up EVERYTHING to Him as well. If you are praying for things to change while still living a sinful life, the consequences and results are on you, not God.  It is one thing to stumble and sin (which we ALL do), it is quite another to keep commiting the same sins over and over.  Sex out of wedlock and living in a gay relationship are continuous ongoing sin that you cannot just apologize for and call it good, you must CHANGE your life and STOP the sin.

Galatians 2:20- I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Luke 9:23- And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

1 Peter 4:1-2 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.

It took me almost 41 years to get this stuff through my thick skull.  It would be such a great gift if you didn't have to suffer that long.  

Cecil vs the unborn child

So many who follow me on Facebook have posted outrage about Cecil the Lion, but yet I've never seen a post from these same people about Planned Parenthood and what has recently come out about the selling of baby parts, as well abortion in general- why is this?

If you become pregnant with a child you WANT and miscarry that baby, would you just shrug your shoulders and go, "meh, we'll try again next month, no biggie" or would you feel either some of A LOT of sadness and loss? IT IS A BABY with a soul!

While the killing of Cecil the Lion is sad, especially the way it went down (so far as we know)- it is not anywhere near on par with abortion. There are some seriously perverted priorities out there, and I am so sad that Satan has taken root in so many hearts. You cannot turn a blind eye to abortion and believe that God is pleased with you.

Psalm 139: 13-16 "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

If you are reading this and HAVE spoken out about abortion- thank you. Christians who speak out against what seems OK in popular culture today may be fearful about losing friends or worse by speaking out against what everyone else seems to be ignoring (or worse, supporting), but never forget that while we are in this world we most definitely are not OF this world.

Galatians 1:10 "For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ."

1 John 4:4 "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them. Because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world."

Check out this post:
If Cecil were a human baby

When did parents lose their right to parent/choose/raise their children?

Children are a gift from God.  Actually, no, that's not quite accurate.  They are a tremendous LOAN from God.  We all ultimately belong to God, even our children.  He simply entrusts them to us while they are here on earth, with the hopes that we will remember our job and raise them up so they will one day return to Him in Heaven.

There are things happening in this world making our job as Christian parents harder and harder to do well.  People thumbing their noses at God by passing laws that go against His commands and purpose for creation is one thing.  NOW though, well now these people who think God and His laws are a big joke are taking their disdain for His directives and bringing them to our schools so that our children will start to believe, or rather, NOT believe just like them.  There have been a few stories in the past week that have come to my attention that leave me extremely worried about our future in this nation.
The first story is about a school district in Seattle, Washington.  This school district is allowing students as young as 13-years-old to consent to having an IUD implanted for the purposes of birth control WITHOUT PARENTAL CONSENT.  What?  What?  Since when were 13-year-old children able to make a decision like that on their own?  Since when did parents lose control over the healthcare decisions of their children?  As a Christian parent this involves so much more than just a healthcare decision to me, but at the very least, someone who doesn't believe as I do can see that this is a big decision to make without our input or even KNOWLEDGE as parents. You can find the story I read here:  IUD's in children.

Oh come on, I am not naive enough to think that some children aren't having sex at that age, but that is beside the point.  The point is, we are responsible for raising our children and helping them to make decisions that are not only in their best interest, but that fall in line with the values we are trying to instill in them.  This is crazy!  And before you go and tell me that this is a biased story that skews the truth I'm one step ahead of you.  I searched many sites to see if this was a bit exaggerated and wasn't able to find anything to assuage my outrage.  As a matter of fact, when I landed on Snopes I learned something else I didn't know.  Snopes was quick to point out that some of the "facts" in the story may not be quite so factual- as in, "IUD's... can act as an abortifacient by preventing the implantation of a fertilized egg", which is debatable but again not the point. The point of the story- that this can happen without parental knowledge- is totally true.  Additionally, Snopes pointed out that 26 states and the District of Columbia allow minors (12 and over) to consent to contraceptive services without parental knowledge or consent.  Unreal.

The second story has to do with teaching our children about gay marriage as well as oral and anal sex in school.  Much of this curriculum may be structured in such a way that parents cannot chose to opt their children out if this does not fit the values that those parents are trying to instill.  Here is a video that talks about this: new curriculum for the times.  Again, whether this is actually happening yet or not is BESIDE THE POINT!  Why are these things even being considered?!?!

Now, for those of you who feel that including same-sex couples in curriculum about marriage, or that somehow discussions about being transgendered and gender non-conforming identity is a positive and long overdue step in our schools, LISTEN UP.  God is VERY VERY clear about these things being against Him and his intent for us. If my children are going to be exposed to a conversation about these things it will be on MY terms with MY Christian faith as the basis for those discussions, and NOT under any circumstances by someone who does not share my faith or belief in God.  Period. This isn't math, people!  This stuff is changing the very fabric of our society and moving it away from what God intended, and as a Christian my children will not be taught that this is OK because with God is it absolutely not OK.  I realize I will be very unpopular and likely vilified because of these statements, but what popular culture dictates or what man thinks of me holds no sway over what God commands of me.

"If you will fear the LORD and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the command of the LORD, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God. If you will not listen to the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the command of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you, as it was against your fathers. “  1 Samuel 12:14-15

"Only do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them." Numbers 14:9

"The fear of man lays a snare; but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe."  Proverbs 29:25

"For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ." Galatians 1:10

Look, I love you, I really do.  I believe that God calls Christians to love EVERYONE. Judging a person's behavior and choices is God's job, not mine.  Mine is to reflect the love and grace that God gave me with the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ through my interactions with the world. My purpose is to praise His name and share the Gospel with everyone in the hopes those who don't believe will have an opportunity to reconsider and be saved.  This is not a commentary on how you choose to live YOUR life.

That said, I will not allow anyone to teach my child in a setting that is supposed to be educational about something that is not based in facts according to God's truth.  When a child learns something in school, that child believes what he or she learned is the truth.  It is fact.  It can be trusted, otherwise why would the school, a place we willingly send him or her, teach it?  A child does not have the ability to discern the way an adult does.  When we decide to change or spin the "facts" to fit an agenda, we are harming our children tremendously.

At the end of the day, even if you are A-OK with all this because it falls in line with your personal beliefs on the matters of gay marriage and gender confusion, I have to ask you a question.  Why in the world are you OK with our children being taught things or exposed to things without parental consent?  You may be OK with this stuff because it falls in line with your beliefs, but what about when something doesn't fall in line with your beliefs?

If you aren't a Believer then you probably aren't OK with God "stuff" being taught to you children, right?  Well, what if positions were reversed and you were being told that schools will start teaching the Bible and you couldn't do anything about it.  You'd be mighty pissed, right?  Oh, wait.... you already won that battle and the Bible can't be taught in public schools. Heck, you won that battle so handily that we can't even say Merry Christmas in schools anymore.  So you must understand what I'm saying.  Parents should be allowed to raise their children based on their values and beliefs.  ALL parents, even ones that disagree with you.  As long as those beliefs don't involve teaching children to hurt others, themselves, or commit crimes, then it should be up to the parents.  Why, then, is this OK with some people?  I just don't understand, and it's things like this that have me so worried about the future of our nation.  Just watch, it will start here, but once the government is given such mighty power over us, it will turn on even those who are in support of all this power.

Don't give up our rights as parents to raise our children, even if that means some parents will raise their children differently than you will.

The Good News

Jesus. What a man. What an incredible Man. What incredibly good fortune for me and you that this amazing, holy Man lived, suffered, and died in roughly 33AD. SUFFERED and died. Suffered horribly. Suffered torture and unimaginable pain both physical AND emotional, and on top of it suffered terrible humiliation. Think about that. Stop and let it sink in for a minute.

I want it to sink in, because, for me, finally getting that through my thick skull has made all the difference in the world to my faith and my love for Jesus Christ. For 40 years I believed Jesus died, but it was just a story of something that happened long ago. A story, without much detail. A story I believed happened, but that I never thought too much about. I have never seen The Passion of the Christ partly because I didn't want anything to tamper with my rosy view of Christ's sacrifice. I didn't want any real images to disrupt my ability to continue to deny that Christ's death on the cross was really anything more than a story told to Christians to explain that Heaven is a place we can go to when we die.

Then, lightening struck. God finally and forever took hold of my being, my soul, my heart, my mind, and my life, and I have never been and never will be the same. The story of Christ's sacrifice now became the ultimate testament of God's love for us. Jesus Christ became a REAL man to me, and as a REAL human His sacrifice became almost too much for this wreck of a human to bear. When I first started to truly believe, I really was a wreck. I cried during every church service I attended for the first two months. I started listening to Christian music, and often was reduced to tears during certain songs.

To this day- when we sing Forever in church, I cry. Every single time. Christ's sacrifice is that powerful, and deserves that much emotion, in my opinion.

Why do I share all this? What is my point? Here it is- God sent his son Jesus to live on earth as a man. To experience what we experience as humans, and then to suffer and die so that we could have a place in Heaven. So that we, as sinners, who would never ever have been able to earn a place in Heaven on our own, wouldn't have to. If you do not believe or cannot see the magnitude of what Jesus did for us, then you will struggle with everything else that has to do with fully believing in God and believing His word.

God is love. True story. God loves us so much, so much. God sent His only Son for us. God wants a relationship with us, and to prove it, as long as we are alive God will never abandon us. God forgives us when we ask Him over and over and over. We never run out of chances with God- as long as we are alive. The Bible tells us this many times:

1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness

Acts 3:19
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord

Daniel 9:9
The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against Him

Colossians 1: 13-14
For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Micah 7:18-19
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

God, though, is also a judge. God created us to be in relationship with Him. He made us; we are His. BUT- He wants us to CHOOSE Him. He gave us free will because the ones He wants in Heaven with Him for all eternity are the ones that CHOOSE to be with Him. Now I understand, you may not like this part of God. You may not want to accept that God put us here on this earth in order that we may prove our love for Him. The wrathful, vengeful, jealous side of God may not fit your vision of a God that you want to follow. A God that is only about love and goodness. The blessing and the curse here is- you may feel however you choose about it. You do get to choose.

We are all equals here. You, me, Paul the Apostle.... it doesn't matter who we are. We are all humans in God's eyes, all sinners, all have the potential to go one of two places- Heaven or Hell. God has done everything short of taking away our free will to help us get to Heaven. He gave us his Word in the Bible. He gave us His Son to die on the cross for our sins so that we wouldn't have to pay the price for them ourselves. He pursues us every single day. You can choose to ignore all of this, or you can choose to open your mind to the possibility that through my words, God is reaching out to you right now.

Look- I am no better than anyone. I am no better than you. I have sinned; man have I sinned. I have even stopped believing for a time. I deserve Heaven no more than anyone else. I truly mean that. I deserve punishment for my sins; for my weak, cowardly behavior. But God will not let me suffer because I have taken the one step that I needed to take to be saved. I believe. I believe with all my heart. I believe in Jesus Christ. I believe that Jesus died for my sins. I believe that I am a sinner and that I need to repent. I have asked God for forgiveness, and I do so again and again, whenever I fall short. I do not fill my life with good works. As a matter of fact, I wish I could say that I give lots of time, talent and treasure, but the truth of the matter is, I don't. God loves me anyway. And God loves you no matter where you happen to be in your journey today. You can scream and rail against God all you want to. He still loves you and will still love you even if you go against Him.

Friend, if you are reading these words right now, you still have time. You still have a chance at salvation all you have to do is put your trust and belief in God. Don't be too proud or too smart to see that God is reaching out to you. You are sitting right here right now for a reason. Open your heart and your mind to the possibility that God is speaking to you on this page. Not Denise. I could never write these words without God. Never. Heck, I couldn't even say the name Jesus out loud 3 years ago. I was so far away from a relationship with God that it is truly a miracle I am here right now typing these things. Anyone who knows me knows it is true. Look at my Facebook page pre-2013, you will not find writing like this anywhere on my page. Now look at how I've changed. GOD HAS DONE THIS. GOD. Not me.

I can still say I haven't seen The Passion of the Christ, but now the reason is that, as a new Believer, I don't think I could take it yet. I will see it, though, because I believe that Jesus deserves to have his entire story told and the tremendous sacrifice he made understood. He has earned our commitment to face what he did for us head on, no matter how uncomfortable it is. I promise I'm working my way up to it.

What inspired me to write all this today? Well, today a friend of mine posted a video that just tore through me and made me stop in my tracks. For those of you who are inspired by the spoken word of others I encourage you to take less than 9 minutes to watch this video. If you are a believer, this will reinforce what you already know to be true. If you are a non-believer watch it anyway. What do you have to lose? Don't let your pride over being a non-believer prevent you from at least considering that there is another way to look at things.

Heaven. Hell. You

When popular culture goes against God

Two days ago the men and women of the Supreme Court took it upon themselves to change the meaning of marriage. As has been happening since Adam and Eve succumbed to Satan in the Garden, man has decided to play God in this world.  This isn’t the first time, and until that great day when Jesus returns to earth, sadly, it won’t be the last.

For the last two days I have been in such inner turmoil over this because I have been wrestling with my responsibility as a believer to say something.  Silently I have been watching the world I live in and so many people I love embrace and support a culture that has arrayed itself against our Lord and his Biblical direction for us.  My struggle has been over WHAT to say.  How do I express what I feel without sounding like I am superior to those that believe differently?  How do I word this so that I acknowledge my imperfection as a human who has made more than a boatload of mistakes and sinned against God and His Word countless times even today as a believer?  What do I say about this, when what is happening here on earth goes so much deeper and involves so much more than just this one decision to alter the meaning of something divinely given to us by our Creator?

As a Christian utterly committed to God my Father, I have consciously and willingly dedicated my life to Him.  As a Believer, in order not to succumb to a culture where Satan has become so entrenched in everyday life,  I have to wake up and say to God each day, "Lord, Your will NOT mine be done.  Guide me to live each day for Your glory and for Your kingdom.  Forgive me for my sins, for my weakness, and for my fear. Break my heart for what breaks Yours, Lord.  I seek You today, what will You have me do for You?"  I NEED to say these things to God each day, because if I don't I tend to fall into seeking MY will and thinking about MYSELF far to much.

I want love and acceptance for all people. I believe that we were all made in God's image, and as such are all loved deeply by God.  Does God love the homosexual as much as the heterosexual?  I believe the answer is absolutely yes.  Does God love the murderer as much as the missionary?  I believe the answer is absolutely yes.  Does God love the sinner as much as the saint?  Yes, yes, yes. The argument here is not and never has been about who God loves and who God doesn't love.  God LOVES the sinner, but God HATES the sin.  Period, end of story.

So here I am, struggling because I know I must say something.  Silence sends its own message, and for better or worse, when God made me He did not make me the silent one. God also made me a lover of people, and I do not want my words to be hurtful to those I love.  I believe I can still love you, even if I don't agree with you.  This should not be a battle for who is right.  God will sort that out in due time.  BUT, because I love you, I must share my feelings with you.  I must share God's Word with you, because it is what He has asked of me.  We all have been given a job here on earth.  A purpose for why we are here.  It may have taken God 40 years to finally get through to me, but now that He has, I cannot sit silently by while people in my circle of influence struggle to find salvation.

At the end of the day, I am still struggling to find the right words.  I will continue to pray for all of us, because decisions like this shuttle this world further and further from God.  In the meantime, this post by Benjamin Watson says everything I feel so well.  I'm grateful for believers who are unafraid to speak the truth, even at great risk to themselves.  I hope you will take time to read- it is long, but very much worth it.

Benjamin Watson- Love Wins

Do you believe in Demons?

I just read an article titled: Christian Heretics: The Devil Is Grateful When You Tell People He Doesn’t Exist that my husband sent me last night.

After reading that article I took some time to think about what it is saying.  I also thought about what I would have thought had I read it 5 years ago, or even 3 years ago.  Wow, things have changed.

After reading and digesting this a bit, this is what I have to say about it.  I agree.  100%.  But my main thoughts on this article aren't really about believing in demons or staying away from games that might invite demons in.  I hadn't quite thought about summoning demons and the dangers of these types of activities in this way, so it was interesting to read.  What really caught my attention though, and what I want to comment on is his statement that the "majority of US Christians don't believe that Hell or Satan are real".  Really?  THE MAJORITY?  That's pretty sobering.  Especially given the sheer number of times the Bible talks about Satan and Hell.  How do you become a Christian and not believe in Hell?  What would be the point?

I truly believe that in order to be saved you cannot pick and choose what you want to believe about God and His word. At one point in the article the author referenced comments made by people to his original Facebook post. One of those people said “I have to believe in Demons or I’m not a Christian? That is so far from the biblical basis for being a Christian I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. The requirement for salvation is only that I confess Jesus as Lord and believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead.”

OK, let me first say that I am absolutely NOT the authority on Christianity. Far from it, actually. As a matter of fact, I am pretty sure you could put my maturity level as a Christian somewhere around that of a toddler, given how recently I have come to my salvation in Christ. That said, in the last few years I have immersed myself in God’s word and learning as much as I can about it. I have read many authors’ writings in addition to the Bible, and continue to learn as much as I can. One thing I believe for CERTAIN- if you confess Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead, and truly and completely believe this, then by the power of the Holy Spirit you will be a changed human. If you are a God-changed, saved human being, which is what happens to those who truly believe and give their lives up to Christ, then you cannot and would not pick and choose what parts of God’s word (the Bible) to believe. No matter how hard some of it is to wrap our heads around or quite frankly, believe, we do and we must. Because it is God’s word, and God does not lie. God is infallible and His word is The Word, whether we like it or not.

I know some my friends on Facebook do not believe in God, and many of those friends simply don’t read what I post anymore now that my posts have gone decidedly “evangelical”. There are others who say and believe they are Christians, but fall into the same camp as the Facebook commenter quoted above, AS DID I UNTIL A FEW YEARS AGO. The camp of “I believe God is a good and loving God and would never throw a “good” person into Hell just because He/She doesn’t believe in every single word of the Bible”. Still others say they believe in God, but have no idea what else they believe about Him and His Word, and so they lurk and ping pong between differing “opinions”, finally latching on to the ones that “feel” the best.

Friends, the hardest thing for me to get my head around, and the thing I have fought the most, is the fact that God has non-negotiable, immovable standards. I have STRUGGLED with believing that God will absolutely punish for eternity even good people who do not believe and FOLLOW his Word because that would be…. mean. That would be horrible. That would not be the behavior of a unicorns and rainbows God that I have always wanted to believe in. That would mean that some of those I DEEPLY love may not get into Heaven if they keep believing the way they believe. That really sucks.

The fact is, God doesn’t change in order to fit into what is “politically correct” or what will make people happy and feel good. So many of us have been raised in an era of watered-down, lukewarm Christianity where God has become all about the loving God of lollipops and roses and less about the other side of our God, the vengeful, wrathful God of the Bible. The Bible teaches us that God is BOTH. God loves us, and God gives us grace. God forgives us when we are truly sorry and reach out to Him and repent.  God is always there for us, and carries our burdens with us.  God ALSO hates sin. God punishes those who go against Him. God has brought wrath down on man many times, according to the Bible, and God will return to claim this world back and bring complete destruction to non-believers and Satan himself as detailed in Revelation. The Bible states VERY clearly that many will seek to enter heaven, but few will actually enter. You can find this in Luke 13:22-24 and 28, Matthew 7:13-14 and 21, Matthew 22: 13-14, among other places in Scripture.

Think about that.  Who else could these passages be referring to other than many WHO CLAIM TO BELIEVE? Seriously, who else?  Certainly not atheists, Muslims and other non-believers- those people never claim to be "seeking to enter heaven" because they don't believe in it. They must then be referring to some who call themselves Christians, but are not worthy in God's eye because they do not believe ALL THE WAY.

Gosh I could go on and on here. I've thought a lot about this.  I've read a lot about this.  I'd love to talk a lot MORE about this, because it is a really important topic, but I've written enough already.

If you don’t believe AT ALL, I pray for you. If you say you believe in God and call yourself a Christian but do not fully believe the Word of God as written in the Bible, then I really pray for you because you are under the impression that your salvation is assured.  The Bible would tell you differently, if only you would listen. Please,  PLEASE, open up your eyes, ears, heart... and listen. Don't be left behind.