THE DEVIL'S PLAN!

LUKE 8: 11-12

"The seed in this parable is God's Word.  The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who heard the message, only to have the DEVIL come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved!"

Do you believe in the devil?  If you do not believe in the devil, that is THE DEVIL'S PLAN!  The devil wants to deceive everyone who hears the Word of God and at first listens and then is prevented from believing and being saved!   The devil wants to rob you of your salvation and eternal life.  When you reject the Word of God, the devil is the winner and you are the loser.  You not only reject and disrespect God and His Word, but you fulfill the plan of the devil that you deny God's existence.  The devil's mission is to take the Lord's message away from your heart and prevent you from believing.  The devil wants everyone to die the second death and spend eternity in Hell with him.  Is that what you want?  

Almost everyone on earth has come in contact with the message of Jesus Christ the Lord God.  Before you can acknowledge Jesus Christ as your Saviour and be saved by Him you have to hear the Word.  Faith comes by hearing, and that means hearing the Word of God.  Then the devil will come and try to take away the Lord's message from your heart.  That is the One Truth for Today.  The devil is a bird in this scripture that comes and eats the seeds that fall on the foot path.  Thus the seed never grows or matures.  The distractions of this world and the interests of this life can prevent people from hearing, believing and accepting the Word of God!

This is THE DEVIL'S PLAN!

When you come to a saving grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, then and only then will you know and believe there is a devil.  The devil is the father of lies.  Who do you think is behind all the evil, death and destruction in this world?  This is the devil's principality.  Just as the evidence of the earth and the heavens should make it possible to see the handiwork of God, the death, sickness and destruction in this world should make it possible for you to determine that the devil exists.  Death and destruction along with evil reveal the devil's plan to destroy, kill and devour as many innocent souls as he can.  The devil wants you to join him in hell for eternity.  By rejecting God you have fulfilled THE DEVIL'S PLAN!

THE LORD'S REQUIREMENTS!

DEUTERONOMY 10: 12-13

What does the Lord your God require of you?  He requires only that you fear  the Lord your God and live in a way that pleases Him, and that you Love and serve Him with all your heart and soul.  You must always obey the Lord's commands and decrees, given for your own good."

It is very comforting to know exactly what the Lord expects of us, His requirements!  Knowing this makes it so much easier to conform and then judge our actions against His standard.  In school exams are given to test what we have learned and give us feed back on our status.  Before practicing most professions you are expected to pass an examination of competency.  Before you can take care of the public you need to know what is required and to be prepared.  In the same way it is important to know God, His Word and THE LORD'S REQUIREMENTS.  

What does God require of you?  Will you pass His test for your life?  Do you even know His requirements, commandments and decrees?  Remember the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God.  Jesus Christ requires that you reverently fear Him.  This means that you will walk in His way and love Him with all your heart and soul.  You are to serve the Lord with all your mind and being.  You must know and keep all His commandments and statutes and when you fail you must confess your sins and ask for His forgiveness.  

How do we know if we are living up to THE LORD'S REQUIREMENT?  It is quite simple.  Did you hear the Word and then do it?  Do you Fear, Love and Respect God?  Are living a life that is pleasing to Jesus Christ the Lord God?  Do you do this with all your heart, mind, body and soul?  Do you obey the Lord's commandments and decrees?  Do you confess your sins to Him and ask for forgiveness and mercy?  If you can answer yes to these questions and if you digest and understand the One Truth Today, then you are fulfilling THE LORD'S REQUIREMENTS. This is why you will be comforted, at peace, and in the Lord's will!

BARELY SAVED!

PROVERBS 11:31

"If the righteous are BARELY SAVED, what will become of the ungodly and wicked?

What will become of the ungodly and wicked?  If a person is not saved, where will they go when their life ends?  What does it mean to die the second death?  Do we die once or twice?  If you are born again, do you only die once?  How is it that the righteous are barely saved and avoid the second death?  By being born again will your spiritual birth prevent you from dying a second time?  Is that what it means to be saved by God from eternal separation and receiving eternal life?  The Word tells us that it is appointed unto every man to die once and then the judgement. What is the difference to an individual when that judgement comes.  How are we BARELY SAVED?

We  may not like to think about it, but anyone who is not saved is condemned to eternal death and separation from God, in other words Hell.  Those who are not saved by God are "dead men walking".  They are unaware of their impending eternal death and separation from God.  This is disturbing to those of us who are saved and even more so to God.  Jesus Christ does not want even one soul to be lost or any person to perish.  It is the Lord's desire that all people come to a saving knowledge of His gift of eternal life.  Life and death, heaven and hell, await every individual and they have a choice to accept or reject Jesus Christ the Lord God and His gift. What have you done? Are you BARELY SAVED?

Peter confirms this concept that the righteous are barely saved in our One Truth Today.  It is not anything that we do or have done that leads to our gift of eternal life.  It is only our choice to accept God and believe in His Word that barely saves us.  We accept and believe that the Lord will save us and have mercy on us.  He is our salvation and by being born again spiritually we avoid the second and eternal death.  This is the "GOOD NEWS" that Jesus Saves.  We must spread the Word to everyone we know.  We must help others because we are BARELY SAVED ourselves.  

IN GOD WE TRUST!

PROVERBS 11:28

"Trust in your money and down you go!  The Godly flourish like the leaves in spring."

Are you counting on your money and wealth to save you from death?  Do you think that you can buy eternal salvation from the God who owns everything in the universe?  Why do you think they added the words, "In God We Trust", to the money of America?  Do  you think it was to show that we do not trust in our wealth or money but in God in the United States?  There are a diminishing number of Americans who look to God as the one to trust.  What will happen when the majority of citizens do not trust or look to God but instead trust in their monetary system or themselves? If we depend on our wealth to sustain us as a nation, the One Truth Today is that down we will go!  As for the believer's, IN GOD WE TRUST!

Anyone who leans on and puts their trust and confidence in riches will surely fall!  Down they go!  Looking to money to save you will fail every time and has no answer when you are facing death.  Wealth, like fame, is fleeting, here today and gone tomorrow.  The Lord God is forever! God's saving grace and mercy is the only way you can be saved from death.  That is why the Godly person flourishes like the leaves in spring and obtains eternal life.  It is the same here on earth, the Godly person flourishes and the fruit of righteousness is the gift of eternal life and being in the presence of the Lord forever.  Who do you trust?

Think of all the famous people you have known that had riches for a moment and then their life ended in a drug induced stupor or worse.  Think of all those that relied on their 401k retirement programs or their stocks and bonds to save them.  Their wealth can be gone in a moment.  Think of all the pharaohs and kings and leaders who refused to bend their knee to God, where are they now?  What did their money and riches do for them?  They rejected God and they rejected the free gift of eternal life.  Instead they chose to rely and depend on their money or themselves to be saved from death.  Bad choices lead to bad results.  Do not trust in your money or wealth or you will go down.  TRUST IN GOD!

WHAT IS IN YOUR HEART?

LUKE 6:45

"A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart,  and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.  What you say flows from what is in your heart."

What comes forth from your mouth, is it good or evil?  Are your thoughts of good or of evil?  Do you speak blessings or cursing?  An honorable and good man will have treasures stored up in his heart and what he says will flow from that treasury.  An evil man will have an evil storehouse in his heart which is intrinsically bad and he will produce evil things.  This evil will overflow from the wicked and depraved persons heart.  Good things will emanate from a good persons heart and be reflected in what they say and think.  In the computer age there is a saying, "garbage in garbage out."  You choose what you allow to enter your heart and mind!

A good tree produces good fruit, just as a bad tree produces bad fruit.  The same is true of people.  Good people and good hearts produce good thoughts and words.  Bad people and evil hearts produce bad fruit and bad thoughts and words.  It is almost impossible for a bad tree to produce good fruit and a good tree rarely produces evil or bad fruit.  What flows or grows depends on what is stored in the persons heart,  what is in their treasury?  It is easy to determine what kind of tree you are.  Listen to your words, what you say flows from the treasury in your heart.  If we play back a tape of you words for a day you can determine WHAT IS IN YOUR HEART!

We know that what flows from peoples hearts can be heard in their words.  It is easy to identify whether a person is good or evil by what have they said.  Are their words a blessing or a cursing?  The scriptures also tell us that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.  You can not hide what is in your heart.  You will say what you think.  As a man thinks in his heart, so is he!  People hear what you say and you can not hide what is in your heart, your words speak for themselves.  What comes out of your mouth emanates from your heart.  If you want to change from an evil heart to a good heart, there is only one way.  Open the door to your heart and let the Lord Jesus Christ come in and give you a new heart and a new life.  Ask God to make you a new person.  God knows WHAT IS IN YOUR HEART!  

WHAT IS GOOD?

MICAH 6: 8

"The Lord has told you WHAT IS GOOD, and this is what He requires of you:  to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."

Have you ever wondered what it is that God wants you to do with your life?  Does God want some amazing sacrifices from each of us?  What is it that we can possibly give to an Omnipotent God?   There are some things that are required of you, what are they?  How can we be good in God's sight?  He wants us to do justly, which is to do the right thing.  He wants us to love mercy, that is to forgive those who sin against us.  He wants us to walk humbly with God and not desire fame and fortune and notoriety.

Thank God that He has told us what is good and what He wants us to do.  Doing the right thing is what is expected of us.  Being merciful is not only expected but is required if we want to please God.  Remember God has been merciful to you.  Extend Love and kindness just as God has demonstrated in your life.  Humble yourself in whatever  you do.  Walk in humility with your God.  That is the sacrifice that you can bring to the Lord in your life and if you do this then you have done WHAT IS GOOD!

Knowing what is good in God's eyes and sight is not enough.  Knowing what God requires of us is not enough.  Doing what the Lord requires of you is what is needed.  Do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with the Lord.  Your real duty and sacrifice to the Lord is making this your way of life.  Become doers of the word and not just hearers.  Implement the Lord's One Truth for Today and you are living what He has taught you.  It should be easy because the Lord went to the trouble to tell us WHAT IS GOOD!

LOVE YOUR ENEMIES!

LUKE 6: 35

"LOVE YOUR ENEMIES!  Do good to them.  Your reward from heaven will be very great and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High."

Do you have any enemies?  Has anyone been wicked or hateful to you?  Every country has enemies and they can be easily identified.  Do you know who your enemies are?  The One Truth Today is that God wants you to LOVE YOUR ENEMIES!  Just as you might desire that your enemies stop hating you and start loving you, it is your responsibility to start loving your enemies and stop hating them.  The Lord wants us to do good to those who despite fully use us. The world has a different idea of how to handle an enemy.  When it comes to your enemies what do you think is the right thing to do?  What should a child of the Most High do?

God is compassionate and merciful to those who sin and are evil.  He is sympathetic and forgiving to those who respond to Him.  Even though the world would consider these God's enemies, the Lord has a different response, one of Love and forgiveness.  As believer's we need to be just like Him, both individually and as a country.  We should emulate the attributes of God.  If you have an enemy you should be kind to them and do good to them.  You should not expect anything in return.  Be charitable to those who are selfish, be good to those who are wicked.  Your reward will be great and sent down from Heaven.  You will be a child of God!

The natural response to someone who hates us is to hate them even more.  Think of all the centuries of struggle between different groups that has never ended and continues to escalate.  They all justify their actions by saying that they had it coming because of what they did to us.  Thus the struggle continues forever and continuous harm is done with apparent justification.  Can this insanity ever end?  The Lord Jesus Christ has the solution.  If you have an enemy, do good to them.  If want to end the hatred and violence, LOVE YOUR ENEMIES.  Your reward will be very great, in contrast to continuing struggles.  You will be acting and believing in God and His Word and the reward will be here on earth as well as in Heaven.