DO NOT BE AFRAID!

LUKE 2: 10-11

"DO NOT BE AFRAID! I bring you good news that will bring joy to all people.

The Savior, the Messiah, the Lord has been born today in Bethlehem."

Have you ever been afraid? Everybody at some time in their life has been scared and afraid about something. Many are on alert at all times for whatever danger may be close at hand. Even the animals when the bend down to drink water are always on the alert and looking out for danger. It is part of our human nature to be afraid of the future and even present events in our lives. Many are constantly concerned about their health and the end of their life. The instinct for survival can affect our behavior and attitudes. Tell the truth, what are you afraid of right now?

"Good News", and the One Truth Today, should bring joy to all believer's. If you hear this message from Jesus Christ the Lord God your life will be changed forever! DO NOT BE AFRAID! Your Savior has been born and died for you. Your Messiah, the Christ, has come to earth to Save you from death and give you new and eternal life. The Lord of Lords and the King of Kings was born in Bethlehem, the city of David to bring Joy and Salvation to all people!

If you are a child of God then you have someone who will save you no matter what happens to you, ever. Not even death can triumph over you!

We have been promised eternal life with the Lord in Heaven and when we pass through this life we will obtain perfection forever. That is why the angels told the Shepard's, DO NOT BE AFRAID! It was not just the awesome event they witnessed, they were prophetically telling everyone of the Power and Glory of God. There has never been more important news in the entire history of man. Jesus Christ the Son of God came in the flesh and dwelt among us and then died for our sins on the cross to Save us. Salvation was provided by God and our sins have been forgiven and Mercy and Life are the result. It should be unspeakable joy to every one who believes in the Lord and accepts His free gift of eternal life. Now your life is in His Hands and you are safe from all fear. If the Lord has come into your heart, DO NOT BE AFRAID!

GOD SHOWS MERCY!

LUKE 1: 50

"GOD SHOWS MERCY from generation to generation, to all who fear Him!"

Without God's Mercy, our soul would be lost and Salvation would not be a possibility. This One Truth Today is applicable to each generation, right up to this moment in time. Do you want God to be merciful to you, a sinner? Justice would demand that we be punished and even be given the death penalty for the sins we have committed toward God. Thank God for His Grace, Mercy, and leniency toward all those that Love, Know and Fear Him. Everyone of us has come short of the Glory of God and as a result we deserve to be separated from God. Because we have believed on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, He has become our advocate and He will Save us from our sins and give us new and eternal life. God shows mercy from generation to generation, to all who fear Him! The beginning of wisdom is the Fear of God!

If you truly fear God and believe that He will Save you, there will be Mercy shown at the time of your judgement. This mercy is available to everyone, no matter their age, sex, race or nationality. It does not matter what generation you have been born into, the Lord will show you Mercy. Even though we do not deserve it, you will be Saved and receive forgiveness for

GOD SHOWS MERCY! If you reject the Lord and choose to reject His Salvation and Gift of Life you will be condemning yourself and you will be responsible for your separation from God!

No fear of God, No Mercy!

Knowing this One Truth Today, it should be clear to any rational person that you need to make the right decision and believe in the Word of God. You need to ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and help you! It will always remain an individual decision except this choice has eternal consequences. Remember the Bobby Dylan song that suggests that you can serve the devil or you can serve the Lord, but you have to serve somebody? Too many believe they can serve themselves, idols or other god's without any consequence. If you try to save yourself or obtain eternal life, good luck! You will die in your ignorance and sin. The only way that you can obtain eternal life in Heaven with the Lord is because GOD SHOWS MERCY to those who believe in Him!

BELIEVE AND BE BAPTIZED!

MARK 16: 16

"Anyone who BELIEVES AND IS BAPTIZED, will be Saved! Anyone who refuses

to believe will be condemned!"

You alone are responsible for your thoughts, beliefs, and actions. Your mother, father, sister or brother are not responsible for you. No one and no entity on earth is responsible for what you think, say, or do. Your choices will define you as a person. You control your thoughts one at a time and therefore you also control your actions one at a time. The mind can only hold one thought at a time and you alone control that thought! Your are responsible for what you believe! You have the choice to accept or reject, believe or disregard the Word of God. You alone make the choice to respond to the invitation of the Lord Jesus Christ to Save you and give you eternal life. Read the One Truth Today in the light of the above. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. Anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned!

You can see that the Lord is perfectly Just. The Lord will not condemn anyone at the time of the judgement. Each person will Save or Condemn themselves. If you believe and accept the Lord you will be saved. If you reject and refuse to believe the Lord you will condemn yourself!

If you believe the Lord and are Baptized in the Spirit and in the water you will be saved. You can answer the question right now; have you believed in Jesus Christ the Lord God and been baptized? Have you rejected and failed to believe in the Lord and His Word? You have then condemned yourself to separation from God eternally. No one else can make the choice for you and you alone are responsible for your choice! BELIEVE AND BE BAPTIZED!

The choice seems so obvious, do you choose eternal life or eternal condemnation and death?

If you make no choice and no decision, your inaction is the same as rejection. It is not an affirmative choice to not accept the free gift of Salvation. In effect you have chosen to refuse to accept the gift and that is a rejection in and of itself. So who is responsible for your fate? You alone must accept that responsibility. So when people say, "why would a good God condemn anyone to Hell", what is your answer? God gave you a free will and you are responsible for your thoughts, beliefs, and actions, not God. Your choice and your responsibility, not God's!

BELIEVE AND BE BAPTIZED!

MERCIFUL AND COMPASSIONATE!

PSALM 145: 8

"The Lord is MERCIFUL AND COMPASSIONATE, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love."

Without the One Truth Today we would all be lost in our sin! The Lord has unconditional love

for us all! If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, who would you most like to emulate and be like? If we placed your name in place of the Lord in the above scripture, how would it sound to you and how true would it be? Are you MERCIFUL AND COMPASSIONATE? Are you slow to get angry, and are you filled with unfailing Love? This is one of the best ways to assess your walk with the Lord. Are you a doer of the Word or only a listener? How much have you become like Him and are His attributes increasing in measure in your life?

God is merciful and compassionate, are you? When others do things that anger you, how do you react to them? In an argument of conflict with someone, how do you react? If you are filled with the Love of Jesus Christ there should be only one way to react and one response. You must be the one to be merciful, and you are the one to have compassion on them and then respond with Love. If you find yourself getting angry at the least provocation and it happens repeatedly, you need to assess yourself! You need to become slow to get angry or find fault with others. Remember that even though you gave the Lord plenty of reason to be angry with you, and find fault with you, the Lord was MERCIFUL AND COMPASSIONATE!

This is just one of the reasons that we should praise the name of the Lord Jesus Christ every day! We need to meditate on His Mercy and His Compassion and His glory and splendor. We need to thank Him every day that He forgives us our sins and Saves us for eternal life. What would have happened to us if He had not had unfailing and unconditional love? The Lord always keeps His promises and His Word. He forgives and forgets when we sin against Him and He expects us to become like Him and forgive and forget when others sin against us. You must be like the Lord, MERCIFUL AND COMPASSIONATE! Be slow to get angry and fill your heart with unfailing Love.

GOOD PARENTING!

PSALM 145: 4

"Let each generation tell it's children of your mighty acts; let them proclaim

your power."

Do you have any children? Do you believe the Word of God? Our One Truth Today tells you as a parent what the Lord expects you to do for your children. You have been saved by Jesus Christ, the Lord God, and He expects you to tell your children of His mighty act and to proclaim His power. Remember that the Fear, Knowledge and Love of God are the beginning of Wisdom and if you want your children to be wise, then tell them about the Lord and His Word. Just as you have studied the Word of God, you should instruct and lead your children in the same path. Be sure you tell your children about the might power of God! That is GOOD PARENTING!

As a parent you have the responsibility to teach the "good news" and share the wonderful gifts of Jesus Christ and how He Saves. Just as you learned and understood the power and mighty acts of the Lord, now it is your turn to instruct and proclaim the "Gospel" to them. We should want to be good parents in the sight of God and instruct our children in the Truth. We must teach them about the Saving Grace of God. Each generation has a duty to pass along and teach the Word of God and the mighty acts and power of the Lord Jesus Christ. You can not leave it up to the schools, the government or any other entity. It is your job to do GOOD PARENTING!

To be a good parent, you should be a good person. The only way you can ever be considered good is to be a child of God. Without Jesus Christ, no one is good, no not one. If you have been Saved by the Mercy of God then you will want your entire family to receive the same blessing!

We are a part of the Heavenly Kingdom and it is our desire that we be with those we Love. You have a duty to instruct and teach your children the most important information of their whole life. Have you done your job in such a way that it will be pleasing to the Lord? Have you proclaimed the power of Jesus Christ to your children? That is GOOD PARENTING!

CERTAIN OF THE TRUTH!

LUKE 1: 3-4

"Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I decided to write a careful account for you, so that you can be CERTAIN OF THE TRUTH, and everything that you were taught!"

What gives a document credibility and reliability? Has it been carefully examined and investigated? Have the facts been substantiated by other documents and methods? Have the times, places and statements in the document been corroborated by independent evidence?

Has it been authenticated by reliable experts and scholars? Was the author known and respected? Did the author have first hand knowledge and experience of the events depicted, and did he do a careful and thorough investigation of his accounts? Is the account consistent with other known truthful and reliable documents? If all this is true, then you can be sure and

CERTAIN OF THE TRUTH!

Luke was a physician and one of the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was present from the beginning of the Lord's ministry until His Ascension. As a learned man, Luke thought it a good and desirable thing to write an orderly account of the events and the works of Jesus Christ! He carefully investigated everything from the beginning. He knew it would be used as a learning tool and to reaffirm what believer's had been taught. These are exact eye witness accounts and statements about the Lord and His ministry. He was diligent and gave accurate accounts, down to the most minute details. Luke's account of the Lord's time on earth are done with precision and care. You can be CERTAIN OF THE TRUTH!

Luke had a purpose, he wanted to let others know of the full truth about the "Gospel of Jesus Christ". He wanted to share that "Gospel" with those who had been taught and would be taught the Truth of Jesus Christ. He wanted us to understand with certainty and security the history, doctrines and truths of our faith. Oral representations are subject to uncertainty and the written word could be reliably shared throughout the generations to come. It was not the only written account of the Lord and in fact the others prove the reliability of Luke's account!

It is credible, accurate, reliable and confirms the exact truths of the other disciples. That is why you can be CERTAIN OF THE TRUTH!

KEEP ON PRAYING!

MARK 14: 39

"Then Jesus left them again and PRAYED THE SAME PRAYER as before."

The Word tells us that Jesus prayed the same prayer three times in the garden of Gethsemane.

The One Truth Today should answer the question as to whether or not we should pray more than once for the same thing. Some believe that if you "claim it" and then repeat the same prayer again that it shows a lack of faith. There is a caution about being double minded when it comes to prayer, but that does not apply to a specific prayer for one thing. It seems most reasonable to follow the example of the Lord and to learn from Him. If Jesus prayed the same prayer three times for the same thing then we should KEEP ON PRAYING! If there is a strong desire in your heart that has remained for some time, then do not stop praying to the Lord for His answer!

All things are possible to God. He can grant any request or prayer from anyone. The key to the answer to the prayer is that it be in God's will! It is not our will but His that is controlling.

The Lord's answer may be yes, or it may be no, or it might be to be patient my child. The answer will always be what is best for His child. Remember that the Lord is Omniscient. He will always do what is best for you, His child. You may not like the answer or the delay in the response but you will see the wisdom of God in the end. Do not be discouraged, the Lord hears every prayer and He will answer you. KEEP ON PRAYING!

The Word also tells us to pray without ceasing about everything in our lives. We should pray constantly and fervently about even the minor details of our life. Regardless of whether it is something small or great, the Lord hears them all and will answer them in His will and His timing. If you have an illness that has not been healed, KEEP ON PRAYING! If you marriage needs to be saved, KEEP ON PRAYING! If you want to overcome an addiction, KEEP ON PRAYING! If you want someone in your family or a close friend to be saved by God, KEEP ON PRAYING! Lord, thy Kingdom come, thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven! Maranatha!