THE DEVIL'S PLAN!

LUKE 8: 11-12

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

The first plan of the devil is to make you believe that he does not even exist. Do you believe there is a devil? If you do not believe in the devil, then he is succeeding in your life. The devil wants to deceive you and everyone else and take away the message of the Lord! The devil does not want you to be Saved and receive the gift of eternal life. He is a robber, a stealer, and a liar and he wants you to join him in hell for eternal damnation. If you hear the message of the "good news" and it affects your heart at first, but then it is taken away and you are prevented from being saved, that is THE DEVIL'S PLAN!

If you reject the Gospel and the Word of God then the devil is winning. By denying God's existence you fulfill the plan of the devil since his fall from grace. The devil's mission is to take the Word of God away from your mind and heart, how is he doing so far? Almost everyone on earth has come into contact with the "Good News", and the message of Jesus Christ. Faith comes from hearing the Word of God and the influence of the Holy Spirit. How many times have you heard the "Gospel", only to harden your heart and reject the message of the Lord?

The One Truth Today is to alert you about the plan of the devil to steal your Salvation and make you harden your heart to the message of the Lord. You have to let the seed of faith grow in your life . Do not let the distractions and interests of this world steal your attention. Do not help in THE DEVIL'S PLAN!

When you come to a Saving Grace and Knowledge of God then you will know that there is a devil and that he is a liar and a thief. The devil is the father of all lies and you will learn that Jesus Christ has overcome the devil and damnation. You do not have to fear the devil if you are a child of God. You can see the handiwork of God in the heavens and the earth, and you can see the handiwork of the devil in disease, death and destruction. The devil wants to kill and destroy and devour as many innocent souls as he can. Are you going to help the devil or call on the mercy of God? Are you going to go to heaven or go to hell? The devil wants you to join him and believe in him, in fact that is THE DEVIL'S PLAN!

WHAT DOES THE LORD REQUIRE OF YOU?

DEUTERONOMY 10: 12-13

"WHAT DOES THE LORD REQUIRE OF YOU ? God requires only that you fear the Lord and live in a way that pleases Him, and that you love and serve Him with all your heart and soul. Obey the Lord's commands and decrees, given for your good!

It is very pleasing and comforting to know exactly what the Lord requires of us. It makes is so easy to conform to His will and judge our actions against His standard. Throughout life we are given exams to test what we have learned and what we know. This feed back lets us know where we are. Before practicing most professions you are expected to take and pass an examination of your knowledge and ability. In the same way it is so important to know God and what it is that He expects of us. If you know His Word and the One Truth Today you will know WHAT DOES THE LORD REQUIRE OF YOU!

First and foremost God requires that you fear Him. In fact the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. You are required to reverently fear, know and love the Lord God. If you get the first step correct, and you know what that means, the rest will fall into place. You will walk in the Lord's path for you and you live in a way that pleases Him. You will love and serve the Lord with all of your heart, mind, body, and soul. You will want to keep all of His commandments and decrees because you know that they are meant for good in your life. The answer to the question, "why am I here", is to serve and worship Jesus Christ the Lord God!

How will we know if we are living up to the requirements of the Lord? It is quite simple, are you hearing and then doing the Word of God. Do you fear, love and respect Jesus Christ? Are you living a life that is pleasing to the Lord. Do you do it with all your heart, mind, body and soul? In short, are you obeying the commandments of the Lord? Do you confess your sins to Him and ask for His forgiveness and mercy? If you can answer yes to these questions then you know, WHAT THE LORD REQUIRES OF YOU! You are in the Lord's will and you will find peace on earth and comfort here and in your eternal life to come!

BARELY SAVED!

PROVERBS 11:31

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

What does become of the ungodly and wicked people? If a person is not Saved by Jesus Christ, where will they go when their life ends? What is the second death? Have you heard and understood that if you are born again a second time, you only die once? What does the One Truth Today mean that the righteous are BARELY SAVED? These are all questions that every one needs to know the answers to. By being "born again", with a new spiritual body, you will avoid the second death of the non believer's. You will be saved by God and not suffer separation and eternal damnation forever! The Word tells us that it is appointed unto every man to die once and then the judgement. If you are not born again, you will not be Saved and you will die the second death and you will be judged. The righteous are barely saved by believing and accepting the Lords gift of new life.

We do not like to think about being separated from one another, but that is what will occur as a result of your choices in this life. If you are not Saved by God you will suffer the second death and you are really a "dead man walking", right now. Non believer's are unaware and have not heard or understood the Truth of the Lord. They have rejected the gift of new life that is available to everyone. God has chosen them, but, they have rejected God. God does not want even one soul to perish or be lost. Everyone has had the choice to accept or reject the Lord and their are consequences to your choice. Eternal Life and death and damnation hang in the balance. Have you been BARELY SAVED?

Peter confirms this concept of the righteous being barely saved in our scripture for today. It is not anything that we do that leads to eternal life. It is our choice to accept or reject the Gift of God that will determine our final destination. God has mercy on those that are His children and He allows everyone the free will to accept or reject Him. That is the essence of the "Gospel". Jesus Christ Saves! The Lord is our Salvation, if we accept and believe in Him. We need to be "born again", to avoid the second and eternal death. Believer's must tell everyone that you know about the "Good News", so that they can make an intelligent decision. You too can be BARELY SAVED!

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 or wealth to save you? Do you think that you can buy health, happiness or Salvation with your money? Our One Truth Today reminds us that God owns the Universe and He is in control of everything and He does not need anything! That is why it is a prudent idea to believe the admonition, IN GOD WE TRUST! In the U.S. we even have this very important message on our currency. We do not trust in our wealth or money, we trust in our God! There are a diminishing number of Americans who are taught or believe this to be true, but up to this day we are still in the majority. If we trust in our money or wealth as a nation or an individual, down we go! The Godly flourish like the leaves in the spring!

Anyone who leans on their riches and has confidence that wealth is the answer to every problem, is in for a big surprise. Your wealth can disappear, like smoke or mist. Your God will never leave you or forsake you. Money will not save you from death and can not buy eternal life. Wealth, like fame is fleeting, here today and gone tomorrow. Jesus Christ the Lord God is forever. That is why the Godly flourish with the fruit of righteousness and the gifts of God, including eternal life. You can not trust in money to get you into the presence of God, Who do you trust? IN GOD WE TRUST!

Think of all the famous and rich people you have known of that ended their life in a drunken stupor or worse. Think of all the people who rely on their 401k or their gold reserves to come to their rescue when the moment of death comes. Stocks and bonds and cash can not save you from death or give you new life. Think of all the Pharaohs and kings and others of importance who refused to bend their knee or confess with their tongue that they believed in the Lord to Save them. Where are they now? What did their money, riches or pyramids do for them? If you reject God and trust in your wealth and your personal capability, down you go! Bad choices lead to bad results. If you trust in your money or wealth you had better think about it .

IN GOD WE TRUST!

WHAT IS IN YOUR HEART?

LUKE 6: 45

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

The Word tells us that "out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks". Our One Truth Today is confirming exactly that. What you say flows from what is in your heart! What comes forth from your mouth? Does Good or Evil come forth from your mouth and your heart? Do you speak blessings or cursing from your mouth? An honorable and a good man will store up treasures of blessings and good things in his heart. What he says will flow from that treasury.

An evil man will store up a treasure of bad and evil thoughts and ideas into his storehouse. Is it any wonder what pours and comes forth from their hearts treasury? Good things come from a good heart and evil things come from an evil heart!

A good tree produces good fruit and a bad tree produces bad fruit. The same is true of people.

Good people with good hearts produce good thoughts and words. Bad people with bad thoughts bring forth evil fruit in their words and their thoughts and actions. What grows or what flows depends on what is stored in the treasury of each ones heart. What is in your treasury? What do you store up and allow into your heart? It is easy to determine what kind of a person you are, all we have to do is listen to what you say. The words you say will reflect WHAT IS IN YOUR HEART? Tape your words for a day or so and play them back, you will know what is in your heart!

The way to identify whether a person is good or evil is to listen to what they say. Are their words a blessing or a cursing? You can not hide what is in your heart and mind or your thoughts. Out of the abundance of your heart, your mouth will speak. You will say what you think! You will reap what you sew out of the seeds that your mouth spits out every day. The Word tells us that "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he". People will know what is in your heart and what you think by what you say, not what you do. You can not hide your true thoughts and feelings from men, let alone God. There is only one way to change from an evil or bad person, to a good person with a good heart! Open the door to your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ and invite Him in to dwell with you and the Holy Spirit will show you a new heart and a new life. Ask God to make you a new person. Remember, God knows, WHAT IS IN YOUR HEART!

WHAT THE LORD REQUIRES OF YOU!

MICAH 6: 8

"The Lord has told you what is good, and this is WHAT THE LORD REQUIRES OF YOU: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God!"

Have you ever wondered what the Lord wants you to do with your life? Does He expect amazing sacrifices or spectacular achievements? What could we possible give to an Omnipotent God or how could we ever hope to even come close to His Goodness? In our One Truth Today we can see WHAT THE LORD REQUIRES OF YOU! The Lord has told us in this scripture, what is good! The Lord wants you to always do what is right. Today we say, "do the right thing", in God's eyes! The Lord wants us to do justly and love mercy. God wants us to be like Him when it comes to forgiveness and justice toward those that sin against us. He is not interested in our fame and fortune, or our notoriety, for we can never rival God. He wants us to walk humbly with Him!

It is important that the Lord has provided His Word for our instruction and edification. We do not have to guess about what the Lord has to say about our lives, He has provided a manual for our instruction. It clearly defines what He expects and what He thinks! It is a requirement of God that we be merciful. How are you doing? He expects us to always "do the right thing" as we go through life. How are you doing? Are you extending love and kindness to others, just as God has done for you? Have you humbled yourself and bent your knee to the King of Kings and have you confessed with your tongue that Jesus Christ is the Lord God? If you have then you have done Good!

Knowing what is good in God's sight is not enough. Knowing what God requires of us is not enough. Being a doer of the Word is what is required of you! Hearing is not listening and learning and unless you do what you have been told, you have not fulfilled what is good!

Do you love mercy. Do you do justly? Do you do what is right? Do you walk humbly with your God? By implementing the Word today in your life, you are proving that you are a Child of God and that you are listening to your Father. He has taught us what is good and WHAT THE LORD REQUIRES OF YOU!

GOD IS LISTENING!

PSALM 66: 18

"If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened to me!

The One Truth Today must be learned if you want to know GOD IS LISTENING! Before you begin praying, be sure that you have confessed the sins in your heart to the Lord! If you fail to do this the Lord will not listen to you! At some time in our lives we all cry out to God for help!

What will determine whether or not the Lord listens to your cry and your prayers? Is the Lord listening to you? The beginning of wisdom is to Know, Love and Fear God. Part of knowing God and fearing what He may do in relation to you is encompassed in this scripture. If you Fear God you will learn to Know God and then there will be a Love relationship between you! You will know how important it is to confess your sins, especially the ones of your heart, before you begin praying, if you expect Him to be listening!

Have you confessed your sins to the Lord and do you do this on a consistent basis? Have you repented and asked for His forgiveness? We are talking about even those sins that may be deep in your heart, and hidden from view. Have you sinned against your spouse, children, family or anyone in your social group? Have you trespassed against anyone and failed to confess this sin to the Lord? If you have not confessed the sin in your heart, then the Lord will not listen to your prayers! GOD IS LISTENING, to those who know and obey His Word!

God hears everything, and He knows everything. That does not mean GOD IS LISTENING to everyone and every prayer of every person. You can not mock God. You can not on the one hand expect the Lord to hear your prayers and answer them and deliver you, when in fact you have sinned against God and failed to heed His Word! The Lord knows the condition of your heart and you can not hide any sin that you may have committed. If you say you have not sinned you are a Liar and are calling God a Liar. No one of us is good, no not one. We must acknowledge and confess all of our sins, debts and trespasses! Remember you are really sinning against God, not men. Your only hope of Forgiveness and Mercy resides with your confession to the Lord. If you want your prayers to be answered, then ask the Lord to forgive all of your confessed sins. GOD IS LISTENING!