God's not answering my prayers

 by David Long

People will sometimes ask or wonder why God is not answering their prayers. Well first of all if you are not a Christian then God will not answer your prayers. "For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil" (1 Pet. 3:12). God's ears are open unto the righteous prayers. So, if you are not righteous then God's ears are not open to your prayers. Second, God always answers the prayers of the righteous but sometimes His answer maybe NO. Three times the apostle Paul prayed that God would remove his thorn in the flesh. God did not remove it but instead said, "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9). Our problem is, if God doesn't say YES to our prayers then we think He hasn't answered. God is not your YES man. 

Walk as wise

 by David Long

"Look therefore carefully how Ye walk, not as unwise, but as wise; redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be Ye not foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is" (Eph. 5:15-17).

We cannot walk as wise if we do not understand what the will of the Lord is and the only way to know the will of the Lord is to study His will, the Bible (Psa. 119:105). Neglect Bible study and you cannot walk as wise. 

To obey is better than sacrifice

 by David Long

"And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD? And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal. And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king" (1 Sam. 15:18-23).

Saul told Samuel that the "people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord they God in Gilgal." There was only one problem with that, it wasn't what God said do. We will always be better of just do exactly what God says do. Regardless of what we would like to do, just do what God commands. 

Windshield wiper forgiveness

 by David Long

Is God's forgiveness automatic? No. The blood of Christ doesn't automatically cleanse anyone from sin. The sinner must have his sins washed away by being baptized for the remission of those sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16). The saint (Christian) must repent of sins and ask God's forgiveness (Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:9). Some people think that 1 John 1:7 teaches that God's forgiveness is like a windshield wiper, when you sin God automatically wipes it away (forgives). 1 John 1:7 teaches that continued cleansing by the blood of Christ is conditioned on "walking in the light." Which means first one has to be in the light and continue walking in the light. That means living the Christian life faithfully. 

The fulness of Him

 by David Long

"And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all" (Eph. 1:22-23).

What is the church? It is the body of Christ, that is, the spiritual body of Christ. Notice the church is said to be the fulness of Christ. There are those who teach that they can have Christ and not the church of Christ. Sorry, not according this Eph. 1:22-23. If you reject the church of Christ then you reject Christ because the church is His body and it fills Him completely. 

Showing mercy

 by David Long

"Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments" (Dt. 5:9-10). Notice the two things connected to God showing mercy: "love me and keep my commandments." There are those who do not like the idea of "commandment keeping" but one who truly loves God will keep His commandments (John 14:15).  

Conformer or transformer?

 by David Long

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Rom. 12:1-2). We are either conformers or transformers, which one are you? Are you allowing the world to mold you, to shape you like it or are you allowing the word of God to change you into the image of Christ?

I love a good book

 by David Long

I have heard people say, "I love a good book." You ever think about such a concept when it comes to the Bible, "The Good Book"? Do you love God' word, the Bible? 

"Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day" (Psa. 119:97).

"Great peace have they which love thy law..." (Psa. 119:165).

Read this

 by David Long

For those who do not believe that baptism is necessary for salvation, come Judgment Day God will say, Read this...

"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins..." (Acts 2:38).

"And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts 22:16).

"Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 3:20-21).

It is an abomination

 by David Long

"Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination" (Lev. 18:22).

"These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren" (Prov. 6:16-19).

"A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight" (Prov. 11:1).

"Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight" (Prov. 12:22). 

"The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight. The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the LORD: but he loveth him that followeth after righteousness" (Prov. 15:8-9).

"Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished" (Prov. 16:5).

No middle ground

 by David Long

"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon" (Matt. 6:24). 

"He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad" (Matt. 12:30). 

There are only two choices (Matt. 7:13-14). There is not a third and there is no middle ground. 

Is baptism necessary for salvation?

 by David Long

Is baptism necessary for salvation? What does the Bible teach? 

"Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" And Peter said to them, "Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins..." (Acts 2:37-38).

"And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts 22:16).

"Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 3:20-21).

Repent

 by David Long

Repentance has never been something man likes. But when sin entered the world the message from God has always been repent. Jesus said it plain enough "Repent or perish" (Lk. 13:3). Repentance involves a change of mind that leads to a change of life. Sin must be repented of. If we want God's forgiveness, we must repent (Acts 17:30; 2 Pet. 3:9). 

Hell

 by David Long

 Is hell a real place? Listen to Jesus, "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt. 10:28). "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" (Matt. 23:33). 

Who will be going to hell? All who do not obey the gospel and live the Christian life faithfully (2 Thess. 1:7-9). All who are on the broad way (Matt. 7:13-14). 

Do you really love the Lord?

 by David Long

"If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" (John 14:23).

4 things in this verse we learn about love.

1. The decision of love. "If anyone loves me." This implies a decision we must make. We have a choice to love the Lord or not, which do you choice (Matt. 6:24)?

2. The determination of love. "he will." Once we have decided to love the Lord we must be determined in that love and let nothing separate us from it (Rom. 8:35-39).

3. The demonstration of love. "keep my word." If love is not demonstrated in obedience then do we really love? No. 

4. The dividends of love. "My Father will love him and we will come and make our abode with him." You want God in your life? Then make the decision to love, be determined in that love, demonstrate that love by keeping the commandments of Jesus (John 14:15) and the dividends of love will be yours. Otherwise forget it, you get nothing.

Put on Christ

 by David Long

"For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Gal. 3:26-27). This verse tells us how one puts on Christ and how to get into Christ. How important is baptism? It's the only way to put on Christ and to get into Christ. "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Rom. 6:3-4). To reject baptism as necessary (which most of the religious world does) is to reject the necessity of putting on Christ and one can't go to heaven without putting on Christ. 

I'm not worried about it

 by David Long

I'm not worried about it. You wanna know why I'm not worried about it? 

"Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator" (1 Pet. 4:19). 

"For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day" (2 Tim. 1:12).

Where do you stand?

 by David Long

"Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them" (John 18:3-5). Notice where Judas stood. Notice whose side Judas was on. Jesus said, "He that is not with me is against me..." (Matt. 12:30). Where do you stand? Do you stand with Jesus or do you "stand with them"?