Judas Iscariot Walked With Jesus For Three Years, Heard His Teaching, Saw His Miracles, Yet Despite This

Judas Iscariot walked with Jesus for three years, heard his teaching, saw his miracles, yet despite this came to NOT BELIEVE that Jesus was the mighty messiah that would free the Jews from the tyranny of the Romans. Based on what he believed, he changed his values to not only betray the Jesus that he once followed — and also took money to do so.

At times, we all practice a little bit of 'Judas-think' because we compromise our values in certain situations based on what we (choose to) believe or think.

For example, today having sex along with using strong language by many 'born-again' Christians is not uncommon, yet in both these and other situations when values are NOT based on the foundation of God’s Word but personal beliefs, then thinking and values will always be affected.

2 Corinthians 13:5 puts it this way:

“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Can’t you see for yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you—unless you actually fail the test? And I hope you will realize that we have not failed the test.”

Let’s all carefully EXAMINE OURSELVES that our VALUES are truly based on BELIEF based on the Bible, and not on ourselves.

God Bless Your Day Jesus Loves You NotesOnLife.org

In the Bible the phrase (or a variation) of “FEAR GOD” appears close to a hundred times, but what exactly does that mean?

Well, an earthly example of that was in Navy bootcamp. As a scared 17-year-old there were always big men with stripes on their sleeves constantly yelling at us. We knew that we had better 'toe the line' and shape up because if not there would be consequences, and it was important for us to strictly obey every order we were given — as uncomfortable and often difficult as they were.

Life on earth is a lot like 'bootcamp.' The goal is to navigate this world and successfully graduate and not 'wash out,' and to do that means to LISTEN and OBEY all the commands and warnings given, because they ultimately are for our own good. Just as in bootcamp, then and only then could we graduate with honor as good sailors and become “Men in the United States Navy.”

Likewise, the “Fear of God ” means that we are to not only respect and listen to what God says, but to do all He says for OUR ULTIMATE BENEFIT. To rebel against this is the earthly equivalent of getting a 'Dishonorable Discharge' and being kicked out of the place to where you ultimately belong.

Friend, as today’s verse reminds us, it is a wise thing to Fear God, but foolish to go your own way. In the Navy, we had NAVPERS (Navy Personnel Regulations) but in this life We have BIBLE (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.) If you follow that manual carefully and fear the one who wrote it, you can never go wrong!

God Bless Your Day Jesus Loves You NotesOnLife.org

Perhaps one of the biggest misnomers about how one gets to heaven is that it is like a frequent flyer loyalty program. That is, each time you do a good deed you get another punch on your ticket to heaven. Then when your ticket is fully punched, your flight there is free and guaranteed!

But that is NOT what the Bible says.

As the leading verse in this message says — and many, many others like it say — salvation comes from faith and profession in Christ alone and His atonement for our sins. While living a good life, being a good person, and helping others and being a contributor to the world are all good and worthwhile, all the punches in the ticket of good works is worthless when it comes to standing before God.

Friend, it is in Christ alone as your deliverer from sin and death that is the key to eternal life in heaven. You cannot do it through your own efforts, morality, or works. Put your complete faith and trust in Him and He can and will transport you from this world to the next.

…and no ticket is required!

God Bless Your Day Jesus Loves You

Almost everyone today has email, and one of the most popular email services is Google’s 'gmail,' however there is another 'mail ' account that everybody has but not everyone reads, and that is their G-MAIL account — or more specifically — their G(OD)-MAIL account called THE BIBLE.

You see, God has written a message that we can receive every day, and what makes this different from regular email is that no matter how many times you open it, you’ll see and read something that you didn’t see before. Like gmail it’s free, but unlike gmail it doesn’t auto-magically pop up on your phone, tablet, smart watch or PC. Instead you have to make a conscious effort to both open it and read it. When you do — as today’s verse says — you’ll be blessed in ways that all the emails in the world could never bring you!

Friend, there is an important message waiting for you to read in you G-Mail every day. Don't hit DELETE! Because there is literally some Good News in there for you to discover today.

God Bless Your Day Jesus Loves You NotesOnLife.org

Did you know that Jesus added two more commandments to the original ten? Yes, He did! And together they not only point the way to salvation, but they also give us the perfect guideline on living our life now and into eternity.

As Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 “I have not come to revoke The Written Law or The Prophets…but to fulfill them” and this is exactly what these two commandments do!

You see, these 'New' commandments aren’t really new as much as they are a succinct summary of the original ten where the first four speak of HONORING GOD and the remaining six of showing RESPECT to OTHERS.

Likewise, BELIEVING GOD and His promise of salvation in Christ honors God by taking Him at His Word as true, and LOVING OTHERS is the positive opposite of the last six commandments about how we treat others.

So Friend, if you really want to “Obey God,” follow commandments 11 & 12 and you will also have fulfilled all of the law.

God Bless Your Day Jesus Loves You NotesOnLife.org