Is Today a bad day?

Can tomorrow be better?

Possibly!

Key Questions:

Key questions about society:

Why do people feel that the world is caving in?

Why is there so much evil?

Key questions about God:

Why does God allow people to do evil?

Why doesn't God stop the evil?

Why doesn't God stop people from jumping off a cliff?

Key thoughts about God:

    "God made all things beautiful in its time. [. . .]."

God gave humans a guide for pleasant living.

God gave all humans a free will.

God has given each person a free will.

God allows people to do good or to do evil.

God has shown disgust with people's evil acts.

God offers each person a life of forgiveness and joy.

Key thoughts about free will:

Free will is limited.

Unable to fly.

Unable to be in two locations.

Unable to move in time.

Unable to un-do events or actions.

Unable to not die.

Unable to remove guilt.

Unable to enter heaven upon death.   (Where is it?)

Free will  allows choices for ones actions.

Able to do kindness and help others.

Able to violate any of God's commandments.

Able to do harm to self and/or others.

Question: How well does self-rule work?

Many choose to think and do evil.
Is the use Bible words as curse  words  an indication of either ignorance or wickedness?

Question:

Could it be that humans have a tendency to do evil and that many innocent people suffer from those evil actions?

Key 1: God gave humans a simple code for conduct.

Here are four of ten:

►Thou shalt not kill.
►Thou shalt not steal.
►Thou shalt not lie.
►Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Question:

Is humanity following these commands?
Why is the world in a mess?    (Read on.)
Why does God get the blame for this mess?

If you have been abused, was your abuser violating God's commandments? 
     (Yes, you know it!!!)

What happens when peoples, nations, societies, organizations, families, individuals
do not follow God's commandments?          (They kill, steal, lie, and sex goes viral.)

Key Question:

What  would societies be like if all obeyed?

Why  doesn't God put an end to humanities' misery?

If God told us how to live and we don't, why blame Him?

Note:  God also stated:

►"Thou shalt not covet."
Why  do we all want more, more, and more?

►"Thou shalt love the LORD your God [. . .]."
What  did Jesus say was the great commandment?

"Thou shalt love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment." (Matthew 22:37-38)

Key:   What would be the great sin?

How many humans fail to love and obey God?

Why has God said:

"All have sinned and come short of the glory of God."

What do we know about God?

KEY characteristics of God:

►"God is Holy and cannot tolerate our sin.
►God is Just and cannot overlook our sin.
►God is Loving and has reached out to us.
►God is Gracious and offers salvation as a gift."^[1]

God's holiness demands a standard, with commandments and
guidelines that no one completely obeys.

"As it is written,
There is none righteous, no, not one." (Romans 3:10-18)

God's justice cannot ignore sin so a penalty is required.

"The wages of sin is death."   (Romans 6:23a)

No one has any way to remove his/her own sin or guilt.

God's love reached out to the world of sinners.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth on Him [believe what God has said about Him], should not perish, but have everlasting life."  (John 3:16)

God's graciousness   gave His Son, Jesus Christ as a substitute  (the stand-in)  to pay sin's penalty for all, for each sinner.

Key:  God's Word, The Bible, explains how Jesus Christ became our  stand-in  by paying the penalty for our sin as He died on the cross. Now, anyone who will repent and turn from sin to God, will be forgiven because Jesus Christ (our stand-in) paid sin's penalty.

Jesus said, "REPENT."  (Matthew 4:17)

To repent  requires an action of our free will. (A turning around)

To repent means a sorrow for sin and for sinning; it means a turning to God and asking His forgiveness for sinning.

To repent means to do a 180:

To turn toward God and to turn away from sin,

To turn from wanting to sin, to wanting to please God.

To believe means accepting what God has said.
To believe requires faith.
Faith is itself a gift from God.

A man with questioning faith prayed:

"Lord I believe; help thou mine unbelief."

He is a key example for those who "believe" but fear that the simplicity of the gospel message is too awesome to actually believe.

As God works in our hearts, faith becomes a believing and a trusting in what God has said about Jesus Christ's death for our sins. We become sorry for sinning and ask God's forgiveness. Thus, we turn from sin to the Lord Jesus Christ's outstretched hand. We repent.

"Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly and ye shall find rest unto your souls."

To receive means that, by faith, we receive forgiveness because God promised to forgive.  We realize that our sin was placed on Jesus Christ (our stand-in);
He was executed because of my/your/our sin: He paid my/your/our penalty.

The Good News:  We not only receive God's free gift of forgiveness, but God also  exchanges our sin for Jesus Christ's righteousness.  The death of Jesus Christ (as our stand-in) allows God to perform this miracle:   It is God's EXCHANGE. ^[2]

The Exchange: God said concerning His exchange:^[2]

"For He {God} hath made Him {Jesus Christ} to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in {Jesus Christ}." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Our sin was placed on Jesus Christ.
He was executed in our place, as our stand-in. (He paid our penalty.)

Jesus Christ never sinned, but now His righteousness can be placed on the person who receives God's gift of forgiveness.

"But the gift of God is eternal life." (Romans 6:23b)

For an interactive app, see: The Exchange.

See: http://app.exchangemessage.org

The good news gets better:    Not only was our sin exchanged for Christ's righteousness, we also have "eternal life" with our name written in The Book of Life.

God's promise:"As many as received Him {Jesus Christ}, [...] to them, He {God} gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name"  (John 1:12).

"Therefore if any {person} be in Christ, he{she} is a new creature {person}, old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Note: 

As soon as we receive Jesus Christ as Savior, God's Holy Spirit gives a new life (actually a new nature). Then it is God's Holy Spirit who continues to help us understand as we read and study God's Revelation, The Bible  (bibl.site).

"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13)

Since God's design for our hearts is to develop our new attitude toward Him and our desire to do His will; He wants us to continually trust in Him   [believe what He has said];  He wants to provide daily encouragement and wisdom from His Word.

"Therefore, if any {person} be in Christ, he{she} is a new creature, old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new."  (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Key:  What should this new life look like?

The Holy Spirit of God helps us to obey His words:

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
'Fear God, and keep His commandments:
for this is the whole duty of man.
For God shall bring every work into judgment,
with every secret thing, whether it be good,
or whether it be evil.'" (Ecclesiastes 12:12)

More good news:  each person who has experienced God's exchange, should share what God has done and can also do for them.

"Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." (2 Corinthians 5:17)

What can we share?

Key: The Future.  Each person who has ever lived will stand before God and be judged:

"And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it,
[. . .]  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: [. . .]  and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. [. . .]

And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:11-15)

A Final Question? Is your name now in the Book of Life?

My name is written in "The Book of Life" because I recognized my own sinfulness and received Jesus Christ as my stand-in.

Mysin was exchangedfor Jesus Christ's righteousness.

If you have experienced the exchange:  your name is written in The Book of Life.

Conclusion:  The exchange is finalized, for any individual who admitted, "I have sinned," and has turned from his/her sin to God's forgiveness. He/she received Christ's righteousness. God placed that person into "The Family of God," and gave him/her a new nature that wants to love God and now desires to follow His commandments.

Essential:  A new life needs food. Begin to read the Bible.  A great place to start is with the New Testament book of John .  Many of Jesus' words are recorded and they help us see who Jesus Christ really was/is.  Here is a link to specific passages from the book of John.(http://bibl.site/Jesus)

"Search the scriptures; for in them ye {believe/know}  that ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me"{Jesus Christ}.  (John 5:39)

Key Question:

Can tomorrow be better than today?

Several days in our lives may not be filled with good events, but each day can be a day of "gladness"  because we know God's mercy and God's, presence, and we have a new view of life:  "The peace of God, which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

Essential:  A new life needs fellowship with other believers who know God and His love and presence.  We can all be an encouragement to each other as we/they go through both the pleasant and difficult times of life.
Remember Jesus said,  "I am with you, even unto the end of the{age}."          (jmh)

___________ _____________

(home)

Now what?

Where is Truth?

Note:  Here are two examples of perverted Bible words:
•  The most holy object ever constructed was the "Holy Ark of God" that was in the Holy Temple. It was constructed of shittim wood.
•  The animal that Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem on "Palm Sunday," was the three letter word for donkey.
These and other Bible words have been perverted in the English language over the centuries.
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Images: GraphicStock.com unless posted otherwise.5/6/17