Who Can Be Saved?

Mark 10:26-27
26 And they were even more astonished and said to Him, "Then who can be saved?"27 Looking upon them, Jesus said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God."(NAS)

The only way we are saved is through God and the sacrifice of His son. We have nothing to do with it. NOTHING.

Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, {it is} the gift of God;(NAS)

Even the faith to believe in Jesus' salvation comes from God.

"Help My Unbelief"

In Mark 9:14-29, Jesus encounters a boy who is posessed by a spirit, preventing him from seeing or hearing anything since birth. Here is the conversation that follows between Jesus and the boy's father:

Mark 9:21-24
21 And He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood.22 "And it has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!"23 And Jesus said to him,"' If You can!' All things are possible to him who believes."24 Immediately the boy's father cried out and {began} saying, "I do believe; help my unbelief."(NAS)

Sometimes, it is hard to truly believe that God is in control, or perhaps just hard to remember it. In the end, though, even the faith to trust God comes from God. The other thing that stands out in this passage is part of Jesus' response: "All things are possible to him who believes." If that isn't encouraging, I don't know what is. Faith is a powerful thing.

Matt 17:20 And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you.(NAS)

Great Verses

Here are a couple great verses:

Phil 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.(NAS)

John 14:2-3
2 "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, {there} you may be also.(NAS)

Delayed Testing

We were supposed to have a test today in history class. At least that was the story last week. Friday, we ended up moving the study session to Monday and hence, the test to Tuesday to go hear a presentation from an African warrior. That was pretty cool. Today, everything was moved again so we could see a presentation by a nurse recently graduated from college who has started an organization to deal with Aids in Africa. So we've learned a lot about Africa in a class that really has nothing to do with Africa; all facts from the current time period, which definitely has nothing to do with Western Civilizations 1. Now the study session is tomorrow and the test is Wednesday. All these delays after already being significantly behind in the class. It's a good thing history is a subject not dependant upon previous learning, because there's no way we're getting through all the material in this class.

Today's Message

1 Cor 6:9-11
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals,10 nor thieves, nor {the} covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God.11 And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.(NAS)

The message in church today was from this passage. Being Christian means that we have been changed. As believers, we are no longer slaves to sin, and to go back to such things is like going back to the garbage dump for food. Knowing that we have been saved from sin should make us be disgusted with going back. Not to say that we will never sin again, but it should be our desire to run away from such things.

# 100

Tonight is post number 100. This has become something a little different than I had planned at first.

New One

Mark 4:26-29
26 And He was saying, "The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil;27 and goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts up and grows-- how, he himself does not know.28 "The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head.29 "But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."(NAS)

Reading Mark, I ran across this parable. I'd never before heard this one that I could remember. Spreading the gospel is like sowing seed. We are not the ones who make the seed grow and produce; that is the job of the Holy Spirit. We are simply to go out and "preach the good news."

Uff-Da

For a while, I thought I was so sure. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. Maybe that was part of the problem.

The thing is, lately I haven't been so sure that what I thought before is really what I'm supposed to be doing. In short, I need prayer. Where should I go to school? What should I major in? What should my career be?

Prov 19:21 Many are the plans in a man's heart, but the counsel of the LORD, it will stand.(NAS)

Prov 20:24 Man's steps are {ordained} by the LORD, how then can man understand his way?(NAS)

Seems like that's where God wants me; always guessing. Uff-Da. Or perhaps just unsure enough to depend on Him.