Get Fit Keep Fit

We all like to be fit and healthy but don't want the hassle that we have to go through to get there.

Health - no one wants to be ill, and we do not really want to die prematurely if we can help it! However, no one likes the check-ups and the 'don't eat this and don't eat that' regime that seems to go with good health. 

Rabbie Burns and 2018

Early in the eighteenth century, the Scottish poet Robert Burns adapted a poem written by ‘an old man’ and produced the well known song Auld Lang Syne which is sung throughout the world on New Years Eve when the final minutes of the old year fade out and clocks strike midnight and the New Year is welcomed in with great excitement. I am indebted to Wilkipedia for information and translation of Burn’s words into English to understand what the ballad is all about. It seems to convey reflections of courtship days laced with an abundance of supping ale. No wonder the sentiment is popular today when “Eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage” (Matt 24:38) is widely practiced.

Have you lost direction in life?

GOING UP?

I was going to visit two Christians who were in hospital. It was a high rise building and the people I wanted to see were on different levels. I went to the area on the ground floor, from which the elevators could be accessed and was soon on my way up. After spending a little while with the first person I made my way back to the area where a number of people were waiting for an elevator. Soon it arrived and we were asked, "Are you going up?" This immediately divided the people because some said, "No we’re going down". I got in and was in the company of people, all of whom were going up; the others we left behind and they were going down.

Later, as I pondered this simple incident, I thought it was just like humanity; some are going down and some are going up! The destinations are certainly not on earth. Some people are going up to heaven, while sadly very many are going down to hell. Dear reader, which way are you going?

In Luke chapter 16, we read about two men: one was a rich man while the other was a poor man. It says concerning the rich man, who lived independently of God, that he "died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame" verses 22-24. He went ‘down’. Isaiah 14.9 states, "Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming ..."

It is not a pleasant prospect to be going down. However there is a glorious possibility, open to all humanity, that we could go up, and that to heaven! Note how the Bible speaks of the location of heaven: in Romans 10.6 we read, "Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) ..." This location is seen in Luke 16.23: "And in hell he [the rich man] lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom." Note, "he lift up his eyes". Are you going up or down?

How is it possible to know that you are going up? Did the poor man go up because he was poor and the rich man go down because he was rich? Very dogmatically, no! Peter tells us, "God is no respecter of persons" Acts 10.34. The name of the poor man was Lazarus, which means, ‘my help is of God’, indicating that he was a believer.

In the simple illustration, the direction of travel was based upon which elevator I chose, just as your eternal destiny depends on your choice or rejection of Jesus Christ. He alone can take you up! Acts 4.12 states, "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." God had only one Son Who came "to seek and to save that which was lost" Luke19.10. We could not save ourselves. Religion, church attendance, good works, philosophies of men could not save us; salvation is "not of works, lest any man should boast" Ephesians 2.9. Since each person must die for his own sins, only a sinless person could die for sinners. Thus, due to His sinlessness He alone could die for us and He alone can save us. In Romans 5.6,8 we read that "Christ died for the ungodly ... Christ died for us." 1Corinthians 15.3 tells us that "Christ died for our sins". Salvation comes through "repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" Acts 20.21.

So, dear reader, are you going up?

Used by kind permission of Assembly Testimony

How do you get to heaven?

"My father was a wise man and he always explained it like this," my friend began. I had just finished sharing the way to Heaven with him, but it was clear that the philosophies of his father were deeply embedded in his mind. Unfortunately, those thoughts were not according to Divine truth.

He went on: "My father said that going to Heaven is like going to New York: there are many ways to get there, and it doesn’t really matter which one you take. As long as you sincerely follow the way you believe, it will get you there."

"You are right," I quickly replied, "about going to New York, but you are completely wrong about going to Heaven. The only map to Heaven, the Bible, clearly presents only one way to get there. Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by Me" John 14.6. It is not true that there are many ways and He is just one of them. Nor is it true that Jesus plus something else is the way to Heaven.

Many people have formed various opinions and suggest there are many ways to reach Heaven. However, let us not forget that Heaven is God’s home, and He is the One Who decides who may enter and who may not. The opinions, philosophies, and religious systems which people have invented are not only uselessfor reaching Heaven, they are dangerous because they are sure to end in utter failure: "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" Proverbs 14.12.

Philosophy presents a form of moral respectability, but ignores God’s solemn verdict that "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" Romans 3.23. Religions of human effort promise that Heaven can be attained through good works and accumulated merit, but God says otherwise: "By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast" Ephesians 2.8,9.

The Word of God presents Jesus Christ, and Christ alone, as the way for ruined, helpless sinners like you and me to enter into Heaven. To cleanse us from sin, He "put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" Hebrews 9.26, when He "suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God" 1Peter 3.18. The pouring out of His precious blood at Calvary atoned for sin and paved the way for guilty people like you and me to draw near to God. Through Jesus Christ we can be cleansed, forgiven, and made fit for His holy presence.

This way is still open, dear reader. Jesus has already entered into the Father’s house and wants you to be with Him in that place of eternal glory. To go to Heaven, you need to do nothing more than realise your hopeless condition, repent of your sin and trust Jesus Christ as the One Who died for you and rose again. This is salvation by grace through faith. This is the way to Heaven. Call upon Him today.

Following any other way, however plausible it may seem, however religious it may be, or however sincerely it is pursued, only leads away from God and is guaranteed to end in "the blackness of darkness for ever" Jude 13. Allow this article, as a signpost along the highway of life, to point you to the Lord Jesus, Who says: "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out" John 6.37.

Reproduced by permission of Assembly Testimony

Health & Safety - are you on top of it?

Everyone gets excited these days about Health and Safety. We all like to be safe but we don't like the hassle that the modern world puts us through to get there.

Health - no one wants to be ill, we don't really want to die prematurely if we can help it! But no one likes the check ups and the don't eat this and don't eat that regime that seems to go with good health.

Fitness - fat and flabby. Don't call me that you say! No one wants to be unfit but the discipline doing exercise seems to be more than most people can manage.

And so on.............

Spiritual health - I don't really think it's that important just now. Wait until you are dying you will then! What if your life is cut short will you wish that you had paid more attention. I hear lots of people regret not trying harder at school, not giving more attention to their first marriage but it's too late now. These issues are important but not as important as your eternal destiny.

The Bible advises - Prepare to meet your God.

The truth is if you seek the Lord He will be found, if you call upon Him, He will hear.

The Bible says - whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. 

Get fit, seek life and pursue it.

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