By Ben Berto
“Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord GOD, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?” Ezekiel 18: 23 NKJV
In warfare, actions of one soldier could either jeopardize the whole platoon or save them. During the 2nd World War,
Audie Murphy, was given a citation for bravery. It said, “According to his official U.S. Army Center of Military History citation, Murphy was commanding Company B of the 15th Infantry Regiment when they were attacked by a large German force. [1]
- Ordering a Retreat. Outnumbered by roughly 250 German infantrymen and six tanks, Murphy ordered his surviving men to fall back to prepared positions in the woods. He stayed behind alone at his forward command post to call in artillery strikes by telephone.
When Jesus was on earth, He faced His enemies, both human and one-third of the angels headed by Satan, by depending on His heavenly Father to defeat them, and by His death on the Cross, He gained the victory over them. Yes, by His death we are saved from certain death, the second death which is final reward to all who follow Satan, and his lies. Saint Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
God has no desire that any person should perish ,but wants everyone saved. In John 3:16, Jesus told Nicodemus “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”.
Today’s devotional by Brenda Walsh, is entitled “Jesus Saves”. Here it is. “Martin Luther once said, “When I look to myself, I don’t know how I can be saved. When I look to Jesus, I don’t know how I can be lost.” Sometimes when we look at our own faults and ponder the mistakes we’ve made, it is easy to believe the devil’s lies, and think, “I’m lost—I’m such a sinner”. But as long as we are remorseful, it doesn’t matter what sin has been committed, because there is nothing that God can’t forgive when we ask him to. God doesn’t base His willingness to forgive on how we feel about ourselves.
Some people look at God as a stern Judge who is sitting in heaven just waiting for them to mess up. But that is not who God is at all! The Bible says in 2 Peter 3: 9 NIV, “He is patient with you, not wanting any one to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” And Romans 3:23 NIV tells us, All have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.”
No one is perfect—we are all sinners, and the Bible confirms God’s love for us in John 3: 16 as quoted above. There is no greater love than that! God is not asking for perfection, He is asking you to believe in Him. Whenever you fall and the devil tells you that you are lost, remember, the devil is a liar—Jesus saves.”
To contact us: Our website is www.abundantlifeadventist.ca. Worship with us every Saturday Sabbath, the seventh day of the week. Genesis 2: 2, 3, Exodus 20: 8-10, Isaiah 58: 13, 14; Isaiah 66: 22, 23; Matthew 5: 17-19; Revelation 22: 14, John 14: 1-3, Rev. 6:6-12, Romans 8: 35-39
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