As we go through this life we concern ourselves with various activities such as earning a living, raising a family, and doing what we can to get by—but seldom do we consider what will happen to us after we die. Everyone will live forever, but not everyone will spend eternity with Jesus. There’s only one way to be assured of life in heaven and that is to admit that you’re a sinner in need of a Savior.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

That’s very clear and leaves no room for any other god, path, or religious system that Satan likes to confuse people with. Building your faith on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ is essential. Salvation is through faith and not works, yet works are evidence of faith. Fully giving yourself to Jesus and the works of the Kingdom should be a top priority for Christians.

When we think of giving, most people think of giving money. If a problem comes up, throw money at it and the problem will be solved. Sometimes money is the need, but there are other ways to give. Filling a need in a neighbor’s life is doing God’s work, such as cooking a meal if they’re sick or just visiting and talking can fill the need of a lonely widower.

If you do things with no thought of payment or gratitude then you have done them for the Lord. Giving of yourself requires effort on your part, but helping a neighbor in need shows Christ’s love and may give you a chance to witness to someone about Christ. For a Christian good works should be a part of life.

“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26).

Christ gave everything for us and we can never repay our debt to Him. The best way we can show our gratitude is to show His love to others.

When a Christian gives it shouldn’t be to draw attention to our selves. All giving should be done for the glory of Christ. It’s good to drop donations into the offering plate and hope that the money is used wisely, but we shouldn’t stop there. Alms are something given to the needy. Should you give to the man on the street holding a sign asking for help?

Pray and ask God for guidance. When I see someone in that position, if I feel led to give I usually get some food and water and give to them. That way I’m sure the alms go for nourishment. Sometimes it’s better to offer a testimony for Christ in order to change a life. Peter and John encountered a man who was needy. He was crippled and asked for alms. Instead of giving him money they gave something better.

“Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6).

They gave this man what he really needed. The man was thrilled and went “…walking, and leaping, and praising God” (Acts 3:8b). Whether financial or spiritual, that’s what giving should do. Benevolence, alms, and good works should always bring praise to God.

Helping someone in great need is also doing the Lord’s work. Jesus told a parable as an example of helping a neighbor, even if the neighbor is a stranger. Most people have heard the term “Good Samaritan” but have you read the parable? As the story goes, a man was robbed, stripped, beaten, and left for dead. People walked by but nobody helped.

When a priest came upon the scene, he crossed over to the far side of the road so as not to get involved. A Levite came by and gawked at the man, but went on his way. The people who we would expect to help this man wouldn’t get involved. Finally a Samaritan came by and he was the only one who gave assistance.

Instead of going on his way, this Samaritan took care of the stranger’s wounds and took him to a place where he could be cared for. He even paid for the stranger’s expenses. The question Jesus asked His listeners was this:

“Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?” (Luke 10:36)

Which one do you think showed neighborly kindness…did God’s work? The Samaritan didn’t wait for the government to step in and take care of the man, nor did he go on his way because it was up to someone else to help. He did what was needed for this stranger. Christians need to reach out to others in the name of Jesus. He is our foundation and we need to build on Him.

“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11).

When you build on the solid foundation of Jesus you have solid values in life. You care about people and help when you can. Alms? You don’t wait from some organization to filter money through their overhead expenses to give a fraction to the needy. One of the saddest things I was a witness to was when a man came into a worship service that my family and I were apart of.

He was scruffy but needed money for gas to get to the next town. An elder in that congregation asked him to leave. That was a poor example of what Christ expected. Then and there my husband decided that we would never depend upon an organization to do what we should be doing, individually.

When you do kindness to others you share God’s love and there are rewards. For one thing when you help others it gives you a good feeling. You also earn rewards in heaven if your good deeds are done for God’s glory and not for your own. When you help someone, don’t broadcast it so that everyone knows that it was you who did some great thing. God sees what you have done and that is reward enough.

Everyone will face God’s judgment one day. Those who haven’t accepted Christ will face His wrath, but the Christian’s judgment will be based upon what we did for Him.

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

If that doesn’t encourage you to live for Christ, I don’t know what will. For the Christian this judgment is not for condemnation, but for rewards…or the lack of them.

“Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is” (1 Corinthians 3:12-13).

When Peter and John said they had no silver or gold to give the crippled man they spoke the truth, but when he was healed in the name of Jesus they earned some gold, silver, and precious stones. There are things in my life that I know are wood, hay, and stubble, but today I yearn to only have gold, silver, and precious stones so that when I stand before my Lord and Savior He will be honored. I hope you also yearn for that.

There will be rewards at that final judgment. Scripture tells of crowns we earn for various attitudes, such as yearning for His appearing. These crowns all belong to Jesus. When we face the judgment seat, whatever was not done for Him will burn because it is wood, hay, and stubble. Useless time spent participating in worldly activities will be burned. Activities done to honor Christ will not burn, but will be rewarded.

“If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire” (1 Corinthians 3:14-15).

Our works may be burned in the judgment fire, but we will not lose our salvation. That is a comfort to rest upon. That isn’t a license to live a worldly life and not work for the Lord. You will be very disappointed if you stand before Jesus and watch every part of your life go up in flames.

When the flames subside and you’re left with nothing that shows you were thankful for your salvation you will then know that you should have worked for Him in this life. Works won’t save you, but they do honor Jesus.

It isn’t too late to start working for the Lord. Not for your own rewards on earth, but for eternal rewards that belong to Jesus.

God bless you all,

Nathele Graham

The Holy Bible is God’s written Word. Men wrote the words, but the Holy Spirit inspired them and we need to diligently study it. God has given us His written word to help us understand Him, not to create confusion. Why is it, then, that many people claim that there are things in the Bible that God doesn’t want us to understand? Really? What things? Writing by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote:

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16).

The word “all” means just that…all. Most of the Bible was written in Hebrew and Greek, but then Bible translators began to make it easier for everyone to be able to read and understand God’s Word.

It must be understood that some translation problems arose as this process continued, but the Holy Spirit has preserved the message. It was all written for us to understand. It’s very important for Christians to study the Bible. In doing so, we should compare our English words (or whatever language you read) to the true meaning of the original language.

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

If you’re confused by a certain verse, look at the context by reading verses before and after the verse. That will help. By all means get yourself a good concordance and look into the Hebrew or the Greek to obtain a more precise interpretation of the verse in question. Older translations, like the King James Version contain words that have changed meaning over the years.

One such word found in the Old and New Testaments is “conversation.” Today we think of a conversation as a dialogue between two or more people. In the King James Version it means, the way we live. Understanding this difference in meaning can affect the way you understand the verses in which this word appears.

There are other English words which have a different meaning than their original intent. Most of us know the English word “love” can mean everything from “I love my car” to “I love God.” In Greek, however, there are many words that are translated into the English word “love.” For example: agapē, agapaō, phileō, and philadelphia. Each one has a special definition that makes Scripture take on a deeper meaning if you know which word is used.

Taking the whole counsel of God into consideration is imperative in order to understand it. We can’t just look at a verse or two and build doctrine on them, yet many people do. When there are differing interpretations of God’s Word we must conclude that everyone can’t be correct. The Holy Spirit doesn’t work that way:

“For God is not the author of confusion…” (1 Corinthians 14:33a).

That’s where study comes in. Have you been caught up in the “Name it and claim it” crowd? You can find one or two verses that seem to support this, but when read in context and taken as part of the whole biblical teaching you will discover that it’s a wrong message.

Test all things through Scripture and you won’t be confused. There are some wonderful Bible studies online that can help you to understand more of what God’s Word teaches. I try to stay away from denominational studies because they seem to promote a particular denominational teaching rather than what God’s Word really says.

No, I’m not against denominations in general, but I am for what God says rather than what any one denomination promotes, and prefer verse by verse Bible study. For instance, some denominations allow homosexual or women pastors.

This is very much opposed to God’s Word. But these liberal thinkers can twist Scripture to make it seem as if He has changed His mind. Study for yourself and follow God, not Man. God has not changed and we need to conform to God. Reading and understanding Scripture should give us hope.

“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4).

The Scriptures referred to in the verse above relate to Old Testament Scripture. Many people study the Old Testament, but it’s important to understand it. The Old Testament reveals the creation account, contains the Law of Moses, tells of the history of the Jewish people, foretells the Messiah, offers comfort and encouragement through the Psalms, and gives prophecy to open our eyes to the future.

God does hold us responsible to understand Scripture. There are numerous prophesies regarding the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, but the Jewish leaders refused to understand them. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem and the people hailed Him as their Messiah, He wept over that city. Why? Because He knew that they would ultimately reject Him and because of their blindness destruction would follow:

“Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation” Luke 19:42-44).

Jerusalem was destroyed about 40 years later. The Jewish leaders should have studied prophecy and understood it. Today there are many prophecies being fulfilled, but if you don’t understand Scripture you will be blind to what is happening all around you.

The Rapture will happen soon, yet many people are confused about that event. Christians should be eagerly waiting for the Rapture, but lack of knowledge of Scripture keeps many blind. It should give us hope to know that Christians will be called Home before God’s wrath comes.

God doesn’t hide things from His people. Well, there may be one exception, but it really isn’t an exception. Jesus taught many lessons using parables. These can be confusing, but Jesus spoke in parables for a reason. These were a means of teaching lessons, but concealing them in stories. To only be understood by those who truly wanted to understand.

“And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it. But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples” (Mark 4:33-34).

Many people were confused by the parables, but He did explain them to His disciples. Today we have the Holy Spirit to help us to understand. It’s up to us to pray for understanding and to study. Yes, God wants us to understand. Symbolism is used in some parables and these symbols don’t change their meaning from one parable to another. “Birds of the air” represent Satan and his minions and leavening represents sin.

Confusion comes from not understanding symbolism. Remember, Scripture was written mainly to people who understood Jewish traditions, so it’s also a good idea to learn their ways to better understand parables.

There are many deceived people who will try to convince you of things that aren’t found in the Bible. These are nice people, but they have not studied. Some groups believe that Jesus and Lucifer are brothers. That is absolutely not true. This lie is packaged so it sounds plausible and the unstudied Christian can easily be deceived.

Jesus is the Creator and Lucifer was created. Another group believes Mary was more than merely human and was a perpetual virgin. Again, these people haven’t studied God’s Word and in fact believe many unbiblical ideas taught by their leadership.

The truth is found in God’s Word. In the book of Acts we find that Paul and Silas went to the synagogue in Berea and taught about Jesus. These Bereans were commended for listening to what they had to say, but then they searched the Scripture to see if what they heard was true.

“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11).

God wants us to know the truth and He gave us Scripture in order that we have a standard by which to measure all things. Don’t try to read the Bible as a novel. It does start at the beginning with Genesis and ends at the end in Revelation, but the chapters in between aren’t necessarily in chronological order.

As you study you will notice that some events are repeated in more than one book. A new Christian or someone who is just beginning serious Bible study may get a bit confused, but with diligence it can be sorted out.

The gospels can sometimes be a source of confusion. Events are repeated and sometimes seem to contradict each other. These are four accounts of the same events told from four different perspectives. Occasionally there will be additional information in one gospel that doesn’t appear in the others; but that doesn’t change the truth.

When studying, don’t let this confuse you. If you asked four people to describe the life of a common friend you will get four different descriptions. Each person will speak from his own perspective and give a little more information to the whole story. So it is with the gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John each tell the same story, but from their own point of view.

Confusion in Bible study can also be brought about by limiting God. Too often we study God’s Word, which is filled with supernatural events, but we try to understand it based on human knowledge. By doing this we put human limits on God. If one part of the Bible is misinterpreted, that will cause confusion in other areas.

Do you understand Genesis chapter 6? The language is very clear in stating that the fallen angels mated with human women. Throughout history this was accepted as fact. Then came human ideas and a couple of centuries after Christ walked this earth some mixed-up “theologians” decided that God didn’t know what He was talking about and that He really meant that the sons of Seth married the daughters of Cain.

There is so much wrong with that made up story and it brings in confusion when studying God’s Word. God is a loving God so why would He destroy all of creation because one human married another human? How did all flesh (that includes animals) become corrupted by a man marrying a woman?

Noah was perfect in his genes so he and his family were all saved through the flood. Their genes were not corrupted by the fallen angels and his bloodline was pure. If you believe man’s stories, God seems angry and full of murderous intentions instead of the loving God He truly is.

The flood had to destroy all corrupted flesh in order for Jesus to be the perfect, uncorrupted sacrifice for our salvation. If you don’t understand what was happening in Noah’s day then you will not understand why God had to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, or what the Israelites were afraid of when they were about to enter the Promised Land, or even much of what is happening today. Confusion comes from man listening to satanic deception, not from God.

God does not delight in any confusion associated with His inerrant Word. Our awesome God gave us His word with the intent that we become fully familiar with it in order that we grow in our relationship with Him. Let God lead your study while you diligently seek the truth.

God bless you all,

Ron and Nathele Graham