Tag: salvation

You Can’t Earn Your Way to God

On By vickleaIn Scripture1 Comment

Jesus is Lord (Daily Refresh, 12-27)

No matter how good you are, how hard you try, or how decent of a person you attempt to be, when it comes to following Christ, you can’t earn your way to God. You can’t do enough good things to tip the scales in your favor. You can’t buy, win, impress, or manipulate your way into salvation. 

But Jesus has already purchased your freedom on a cross and offered it to you as a gift. 

But you do have one job, as Paul describes in his letter to the Romans…

“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭9‬ ‭NIV

Many people believe that Jesus was a real, historical person. Many people believe that Jesus was a genuinely good man. But the Bible says that even the demons believe there’s only one God—and shudder (James 2:19).

Minutes before their deaths, two criminals hung next to Jesus on the cross. One of the criminals mocked Him, but the other one trusted in Him. Jesus told the one who trusted Him that he would soon be in Heaven. He received grace.

You see, we’ve all sinned and fallen short of God’s holy standard. We all need His grace, but we haven’t all received His grace.

So are you trying to be good enough for God? The bad news is, you can’t. You can’t ever be good enough on your own. But the great news is, Jesus has already made a way. However, you can’t simply know that He was a real person or think that some of His teachings were nice.

But the most important question remains: Will you make Him the Lord of your life?

My Thoughts

There are multiple people in my family who have the philosophy that I also grew up with, that if I am “good” then one day I will go to heaven. I didn’t find out until I finished college and a neighbor presented the gospel to me that I found out that you can never be good enough to go to heaven because being “good” is not how to get there. There is one way to heaven, and that is by accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. Some people are so accustomed to having enough money to buy anything that they want, they may have convinced themselves that they can buy their way into heaven. A definite false belief since God has no need for money. After all, He who created and owns everything doesn’t need our wealth if we have it. Others think that they are such savvy negotiators that they can talk their way into heaven, perhaps at the last minute. That seems to give them permission to live however they want and then talk to the Gatekeeper and enter into heaven. Again, not the way God established His world and the “ticket” into salvation. Once we accept Christ as Lord and Savior, then we want to do good works because we want to be more like Christ. We aren’t so worried about gathering riches on earth because we know that they don’t last. And we are more careful about what we say because we know that we represent our Savior and will one day account for all of our words. So, the bottom line is that salvation is your choice now, today, not the minute when you die and stand before God. You need to make that choice before you face your Creator. Being good isn’t what God seeks; He wants sold out, absolute surrender to Him. Sounds scary, but it’s really not because at the bottom of what God wants from you is His firm foundation of love. He wants what is best for each of us, and He knows it is to choose to be with Him forever.

My Status

On By vickleaIn promises, Scripture, testimony2 Comments

First of all, let’s define “status.” According to the online Merriam-Webster Dictionary, status is: “position or rank in relation to others or relative rank in a hierarchy of prestige especially : high prestige.” Kind of wordy, but it does say what status is. First, let’s talk about it in relationship to others.

In today’s world of never having enough, people tend to equate their well-being, their status, if you will, with the number of material things that they have and the quality of those things. It’s good to have a nice house, but a big, nice house is better, for example. It’s great to have a nice car, but an expensive car with all of the newest bells and whistles is better. Status is elusive and changes quickly, depending on your social circumstances. I know this from experience because I grew up in a home that was considered upper middle class and my family was considered well-to-do. Not wealthy, but respected for all of the things we had, like a Cadillac in the driveway and a pool in the backyard. Then came the devastation of my family losing everything. There went their long-standing status in the community, in less time than it takes to read this blog post!

The second definition for status is rank or prestige. That is not so different from the first definition, but I think it also deals with how you see yourself in society. The lepers in the Bible were outcasts, so their status in society was the lowest of the low, yet they still called out to Jesus to be healed. They knew that they were unworthy, but they knew to whom they could appeal. India still has a caste system and the status that you are born into is one that you will have your entire life. While we in the U.S. gasp at such a concept as not being able to improve your status, we have the same general concept. A Rockefeller family member is automatically accorded more respect and gets the best tables at the best restaurants like it’s part of the benefits of having that name. The Smiths, however, are not treated so royally. In fact, the working class Americans generally remain in that working class for a lifetime. On the other hand, one of the great things about being in the U.S. is that one can work hard, get a better education and move from one “class” to another. Nevertheless, we are still a nation of “haves” and “have nots.” I am sure that we can all agree that some are privileged and some are impoverished and sometimes it is a case of birth family and circumstances, not choices.

Now, back to status and the real purpose of this post today. I used to be upper middle class. Now, I am lower middle class and not bothered by my drop in rank in society. That is because my status is not dependent on what the world says I am or thinks about me. I must confess that once I was into titles and status and wanted to succeed and be recognized as worthy of honor and respect. I earned some titles and awards as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. But nothing that I have ever won can compare to what I am now.

I am a DK, a Daughter of the King. I can rest fully secure in my Father’s love, knowing that will not change because He does not change. My position in the family of God is not dependent on anything I do but on all that Jesus already did. That gives me peace as well as rest from competition with others. God puts all of us on an even plane; we are all sinners saved by grace. The wealthy cannot buy their way into heaven and the poor cannot beg their way in. There is only one way, one door to get to spend eternity with God and that is through His Son Jesus. So, I have given up on the FFV (First Families of Virginia), the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) and OWC (Officers’ Wives’ Club). I have traded that illusory status for one that is everlasting, a a child of God and there I remain, in my little house in the big woods, driving an older car and not really caring that I don’t have all the things.

Death is a thief that takes all you have accumulated and gives it to someone else. Wealth doesn’t endure, but hope in a future with God does.

This verse says clearly what our priorities need to be and it is not in gathering things so that we look better to others. That is not to say that all people who have nice things are wicked, just that having nice things won’t get you out of death and into heaven.

This is a promise that we who confess Jesus as Lord can firmly grasp and count on. No matter how others view my status, God only sees whether I have been made clean by the blood of His Son and accepts me just the way I am.

Just As I Am-Brothers of the Heart

The Truth-Megan Woods

My Monday Minute

On By vickleaIn Heaven, promises, Scripture1 Comment

I have been up for over two hours and I am just now getting around to my devotionals. Why is that, you may ask? The reason is that I have six or seven books releasing in the next ten days and I was busy promoting them online. Now, to start my real day…

I awakened in the wee hours of the morning with a deep pain in my chest and a fear about a heart attack. Since I have multiple health problems and see a cardiologist regularly, I did not awaken my slumbering spouse. Rather, I prayed and did some deep breathing, relaxed and fell back to sleep. But the pain was my wake up call that we all die and leave these bodies behind. When I got up and read the headline that the Pope had died, I was reminded of what the Lord had told me as I suffered through the anxiety of pain in my chest. We all die…even the head of the Catholic Church is not exempt from the end of life here on earth.

But…good news awaited me in my devotional today! When I die, as we all must some day, I will not be left in the “realm of the dead.” My soul, the real part of me that relates to God and will continue to live, will never decay. This body is a tent, a temporary dwelling place for my soul until God calls me home. And so is your body and the body of anyone who has accepted Jesus as Savior.

So, that’s my Monday minute. Have a blessed week and enjoy the weather wherever you are and whatever it is doing. God made today for us to live, laugh and love others.

The Saddest Day and the Best One

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App2 Comments

No Greater Love

There is no greater love than the love Jesus showed when He laid down His life—for His friends. For us.

Jesus wasn’t just a good man who died an unjust death. He was the spotless Son of God—sinless, blameless, holy. Death had no rightful claim on Him. And yet, He willingly embraced it. He gave up His life so that others might have eternal life.

That alone would be enough to leave us in awe. But what makes His sacrifice even more astounding are the people He died for.

When Jesus spoke these words in John 15, He was talking to a group of His friends who were far from perfect. A hot-headed fisherman. A skeptical doubter. A tax collector. A political zealot. Brothers who once wanted to call down fire on a village. And beyond that room? Prostitutes. Outcasts. The unclean. Sinners.

And for us, too.

Jesus laid down His life so that anyone might become His friend. So that everyone might receive His love. So that we might know—deep in our hearts—that we are not rejected or forgotten, but known and embraced.

So, take a moment today and rest in this truth: There is no greater love than the love Jesus has for you. He proved it on the cross.

My Thoughts

As a child, I have to admit that I didn’t think at all about the meaning of Good Friday. I didn’t know why it was called Good Friday, but I accepted that it was a good thing because I was always out of school. Yes, I knew from going to Sunday school that it was the day we commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus, but since I didn’t have a relationship with Him, that meant little to me. Once I became a Christian, I was amazed at the love that the sacrifice of Jesus showed. He was not eager to give His life, but He was willing to carry out the plan of the Father. Thus, submitting His will to His Father in Heaven, He went voluntarily to the cross. Why do I think that? Jesus Himself said he could call down legions of angels to defend Him. But He didn’t. So, when Pilate questioned Him, He did not reply. The answers were in the hearts of those who believed in Him then and believe in Him now. He is the Son of God who gave His life for me, you and all who accept Him. One verse I memorized this year is John 3:36: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.” This is the good news of Good Friday. Because we believe, we accept God’s free gift of eternal life. Remember when God created the world and said it was “good”? I am sure that He would call today a good day, too…a good day to reflect and remember and to worship Him for His plan of redemption that reaches out to all mankind. Have a blessed Good Friday and may we ever cherish the love of our Savior!

Blocking the Way to God

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App2 Comments

A Clear Path to God

In one of the most dramatic moments in Matthew 21, after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus flips tables, scatters money, and sets animals free in the Temple courts. His anger wasn’t impulsive—it was righteous. He saw people being robbed in two devastating ways.

First, merchants sold animals for sacrifice at outrageous prices, exploiting travelers with inflated exchange rates. It was blatant financial robbery.

But the deeper theft was spiritual. Those who couldn’t afford the inflated costs were excluded from worship, left without the opportunity to pray and connect with God. The merchants and the religious leaders who enabled them had filled the Temple with obstacles, barring access to God’s presence for the poor and vulnerable.

Jesus’ response was decisive: “Enough.” He cleared the Temple to remove every man-made barrier between people and God.

This act wasn’t just for that moment; it’s a truth for us today. Through Jesus, every obstacle between us and God has been torn down. The price has been paid, the path cleared, and the invitation extended.

No matter who you are or what you’ve done, there’s nothing blocking your way to God. In Jesus, a great clearing has been made. Let’s step into his house of prayer with gratitude, knowing his doors are wide open for us all.

My Thoughts

I don’t know why I did not understand this truth before. I have always seen this part of the Bible, Jesus clearing the Temple of the merchants who were cheating people, as Jesus doing what the Father told Him to do and with righteous anger, He carried out that mission. I don’t know how I missed the fact that this demonstrates Jesus clearing away obstacles that keep people from getting to God. The perfect sacrifice, God’s own Son, wanted to make clear that we have access to God regardless of social status, wealth or position. Of course, the religious leaders were irate since Jesus was “stealing their thunder,” usurping their authority that no one had dared to question before. This devotional for today on Daily Refresh on the YouVersion App came with a clip from “The Chosen” that shows the scene in which Jesus’s outrage is evident. I have not watched anything except clips of “The Chosen” so I cannot recommend it as scripturally sound or not, but I can say that this one clip brought home to me the hurt and anger that the Father must feel when anyone tries to block access to Him. We are not completely free to go by the Father ourselves, without need of any kind of intercessor or physical gift. He just wants us to come and has cleared the path. We are not blocked from the Father except by our own stubbornness and unwillingness to approach His throne, repent and confess our need for a Savior. This Holy Week is a wonderful time to make a commitment to God. The path is clear, the choice is clear. Choose to believe and receive.

We Are Like Ruth

On By vickleaIn praise, Scripture2 Comments

So, in all honesty, I must say that the idea for my blog today came from a devotional I am reading called JESUS DAY BY DAY by Sharon Kaselonis, published by Mutnomah in 2019. In this devotional, the author presented the fact that Ruth was a Gentile. That got me to thinking because I always just read over the words (skimmed, overlooked) that told me she was a Moabite and didn’t consider the fact that she was a Gentile. Just like me!

The author also pointed out that she was loved by a Jewish man named Boaz who showed her kindness and made sure that she was fed. All of this truth led me to think about that I have also been wooed by a Jewish man (Jesus) and He makes sure I am fed daily, not only physically but spiritually through His Word.

The final revelation isn’t one that will surprise you. Boaz was called Ruth’s kinsman and she married him. We are the bride of Christ, adopted into His family by His sacrifice so He is our kinsman and we will all participate in the marriage supper of the Lamb because we are the bride.

Okay, so maybe no surprises or big reveals for you, but I have always loved the story of Ruth. It’s like having a clean romance story in the Bible and it has a happily ever after. The greatest story ever told is part of Ruth’s story because she and Boaz were the great-grandparents of King David, in the lineage of Jesus. So, to realize that I am like Ruth…that is a blessing not to be taken lightly!

“Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭1‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Boaz was a relative of Naomi who had returned home after her husband and sons died. Coincidence? No, a God-incidence, or as the television movie says, it’s a “Godwink.”

God had everything figured out and planned for Ruth, a Gentile woman in a strange land, just as He has good plans for each of us.

Jesus came for the purpose of bringing the Jewish people back to God, but since God is not a respecter of people just because of their lineage, He included us, the Gentiles, in His great plan of salvation. We were grafted into the family, adopted and accepted just as if we were originally born into the family. That, my dear friends, is grace.

We are not better than the Jewish people who rejected Christ. Rather, we should be thankful, knowing that God still calls the Israelites His chosen people and continues to work in their hearts to draw them to Him. Meanwhile, we need to be grateful that we were called and chosen to be a part of the family, grafted in and accepted as His children.

The Gospel message is one of hope, the same message that Boaz gave to Ruth when he provided grain for her and then redeemed her and married her. He brought her into his family, just as Jesus brings us into the family of God and welcomes us wholeheartedly and lovingly. Thus, as I began, I will end. We are all like Ruth.

Creation

On By vickleaIn promises, ScriptureLeave a comment

I believe what the Bible says about God’s creating everything. I am not a proponent of combining science and the Bible and coming up with new theories about how everything came to be. I just believe what God said. After all, He is the Creator and He was the only One there at the time, so I will take Him at His word.

Many like to refute the truth of the Old Testament, saying that it is no longer relevant so people need to only pay attention to what is in the New Testament. Really? ALL of God’s Word is relevant and necessary if we want to truly get to know Him. But for those who need verses from the New Testament that point to God as Creator, there are many.

Not only did God create everything to begin with, He puts the people in power who are on thrones or even in the Capitol building. It is hard for me to grasp that, but I think of it as, “God put them there for this season and He will be the One to remove them when that season is over.” We were created “through Him” but notice that we were also created “for Him.” We were created to have a relationship with God and it is to our detriment that we turn away and choose not to do so.

Scientists want to prove everything with things that they can explain with math formulas and experiments and observation. We Christians, however, know that understanding that God formed everything is by faith. We can’t experiment with faith or come up with a good math formula that replicates it. There are all kinds of physics laws, but one I remember from long ago is that matter can neither be created nor destroyed. I suppose that is true when man tries to create something from nothing or totally destroy something so that it no longer exists. But God created the laws of the Universe and He doesn’t have to operate within their boundaries. He created something from nothing and He can also totally destroy things so that they no longer exist. If you don’t believe me, read Genesis 1 and then turn to the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19. The towns were there and then they weren’t, due to their great sin. We can trust that God’s Word is always true and that He is in control of all that He has made. What we cannot trust is mankind’s idea of putting God in a box and commanding Him to stay there until they are ready to let Him out or need Him for something. God is not the genie in the bottle, ready to appear when we want Him to. He is always there, always looking, always listening, and ever waiting for us to accept Him as not only our Creator but also our Savior.

It amazes me that the God who made everything knew we would need a Savior and planned for Jesus and our redemption from the beginning. Read Genesis 3:15 and see the plan’s beginning. In this month in which we celebrate the Resurrection, we can also see the evidence of new life as flowers and trees bud and blossom. They are the visible representation of the new life that God has for us if we just accept it.

Creation was God’s plan. How did He do it? I don’t know and I don’t have to know because I have the faith to believe that He said it and that makes it true.

God Is Worthy

On By vickleaIn Admonition, promises, Scripture2 Comments

Each of us is a special creation by God, made uniquely for a purpose that only we can fulfill. The people in my life are not the same as those in yours. The places I go are not the same either. Thus, the lives I touch with the message of God’s great love and forgiveness are different than yours. God gave us a great task to complete, to tell all about His Son. He will carry out His purpose in the world with or without our cooperation, but if we get in step with God’s plan, we are showing God that we trust His plan and that we want to be a part of it. I need to pray daily about what God wants me to do that day to fulfill the reason He created me. Some days, it’s a simple act of kindness. Other days, He puts specific people on my mind that I should pray for or contact. Every day, I have to be open to hear His direction, or as I call them, my daily marching orders.

The message we share with the world is a simple one. God showed, God sent, we live.

Have a blessed and fruitful day!

Believe, Receive, Act

On By vickleaIn Admonition, ScriptureLeave a comment

The steps to becoming a Christian can be broken down into these three simple actions. First, you have to believe that God sent His Son to die for you and that He was resurrected, thus making eternity with God the reward.

But if all you do is believe it, that won’t help much. The Bible says that even the demons believe, but they are destined for eternity away from God, not with Him. The next step is very important because it puts you in the driver’s seat of making the right choice. If someone gives you a gift, they have it in their hand and are holding it out to you, and you just walk away, did you receive it? Of course not! That is what God is doing; He gave His Son Jesus and you have to receive the gift of His love, mercy and grace in order to partake of the salvation that He wants to give you. The choice is to turn away from sin, repent and receive the free gift of God. Many people, including some of my family members, think that they are good and don’t do bad things, so that means that when they die, they will go to Heaven. I have multiple friends who believe that if they go to church and confess their sins weekly, they are good to go for eternity. Unfortunately, these people are trying to make up their own rules for getting into God’s presence and He has already firmly established what it takes. He doesn’t expect one thing of one person and another thing of another. Everyone has the same expectations.

Each individual has to believe and receive on order to have the promise of eternal life.

The third part of salvation is to start doing the things you read in God’s Word that you should be doing. And, it goes without saying, you cannot do what is in God’s Word if you aren’t reading it to find out what is there. If you are making a brand new-to-you recipe and never look at the instructions, the chances that the dish you are making will turn out the way it is supposed to are slim to none. God’s Word is our instruction book for our lives, so if we never read it, how will we know how we are supposed to live. How do we do what it says when we don’t know what it says?

When I was a pre-teen, I remember that one day my mom came to my bedroom door and was talking about something. I had no idea what she said because I didn’t really listen since I was reading or doing homework at the time. I do know that she ended with, “Well, get started and do what I told you to do!” I had no idea what she had told me to do, so I had to ask her, a question that made her very angry since I had missed an entire speech about what she wanted me to accomplish. That’s what it’s like, I think, when God is telling us to do something and we just tune Him out because we are preoccupied with other things. We need to tune into God and His Word and tune out the world and all of its distractions. That way, we can truly LISTEN to what He wants us to do, including how to act and react.

One of the most important instructions in the Bible is to GO. This is a command, not a suggestion. No matter where we are going, we should have in mind that our directive is to make disciples. We cannot follow through if we are not open to the leading of the Holy Spirit who will tell us plainly what to say and to whom, if we are listening. I have discovered that most people don’t have the time or desire to listen to me tell them all about the Roman road to salvation, but they usually listen intently to personal testimony backed up with scripture. Maybe I am doing things all wrong, but I consider what I do to be planting seeds. God will send someone else to plant more seeds and to water and He will harvest. Sometimes, I get the privilege of seeing the person again and planting more seeds or even doing the watering. Whether that is true or not, I hope and pray that what I do is beneficial to building God’s kingdom and fulfilling His command to “go and make disciples.”

Finally, there are a lot of commands in the Bible. We can read them and obey them or we can choose to ignore them and be disobedient. Obey is one of the actions that we are to take once we believe and receive. Seek God and His truth and then act on what He tells you to do. The same God who made you wants to spend eternity with you. It’s your choice. Do you want to believe, receive and act? Dust off your Bible or pick up your phone and install a Bible app. I recommend the YouVersion, but there are many different apps you can use. Just start, take one step at a time in this walk of faith that starts with believing. God bless all who have read this blog post today and may the Lord lead you and guide you to follow His instruction book to eternal life.

Reacting to Tragedy

On By vickleaIn prayer, Scripture6 Comments

The last few days have been long and sad. First, there was the plane crash in D.C. Investigations are ongoing, but it is enough for me to know that there were almost seventy people who died within minutes of the collision between the plane and the helicopter. You have probably seen the horrifying photos and videos for yourself.

I was still struggling with the “why” for the first tragedy when another tragedy happened. The second aircraft that went down over Philadelphia was a medical transport, carrying a young girl who had been sponsored by the Shriners to have her procedure in the U.S. The plane was taking her and her adult companion, two doctors and two pilots back to Mexico. The news reports said that the hospital had given her a “going home” party. Once I heard of the second crash last night, I was devastated, but I knew that my heart was not aching as much as those involved, both in the plane and on the ground.

So, how do we as Christians react to such tragedy? I will tell you first what I think we should not do. We don’t need to be pointing fingers at air traffic controllers, their training or their abilities. I am confident that they were doing the best they could. Nor do we need to start blaming DEI or the previous administration. Wherever the fault lies, there are a lot of innocent people who died and they need hope, not shaming and finger wagging.

We can offer that hope to them in the name of Jesus Christ. He came to give hope and comfort. I don’t think we will ever really understand why such tragedies occur. The FAA and the DOD may issue statements with what they think is the answer, but the real answer is we don’t know. What I do know is that God was waiting for these victims who knew Him with open arms and reassurance of His love. They went from death to His presence as long as they knew Him as their Lord and Savior.

The urgency to tell others about Jesus and the free gift of salvation that He offers has been stirring in me for a while. These tragedies brought this need to the forefront. How many did not know the Lord? How many went to be with Him while others will never see His face? Those thoughts kept me awake and desperate to tell others about the Lord. I pray that each person on each flight had someone in their lives who cared enough to tell them about Jesus and the eternity with Him that could be theirs.

My reaction to the tragedies is a burning desire within me to not allow others to leave this earth without the opportunity to know grace, mercy and forgiveness. I could care less about the politics and who is blaming whom. Souls are worth more than bitterness and opportunities to point to the other guy. Shame on anyone who takes advantage of these tragedies to push their own agenda! And bless those who see this sadness as an opportunity to stand in the gap and go and tell.

In the meantime, while I wait for God to tell me what to say and to whom, I am waiting. Just as the Israelites did not move until God led them, I am not speaking or posting online or condemning anyone. Rather, I am waiting for God to give me the words to speak and to point me to whomever needs to hear them. I am waiting and listening for God to give me directions even as I pray for the families of those who died. Please join me in praying for their comfort, peace in their hearts and provision for each of them spiritually, physically and mentally.