Jesus Is Your “Only Way” to Eternal Life If You Give Up Sinning and Follow Him, In Faith, as THE Lord of Your Life

DEVOTIONAL VIDEO

MESSAGE SUMMARY:

The Upper Room Part 3: The Promise of Belief (St. Thomas Anglican Church, Athens GA)

“Doubt” does not constrain people from believing and following Jesus. Rather, it is their “resistance to giving up their sins” that constrains their belief and acceptance of Jesus as THE Lord of their life. Jesus becomes the “Lord of your life” when you have a personal relationship with Jesus, and He becomes the focal point and center of your decisions and faith.

A primary component of Jesus teaching methodology was to ask questions. Most questions asked, regarding Christianity, were directly answerable. Important questions were asked by Jesus in His several appearances after His Resurrection from His Crucifixion and death. The first reference, in John 20, addresses Jesus’ appearance to His Apostilles; and the Apostille Thomas was not present. Therefore, when Thomas was told of Jesus’ appearance, Thomas said that he would not believe in Jesus’ Resurrection until he could see and feel Jesus’ wounds from the Crucifixion. Jesus, knowing Thomas’ disbelief without physical evidence of His Resurrection, asked Thomas to feel His wounds. Afterwards, Jesus asked Thomas the implied question regarding Thomas’ “belief”, and Thomas answered with an answer that has resonated throughout the centuries: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:24-29): “Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.’ Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’”.

Jesus went on to affirm Thomas’ belief in the face of compelling physical evidence, but Jesus acknowledged the power of the belief and faith by those of us who follow Him, like you through your faith, without physical evidence and certainty. So, for you who does not have the physical evidence of Jesus’ death and Resurrection, Paul tells you, in Romans 10:17, that: “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”.

Do you believe, and is Jesus the Lord of your life?

 

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, Because of who I am in Jesus Christ, I will not be driven by Anger. Rather, I will abide in the Lord’s Forgiveness. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5).

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Mark 6:31; Mark 6:34; Mark 6:41; Mark 6:43; Psalms 46:1-11.

THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “God Is Love, But He Is Justice Too; therefore, We Must Pray for America and for God to Intervene in America’s Downward Spiral": at our Website: www.AWFTL.org/listen/.

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “In Today’s Uncertainties but as a Follower of Jesus, You CAN Answer “Yes” to “Am I Going to Heaven?”!”:  www.AWFTL.org/watch

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