MEMORIES OF DAYS GONE BY

Long ago and far away, there lived a family of five. A Mom and a Dad, two boys and a girl, and of course, a cat, and two dogs. We can’t forget them. It seems like only yesterday, but it has actually been quite a few years.

One day, one of our kids asked if they could do something later, and either my wife or I, said, “We’ll see.” Our youngest son, who might have been three, asked the question, “What does WILSIE mean?” Our oldest son spoke up, and said, “It means, No.” My wife and I had a good laugh, and once in a while over the years that funny memory will come up, and our whole family has a good laugh.

Another time, our youngest was around six years old. He had a lot of energy, and he talked all the time. Even in his sleep. One day he was talking, talking, and talking. I finally asked him, “Can you not be quiet for five minutes? You never stop talking.” Well, that hurt his feelings, and he said something like, “I’m just gonna stop talking. Nobody wants to hear me talk, I’m not saying another word as long as I live.”

Not even a minute later, just out of the blue, he said, “Is Michael Jackson a woman?” That’s another memory that has brought our family laughter time and time again over the years.

When our daughter was about five, she gave us another good memory to laugh about for years. We were in the car, and she was writing. She said, “Daddy, how do you spell one?” I said, “O.N.E.” She said, “No, the other won.” I said, “oh, W.O.N. With frustration in her voice she said, “No, Won; like you won down the woad.”

I laugh every time I think of those times. Those were the good ole days. Our kids are all grown now, and we continue to make new memories, but I’ll always cherish those memories of our family when we were all a lot younger. We’ve had some struggles but we’ve had a lot of good times, too. God has been so good to us. I praise him every day for all his blessings. He’s brought us a long way from that little three-room shack, with no running water, where we first started out.

I hope we can always look back and remember good times. I hope we can continue to make good memories and always have new things to laugh about. Life is short, and we never know when it will end for one of us, so make good memories while you can. Some day that may be all you have left of the ones you love.

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ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED?

I grew up in the Baptist church, like my mother and my Grandmother, my Granddad, and great Granddad, and several generations before them. As I’ve talked to people over the years about salvation I’ve come to realize that Baptists are not the only people who believe that once you are saved you CAN’T lose your salvation, no matter what you do.

The doctrine of “Once Saved Always Saved” has been around for many years; Long before the Baptist Church ever came into existence. The Bible does teach the security of the believer. That is, we can KNOW we are saved, and that we have eternal life. But, can we really receive salvation and then continue to live a life of sin, and still go to heaven? Can we really do ANYTHING we want and remain saved? As always, let’s see what the Bible says.

I think John 10:27-28 and Romans 8:38-39 are the two most popular scripture for the “Once Saved Always Saved” doctrine.

John 10:27-28
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, neither will anyone pluck them out of my hand.

Romans 8:38-39
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We’ll discuss those few verses in a few minutes, but first, let’s look at what I think is the third most popular verse.

Hebrews 13:5
5 Let your conversation be without covetousness, and be content with such things as you have because he has said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you.

That’s a quote from the old testament book of Deuteronomy, chapter 31 verse 6.

Deuteronomy 31:6
6 Be strong and of good courage, do not fear, nor be afraid of them because it is the LORD your God, who goes with you. He will not fail you, nor forsake you.

Since the writer of Hebrews obviously believed the old testament was still relevant long after Jesus had died, let’s look at another verse from there.

2 Chronicles 15:2 says,
2 The LORD is with you, while you are with him; and if you search for him, he will be found by you, but IF you forsake him, he WILL forsake you.

Like most promises in God’s word, the promise to never forsake us is CONDITIONAL. By that I mean, when God says he will do something, most of the time he says “IF you do this I will do that.” “IF they do that, I will do this.”

Salvation is a promise with conditions as well. Yes, it’s a free gift and there’s nothing we can do to earn it, but we do have to accept it. God loves us all, and he prepared the plan of salvation so everyone has a chance to be saved, but he will not save anyone who does not want to be saved. The Bible is clear that not everyone will be saved (Matthew 7:20-22). Only those who OBEY God. That is OUR part of the covenant.

Acts 5:32
32 We are his witnesses of these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who OBEY Him.

Romans 8:9 says, “Anyone who does not have the Holy Spirit does not belong to Christ.”

So obeying God is VERY IMPORTANT. It’s the ONLY way to receive the Holy Spirit, and obeying God is the only way to keep the Holy Spirit. When King David sinned, he begged God not to take the Holy Spirit from him (Psalm 51:11).

If we can keep sinning and remain saved, why would God take the Holy Spirit away? What would be the big deal? Why would it matter to David, or to us, if he did? I’ll tell you why. The Holy Spirit lives in those who OBEY, to guide us in the path of righteousness. He comes and lives in us when we are “SAVED.” WE ARE LOST WITHOUT HIM. LOST. David repented and God didn’t take the Holy Spirit away.

All the things that happened to the children of Israel were examples of the plan of salvation. Look carefully at these verses.

Exodus 19:3-6
3 Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, This is what you will say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;
4 You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.
5 So now, IF you will obey my voice indeed, AND keep my covenant, THEN you will be a peculiar treasure to me above all people because all the earth is mine:
6 And you will be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you will speak to the children of Israel.

See the condition? They had to obey. Same thing in the next verse.

Exodus 23:22
22 But IF you will indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak, THEN I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries.

IF. The condition was IF they OBEYED him, he would protect them. We see clearly that he did not protect them the times they turned away from him. Some of them were slaughtered by their enemies and some were taken captive and led to foreign lands. Look at the next verse from the New Testament.

Colossians 1:21-23
21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by evil works, yet now he has reconciled you
22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and unreproveable in his sight: 
23 IF you continue in the faith grounded and settled, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul have been made a minister; 

What IF they did not continue in the faith? What if they had moved (or turned) away from the gospel? Would they still be Holy, and blameless in the sight of God? Of course not.

When God created Adam and Eve, they were perfect and would have lived forever in their garden paradise. But, when they disobeyed God and chose to sin they lost eternal life. You may disagree. You may say “That’s different”, but no, it’s not. God told Adam that he would die the day he ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and he did. He died spiritually. He lost eternal life. Then he passed that lost condition down to the rest of the human race. God put the plan of redemption into place to get us back to the condition Adam and Eve were in before they sinned.

In Deuteronomy chapter 28, Moses gave the Children of Israel a list of BLESSINGS and a list of CURSES. He said, IF they continued to OBEY God, they would receive the blessings, but IF they turned away from God and DISOBEYED, all the curses would come upon them.

The word of God is consistent throughout, from Genesis to Revelation. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that the God of the Old Testament is a different God from the New Testament. Times are different, and human applications are different, but God still requires obedience.

Hebrews 10:26-27 says,
26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins,
27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which will devour the adversaries.

That’s hell fire. For the BELIEVER who sins willfully. NOT for someone who “WASN’T REALLY SAVED IN THE FIRST PLACE,” but a SAVED person who chooses to turn away from God. Notice, I said someone who CHOOSES to turn away from God.

Here’s more proof.

Ezekiel 18:21-22
21 But IF the wicked will turn from all his sins that he has committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he will surely live, he will not die.
22 All his transgressions that he has committed, they will not be mentioned to him. In his righteousness that he has done, he will live.

That’s salvation. Now, look at this next verse closely.

Ezekiel 18:24
24 But when the RIGHTEOUS turns away from his righteousness, and commits sin, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked do, shall he live? ALL his righteousness that he has done will not be mentioned. In his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them, he will die.

In our first scripture, John 10:27-28, Jesus said, No one is able to pluck his sheep out of his hand. But, 2 Chronicles 15:2 says, If we forsake him, he will forsake us. We can choose to leave God. He won’t make us stay if we decide we no longer want to be in his hand. Again, God requires obedience, and contrary to popular opinion, just believing is not enough. Look at this.

James 2:19-20 says,
19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. The devils also believe and tremble.
20 But will you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

The works which James is talking about here are not works to earn salvation but work because we are saved. There is nothing we can do to earn salvation. We are saved by grace, through faith (Ephesians 2:8). We’re not saved by works, but once we are saved there are works to be done. Jesus says he will Judge us and reward us according to our works.

Revelation 22:12
12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every one according as their work shall be.

1 Peter 1:17
17 And if ye call on the Father who, without respect of persons, judges according to everyone’s work…

Romans 2:6
6 God will render to every man according to his deeds:
7 To them who, by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life:
8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, he will give indignation and wrath…

So yes, we will be judged by our works and rewarded according to our works. How we live does make a difference. We can’t continue to live the same way we did before. We can’t do the same things we did before. Sin doesn’t stop being sin just because we are saved. Whatever was sin for us when we were unsaved is still sin for us after we’re saved. God doesn’t excuse sin because we are saved (Rom. 6:2, 15). (Read Romans 6 – whole chapter)

What many don’t understand is that the Bible was written TO God’s people, FOR God’s people, and ABOUT God’s People. The instructions in God’s word are FOR his people. All the rebukes Paul passed out in his letters to the churches were to people who had accepted Jesus as their savior. People who were SAVED. If we can do whatever we want and still remain saved, there would be no need for instructions on how saved people act. Why would we need the Bible after we’re saved?

In 1 Corinthians 5:9-11 Paul tells Gods people to shun fellow Christians who are fornicators, covetous, idolaters, or curses, or are drunkards, or extortioners, and to put them out from among them.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 says those who commit the sins on that list will NOT make it into the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10
9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither prostitutes, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor feminine men, nor sodomites,
10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

It’s sad to say, but there are many who have been saved who do these things and believe they WILL inherit the kingdom of God and it’s all because of this doctrine of “Once Saved, Always Saved.”

Let’s go back to the first two scriptures I mentioned.

John 10:27-28
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, neither will anyone pluck them out of my hand.

From all the other scriptures we’ve looked at, we see that, although no one can pluck us out of his hand, we can turn away and leave his hand, and many have. Judas was one of the Apostles of Christ. He was given all the powers of the other Apostles and was sent out to baptize and heal, and cast out demons. He chose to betray Jesus and was lost.

Romans 8:38-39
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Be careful when you read God’s word. Don’t read something into it that isn’t there. Notice exactly what it says. “Nothing can separate us from the LOVE of God. It doesn’t say nothing can separate us FROM God. It says from his love. God loves us no matter what, but that doesn’t mean he will allow us to be part of his kingdom if we continue to sin. Let’s examine one more passage of scripture.

Luke 12:42-46
42 And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?
43 Blessed is that SERVANT, who his lord finds doing so when he comes.
44 Truly I say to you, that he will make him ruler over all that he has.
45 BUT, and IF that SERVANT says in his heart, My lord delays his coming, then begins to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken,
46 The lord of that SERVANT will come in a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will SEPARATE, and will appoint him his portion WITH the UNBELIEVERS.

So, contrary to popular belief, we can not live any way we want and stay saved. To remain saved, we must obey God, and allow him to lead and guide us, and keep us pure. So, heed his warnings. The Bible is clear; we must obey God. This is serious. Jesus is our only hope. Cling to him for dear life, and obey his rules. We can know that we are saved, and we can remain saved, but we have to obey him.

If we truly love God, we’ll want to obey him. Even then, it’s still hard at times because of temptation, but he is able to keep us from falling if we just trust him (Jude 1:24). His law is holy, perfect and good. The closer we stay to him, the less chance we can be drawn away from him. Prayer, Bible reading, and Bible study will help us remain close to him and remain safe.

He’s coming back soon to separate the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the weeds, the righteous from the wicked, the saved from the lost. Which group we are in when he returns is up to us.

“So, you be ready also because the Son of man will come in an hour that you do not expect him” (Matthew 24:44).

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https://teddylynn.wordpress.com

© 2015 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @ 
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6

I FORGIVE YOU MR. RICHMOND

When I was in the fifth grade, my teacher did some things that I don’t think I’ll ever forget. To save him embarrassment we’ll call him Mr. Richmond. He was a nice enough guy, and I liked him but, I didn’t really like his class. Mainly because he would randomly call on different students to read, and I was a terrible reader.

I could do better though if I had read it to myself first, so while someone else was reading a paragraph, I would read the next one to myself in case he called my name. As you can probably guess, I didn’t learn much in History or Reading that year.

Another reason I didn’t like his class was because of two particular incidents that happened in Reading class, and History class. In Reading, there was a story about a cat named Gato. That’s the Spanish word for CAT, if you didn’t already know. Well, when we started reading about Gato, Mr. Richmond pronounced his name wrong. He called him Gaytoe (Gay-toe). I was shy but I mustered up enough courage to tell him that the cat’s name was Gato. I knew because I had seen it on Public Television, either on Sesame Street or the Electric Company.

Well, he didn’t believe me. He said, “Well, we’ll call him Gaytoe.” I hated calling him that because I knew it was the wrong pronunciation, but when it was my turn to read, I reluctantly said, GayToe out of respect for my teacher.

Another time, we were reading a story about a native American named Sequoya in History class. Once again, I knew how to pronounce the name, and I told Mr. Richmond, but again, he didn’t believe me. He said, “Well, we’ll say Sa-Jaw-a.” Ugghhh!

I was taught to respect my elders, and people in authority, so I went along with him, and once again pronounced another name wrong in his class.

Sometime later, my grandmother bought me a brand new basketball. I don’t remember how much it cost, but I know she didn’t have much money, and that made it even more special to me. I loved it, and I was so proud of it.

Low and behold, the day came when I wanted to take my new ball to school and show it off to my friends. I wanted to write my name on it so nobody else at school could claim it, but we didn’t have magic markers at our house, so I wrote my initials on it with an ink pen. After bouncing it around at home for a while that afternoon, the ink started to wear off, even though I had made it pretty bold. I had another idea. I actually took a knife and carefully carved my initials into the ball, like carving them into a tree. The next morning, I headed to school to show off my new favorite toy to my friends.

Later that day, at break time, two older boys from a higher grade, took my ball away from me and wouldn’t let me have it back. They were bigger and taller than I was. I tried to get it away from them but they just ignored me and kept playing with it. I tried everything I could think of but there was nothing I could do to get it back. So, finally, I went inside and told my teacher, and he called them in. I told him I could prove the ball was mine by my initials carved into it. One of the boys said the ball belonged to the other guy, and the initials meant something else. Guess what? Mr. Richmond believed them, and once again, he didn’t believe me.

I was pretty mad at those two guys, but I was really, really angry with Mr. Richmond. I was angry with him for years. My school, at the time, only went to the eighth grade, so when we graduated and went on to high-school, we had to go to another school, in another town. I wasn’t seeing the teacher every day, so I didn’t think about it all that much anymore. I never forgot what had happened, but my anger toward him wasn’t as strong as it had once been. When I would see him in town I would say, “hi,” and keep walking. He never said much more than “hi” to me either. I don’t know if he even remembered me or not, but I sure remembered him.

Even after I became a Christian, those old memories were stirred up every time I would see him again. I wanted to go up to him and tell him he had made a mistake in giving my basketball to those two lying thieves. I wanted to go to him and say, “You owe me a new basketball.” I never did, though. No matter how much I wanted to, I knew it wasn’t the right thing to do. I knew I needed to let it go. I knew Jesus said that if we don’t forgive people for wrongs they have done to us, then God won’t forgive us when we do wrong (Matthew 6:15).

My teacher was not the only one I needed to forgive. There were others I had been withholding forgiveness from. I knew I needed to forgive them, but I didn’t really think any of them deserved it. I guess I just wanted to hold on to my anger for a little while longer. Plus, I thought that by forgiving someone you were saying that what they did was okay. Some people teach that forgiving others means you have to repair the relationship and open yourself up to the possibility of being hurt again, but that’s not what the Bible says. I think this teaching is one of the reasons so many people today refuse to forgive.

Forgiveness is not really for the other person. We can actually forgive someone without them ever asking, or even knowing we have forgiven them. So often, some people are not even aware that they’ve hurt us at all. When we have something against someone, we’re the ones suffering. Most of the time, they’ve already moved on with their lives, and aren’t even thinking about us, or what they did. When we forgive, it frees us from bondage, and we can be forgiven by God for our sins.

The phrase “Forgive and Forget” sounds good, but the Bible doesn’t actually say that. When we truly forgive we may still remember what happened, but we no longer hold it against that person or bring it up to them again. When I really understood forgiveness, I was able to truly forgive all those who had hurt me, including those boys, and Mr. Richmond. What a wonderful feeling it is to be free from that burden. I probably won’t ever forget what happened, but I know Mr. Richmond did the right thing. He had two witnesses against one, and I probably would have done just what he did if I had been in his shoes. So, Mr. Richmond, I forgive you.

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© 2015 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @ 
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GETTING OLD? HERE'S WHAT TO DO

Sometimes it seems like only yesterday that I was a teenager, but sometimes it seems like a million years ago. The older we get the farther we have to look back, and the more we have to remember; If we CAN remember. There are many things from my younger years that I’ve forgotten, but once in a while, someone will say, Remember when…” and it brings back one of those memories. Sometimes, something I see or hear, or even smell will trigger a memory of something I haven’t thought about in years.

I’d like to think the reason I don’t always remember everything is because there are so many years of information in there that my mind is only keeping track of so many things at once. Like a computer. It’s all still there, but it’s not all right there on the surface. Some of it is buried deep. At times, my brain has to do a search to find a certain memory.

But the sad truth is that, just like a computer, some of the stored data gets corrupted, never to be retrieved again. Sometimes we have terrible things happen to us that our minds don’t know how to deal with and, as a defense mechanism, it puts those memories in a vault where they remain until we are able to deal with them. That time may never arrive, but if it does, that’s when those memories resurface. So not being able to remember every single event in one’s life may not always be a bad thing.

As we grow old, our bodies, as well as our minds, deteriorate like an old farmhouse where no one has been living for years. Our eyesight fades, our limbs grow weak, our skin wrinkles, and our minds start slipping. For most men, our hair starts slipping, too; Right off our heads.

Time can be cruel to the human body. With all the chemicals in our food and water, and in the air we breathe, and the ill effects of the sun, we really don’t stand a chance. We can postpone the inevitable, by living a healthier lifestyle and avoiding all the harmful things we possibly can, but sooner or later, at some point, death comes for us all.

The Bible says, we only live a short time and our lives are full of trouble (Job 14:1). It also says that life is like a mist that appears for a little while and then fades away (James 4:14).

In other words, life is short. We will all die someday, and then what? With all the different religions in the world, I’m sure there are hundreds of different answers to that question, but the word of God, says, “it is appointed for men to die once but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). God’s Judgment.

The Bible says he is a righteous Judge (2 Timothy 4:8). It also says Jesus is our lawyer (1 John 1:9-10; 2:1-2). He Died for us and conquered death by rising again, and now he’s pleading our case in heaven. Wow! If we die lost it’s completely our own fault. What else could he have done?

If we want to be saved, all we have to do is turn away from sin, and turn to Jesus. It’s so simple. Why do we make it so complicated? We are born sinners. We are going to die. We’ll all be judged for the sins we have committed and we’ll all pay the price for our sins, which is death (Romans 6:23) unless we allow Jesus to substitute his sinless life for our sinful one. He wants to save us, but he needs our permission. We need to trust him and accept his free gift so he can give us victory over sin and make us fit for heaven. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

1 Corinthians 10:13 says God will not allow us to be tempted with more than we can handle. That verse also says that God will always provide a way for us to escape temptation without sinning. Jude 1:24 says he is able to keep us from sinning. Again, it’s simple. If you haven’t done that yet, I urge you to do it right now, without delay. Jesus IS coming back soon so we all need to be ready.

———————————————–
My Blogs
https://teddylynn.blogspot.com
https://teddylynn.wordpress.com

© 2015 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @ 
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6