When I was in the world, before I knew Jesus, I was quite literally in prison, trapped in a world where I was the Lord of my own life.  Fear and uncertainty ruled everything I did.

When I said yes to Jesus at age 43, my eyes were opened and my perspective entirely changed.  I immediately began to read the Bible and pray to understand God’s Word.

As I read the Gospels, I realized it was as if God Himself had written a letter to the warden of my prison, where I sat on Death Row, giving me a full pardon and opening my cell.

In the 23 years I have walked with Jesus I have met and ministered to and with many believers.  Some, like me, walk in the freedom and certainty of the Power of the Gospel.  Others are still sitting in open Prison cells, afraid to move.  Some are walking in a kind of freedom but carry around the chains of condemnation, guilt and shame.  Today we are going to see what the Bible says about true freedom in Christ Jesus.           Prayer

John 8:31-36 – Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. 36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

When Jesus told these new believers that they could know the truth and the truth would set them free… SOME of those listening didn’t like what Jesus said, they were offended. Why? because they saw the meaning behind those words… Jesus was looking them straight in the eyes and was saying to them, “you guys are slaves…you’re not free at all.  AND they replied,” But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone on earth. What do you mean, `set free’?”  They said this in their PRIDE at being God’s “chosen” people

Many people respond the same way today, including some Christians – “what do you mean Jesus can set me free – I AM free – I’m an American, I live the way I want, I make my own choices, I do my own thing, I don’t need anyone to set me free, I am not a slave to anyone, …” AND Jesus says; “I assure you that everyone who sins is a slave of sin.”

Sin is rebellion against God.  It is loving something or someone more than you love God.  God’s Word says that whoever commits sin is a SLAVE to sin.

QUESTION – is the person addicted to drugs free or a slave?

How about the person who drinks too much habitually -free or a slave?

Is the person tangled up in an adulterous relationship free or a slave?

Is the person hanging out at porn sites on the web – slave or free? How about the person who plays video games 10 hours a day… slave or free?

Is the person who is immersed in materialistic pursuits or always worrying about money free or a slave?

Is the person who is trapped in anger, bitterness, slander, hatred and unforgiveness free or a slave?

Jesus says, “I assure you that everyone who sins is a slave of sin.”

QUESTION – would you agree that sin is a major problem? WELL – just who has this problem?  Why do even those who have received Jesus and follow Him still stumble in sin?

The Apostle Paul tells us

Romans 3: 10-12

 As it is written:

“There is none righteous, no, not one;

There is none who understands;

There is none who seeks after God.

They have all turned aside;

They have together become unprofitable;

There is none who does good, no, not one.”

So… it’s established, try as hard as we might WE cannot FIX the problem of sin that we all have.  What can we do?

Now we know that if we are in Christ we are a new creation but how does that relate to our new-found freedom?  Just this… We are FREED from the POWER of sin.  As Pastor George teaches every week, if you are spending time IN THE WORD and getting alone with God in prayer first thing every morning, His Holy Spirit will guide you.

The Spirit of God LIVES in you. If you submit to Him, our Shepherd will lead you.  That is why we see in the 23^rd Psalm that His Rod and His Staff comfort us.  They both protect us against the lies of the enemy and they guide us “into paths of righteousness”.

Now the enemy is really good at his job and wants to TRICK YOU BACK INTO THE WEEDS OF LIFE AND draw you back again into fear and the slavery of sin.

So here is this scripture to remind you of your position in Christ…

Romans 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”

Still feeling guilty and condemned?  Paul assures us…

Romans 8:1-4 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

When Jesus said “it is finished” as He died on the Cross, what IT was He referring to?  Sin and Death?

No… People still die here.  …and even saved people still sin.

Jesus propitiation for our sins on the Cross made us free from the POWER of sin and the FEAR of death IF we choose to walk in it.

This was God’s Grace towards us in that “we are able to do ALL things through Christ Who strengthens us”. Phil. 4:13 This includes overcoming the sin “that so easily ensnares us.”

LISTEN – Grace means that salvation cannot be earned or deserved. Although God wants us to live good lives, we could never be good enough to earn salvation.

Grace is getting what we don’t deserve

In Jesus’ sacrifice we have received all the power and riches of the Kingdom of Heaven…  This is Grace…

GRACE – God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense

UNDERSTAND BELOVED – God has already done His part to restore our relationship with Him, BECAUSE of His great love for us, God sent Jesus to take care of the sin problem that we all have…. God took the initiative. He offers the gift to us. AND – He waited for each of us to individually receive the gift.

Now how about that Freedom?  What does it look like?

• Consider for a moment these things from which we have been liberated.

1. .We have been delivered from the wrath of God

Rom. 5:8, 9 – “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him

2. We have been delivered from condemnation

Rom. 8:1 – “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus”

3. We have been delivered from death and Hell

John 5:24 – “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.  John 3:16 –  “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.”

4. We have been delivered from the power of sin

Rom. 6:12-14 – Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

5. We have been delivered from the power of Satan

1 Pet. 5:8-9 – Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

If you truly desire to be free indeed, and to EXPERIENCE the joy of the Lord that is our strength when we truly walk in that freedom, it is going to require you to do a few things.  God’s Grace accomplished the finishing of the POWER of SIN over those who walk by faith and ended our FEAR of Death by assuring our salvation, but we have a part in the plan.

In James 4:6,7 The Apostle James, the brother of Jesus tells us, To those who love God …

– He gives more grace.

Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

This then, is the key to SEIZING the freedom we have in Christ Jesus!  BECAUSE He ended the POWER of Satan on the Cross we can do what James tells us.  We have only to humble ourselves before God and RESIST sin and it will have NO power over us.  That is freedom indeed!

WALK IN IT Beloved!  Be encouraged!  Press in to your relationship with God in Christ Jesus through the POWER of the Holy Spirit!  Today is the day that the Lord has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it!  It is for freedom that Christ made us free!!

Romans 8:28 – And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

These words of the Apostle Paul bring comfort to every true follower of Christ.  There are many church-goers however, who may be plagued or at the least concerned about two questions this passage raises…  Who are the called?  What is His purpose?  The following scripture clarifies this to a degree…

Romans 8:29-30 – For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Moreover, whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

First, to me it is clear, that God works all things together for good BECAUSE we are being conformed into the image of Jesus Christ by going through trials (things which we would not desire but which God designs for us to reveal hidden resistance towards His sovereignty in our lives, giving us the opportunity to choose His way or our way).  Only by choosing His way in response to the trial (as opposed to REACTING in our flesh to the trial/problem) do we achieve victory which brings Him glory and therefore joy to us.

Many church-goers may become confounded by this passage but true followers of Jesus, who take up their cross daily as He commands, should understand that Paul is not talking about predestination in the natural, or human sense that supposes that whatever we do here in life on earth, if God called us, we are automatically with Him in paradise.  Everything we do here has eternal ramifications.  God calls but it is we who answer the call.

I maintain that we are foreknown and predestined only in the sense that in God’s TRANSCENDENT nature He is the Alpha and the Omega and so knows all within the time and space He created in a way that we, in our human perspectives, cannot.  In other words, He knew us then (before we were born) because He knows us in His eternal NOW because we have passed from death to eternal Life in Christ Jesus by the choices we make, have made, and are making here on earth in the time we have been given.

Most importantly, of course, is that in the time and life we are given, we come to believe in our inner person with faith (in our hearts) that Jesus died for our sins and was resurrected by God the Father, ruling and reigning right now from the Throne of Grace, and that we confess this with our mouths before men.  This action here causes our spirit to be awakened and allows the indwelling of His Holy Spirit.

It is through this process that we become (have become, are becoming) the “called according to His Purpose” and hearing from and obeying the inner voice of the Holy Spirit becomes our highest priority if we are truly His.  It is in God’s IMMINENCE (the Person of His Son Jesus through the Holy Spirit of God) that we can truly know Him and choose to do His Will.

And what does the Holy Spirit say?  Each of us are called by the way we are made and each of us is unique and special in God’s eyes.  Therefore, the Spirit speaks to each of us differently, but always consistent with His Word.  Here is what John the Beloved says…

1John 3:16-17- By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

If the love of God does not abide in a person, then the Holy Spirit does not abide in that person because “God is Love” as John also illuminates for us.  This leads me to think that there are many “Christians” who may have made a “confession of faith” in Jesus but do not believe in or know Him as Lord.  Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Matthew…

Matthew 7:16-20 – You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?  Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Therefore, by their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 

Why is this important to those who truly follow Jesus?  Because if we do not address let alone acknowledge, the issue of lip-service in our brothers and sisters with whom we attend church, they may never become useful members of the Body of Christ or worse yet, ever truly receive the salvation prepared for them as the called because they never in fact, answered the call, in truth.

Above all, press in and love with all you have those who God has put in your life.  It is never too late for even the hardest heart to repent and turn from their sin.

Luke 12:32 – “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Let us do His Will, His way, in truth and in Love.

Your brother and friend in Christ,

John Henry Raskin

Roadhouse Rabbi

Whenever I preach at homeless meals and love the flock, I find myself praying with anywhere from a few to dozens of people.  These people can run the gamut of faith from strong believers to people with active enmity toward God and no relationship, or positive awareness of Jesus.  When they ask for, or at least allow me to pray, it is usually because the Holy Spirit has revealed them to me as someone in need of prayer.  Typically, I will just roll up on them, look them in the eye, smile and extend my hand in fellowship.  99% of the time they will take it, sometimes even before they realize they have done so.  The believers who really have the Holy Spirit always recognize me as a fellow sojourner and so when we speak then, they immediately get to the purpose for which they want/need prayer.  Now, as I have been doing this for over twenty years and know some of these saints almost as long, we have not only this Kingdom relationship, but also a real personal relationship, so it is not surprising that they feel comfortable going before the Throne of Grace in their time of need with me.   This is also usually true of people I meet for the first time if they are truly walking with Christ.

There are those however, who take my hand almost before they realize it, and then are almost fearful when they realize that they have done so.  These are the lost homeless ones who have been traveling and existing in the darkness of the world for so long that they have almost forgotten what a positive human relationship looks like.  Much like Jesus ministered to the demoniac who lived among the graves and of whom all the others, including the disciples, were afraid, I have been given the gift of fearlessness because of the Love of God which compels this ministry.   Even these somehow know that the Hand of Grace is out to them and when I ask them if they would like prayer for their situation, they say yes (again, almost before they realize they have done so).

With both of these types of people, believers and unbelievers alike, as the Holy Spirit has drawn me to them, they are drawn to the Holy Spirit that resides in me.    I begin by asking simple questions (again as the Spirit leads me) to establish rapport, much as I have done for years as an Executive Recruiter with high level candidates and C-level hiring managers.  This establishment of rapport must be done on an equal footing, with the person that I am ministering to feeling important to me in that moment, and believing that I am not “talking down” to them (which I truly am not).  The fact that they are poor and mostly homeless only increases their value to God and to me.  Jesus said “as we have done unto the least of those among us, we have done so unto Him”.  That then, is how I will relate to each person I meet.  I let them know by my words, but also my demeanor, that it is my privilege to get to know them.

With that rapport established, and Spirit-led questions asked and answered, it is time to pray.  The “interview” has now united my soul and Spirit with God’s intention for this prayer and so when I pray, it is with the Mind of Christ, the purpose of God the Father and the Love of the Holy Spirit as the Son asks His Father for the Will of God to be done in the life of this person.  I rarely pray for what a person asks, but the prayer of the Spirit that comes from my lips answers the deeper need of their heart and THEY KNOW IT!  This is the true power of prayer as the Apostle James said “in faith, believing”.

My friends, I have seen many miracles because of God’s Grace toward the poor (and all who would come to Him in their need).  I know many pastors of large churches who languish to see the miracles among their flock that I see every day!  It is likely because they do not, in many cases, KNOW the flock as a true shepherd must.  When a church has thousands of members, it is understandable.  In the Kingdom, less is more and smaller is likely better for this reason.  I know many GREAT teachers of Scripture but very few tenderhearted and Spirit-led shepherds who take the time to know the flock.  Both teachers and shepherds are needed in every church family, and not only out in the mission field with the poor.

As I have said before, if you have received Jesus the Messiah as your Lord and decided to follow Him wherever He leads you, and then if you are also submitted to Him in real time (because that was what you asked of Him) then you too can do the things that I am doing in Christ.  Jesus Himself said that through the Holy Spirit’s guidance “the things that I have done, you will also do, and greater than these”.

With the Love and Truth of Christ,

John Henry Raskin

Roadhouse Rabbi

May 11th, 2017, my amazing mom, Janice, would have been 106 years old. I thank God for her every day. She brought me up to esteem others more highly than myself and was my relational role model as a Christian even though she was a Jewish woman. She said “yes ” to the Lord on her death bed at the age of 78. Hallelujah!

When I said yes to the Lord seven years later in 1995, my eyes were opened to the understanding that she had been operating under the Holy Spirit’s leading the whole time she was raising me.

He knows us intimately, far better than we know ourselves. Ephesians 2:10 tells us that “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works that He has prepared BEFOREHAND. that we should walk in them. ” My mom was someone who loved God, loved others and gave her gifts freely. She showed me what being a member of the Body of Christ looks like although she never went to church as a Christian. I am the child of God that I am today because of Jesus’ great love for me and what He did on the Cross. I am the servant of God that I am today in large part because of my mom’s faithfulness, love and Godly wisdom.

The Lord knows us as the called according to His purpose, as His even before we acknowledge Him. When we believe and say yes to Him the relationship is sealed.

Praise God my dad also said yes to the Lord three weeks before his death at 94 in 2008. I know that I will see them both again. God is love. Thank You Jesus for You loved us before we loved You.

Let us give our love freely to our earthly and spiritual mothers today and pray for all those whose eyes are yet to open.

I love you mom. See you soon!

Your son, John Henry

God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

In the Book of Judges, we see the story of Gideon. Gideon was an ordinary man from the tribe of Benjamin, the least of the tribes of Israel. Things were not looking good for the Israelites in the promised Land. It had been 200 years since Joshua led them over the Jordan into the land that God promised them. God had told them to utterly destroy the idolatrous and wicked peoples of the land. The Jebusites, The Hivites, the Ammonites and the Midianites. God led the Israelites into battle and blessed them and they prevailed over these peoples however they did not destroy them completely as God had said, but had allowed them to live among them.  Now 200 years later, the Midianites had the upper hand and were ruling over the people of Israel.

Gideon was hiding from the Midianites at a winepress in a cave, threshing a little bit of wheat to feed his household when an Angel of the Lord came to him and said… “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” Gideon must have looked around and said… ”Who, me?” He certainly didn’t feel like a mighty man at that moment. But so it was that Gideon believed the Word of the Lord and by God’s Hand, was able to mobilize 3000 men of Benjamin to rise up against the Midianites. In the end, God told Gideon to take only 300 men and they still defeated the vast Midianite army. God put fear into the hearts of Gideon’s enemies and so once again God’s people were saved out of captivity. Gideon is even mentioned in the Apostle Paul’s “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11 as one of the Bible’s great faith heroes.

Why? Because Gideon took God’s Word by faith that he was a mighty man of valor and did not believe the reality of his situation or his own fear over God’s Word. God’s Word says that if we believe and follow Jesus as Lord, that the things He did in His ministry, we would do also. We are ordinary people, called by an extraordinary God to do extraordinary things for His Glory. As I have heard it said, “God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called”.

Beloved, God’s Word says “Be of good courage and I will strengthen your heart all you who hope in Me”.  When we choose to be of good courage, and walk with the faith that we have, believing His Word and not our own mind, God then is able to strengthen us so that we can do all things, over and above anything we can imagine. Above all, we will learn to trust Him because He is faithful and we have chosen to believe His Word. We can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us.

Blessings abundant,

John Henry

When we truly do what the scriptures teach us, AKA God’s Instructions for Living, I believe that they become unerringly true for us. Sadly, the reverse is also true for many people.

Yesterday, I reconnected with an old friend on the phone.  We had not spoken in 14 years.  He complained that while he said he believed in God, he did not believe that God actually cares about people or acts on their behalf.  I asked him why he believed that.  He said that it was because all he ever wanted was to be a lawyer and that he had prayed for God to let him pass the bar exam and he had failed it twelve times.  I suggested to him that perhaps it was not God’s plan for him and he said to me “well. If God didn’t want me to be a lawyer then He should have given me a sign I could understand.”  All I could say to him was, what is there about “no” that you didn’t understand?

Ironically, this same man had done other great things in his life.  He became a licensed pilot, and a certified SCUBA instructor and raised two kids who had turned out to be good adults.  The sad part was that he was looking at the fact that he couldn’t pass the bar, and his disappointment in that reality, as being the cornerstone of his life, and therefore the basis of his attitude towards God.  He had become so embittered by this, in fact, that despite the good things that God had given him, he ended up alienating his wife, who left him because she could no longer stand his negativity.  He told me however, that he blamed God for that too.

If only my friend would come to believe this Scripture…

Matthew 6:33 – But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

When we turn our will over to God’ Will then He begins to truly move in our lives so that we lack nothing…

Hence this next Scripture…

Philippians 4:6 – Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

Then he could have seen the truth in this Scripture…

Romans 8:28 – And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

And finally realize the beauty in this one…

Eph. 2:10 – we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

It is my fervent prayer and true hope that my friend will yet come to align himself with the Lord’s perfect Will and find joy, maybe including the restoration of his marriage, which he says he wants.  I hope to be a part of his reconciliation with God in Christ and see him fully delivered from anger and regret.  May we all come to truly walk out the words of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane…

Not MY will Father, but YOUR Will be done.

It is the Father’s joy to give the Kingdom to His Son.  We become one with the Son when we do the Will of the Father.

In the Love of God, with hope in Christ Jesus,

John Henry

The poor are an easy target for the Mammonists among those in power. America will never be great, let alone “again” until we have addressed the legitimate needs of the impoverished and the working poor within our own borders. This is a huge affront to the Lord, on the part of those in this administration who claim to serve Him.

Hypocrites beware! True Believers awake!

We who truly believe and take up our crosses daily must be on the front-lines against iniquity on the extreme Right as well as irresponsibility on the extreme Left. While I do advocate praying for our leaders (NOT their agendas), I must add in conscience the following…

To this Administration God says “As you have done unto the least of these, my brethren, you have done so unto Me”. We must pray and leap to the defense of the defenseless. THAT is God’s heart.

Another way America has been seen as great by the freedom-loving nations of the world is as a thought leader in the responsible care of the planet, science-phobic foolishness aside. What are we thinking to allow this bullet train of backwardness? Time to stand and speak up in love of God and the poor and resist this shameless power grab, albeit peaceably.

With Love in Jesus’ Name,

John Henry Raskin

The Lord has restored and reactivated a long dormant gift of writing poetry. His Spirit has led me to post them here as “what He is doing”.  These are memories and snapshots of real people who I have met and touched/been touched by in my years of serving the poor in the San Fernando Valley.  Pray for those who struggle with faith.  Your prayers will bear fruit in His perfect time.  Be encouraged!

From the Last Planet

Dreaming now of desert ice

Beneath the dark, bequeathed cold

No sun shines here

Just age and beer

Fearful of the downs that come up suddenly.

I’d made a life that used and spent

Each waking hour afraid to lose the fragile tent

Not built with tools but snapped up hard

At each oasis dried and cracked.

To live is now to mow the yard

and see and feel the wavy lines

of heat like weeds that just grow back

the pushing, pulling blades attack

I ever wish I’d learned the knack of using time.

Now I lash the lack of love

and luck to every mast that breaks

and cracks from wind the ice drives down

I shudder here beneath the crown

Of thorns that living has become.

My dreams are fleeting as is each hour

But I have heard of Love Divine

That suffered here for souls like mine

I will pray to live.  I will pray to live for Him!

John Henry Raskin   March 7, 2018

Here is a poem that I wrote today.  It’s real.  That’s all I can say.  Please pray for those in bondage.

Greg and Maggie

He showed up with a glittering fist

Knuckles red and glass embedding bone

He laughed at first like always, the “I’m an idiot” grin

Then the tears break through the crack-scarred surface of his

Midwest Howdy-Doody face alive on meth.

Before I could get the question out he confessed, like I was Jesus

“I stole this…” and showed me a watch he wanted to sell

knowing I wouldn’t be buying, just rolling out his shame,

knowing I know he knows better but wouldn’t budge today

from the years of in and out of jail and rehab that were his only solid food.

Maggie rolls into the alley fresh from some guy she met

Swarthy and short with a “so what” stare and smeared eye shadow

I ask about her kids and she looks down, mumbles, then stares back, defiant,

Looks at Greg, the watch, then Greg again and says, “let’s go”.

They go…

I’ve known them 14 years and it’s never changed

except for that one time that Greg didn’t cry when he saw me.

That time he pulled his knife on me when I spoke the Lord’s Name.

That time he hated me.

…and THEN he cried and told me he loved me and asked me for a prayer.

John Henry Raskin

March 7, 2018

“So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.” – Psalm 90:12

“By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”—John 15:8

I have had many conversations with Christian friends over the years wherein they let me know that they are concerned about predestination and/or whether it is possible for a Christian to “lose” their salvation.  Invariably, in the middle of the conversation the Holy Spirit reminds me to suggest that those two things are not the most important questions to ask of Him.  While the former question comes under the “unsearchable mysteries of God” category, the latter is a “red herring”, or distraction of the enemy, to lead the saint away from the real question which is… now that I have received such a great salvation, and I have been liberated from the power of sin and the fear of death, how do I walk in a way most pleasing to you O Lord and use the time I have remaining to bring You Glory?

Scripture tells us “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” – Romans 10:9  Since only God knows the heart of a man, it is only God who can discern, let alone judge another man’s salvation.  That said, if you tell me that you love Jesus and believe that He sacrificed Himself on the Cross for your sins, believe Him to be the Christ (Messiah) and have asked Him to be Lord of your life, then I have no other desire, let alone option, but to believe you.  Now it is simply a matter of allowing Jesus, through the Holy Spirit to lead you, as your Shepherd, into “paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake”.  This is a simple matter of obedience to the Spirit’s leading because “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works prepared BEFOREHAND that we should walk in them” – Ephesians 2:10

Now… if you still say to me, “yes, but can I lose my salvation?”, then what I am hearing is that you are more concerned with what happens after you die than in living the rest of your life for God’s Glory.  So… I would have to ask you “are you trying to find out what you can get away with and still “enter the Kingdom of Heaven”?  Again, I would have to say, “God is the only judge”.  What I CAN tell you is that God is not glorified by your riding the line in that way.  We who strive to trust and obey the Spirit know that good works are not only our “reasonable service” -Romans 12:1, but He Himself is our portion, our “exceedingly great reward” – Genesis 15:1, and His Glory is the only true source of our joy, which is our strength.

While we need not, and indeed cannot, earn our salvation (it is by Grace alone that we are saved) – Ephesians. 2:5, we must be vigilant, in our walk, to take up our cross daily and truly follow Him.  “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” – Matt.7:21.  These words of Jesus, should put to rest the question of whether works are important to the health of a Christian’s walk with the Lord, fears of losing salvation entirely to the side.

If you are a Believer in Jesus Christ then you:

1. Know that you are a sinner saved by Grace, through faith and that you cannot earn your way into Heaven.
2. Love Him and are grateful for what He did for you on the Cross by dying for your sins.
3. Love those who also love Jesus and are willing to go out of your way to bless them with the things God gave you (talents, time and resources).
4. Love those who God puts in your life, even if they don’t identify themselves as Believers, and even if they actively dislike, hate or even seek to harm you.
5. Use every opportunity to know God better, be more sensitive to His spirit’s leading and desire to be ever more obedient to and trusting of Him.

While this list opens with the certainty that our works cannot save us, it finishes with the conviction that we must DO something with this great salvation, so that we are able to honor God.  In other words, our joy at receiving the blessing of John 3:16 must find completion in our response to fulfill our side of the new covenant found in 1John 3:16

It is through diligent prayer and supplication, with Thanksgiving, that we must make known to God our request to redeem the time we have been graciously given and gain a heart of His wisdom by numbering our days rightly.

In His Love, with joy and thanksgiving for all the saints,

John Henry Raskin

The Roadhouse Rabbi