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Are you the hero type? If you saw someone in real need, would you take time to help or become involved? For example, while walking in your neighborhood one evening you see a fire beginning in your neighbor’s attic. If you had any integrity at all you would immediately warn your neighbor, call the fire department, and help in any way possible. After the fire you may not feel like a hero because you were doing what you felt was right, but you would be called a hero.

Suppose though that your neighbor upon being informed that his house was on fire refused to believe you. In the delay and confusion, the fire flashed through his house destroying him and his entire family. Were you a hero? Of course not! Were you responsible for the tragedy? No, but you would feel terrible that you had failed to convince your neighbor of the danger in time.

You could have been a hero had you forced your neighbor to safety—then rushed into the house and helped the family to flee seconds before the fire flashed through the house. I’m sure, though, that you would not like this situation to happen to you.

I don’t mean to be rude, but in a very real sense I face a similar situation with you as described in the story above. Thankfully your house is not on fire but there is a type of fire that we all need to avoid. I urge you to come on out of the house (your normal thought processes) and see the “fire” for yourself.

Nearly everyone that has ever lived has at one time considered themselves to be a good person. My questions for you are these. What does it take to be a good person? Have you broken any of the 10 commandments that God gave to Moses? If the God of the Bible is the one true God, does He have anything to say on the subject? If He does have anything to say, are you willing to hear?

The Bible, God’s word, has really GOOD NEWS for you—but it will make more sense to you if you first contrast it with the bad news. In the book of Romans, chapter 3, verse 23 it says: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” This simply means that everyone throughout history has failed to meet God’s standards. In the same book, Romans 6:23 says: “For the wages of sin is death.” Just as we get paid at work in exchange for our production, at the end of this life we get paid in death for our rebellion against God. This sounds unfair—but keep reading.

Isaiah 64:6 says: “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” Sorry, but this means that anything we are doing to gain favor with God is very repulsive to Him. Even if we are good moral people that go to church regularly, give our time and money to help others, raise our children to become outstanding citizens or even tell others about the goodness of a loving God, none of this will ever impress God enough for Him to say to us, “Come on in. Welcome to Heaven.” To say it bluntly … there is NO WAY for us to gain favor with God—on our own.

But here is the GOOD NEWS! Romans 5:8 says: “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” In the court of Heaven we deserve death but Christ has taken our punishment by dying in our place.

Hebrews 9:22, referring to the Old Testament regulations, says that “the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” The first example of blood shedding was in the Garden of Eden when God killed an animal to provide clothing for Adam and Eve when they had disobeyed God’s instruction. All the animal sacrifices in the Old Testament only covered up the sin—like sweeping the dirt under the rug. This was a temporary fix—a staging point—until the final solution was in place.

When Christ died for us on the cross, He was the perfect sacrifice. The sin of all mankind was placed upon Him and He became a substitute for everyone, making His blood now AVAILABLE to wash away our sin. All this blood-shedding can seem very offensive to many people causing them to reject God’s sacrifice altogether. Just remember that God’s ways are not necessarily our ways, and telling The Almighty how things should be done is not advisable. We can be saved, forgiven, and made acceptable to God the Father, because of what Christ did for us on the cross. Ephesians 2:8,9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” If Jesus Christ gave us this gift of dying in our place and there is nothing that we ourselves can do to be accepted into Heaven—what’s the catch? Millions of people believe in God, but miss the catch! Only those that actually understand and use the catch will one day hear that “welcome to Heaven”.

Here’s the catch! With the help of God’s Holy Spirit working in our heart and mind, we must believe that we are completely guilty before God and deserve death and Hell—we must believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross in our place. WE MUST THEN TALK to God the Father in our own words, heart to heart, acknowledge to Him that we believe these things, confess our guilt, ask for His forgiveness, thank Him for His forgiveness, and submit to Him being our LORD (the boss and director) of our life. We cannot negotiate this point with God! Please take a few minutes right now to talk to God about all this. Start talking now!

In John 5:24, Jesus says, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”

Did you hear God’s word? Did you believe Him? Did you have a personal one-on-one conversation with the one true God about these things? If your answer is YES … you now have eternal life. You will not be condemned—not now, or in the future. You have crossed over from death to life. (I’ve met numerous individuals who have gone forward at the invitation of some preacher and said a prayer of repentance, but never did allow God to convert or save them. They have no real evidence of their allegiance to God and have no reservations in Heaven. Don’t let this happen to you.)

You now have the awesome responsibility and obligation to live the way Christ wants you to live. Because He loves you, died for you, and knows you far better than you do yourself, it only makes sense to allow Him to be your Lord and Master, on a daily basis.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!” During the next few months watch for changes in your life that will confirm for you that God is working to change you for the better. Keep in mind that this change is a process. The residual effect of your old nature will pop up from time to time but God has a plan for that. In the book of 1 John 1:8,9 it says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” This forgiveness restores our ability to be on good speaking terms.

When we sin, God’s spirit who is now living inside of us lets us know that we are sinning. At that exact moment we need to confess this sin to our new Father. We remit our sin to be covered by the blood of Jesus. We ask for God’s help not to repeat the sin. When we’re tempted again, a good thing to do is to pray for someone who struggles with the same problem. Lucifer just hates to see us pray. Our goal is to live a holy life directed by the Holy Spirit.

Some things you need to do are read the Bible every day for communication and direction, talk to God about everything, and join a church that preaches this good news on a regular basis. Your daily prayer should be this: “Father, show me the truth.” Know His voice and walk in His ways!

Don’t call me a hero for helping you to repent and receive Christ as the Lord of your life. Jesus Christ (Yeshua HaMashiach) is Lord. It’s expected of me, so pass it forward! — D.G. Rocke

P.S. In the near future you will hear of a very interesting affirmation concerning the country of Israel. This affirmation will begin the final seven year countdown as described in the last book of the Bible. In the middle of this seven year countdown someone in Jerusalem will claim to be the worlds Messiah and require the allegiance of everyone on earth. DO NOT give it to him - even if it costs you your life! It’s that important!

Near the end of this 7 year countdown the New World Order, the United Nations, will call for the total termination of Israel as a nation and will gather in the large valley about 60 miles north of Jerusalem to begin this campaign. If by some small chance you see these armies approaching the gates of Jerusalem, you will see something so far beyond amazing that it will take your breath away, and drop you to your knees.

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