0-51-90-100 Most people know that Bill Gates of Microsoft is the richest man in the world, and if you didn't it's no big deal because you do now. Now what if this man, or any other man of great means, was to come to you with a business deal that had the following four points and went as follows:
1) NO MONEY DOWN-Everything is paid for, no matter what the business needs the price is paid. This business has his full backing, everything that he has access to you and the business has access to. Money, support staff, office space, production facilities, it doesn't matter what the business needs you have it upon request.
2) YOU HAVE THE CONTROLLING INTEREST-51% control. If you decide to sell the company and get out that is your choice. If you decide to buy controlling interest in the Yugo car production plant you can. You see he has many years of experience in the business world, and his advice is sound. You make the decisions, he can make suggestions, but the final call is yours.
3) HE DOES 90% OF THE WORK-you do 10%. The success of the business is based on his efforts, not yours. Imagine going to work and only having to work one hour out of ten and getting the results of ten hours of labor.
4) ALL OF THE PROFIT IS YOURS- 100% of the income from this business goes into your account. He already has all of the money he needs so he's just doing this to help you out.
Instantly you would think that this deal is to good to be true. You would look over the contract, talk to your friends, and exhaust every source at your disposal to check out this deal and find the trick. Some time later after a full check you find out that this is a real deal and that this guy could be trusted. Would you sign on the dotted line? Would you go into business with this guy? To be honest you would be foolish if you didn't; a real deal like this only comes along once in a lifetime.
Well I've got some news for you... Jesus has made the exact same deal with "whosoever". Acts 2:21 says "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." KJV and the NIV version reads "And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." If you are alive then you are a whosoever, and even a nobody falls into the category of everyone. Here is the deal that Jesus proposes for you:
1) The price has been paid: 2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
There is nothing you can do to earn salvation. You can't get good enough for God to like you without going through Jesus. Jesus died on the cross and paid for our salvation. This walk is by faith and by His grace.
2) You make the call: Read Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. 9 As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
MANY people just quote verses 8 and 9 and talk about how much better God is that we are. God is better than we are but He doesn't sit in heaven and rub our noses in it on earth. God has sent His word to teach us, advise us and direct us, to make OUR ways His ways. If you don't read and study the word the soil of your heart won't get watered, and you will be unfruitful. In other words you will make bad decisions and God will constantly be pulling you out of the ditch instead of you making real progress in life.
3) The work is already done: Read the following scriptures: Philippians 4:19 And my God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. AMP Ephesians 1:3 May blessing (praise, laudation, and eulogy) be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) who has blesses us in Christ with every spiritual (given by the Holy Spirit) blessing in the heavenly realm! AMP
Notice these verses are written in either the present or past tense not the future. Everything you need to do the work either has already been given to you or it is setting there waiting you to pick it up and use it.
Ephesians 6:11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 2 Corinthians 5:20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.
The understood subject of Ephesians 2:11 is YOU. When YOU put on the armor YOU stand, it doesn't say fight, it doesn't say rub your belly and pat your head. Put your faith in God the father, and the work that Jesus did on the cross. All you have to do is follow the instructions given to you in the written word and you will have great success. Remember the following scripture:
Mathew 11:29 "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
4) The Reward is Yours: Below is a copy of Revelation Chapters 21 and 22. I put then just on the off chance that you don't have a bible of your own to read from. Read these two chapters and ask yourself the following question "Is there anything in my limited life in this world worth missing forever in a place like this?" Chapter 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." 5 He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." 6 He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." 9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. 16 The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia [a] in length, and as wide and high as it is long. 17 He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits [b] thick, [c] by man's measurement, which the angel was using. 18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19 The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. [d] 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass. 22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.
Chapter 22:1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. 6 The angel said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place." 7 Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book." 8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. 9 But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!" 10 Then he told me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near. 11 Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy." 12 Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. 14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. 16 I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you [a] this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star." 17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. 18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. 20 He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen.
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