Positives

By John Michael Word

In my job working for a food broker, I had opportunities to work with a lot of people in supermarkets who were not always pleased with their jobs. I try to be encouraging with other people and write one page about different things to encourage them. In so many cases, the people were very encouraged by my writing. That encouraged me too, so I wrote "positive" for many years, and I was blessed by having many people happy to see what I had for them this time. I know also that in spite of my weaknesses, I was truly blessed by God. I hope that my writing will bless more people, now that I'm retired. All the glory for others being encouraged by my writings will be the Lord Jesus!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 24, 2022
• ISBN: 9781639039258

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Positives

John Michael Word

Copyright © 2022 by John Michael Word

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

A Personal Analysis of My Reason for Being

Creationists Have a Responsibility to Coordinate the Genesis Account of Creation with a Geologic Timescale that Can Be Defended Scientifically

Dance with Me: Dance for Joy

The Lesson of the Pitcher Plant

Our Gospels

The Unity of God in Ephesians Chapter 4

Reasoning to God

The Secret Things of God

Switching the Road Signs

To Life

Warning Lights

Beauty Should Not Be Rare

Friendship is…

JESUS IS LORD!!!

My Gospel

The Dream of the Loosened Bolts

A Personal Analysis of My Reason for Being

Why am I alive?

To live and enjoy life? Or,

To share life with others joyfully?

What am I seeking from life?

The pleasures of the world? Or,

To know God’s love and to experience creation’s wonders?

What does love mean to me?

What others give me? Or,

What I give to God and others?

What will make me feel successful in life?

The accumulation of things or wealth? Or,

God saying, This is My Son in whom I’m pleased.

What are my plans for the future?

To insure security for when I’ve reached 65? Or,

To secure my existence with the Lord eternally?

What will others say about me when my life has ended?

That I was full of myself and wasted my life? Or,

That I lived my life unselfishly helping others?

Am I proud of the answers that I gave to the questions above?

Will I be proud to give them to God when I meet with Him? Or,

Are there things in my life that I need to change in time?

December 15, 2000

A Call to Holiness

My fellow Christians, a war is raging, and we are right in the middle of it. I refer to a spiritual war, the eternal struggle between good and evil. Quite literally, it is war between God and Satan. The fight began in the garden of Eden and will continue until Christ Jesus comes again.

In the meantime, American culture is in the throes of battle at the dawning of this year 2000. Often it seems that Satan is winning. Slaughter and mayhem sporadically break loose in our schools and on our streets. Children murder their classmates. Parents abuse and even kill their children. Spouses abuse and even kill each other. Sacred marriage vows are ignored. Our families are breaking up. Sexual promiscuity is openly paraded without apology and heralded in every venue of entertainment. Pornography is pervasive in magazines and movies, on TV, and on the Internet. Adultery is common. Perversions once thought unmentionable have captured prime time broadcast coverage and front-page space and headlines in newspapers. When ungodly conduct was exposed in the White House, America seemed not to be embarrassed, let alone shocked, but rather was held spellbound for months as many hungered for more and more sordid details of the lascivious acts.

Lust is not limited, however, to arenas of sexual misconduct. Lust for money, drugs, power, and influence also is prevalent in our society. The time has come—in fact is long overdue—for Christians to draw the line in opposition to Satan and to stand firmly on God’s side under the banner of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Your elders have asked our pulpit ministers to lead us in a call to holiness, a revival in spirituality, placing us on the firing line against Satan and all of his evil influences. Over the centuries, when His people were being overwhelmed by the godless cultures around them, God sent forth prophets with His call to holiness. We believe this call is appropriate yet today in the twenty-first century.

The principles of righteousness are timeless. Some things are right and will never be wrong: honoring God, exalting Christ, loving the brotherhood, telling the truth, being honest, shunning gossip, etc. Such things will always be right.

Other things are clearly wrong and will never be right: practicing greed, cursing God, hating a person, stealing from others, engaging in sex outside of marriage, committing slander, lying, forsaking the assembly, etc.

Therefore, beloved brothers and sisters, let us rise above the surrounding culture. Let us be steadfast and unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Let us hear the words of Jesus when He says, You are the light of the world… Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14–16).

Also, let us heed Paul’s appeal for Christians to live an upright lifestyle: So that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe (Philippians 2:15) (unknown).

After the Twenty-Four Hours, What Then?

I’m reading a book by Max Lucado called Just Like Jesus. I enjoy reading his books because they are so down-to-earth where I am. I am enjoying reading this one also because like all the rest, I feel as if I’m being lifted up to God. That’s exactly what happens in the first chapter of Just Like Jesus. The chapter is titled A Heart Like His, and the point Max is trying to make is: What would happen if Jesus came into my heart for twenty-four hours? Max asks the question, Would people notice a change? I won’t reveal any more of his thoughts because I think you should read the book. But I would like to encourage you to consider a thought that occurred to me as I was reading Max’s thoughts.

If Jesus took over my heart, my body, my soul for twenty-four hours, I know that he would do things a lot differently and I would get the credit or the blame by everyone around me. In a real sense I would be carrying His cross or looking toward the future when I would surely carry it. And what about the point at which the twenty-four hours came to an end? Would people notice a change? Would I go back to the way I was before He filled my heart for twenty-four hours? Or would I continue on, trying with all my heart to remember how He did things while He was there? Would I, in a word, go back to fishing? Or would I follow Him into deeper water to catch fish with Him in the stormy sea?

I’m thankful for thoughts Max got going in my mind. I’m possessed with the goal of increasing my courage to let Jesus do what He wants to help me live my life so that all I do is what God wants me to do. I know that just as God gave Him the wisdom and strength to do His will, so will He give it to me. Now I’m thinking ahead. I’m not in the garden yet, praying that God will try to find another way, but I pray that when I get there, He will let me feel His presence and His power and His approval. I fear pain, but I sense great joy in victory. I feel rejection by many people, but I seek acceptance by the Father. I trust in the unconditional, eternal, love of God in Jesus.

November 16, 1999

Authority in Religion

If religion is worship of God, then God, as the object of worship, is also the authority as to how worship is to be done. Agreed that God is the authority, it must further be agreed that there must be a way in which God informs man as to how he desires to be worshipped. It would appear reasonable that the only way in which this would be done is in such a way that His will would be recorded and accessible to all people. His Word will be ultimate truth, will be understandable to all able to understand, will be self-consistent and reasonable, complete in and of itself, and needing no addition or subtraction by any person. Anything that man might add to what God has said must be viewed as without foundation and suspect. Anything that man might subtract from what God has said must be viewed as tampering and also suspect.

God is His own authority and therefore needs not that any person would assume such a position in His place. Such an attempt must be viewed as an unlawful and fruitless usurpation of power.

God’s Word, being reasonable and understandable, means exactly what it says and is always to be understood by those to whom it is written as it is written. Confusion is not built into God’s Word but is caused by man’s unwillingness to submit to God or lack of responsible approach to His Word.

God reveals Himself in His Word and is found truly in His Word and never in what any man would say about God, except where what is said is thoroughly consistent with what God has said about Himself. Thus, God’s Word is always its own standard and ultimate authority.

Be careful when you answer someone’s request for help with I don’t have time.

Do you remember how many times someone has asked you for help, and you answered them, I’m sorry, I don’t have time?

Was your answer honest? Or did you really just not want to help them?

Would your having helped them prevent you from doing something more important?

If you had it all to do over again, would you help them now?

What would you think if you discovered that the person who had asked you for help was an angel?

If you had it all to do over again, would you help them now?

When someone asks you for help in the future, think carefully before you answer them, I’m sorry, I don’t have time. There will come a time when you really don’t have time to answer differently.

Please read Matthew 25:31–46 when you have the time.

April 27, 2001

I Want to Win!

Proverbs 3:4: Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.

The question is When?

The answer is: My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life and bring you prosperity. Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.

Matthew 23:15: The wrong way of winning.

First Corinthians 9:19: The right way of winning. Five times in coming verses.

A question: Am I trying to win the favor of man or of God?

Read Galatians 1:10.

Masters and servants: Read Ephesians 6:6, Colossians 3:22, 1 Thessalonians 4:12.

The ultimate win: Philippians 3:14.

The Book of Life and Judgment Day

Most of the people, with whom I have conversed, do not know what is meant by the term the Book of Life nor are they sure that they are going to heaven when they die. Most of them say that they are hopeful, just unsure. Some have as much fear as they have faith.

The purpose of this paper is to present evidence that I hope will be both encouraging and convincing to those who lack the security that is offered in God’s Word. I pray that readers of this paper will study prayerfully this writing, asking God’s Spirit to help them to understand what the future holds for them. This may invoke some fear and trembling, but my goal is to gain the security that I believe God wants His people to have relative to where they will spend eternity.

Jesus is the founder and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), and He can be trusted when He offers us His offer about how Judgment Day will go for us.

John the apostle provided Jesus’s words, recorded in His Gospel (John 5:24): Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life. He does not come into judgement, but has been passed from death to life.

His words are confirmed further by John in Revelation 20:11–15:

I saw a large, white throne and the one who was sitting on it. The earth and the sky fled from his presence, but no place was found for them. I saw the dead, both great and small people, standing in front of the throne. Books were opened, including the Book of Life. The dead were judged on the basis of what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead. Death and hell gave up their dead. People were judged based on what they had done. Death and hell were thrown into the fiery lake. (The fiery lake is the second death.) Those whose names were not found in the Book of life were thrown into the fiery lake.

Jesus’s words in John 5:24 are further clarified in studying the term the book of life as used earlier in the Bible.

There are at least eight passages containing the words the book of life in the Bible, but this paper will deal with only six of those passages because the other two go beyond the scope of this paper:

Yes, I also ask you, Syzugus, my true partner, to help these women. They fought beside me to spread the Good News along with Clement and the rest of my coworkers, whose names are in the Book of Life. (Philippians 4:3)

The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the Book of Life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. (Revelation 3:5)

Everyone living on earth will worship it, everyone whose name is not written in the Book of Life. That book belongs to the lamb who was slaughtered before the creation of the world. (Revelation 13:8)

I saw the dead, both important and unimportant people, standing in front of the throne. Books were opened, including the Book of Life. The dead were judged on the basis of what they had done, as recorded in the books. (Revelation 20:12)

Those whose names were not found in the Book of Life were thrown into the fiery lake. (Revelation 20:15)

Nothing unclean, no one who does anything detestable, and no liars will ever enter it. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will enter it. (Revelation 21:27)

It is not difficult to see the connection between what Jesus taught about eternal life and judgment and what the Bible contains pertaining to the final judgment. Simply stated, those whose names are contained in the Book of Life are the same as those who have eternal life as Jesus taught.

It’s not so simple for many people to understand the concept of someone’s name being erased from the Book of Life, but that is exactly what is taught in Revelation 3:5. Serious consideration of that text shows that the statement is conditional, i.e., the one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the Book of Life. I will confess his name before my Father and before His angels. All of the letters to the churches of Asia show the necessity of conquering the problems their churches are dealing with. Consider the following:

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. (Revelation 2:7)

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death. (Revelation 2:11)

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it. (Revelation 2:17)

The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations. (Revelation 2:26)

The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. (Revelation 3:5)

The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God.