Well-Fed Birds

Well-Fed Birds | Ernie's Musings

Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? (Matthew 6:26)

This weekend I refilled the bird feeder we keep in our backyard. That last time I filled it was more than a month ago. It seems strange that the birds do not come around as often as they did in the spring. Perhaps the late August heat saps their energy so that it is too much effort to hang on a feeder and peck at the seeds inside. Perhaps the feeder would be more inviting if I put up a birdbath nearby. A nice cool bath might make them hungry.

Read more: https://erniecarrasco.com/2018/08/26/well-fed-birds/

Merit-Based Salvation

Merit-Based Salvation | Ernie's Musings

For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:14)

There exists a common misconception among non-Christians and, sadly, even among some Christians, that when it comes time to meet our Maker that we can gain entrance into the celestial realm based on our merits. As our lead verse suggests, “God shall bring every work into judgment … whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” If challenged, those who hold that view almost always see themselves as better than most. They may admit to “small” sins like telling a “white lie” now and then, stealing a pack of gum, failing to correct a cashier when given too much change, or something equally innocuous. By their estimation, their “good” works will outweigh their “evil” works on the cosmic scales, and God will say, “Good enough!”

Read more ... https://erniecarrasco.com/2018/08/19/merit-based-salvation/

Being Gods

Being Gods | Ernie's Musings

Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? (John 10:34)

When Satan met Eve in the Garden of Eden, he charged that by His prohibition against eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, God denied Adam and Eve of something good. “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5, emphasis mine).

Being gods remains mankind’s greatest desire. Read more ... https://erniecarrasco.com/2018/08/12/being-gods/

Only Eight Saved

Only Eight Saved | Ernie's Musings

For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. (1 Peter 3:18-20)

One of the many attributes of God is that He is longsuffering. The English word first appears in Exodus. “And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation (Exodus 34:6-7). The word “longsuffering” translates two Hebrew words: ‘ârêk meaning long or patient and ‘aph meaning nose or nostril, hence the face. Together they picture the face of God as He patiently looks on His wayward children. The word appears three other times in the Old Testament: Numbers 14:18; Psalm 86:15; Jeremiah 15:15.

Read more ... https://erniecarrasco.com/2018/08/05/only-eight-saved/