Tag: eternal damnation

Today Is a Good Day!

On April 19, 2019

THE KIMBERLY JOY SHOW: Father, Into Your Hands I Commit My Spirit

TODAY IS A GOOD DAY: WHAT DOES GOOD FRIDAY REPRESENT?

Today is a good day! It’s Friday! And it’s not just Friday; it’s Good Friday! Good Friday represents the day Jesus was crucified, died and was buried. Now, it’s not to suggest that this is the actual day He died. It simply represents it!

WHAT WERE JESUS’ FINAL WORDS BEFORE HE DIED?

As was mentioned in the previous article “The Passion of the Christ,” Jesus endured great suffering, more than we could ever fathom, in order for us to be saved from sin and eternal damnation. According to Luke 23:46 (New International Version), His final words were “Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit.” He then breathed His last breath and died.

“Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit!”

While Jesus was on earth, He lived as a man. In other words, although He is divine, He experienced what it’s like to be human. He entered this world by way of a natural birth. He was raised by Mary and her husband Joseph. He ate, slept, cried and got angry. He was lied on, ridiculed, mishandled and abused. Satan even tempted Him, but as Hebrews 4:15 states, Jesus still did not sin.

WHAT HAPPENS TO AN INDIVIDUAL WHEN HE OR SHE DIES?

When an individual dies, there is a separation of the body, soul and spirit. In Genesis 3:19, God told Adam that because he came from the dust, one day he would return to the dust. Ecclesiastes 12:7 (NIV) also says:

“…the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.”

Then, the soul, which consists of one’s will, mind and emotions experiences eternal life or eternal death. Matthew 10:28 (New Living Translation) states:

“Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

I share those scriptures to reiterate what happened to Jesus during His last moments on the cross. He left His human body and committed His Spirit back to God. He let go and died.

Jesus’s crucifixion marked the end of His work on earth, and He did a great work! Everything He did serves as examples of what we as believers are to do today. Jesus taught and preached to many. He healed the blind, deaf, mute, crippled and paralyzed. He healed those with incurable diseases and resurrected the dead. He even embraced the poor and castaways.

Missionaries having Bible study in a small village

HOW EXACTLY DID JESUS DIE?

When Jesus was finally arrested, He didn’t put up a fight. Why? He knew it was His time to die. Therefore, as He hung on the cross, He committed His Spirit back to God the Father. In other words, Jesus CHOSE to die in that moment. Men didn’t kill Him. His enemies didn’t take Him out. Satan couldn’t even destroy Jesus.

Our pastor Apostle Ron Banks often states that if any other human being had been beaten the way Jesus was, he or she would have died before going to the cross. In fact, Jesus wasn’t just beaten, He was flogged. In other words, He was beaten with a whip containing sharp pieces of metal. So, every time the whip hit His body, it ripped His flesh. Nevertheless, despite the severe beating, He still didn’t die. Jesus said in John 10:17-18 (NLT):

“…I sacrifice My life so I may take it back again. ¹⁸No one can take My life from Me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again….”

Just as Jesus gave up His life and committed His Spirit to God, we are to give up our sinful lives and commit our all to God. That is the greatest way in which we can show our appreciation for His sacrifice. Many of us follow rituals during this holiday season. We give up something for Lent. We hold fish frys. We preach “The Seven Last Words of Jesus” on Good Friday. We shop for the perfect Easter outfit. We go to the barber shop and hair salon. We take pictures of our children sitting on the Easter bunny’s lap, give them Easter baskets and let them participate in the annual Easter egg hunt. Finally, we fill up the church pews on Easter Sunday.

Now, I’m not criticizing said rituals. We enjoy them! They bless us! However, what matters most to God is that we surrender our lives to Him and strive daily to please Him. That is THEE greatest way we can say, “Thank You Jesus for sacrificing Your life for mine!”

THE PRAYER OF SALVATION

If you haven’t accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, you can do so right now. I then encourage you to find a good Bible-believing church that will help you grow in your relationship with the Lord.

Romans 10:9 (New International Version) says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Please pray the following prayer:

Dear Jesus, I come to You confessing I am a sinner in need of a Savior. I believe You shed Your blood on the cross and died for my sins, were buried and rose again so I could be free! Please forgive me for my sins and the life I have lived. I confess You Jesus as Lord and accept You as my own personal Savior. According to the Word of God, I am now saved! Hallelujah! I AM FREE!

WELCOME TO THE FAMILY OF GOD!!!!!

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I Was Born In Sin

By Kimberly Joy

On January 16, 2019

In Jesus

THE KIMBERLY JOY SHOW (Commit Your Life to Jesus)

WHY WAS I BORN IN SIN?

(The following passage is an excerpt taken from an upcoming book.)

“…..I stepped into the middle aisle of the sanctuary, as my skinny legs shook like tree limbs on a windy, autumn day, and made my way down to the front. I didn’t know what was going to happen next. I just knew HE was calling me…..When I got to the foot of the altar, I knelt down, bowed my head, and folded my hands to pray, just like I always did every night before going to sleep…..[But] Instead [of praying], I just cried. However, it wasn’t my typical cry, the kind that occurs after a spanking or after falling off my bicycle and scraping my knee. These weren’t even tears I mustered up so the adults present would think I was being sincere. These were REAL tears streaming down my little [brown] face. Even though I had been in church from the time I was born and had even been baptized by my great-uncle the late Bishop Timothy Smith, Sr. in the baptismal pool of our family church Mt. Olive Holy Temple, I still had not confessed my sins and accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior. It’s not that I was rejecting the King of kings and Lord of lords. My young mind just didn’t understand why I needed Him, until that very moment when He revealed Himself to me….”

The little girl in that story was me! On this particular day, at 7 or 8 years of age, I made the best decision of my life when I accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior.

Some, who hear my story, may say I was too young to really know what I was doing. But, I was not too young! As I mentioned in the story, in that moment, Jesus opened my young mind to realize that, I, along with everyone else, was born a sinner. Romans 3:23 (King James Version) says:

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God…..”

Why are all born in sin? According to the third chapter of Genesis, the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God. When God created Adam, he instructed him not to eat fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. He could eat from all the other trees in the Garden of Eden, but he and Eve were to leave that particular tree alone. If they chose to eat from that tree, they would surely die (Genesis 2:17)! Does that mean they would drop dead the moment they took a bite of the fruit? No, rather they would immediately experience a spiritual death and, in time, a physical one. Without God’s grace and mercy, the final result would be eternal destruction or hell. Unfortunately, they allowed Satan, who was speaking through the serpent, to convince them to disobey the voice of God, opening the door for sin to run rampant.

Prior to making this foolish and detrimental choice, Adam and Eve were created as perfect beings. For instance, they were immortal, and with that came perfect health, weight, skin, and hair, along with constant energy. They had no need for clothing because they were unashamed. Moreover, they were the most intelligent creatures alive because God intentionally created them in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:26). Sadly, they gave all that up for a piece of fruit!

WHAT HAPPENED WHEN GOD CONFRONTED ADAM AND EVE?

What happened when God confronted Adam and Eve about their disobedience? When they ate the forbidden fruit, they immediately felt guilty and used fig leaves to try to cover up the parts of their bodies that gave them the most shame.

Then, when they sensed God looking for them, they did their best to hide from Him. Of course, they soon learned that there is no hiding from the Creator, the One who knows all and sees all! When God finally confronted them about their disobedience, they tried to shift the blame. First, Adam said (Genesis 3:12, New Living Translation):

“It was the woman You gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

When God questioned Eve, she replied (Genesis 3:13, NLT):

“The serpent deceived me. That’s why I ate it.”

What the first couple failed to realize is God doesn’t want to hear our excuses for why we sin and continue to sin. He only wants our confession and repentance.

Continuing with my story……….

“Although no one accompanied me to the altar, I wasn’t left alone for long. My second grade teacher Mrs. Pope soon knelt beside me, put her arm around me and, with tears in her own eyes, led me in what is often termed ‘The Sinner’s Prayer’”……“The Sinner’s Prayer” is inspired by I John 1:9 (KJV), “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,” and Romans 10:9 (New International Version), “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

WHY DID GOD GIVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON?

Although Adam and Eve messed up, God had another plan! He gave His only begotten Son Jesus (John 3:16) as a living sacrifice to die on our behalf, and three days later He rose again.

So, when we receive Jesus, we are made righteous before God and are guaranteed eternal life once we leave this earth, the way God originally intended.

To begin this brand new year of 2019 on a positive note, I encourage you to repent of your sins and accept Jesus as your Savior and Lord. If you already received Jesus, but are not where you used to be spiritually, I encourage you to rededicate your life to Him. Furthermore, don’t just ask Jesus to save you from eternal damnation, but allow Him to be Lord of your life, in control of your life, again the way God originally intended!