"In Spirit and In Truth" -2

"If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange God; shall not God search this out? for He knoweth the secrets of the heart." (Psalms 44:20 & 21) Then again, maybe Jesus was speaking about the other disciples, as in men, as in other people, or what others think; after all, was it not that issue that cause Peter to deny Jesus three times, what others might think? It's really not an issue of being intimidated by what others might think, because that is only a byproduct of the issue; the real issue was that of forgetting who Jesus was; was He Lord, the Son of the Living God? If he still believed that with all of his heart, then what others might think would not be an issue. If Jesus is who He claims to be, then where can we find protection, but in Him? Why would we seek protection in anything else? It is really amazing sometimes the kind of stuff we stretch out our hands to for protection; things like the Zodiac, or things like gambling, or the lottery; even the stock market, or investments, or even all this stuff we surround ourselves with. None of that stuff has any power whatsoever to give us eternal life, and none of it will protect us from the fires of hell. They say that Jesus spoke more about hell than He did about heaven, if you are using the word heaven, then I would say that is true; but if you are speaking about the kingdom of God, then I might challenge the statement. The kingdom of God is now and forever, is began for each one us the day we invited Jesus Christ into our hearts; from that very moment, each and every one of us that believe in Jesus, have entered into the kingdom of God, and hell is no longer an option. Today I am giving the message at our church, and I will be teaching on Genesis chapter seven; yes, the whole chapter; but one of the wonderful illustrations within that chapter, is found in verse sixteen, where it says, "and the LORD shut him in". Noah had to enter the ark, as God called him into it in verse one, saying, "Come"; after Noah entered, it was God that shut the door, and when God shuts the door, no man can open it... "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are One." (John 10:27-30)