Category: The Condition of the Heart

Why We Need A Savior

~ Rob Robinson ~ Leave a comment

COPYRIGHT WARNING

There is something resident within us that wants perfection. We see it in our mind as we observe things around us that are not perfect. We feel uncomfortable when entering a hotel room that is old, dirty, and unkempt. We feel displeasure when lied to. There is a righteous anger that mounts upon our heart when we see or hear about a child or elderly person that has been abused.

Perfection is an ideal that we all want, yet accept that we can never apprehend. Why is it that we earnestly desire perfection and feel disappointed, angry, or perplexed when every human being we meet is incapable of this perfection?

Continue reading “Why We Need A Savior” →

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It’s The Little Things That Add Up To A Big Life

~ Rob Robinson ~ Leave a comment

COPYRIGHT WARNING

Most of us have a long list of regrets for the things we have done in our past. In fact, we waste an extraordinary amount of time thinking about things that we have no power to change. It is important to remember that we are not defined  by the person we were in our past. We are defined by who we are today. It is through the choices that we are making right now that people understand who we are. Oh, I know that people remember the mistakes that you have made. Your relatives will think back to those foolish things that you said and did when you were younger and define you in those terms. The incredible thing about today is that you can begin a whole new life for yourself, if you want to. In no time at all, people will begin to think of you in a new way and define the person you are by the things you have been doing from this moment when you decide to change your life. Continue reading “It’s The Little Things That Add Up To A Big Life” →

Our Capacity For Love, Is Determined By How Well We Know Our Self

~ Rob Robinson ~ Leave a comment

COPYRIGHT WARNING

The Love that a person has for Jesus, is directly proportional to the view that they have of their life.

Mary Magdalene was a known prostitute in Jerusalem.

In John chapter 8, she is brought by the Pharisees before Jesus to be judged for her adultery, being caught in the very act. John 8:4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.” (NIV) Continue reading “Our Capacity For Love, Is Determined By How Well We Know Our Self” →

Your Ability to See, Depends Upon Your Diet

~ Rob Robinson ~ Leave a comment

COPYRIGHT WARNING

What we eat, determines how well we can see. Our eyes depend upon us to take in the proper nutrients in order to allow our optic nerve, retina, and other parts of the eye, to function properly.

In the same way, our ability to see what is true and wise in life, will depend upon what we eat, spiritually.

Jesus said that He is “The Bread of Life.”

And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. —John 6:35

The hunger and thirst that a human being feels, can never be truly satisfied by anything that is in this world. We were made to be loved. We were made to know God, who loves us so intensely that He was willing to die for us, in order to rescue us.

Jesus said that unless we eat His flesh and drink His blood, we do not have eternal life.  Continue reading “Your Ability to See, Depends Upon Your Diet” →

A Murderer Can Go To Heaven, While His Victim Goes To Hell

~ Rob Robinson ~ Leave a comment

COPYRIGHT WARNING

Several years ago, I was watching a television show in which a man was seeking to illustrate how anyone; regardless of how evil they might have been, can go to heaven.

A young man who was having a hard time understanding the concept of a murderer going to heaven, asked a question:

“So you are saying that the Nazi soldier who gassed my grandmother at the German death camps under Hitler can be forgiven by God?”

The host told him, “yes of course. Anyone can be saved by the sacrifice that Jesus has made on the cross for all sins.”[1]

“But what if my grandmother never received Jesus as her savior, what if she refused to accept his offer of salvation.”

The host continued: “Unfortunately, she would be lost forever.”[2]

The young man, now quite angry, began to speak again: “Do you mean to say that a Nazi butcher who tortured my dear grandmother, then threw her into a furnace and burned her to death, can go to heaven; but my grandmother, who never hurt a sole, who never said an unkind word about anyone in her life, will go to hell, if she does not receive Jesus Christ?”

The host answered, “Yes that is precisely what the gospel of Jesus Christ says.”[3]

The young man replied: “That is why I would never believe in the God that you believe in.” Continue reading “A Murderer Can Go To Heaven, While His Victim Goes To Hell” →

Why Most People Will Not Make It To Heaven

~ Rob Robinson ~ Leave a comment

COPYRIGHT WARNING

Nearly 700 years before Jesus came into the world, the prophet Isaiah described the Salvation which God would offer to the world and the fact that it would be completely His work and none of man’s efforts or works. .

Isaiah 59:16b He saw that there was no man, And wondered that there was no intercessor; Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; And His own righteousness, it sustained Him.

Isaiah speaks of the Messiah as the only way by which any person may be saved.

“Therefore His own arm brought salvation.”

Unfortunately, a majority of people who have lived upon the earth do not like a plan of salvation which does not recognize their efforts or reward their obedience. We have this idea as human beings that we can work and perform good in order to be accepted and loved by other human beings. We tend to carry this idea over to our relationship with God, who surely will accept a person who is basically good or does good works.

According to the words of God, this idea is wrong.

The actions of redemption rest solely with the Lord and not with man. We do not have the capacity to redeem ourselves, according to the word of God. This principle makes it clear for us that no church, no religion, no man, has the ability to meet the requirements set forth by the law of God for salvation to take place.

Continue reading “Why Most People Will Not Make It To Heaven” →

We Cannot See the Reality of Our Own Destitute Condition

~ Rob Robinson ~ Leave a comment

COPYRIGHT WARNING

Isaiah 53:5a But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities…

What specifically, did Isaiah the prophet mean when He described our sins and the absolute necessity of the Messiah
death to remove those sins? Does this mean that there was no other method by which God could cause each one of us to be worthy of heaven? What is there about sin that is so mysterious and hidden from our understanding?

Isaiah said the Messiah would be wounded for the transgressions of human beings. He was bruised for our iniquities.

Transgressions: The actual sins that we commit against each other, our selves, and God.

Iniquities: The inequitable (unjust) acts of human beings in regards to what is right.

The purpose of the Messiah’s arrival was to die for our sins. We should never miss this important point in any discussion of prophetic fulfillment. If it were not for our sinfulness, it would not have been necessary for Jesus to die. We should thank the Lord every day that He loved and cared for us so greatly that He was willing to depart heaven, come to earth, to suffer unimaginable pain and suffering for us.

When I first learned what Jesus had done for me and how greatly He had suffered, I remember wondering why the whole world did not fall at His feet in thanksgiving and gratefulness. I later learned that most of the world does not consider that any of their actions would require a Savior. By its very nature, sin causes blindness. Jeremiah the prophet wrote that we are not aware of the deception which has been perpetrated against us. Even our own heart does not allow us to see the truth about ourselves.

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

When the Bible describes our present condition, it does so in terms of darkness and blindness. The idea here is that we cannot see our true condition, and how desperate and hopeless our situation is. The Bible declares that without someone to help us, not one human being could survive the future judgement for sin that is the destiny of all those who are without Christ. Continue reading “We Cannot See the Reality of Our Own Destitute Condition” →

When our Assumptions About God Prevent us From Being Saved

~ Rob Robinson ~ Leave a comment

COPYRIGHT WARNING

I have often pondered the fact that many people today still reject Jesus Christ. They do so of their own free will, with full knowledge of who Jesus is, and what the eternal cost is for rejecting Him as their Savior. What I find most perplexing is that Jesus is so incredible and wonderful in every way. How anyone could walk away from Him is beyond my ability to understand. It must be that the depth and darkness of the human heart is much greater than I can understand. How anyone could reject the Love that Jesus has offered them, I find unbelievable.

Perhaps it is true that many people do not see themselves as the miserable sinner that I see myself and how greatly I am in need of redemption. It is true that many folks simply do not think that they are bad enough that they require anyone to make a sacrifice for their sins. Continue reading “When our Assumptions About God Prevent us From Being Saved” →

God Does Not Choose–Based on Physical Appearance, He Looks at the Heart

~ Rob Robinson ~ Leave a comment

COPYRIGHT WARNING

God’s choice for those who will lead others, does not depend on their outward appearance, education, or family background. The Lord chooses people for service based on their inner heart and their desire to do all that He requires. When we examine the prophecies of the Messiah, we find that God’s choosing of His servant to die for the sins of the world–had nothing to do with physical beauty. The Messiah will have no physical beauty that people will be attracted to Him. In fact, He will be greatly disfigured by the suffering of His crucifixion. It will be His character and personality that will attract and draw people to Him.

Isaiah 53:2b … He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.

There are some who claim that Isaiah Chapter 53 is a description of the nation of Israel and was not intended for Jesus Christ.

In the Book of Acts, the Lord spoke to Philip and told him to take the road from Jerusalem to Gaza. While on this road, Philip met a man who was apparently there by divine appointment. Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, had a servant who was returning from Jerusalem where he had been worshipping the God of Israel. While on his return journey, he was reading from the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah. As Philip meets this servant of the queen of Ethiopia, he asks him if he understands what he is reading. Continue reading “God Does Not Choose–Based on Physical Appearance, He Looks at the Heart” →

Who God Has Chosen For Salvation: Everyone

~ Rob Robinson ~ Leave a comment

COPYRIGHT WARNING

There are certain occasions in our life when it seems that there is no solution to our problems. We should remember that the Lord always has a plan and a way to solve every difficulty.

In the minds of the leaders of Israel, salvation through the Messiah was for the Jew, not for the Gentile. In their view, the Gentile nations were far from God and could never be brought near. To consider that the Gentiles would carry the message of the Messiah’s salvation to the entire world was in their minds—an impossibility.

Very often, what we consider impossible is really very easy for God. Those people whom we might think have no possibility of salvation are the very ones whom God pours out His Spirit upon and saves.

This should be a great lesson for us. When we think that we have figured out what God is going to do, often the Lord has a way that we would never have considered. He has resources that we have no knowledge of. His ways are not our ways. His power to accomplish all of the promises which He has made are limitless.

Isaiah 55:8-9“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

Before the Lord offered Israel salvation and the opportunity to be a light to the Gentile nations of the world, He knew that the Jews would reject His Son when He came to earth. It was His plan all along to offer salvation to every person born on the earth. In order to provoke Israel to jealousy, the Lord saved the Gentile nations of the world who turned to Him for salvation. Ultimately, it will be this massive move of God through all the Gentile nations which will turn the eyes and the hearts of Israel back to the Lord, to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior in the last days. Continue reading “Who God Has Chosen For Salvation: Everyone” →