Do you know that you are “an ambassador?” Most people do not realize that they themselves are in fact “ambassadors.”

According to the Merriam- Webster Dictionary, “an ambassador” is

“a diplomatic agent of the highest rank accredited to a foreign government or sovereign as the resident representative of his or her own government or sovereign or appointed for a special and often temporary diplomatic assignment.”

Basically, “an ambassador” is “an authorized representative or messenger.”

“Don’t you realize that you can choose your own master? You can choose sin (with death) or else obedience (with acquittal). The one to whom you offer yourself—he will take you and be your master, and you will be his slave” (Romans 6:16 TLB).

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As we look at the creation of man, we can actually see man being created with three distinct parts; spirit, soul, and body. We know that man was created in the image and after the likeness of God. According to the first chapter of Genesis, God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness (Genesis 1:26).” Many people have a hard time reconciling the fact that mankind is “created in the image and after the likeness of God,” but the original man and the original women were “created in the image and after the likeness of God (Genesis 1:27).” And since each of us are a copy of the original man or the original woman, then we too were “created in the image and after the likeness of God.” Now, when God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,” he was not referring to the image that you see when you look in the mirror. Jesus tells us “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24), which means you must be a spirit as well. Wow! You are actually a spirit being, created in the image and after the likeness of God. Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite told Job and his two friends that “there is a spirit in man” (Job 32:6-8). This statement implies that the spirit, which is in man and man himself are not the same. However, this does not mean that your spirit is not similar to the form that you see in the mirror because throughout the Bible, God is described as having features such as “hands, arms, face, and back parts” (Exodus 33:22-23), but you are a spirit being first. What you see in the mirror is your physical body.

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground” (Genesis 2:7).

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“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things” (Romans 8:32)?

Just about everyone is familiar with or has heard of John 3:16. It says that God so love the world that he gave his only begotten to save us. And even though God so loved the world, the “everlasting life” spoken of here is “conditional,” which means that in order for us to receive this “everlasting life,” we have to do something. Receiving this “everlasting life” is contingent upon us “believing in his only begotten son.” According to this passage, if we “just believe in this only begotten son,” then we will not perish but will receive this “everlasting life.” Though it appears that God has freely given us all of these things, nothing in the verses suggest that receiving this “everlasting life” is automatic, but conditional.

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (II Peter 3:9).

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Do you believe that Jesus is coming back?

“When is all this going to happen? I really don’t need to say anything about that, dear brothers, for you know perfectly well that no one knows. That day of the Lord will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. When people are saying, ‘All is well; everything is quiet and peaceful’—then, all of a sudden, disaster will fall upon them as suddenly as a woman’s birth pains begin when her child is born. And these people will not be able to get away anywhere—there will be no place to hide. But, dear brothers, you are not in the dark about these things, and you won’t be surprised as by a thief when that day of the Lord comes. For you are all children of the light and of the day, and do not belong to darkness and night. So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Watch for his return and stay sober. Night is the time for sleep and the time when people get drunk. But let us who live in the light keep sober, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the happy hope of salvation” (I Thessalonians 5:1-8 TLB).

Scripture says that Jesus is coming back and he is coming back “like a thief in the night.” Will you be ready for his return?

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Do you make room for Jesus in your life? Be honest, because we do not ask for our knowledge, but for yours. You see, as believers, we claim to love Jesus and we claim to have a relationship with Jesus. But if we have to truthfully describe that relationship, the one word that comes to mind is “complicated.” By “complicated,” we are saying that our relationship with Jesus is “a little hard to explain and understand.” Most relationships involving Jesus are “one-sided.”

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command” (John 15:13-14 NIV).

Most believers know that Jesus gave his life for us because he loved us. Yes, Jesus laid down his life for us because he considered us “to be his friends.” And in return for this friendship, he only ask that we do what he has commanded of us. But this is where things get a little “complicated” and a little “one-sided.” Our relationship with Jesus has become “a little hard to explain and a little hard to understand” because we have allowed the cares of this world to affect and define our relationship with Jesus. We allow the demands from our family, the demands from our jobs, the demands from our friends, and the demands of just trying to survive this life to dictate the kind of relationship that we have with Jesus. Because of these demands, demands that we have prioritized, we have no time nor do we make room for Jesus. So, when we ask if you make room for Jesus, it is truly for your knowledge only.

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One of man’s biggest problems is his ability to misinterpret the things God has said in his word. We sometimes want to add to his word and other times, we want to take away from his word. We see evidence of someone adding to his word, when Eve said what God supposedly said about the fruit of the tree, which is in the midst of the garden,

“Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die” (Genesis 3:3).

You see, God never mentioned anything about touching the tree, but Eve added that to his original word. But more interesting than anything else is the catch phrase, “God hath said” that Eve used to validate what she told the serpent. The problem is this is not what God said. It may be close but when it comes to God’s word, close does not count for anything. God has said that “his word will not return to him void” (Isaiah 55:11). When we repeat God’s words, then we need to make sure that we do just that and not add to what he has already stated in his word because once altered, they be not his word anymore.

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As a child of God, you have the right to good health, wealth, and total life prosperity. You have a divine inheritance to the best in life, deserving all the Father has to offer. Jesus tells us that he is come that we might have life and have that life more abundantly (John 10:10). Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). Many believe the son of man’s main purpose for coming was to save individual lost souls, but truth be told, saving lost souls was the by-product of what he actually did.

There were many things lost that Jesus saved, but one of the more important things was the authority (dominion) (Matthew 28:18) that the first man had lost (Luke 4:6), in the garden when he ate of the fruit (Genesis 3:6-7). This is how the devil became known as “the god of this world” (II Corinthians 4:4) or “the prince of this world” (John 12:31). And while you may have the right to good health, wealth, and total life prosperity there be a thief, an adversary if you will, that is come to kill your good health, steal your wealth, and to destroy your total life prosperity (John 10:10). He walks about like a roaring lion, seeking those that he may devour (I Peter 5:8).

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Because we have not followed God’s instructions, we have had to put our faith and our trust in man’s interpretation of who God is, what God is, what God does, and what God says, just to scratch the surface. This is not to say anything negative about the man and women of God who are amongst us spreading God’s true gospel, but is directed towards those who are spreading a gospel of some other kind. Because we repeatedly fail to follow God’s instructions, we find ourselves deeper and deeper in this abyss that we continually dig for ourselves, with no recognizable way to exit. God has instructed us “not to believe every spirit but to test each one to see if they be of God or not, because there be many false prophets that are in the world” (I John 4:1). God has warned us “to beware of these false prophets that come to us in sheep’s clothing because inwardly they are but greedy voracious predators” (Matthew 7:15). But we have gotten things so mixed up that we listen to and believe, without question, the wolves in sheep’s clothing, and try our best to discredit the true men and women of God, that is, not believe or not accept, as truth, the gospel that they speak. And the really sad part is that we continue to do the same thing, while expecting God to do something about our problems and our situations. Well, we have some bad news for all who are expecting God to move in your life; “It ain’t gonna happen,” We guess the correct thing to say is that it is not going to happen until we do our part. Until we do what we are supposed to do.

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For the most part, believers and non-believers are familiar with the passage of scripture where Jesus says,

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 NLT).

Now according to scripture (Acts 4:12), there is no other name under all heaven for men to call whereby they can be saved, for salvation can be found through no one else but Jesus. The problem is that no one knows exactly who Jesus is. We are so confused, so influenced by Satan and this world, that we have accepted the Jesus that they preach. Just as he in the Garden of Eden deceived Eve, he continues to deceive us today in much the same way. Why would he change his methods since they worked so well for him in the beginning? Satan has infiltrated the body of Christ, becoming an intricate component in the church so much so that we find it hard to recognize him.

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