*HEART LESSON: LET PEOPLE KNOW YOU CARE

  

 

Today we believers focus so much on the signs of the times and the imminent return of the Lord; in doing that, we note the deterioration in society and all the really bad things happening in America and throughout the world.  But still we must never let our focus stray from God’s heart, the love the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit have for us.  And on that focus I write this short piece.  It is all true and it is from my life.  Look how much God loves me and these other people.  He loves you the same.

 

In recent years God has brought to my mind people from my distant past.  From several decades ago!  Sometimes I find myself thinking about a particular person I knew in high school or in college.  The thinking comes with deep sighs of the soul, which is a clear indication the Holy Spirit is arranging all this.  These people are both male and female, but here I want to give you a really interesting example that involves three women – actually they were more like girls at the time (names have been changed).  One was Ann, a small, energetic, really fun to be around girl that I went out to do fun things with when I was about sixteen.  And then there was Julie, an artistic, creative woman who I went on dates with off and on from my being about age 18 to age 21.  And then there was my neighbor Sally.  She was “the girl next door.” I grew up with her. We played together a few times when we were little.  As we grew we did a few things together and even went to the junior-senior prom together twice. 

 

Why Is God bringing all this back to me after so many years?  I find as I think about them I am strangely and deeply moved. 

 

So, perhaps amazingly, I have chosen to do more than just think about this.  I have taken action.   About five years ago at our high school reunion I noticed that Ann was not there.  I asked the person who coordinated all that, and she said that Ann worked in a large store nearby.  My wife Cathy and I went over to that store the next day.  We inquired about Ann, and after a brief description a person realized who we were talking about and pointed us to a woman sitting down looking at her cell phone.    We went up to her, and I said Hi Ann.  I’m John Newlin.  And the conversation took off from there.  For a very few minutes we talked about various things.   And then she had to get back to work.  So she stood up, came over to me, and gave me a hug.  I loved that of course.  And that was that.  I realized in a little bit that now Ann knows how much she meant to me – after decades and while visiting from our home far away, I had taken the time to track her down and talk to her.  I felt good about that.  In some way there was a closure there.

 

Five more years passed, and not long ago we went back to my hometown again to another reunion.  I was sitting with two old friends that had been part of a group of close friends in high school.  Suddenly a woman came up to the other side of the table, laughing and full of energy.  She said some things to each of the other two, and they laughed.  Then she looked across the table at me and said, “What happened?  We had a date and then you were gone.  Where did you go?”  And she laughed and then went on to another table to sit down.

 

 It was Julie.  And I realized, after all these years, all these decades, she still remembered our time together and she has wondered why it ended so!  God was orchestrating this encounter!  I knew I could not let it end there.  So in a few minutes, while a couple we had come with were waiting to leave, I walked over to her table and sat down in the chair next to her.  We talked a bit about what she was doing, but I knew that I only had a minute or two more to stay.  So suddenly I looked at her and said, “Julie, you were a very special person to me.”  And she looked back at me and said “You were special to me too.”  And I got up and walked out.

 

So now Julie knows how much she meant to me.  There is no going back to a past of several decades ago.  But she knows now she wasn’t just imagining.  She had been a real part of my life.  And I think closure again.

 

That brings me to Sally, my girl next door that I watched grow up.  Well, there is no way to tell Sally what she meant to me.  You see, she died a few years ago.  I found that out too at one of those class reunions.  So what good is it to me that I think about her?  And remember her over the growing up years of my life?  Maybe it’s all just a clear lesson not to let times get away from us.  A clear lesson that each of us should always tell others what they mean to us.  Even after many decades, I got to do that with two of these three. 

 

Don’t let such opportunities get away from you.  There is no way you know if you will ever see a person again.  Can I repeat that?  There is no way you know if you will ever see a person again.  Make sure every person close to you and everyone who has made a difference in your life knows that they mean something to you!  That you appreciate them.

 

So I am doing all that now as I can.  I am telling people how much I appreciate them, how grateful I am for having known them and how thankful for all they have done for me or contributed to my life.

 

Tell them!!! Especially older people but really anyone.  This is a temporary place we are living, one from which anyone can depart at a moment’s notice.  When you say goodbye to someone you do not know if you will ever see them again.  You may really be saying farewell.  Don’t let them go on without their knowing what they mean to you.

 

 

 

                                                                                 February 2023

 

                                                                                 Copyright © 2023 by John Newlin

 

 

 

 

 

Please email or print and send copies of this article to whomever you would.

 

 

And get our book WAKE UP AMERICA! JESUS IS COMING SOON – from AMAZON or our website or by calling the ministry!!!

 

KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS!

JOHN NEWLIN MINISTRIES
P O BOX 1038
CARY, NC 27518
https://johnnewlinministries.org
email: john@johnnewlinministries.org
Twitter.com/johnnewlinmin
Blog: johnnewlin.blogspot.com
tel 910 395 1465

 

* WATCHMAN WARNING: BLATANT EVIL

 

 

Recently the new governor of Arkansas referred to the bizarre things going on today in our American society as crazy.  That’s a good term but not far enough.  Evil is the word.  We are living in the last days before the Lord’s return to collect his believers and before the beginning of the Tribulation.  The devil and his legions are running amuck.  He knows his days are numbered.  They end for a time at the end of that Tribulation when he is seized and locked in a pit for a thousand years, then permanently at the end of the thousand years when he is thrown into the Lake of Fire, the eternal hell.

 

Evil.  So many people just don’t understand that term.  Oh, they know bad, but real evil?  The reason they don’t understand is that they don’t know Jesus, they aren’t born again and filled with the Spirit, they aren’t guided by the Holy Spirit in all truth, they don’t have the gift of discernment.  Most people on earth are in that group that doesn’t understand.

 

God has given to his people, the believers, tools to use in fighting evil, in protecting themselves.  I write about this often.  If you want to, go back and read our newsletter God’s Protection for You in Dangerous Times (April 2020).

 

In addition we have the guidance to take all thoughts captive to make them obedient to Christ.  In other words, we can deal with tempting evil thoughts from the devil or his demons by taking them captive and submitting them to the authority of Jesus (2 Corinthians 10:5).  And that’s that.  They aren’t your thoughts.  Refuse to accept them.

 

Unbelievers, and many who attend church weekly but don’t truly know the Lord or have any understanding of what it is to be in the Kingdom of God, do not have the ability to fight off temptations of the evil one or his demons.  We know from the Bible that the devil can appear as an angel of light.  In other words, he can surely appear in an acceptable way to all these people.  By appear, I don’t necessarily mean physically appear.  I just mean in tempting thoughts and ideas his demons might whisper in some unbeliever’s mind or ear, or in some situation those demons might create that lead this person astray.

 

The evil today is in a vast array over all sorts of people.  Look at the far left government leaders and media and woke and cancel culture people and others who truly are destroying the traditional America right now while the mass of traditional Americans remain scared to speak out. 

 

For even more direct and blatant evil look at the random and wild murderers and violent felons in our society.  Just this week another  bizarre shooting incident occurred at a university killing some and injuring some.  Almost never do we get to hear these killers speak.  But we did recently when a woman who killed her children and tried to kill herself said a voice told her to do that.  Guess what voice that is?  Only one guess allowed.  Obviously the evil side, the devil or one of his demons.  And why would she accept such a voice and actually act on it?  Because she had no internal way to resist, none of God’s tools, no ability to order the evil spirits away, to take the thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ.  She was just a tool for the devil.

 

Evil.  It is real.  It is not something to be played with.  Every day of our lives, Cathy and I put on the armor God has for us as described by Paul in Ephesians 6, we thank him for the angels he has sent to serve us (and that service surely includes protection), and we in Jesus’ name order away from us all evil spirits and other harmful things as well such as harmful germs, bacteria, viruses, allergens, fungus, pests.  We do that first thing in the morning and before we go to sleep.  And when we come away from meeting others or being in a store or hospital, we surely do that again! 

 

This is a difficult time we are in.  You as time goes on may encounter more and more truly guided by the evil one.  Look at those espousing transgender treatments and teachings for very young children in the schools, not telling the parents.  Or the endless pushing of the homosexual lifestyle considered an abomination by God, or the steady destruction of the economy of the nation and the destruction of its makeup and culture, and so on. 

 

This evil carries over into the religious world  where so many refuse to teach and preach the full power gospel and do not teach or operate in the Holy Spirit and his gifts or do not teach at all the imminent return of Jesus.  That is all just wrong.  I suppose you could say that maybe that is not evil in this instance so much as ignorance on the part of the pastors and churches.  Maybe.  In any event, teachers are held to a higher standard, the Bible tells us.  Lots of people surely are going to be held to that statement. 

 

Maybe worse, although I am not sure of that, are some people who claim to be prophets and act like that, giving out all sorts of false predictions of future events.  The Holy Spirit indeed does tell God’s believers of things to come, that is true.  He has told me many things I have shared with you all.  But there are surely charlatans out there leading people astray with false prophesy.  You must always test any prophetic words you hear against God’s words in the Bible.

 

I say to you what Jesus said about today:  Watch that you are not deceived.  And I say what he warned about a few words later:  Watch out for false prophets.

 

Evil is in its heyday.  We know how far afield and extraordinary this evil can become when we remember the horrors of the Nazis in WWII and the behavior of the SS and the concentration camps.  Or the behavior of Stalin in Russia or the  killing fields of Cambodia.  Evil dominating the minds of unbelievers is terrifying.  But we do have the protection written about above.  Don’t be caught napping and unprotected.

 

You are the light of the world.  You have the gifts of God if you will use them.  And you are the Lord’s representatives to a dark world  In all you do ask the Holy Spirit to guide your days and arrange all encounters he would have you have.  Acknowledge the Lord every opportunity you get, and help the Father in his leading people to Christ by sharing the gospel as possible and as you are guided.

 

Remember, Jesus is never going to lose you.  The Lord will indeed rescue you from every evil deed and bring you safely into his heavenly kingdom (2 Timothy 4:18).

 

 

 

February 2023                                                                                                                  

 

Copyright © 2023 by John Newlin

 

********

 

 

 

Please forward copies of this to everyone you would. 

 

 

 

And get our book WAKE UP AMERICA! – from AMAZON or our website or by calling the ministry!!!

KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS!

JOHN NEWLIN MINISTRIES
P O BOX 1038
CARY, NC 27518
https://johnnewlinministries.org
email: john@johnnewlinministries.org
Twitter.com/johnnewlinmin
Blog: johnnewlin.blogspot.com
tel 910 395 1465

 

 

 

 

 

* WATCHMAN WARNING: MY PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE LORD

Jeremiah recorded God’s words above regarding his people in Jeremiah’s day (Jeremiah 8:7).  It surely applies to many in our day.

Yes, there are of course requirements of the Lord, all that guidance God gave regarding how we are to live, all the wisdom and commands Jesus gave regarding life and what humans are to do. 

There are even specific requirements for anyone hoping to be in the Kingdom of God.  Yes there are, even though many have never heard them.  It is certainly true that it is by grace you have been saved and not by works, so that no one can boast.  Paul said that.  Jesus certainly paid the price, a horrible price, for each person to have the opportunity to be saved, to be with him in the Kingdom.  But Jesus said more on the subject of salvation:

• Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit (John 3:5). A person must be born anew, or born again.  They must be washed clean of all sin and receive a new spirit; in essence, God himself becomes their father.  This is the transformative moment in the life of a believer in Jesus.  I know this  can be difficult to understand.  Perhaps a great scripture that helps is this scripture from Ezekiel in which God is talking about returning the exiled Israelites to their home, the ingathering of the Jews:    “I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

• Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21). A person must do the will of Jesus’ father in Heaven; they must do God’s will (not their own independent will.).

• Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it (Mark 10:15). A person must be like little children in their faith; i.e., their faith must be innocent and absolute just like the way little children believe their parents.

• For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16). As I have said before, this word translated believes here is absolute belief – for example, you believe there is enough oxygen in the room where you are now to keep you alive or else you would be running out.  That kind of absolute belief.

Elsewhere in many other verses Jesus talks about specific behaviors and actions of people that will keep them out of the Kingdom.  I’ve written about these before.  Here is a specific list that Jesus covers from Revelation 22:15:

• Living a homosexual lifestyle; said another way, living a deviant or sexually immoral lifestyle. I list this first because it is so obvious in our modern society. God considers homosexuality an abomination.  There are many different scriptures pointing this out, and there is no reason for anyone to miss the message unless they intentionally just don’t want  to believe.  Here are some key scriptures: Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 22:13, Romans 1:18-32, 1 Timothy 1:9-10, 1 Corinthian 6:9-10, and Revelation 22:15. So the LGBTQ movement is an eternal sentence to hell for its members.   
• As a general overall comment on deviant sexual lifestyle, Jesus says in the last page of the Bible that the sexually immoral will be outside that Kingdom. There is even a scripture in Deuteronomy 22:5 where God describes a man’s dressing as a woman or a woman as a man as an abomination.
• Another specific behavior keeping people out of the Kingdom is practicing falsehood. Liars in other words.  Perpetual liars.  Habitual liars.  Out government is full of those, even at the very top.  So too the media.  You know that.  Well, there is a cost to such behavior, an eternal cost, the greatest cost imaginable. 
• Idolaters will not be in the Kingdom either. Idolaters of course are people who put other things at the top of their priority list above God, like getting more and more money and more and more power as so many of our corporate top executives and highly wealthy elite seem to live today (and some of the top politicians as well.).
• Those who practice magic arts are also excluded from the Kingdom. Those are people who practice all sorts of bizarre actions to influence and control others.   Another translation is sorcery.
• Jesus also says dogs are excluded, meaning ungodly people with impure minds exercising immoral ways. That is a hard word for us to understand, but that is what it means.
• Murderers too are excluded from the Kingdom.

Of course, those who are simply not believers, who do not fulfill the points I listed earlier that Jesus said are necessary to be in the Kingdom, will be excluded.  So I expect that in addition to all true atheists and agnostics and followers of false religions like Islam and Buddhism and such, many of those who attend those lost and dry churches on Sunday mornings will be left out as well. 

Today how many of those who say they are Christians understand at all the requirements of the Lord and live in them?  How many?  How often do you hear of any churches teaching any of this?  For that matter, notice how so many churches never teach or operate in the Holy Spirit and his gifts.  Or teach of the imminent returning of the Lord or the fullness of the gospel and all God has for us or the authority we have in Jesus.  It is a power gospel, and Jesus’ believers realize that and live in it.

Well, soon the Lord is returning.   Really really soon.  Keep your eyes on him.  Above everything else, keep your focus on Jesus.  “Watch” was his command at the end of his remarks about his return.  “Watch!”

Stay in the  right relationship with him.  Don’t drift away.  Don’t backslide.

One further point - we know from Paul that having the Holy Spirit is in fact a guarantee of our salvation, like a stamp of approval or badge.  Something to be devoutly sought and possessed.  Does the Bible say that?  Yes it does:  ¹³ And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. – (Ephesians 1:13-14)

That seal is a wonderful thing to have, surely!  And the Holy Spirit and his gifts are an invaluable guide through life.

Certainly if God was troubled that his people in Jeremiah’s day did not know his requirements, I expect he is troubled today by so many not knowing his requirements.  The difference is that we are living at the very end of this age.  It is not the Babylonians coming to take people off to their land.  It is Jesus coming to take his people off to be with him, and then it is the beginning of the terrible Tribulation for those left behind. 

Everyone who knows the Lord, WATCH!  BE READY! 

And everyone who does not know or is not sure that they are saved, get serious about it.  Ask Jesus to be the Lord of your life.  Ask him to forgive your sins.   And seek to receive the Holy Spirit too.  Find a Spirit-filled believer if you can to pray for you to receive the Spirit. Or if you can’t find such a person, just ask the Holy Spirit to come to you in power.  Guidance by the Holy Spirit is a great benefit in these times.  

Let me just say, we are not living in a time of discussion and conjecture about Jesus and some future return.    This is the real deal now.  A dividing line is being finalized, between those who truly believe and know Jesus and those who don’t.   The imminent return is close at hand.

February 2023                                                                                                                  

Copyright © 2023 by John Newlin

JOHN NEWLIN MINISTRIES
P O BOX 1038
CARY, NC 27512

https://johnnewlinministries.org
email: john@johnnewlinministries.org
Twitter.com/johnnewlinmin
Blog: johnnewlin.blogspot.com
tel 910 395 1465

KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS

WATCHMAN WARNING: THE BASIC MESSAGE TO ALL PEOPLE

 

The high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the son of the Blessed One?

“I am,” said Jesus, “and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven,”

 

The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

Jesus answered: “… Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”

Jesus Christ is God.  He is one of the Trinity – Father God, son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit.

Do you know the King of the Kingdom of God? Do you know Jesus Christ?  This is the question of your life.  This is the question of the ages for each and every person.  If you do not truly know him, you will not go on in a good way.  Unless somehow you come to know him and accept him as your Lord, your eternity will be in the Lake of Fire, which is the eternal hell.

If you are unsure, ask him to forgive you your sins.  Ask him to be the Lord of your life.  And do it seriously.

Now is not a time for discussion and conjecture.  Now is the time of the real deal, the time right  before the imminent return of the Lord.  A dividing line is being finalized, separating those who truly believe and know Jesus from those who don’t.   

 

[Note:  The three brief discussions from scripture above can be found in Mark 14:61-62, John 4:25-26, and John 14:8-9.]

February  2023                                                                                                                  

Copyright © 2023 by John Newlin

Please forward copies of this to whomever you would. 


To get copies of our book WAKE UP AMERICA! JESUS IS COMING SOON!:
     Order from our ministry by clicking here: JNMI
     Order from Amazon by clicking here:  AMAZON

 

Or contact our ministry by calling 910 395 1465. If you are ordering ten or more copies, contact our office directly for a greatly reduced price of just $10 per book!  Many give this book to others as part of their attempts to reach them with the truths of the gospel and the truth of Jesus’ imminent return.  Give copies to those you would, to those the Holy Spirit leads you to!

KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS!

JOHN NEWLIN MINISTRIES
P O BOX 1038
CARY, NC 27518
https://johnnewlinministries.org
email: john@johnnewlinministries.org
Twitter.com/johnnewlinmin
Blog: johnnewlin.blogspot.com
tel 910 395 1465