“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” -- Psalms 116:15
Many people today, Christians and non-Christians alike, are afraid of dying. In fact, a 2005 study at George Mason University indicated that “Humans clearly have trouble thinking about death” and that “…the problem of the fear of death muddling our thinking is so much worse than we imagined.”
There may be various reasons why one would fear death. Some of the things I could think of: people are afraid of leaving their material possessions, their families, and their loved ones. Others are afraid of dying because they are uncertain of their eternal destiny. Many are afraid of the lake of fire, called “Hell.” I believe that only very few people could face death any time, without any sort of fear – and they are those who have completely and genuinely given their life to Christ, without any reservation whatsoever and believing deep in their heart the true meaning of Salvation, that their death—regardless of any forms and shapes—would only mean “coming home” to the mansions that Christ has prepared in Heaven, according to John 14:1-3.
Just recently, I lost a very dear friend of mine: a young man, and a true Bible believing born-again Christian – a true saint. He was born and raised from a good family and had a great childhood, but like many others the influence of the dark world we are now living in had taken his adulthood life to a wrong direction – after he got saved. God, as faithful as He has been to His children, He did exactly to this young man what David wrote in Psalm 23:6, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” God’s goodness and mercy followed and pulled this young man out of the worldly trap, as he re-committed his life in serving Christ before he died. This young man could have been a future servant of God, but God has a much better plan for him…He took him from this world, instead. He is now dwelling in the house of the Lord.
As the Scripture tells us in Psalm 116:15: God rejoices when the saints die. Thus, God rejoices when my dear friend died. The life and the death of the believer are significant in the eyes of God.
How about you? Are you afraid of facing death? If you are a true Bible believing born-again Christian, then you are a true saint and you should not be afraid of dying. Your death brings glory to God, your Father. On the contrary, if you are not a Christian believer, your only hope of deliverance from the fear of death is to become a saint. John 3:3 says, “… Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 14:6 also says, “… I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” You can be saved, be born again, be a saint, and be a child of God in the privacy of your own room, right now: whoever you are, and whatever you are. No religion can save you, but Jesus can. You can be saved only with your free will in coming to Christ. Like one of the two criminals next to Jesus when He was crucified – he came to Christ in his own free will. Luke 23:42 says: “And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” Then, Luke 23:43 says: “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
Without any fancy preparation of any kind -- All you have to do is come to Christ: confess your sins (by your mouth) and ask for forgiveness. Start a personal relationship with Jesus now, before it is too late.
Romans 10:9 says: "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
Romans 10:10 says: “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Romans 10:11 says: “For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.”
Romans 10:12 says: “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.”
Romans 10:13 says: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you. -- 2Chronicle 20:17
Do you have a battle that you’re fighting in your life right now? I thought you do – just like me and everyone else in this world! Every human being alive on this earth—wealthy, poor, young, and old—faces all kinds of problems: some big, some small. Loss of loved ones; infirmities; adversities; loss of jobs; addictions; financial difficulties; marital challenges – these are just few examples, and many others. Children of divorced parents have problems, too. Even Presidents of all nations and Pastors of all churches have numerous problems, as well. No one is immune to trials and sufferings. Every one has his own battle.
Long time ago, one friend had told me: “People are like lizards. They run around dragging their bellies, some are heavier than others.” This is very true, if we pause and think about it: everyone has burdens, just different weights. We may look good on the outside, but we may be weeping deep inside.
Our Christian Bible is very clear: God promises our deliverance from any sort of battles. The Bible says in 2 Chronicle 20:15, “…Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed…for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” But one may ask, “This is too good to be true . . . but what is the catch?” Yes, there is a catch on this, and that is: God only fight battles of His own children, like the shepherd who protects his own sheep. In fact, the care of a shepherd for his flock is referred to as illustrating God’s care over his people (Psalms 23:1,2; 74:1; 77:20; Isaiah 40:11; 53:6; John 10:1-5; 7-16). God also made a promise to Israel in 2 Chronicle 7:12-22, that He will hear the prayers of Israel, but with a condition: only if they repent from their sins.
Salvation with the Lord is the key element that everyone must see, not only to the fact that Salvation through Christ is our only passport to Heaven (John 3:3), but this is also a command from God, assuring His promise of deliverance to His children, according to our text. When a person is saved and redeemed by the blood of Christ, it was by the grace of God through faith (Ephesians 2:8). It was only after Salvation, that one becomes a child of God (Galatians 3:26). Therefore, if you know for sure that you are a child of God – your assurance to win the battle could only be achieved by turning over the fight to Him. Be still and fear not! The battle is God’s, not yours. You will never win, when you fight by your own.
Otherwise, it is not too late to repent your sins and be saved. Repentance of their sins was God’s condition to Israel before He hears their prayers, but Salvation of the Lord with you was what God wanted you to see before He fights your battle. Let Christ saves you from the wages of your sin, which is death and then ask the Lord to fight your battle—and He will be with you!
“Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” -- Psalms 37:4:
It is very easy for us to say, “Please, pray for me!” or “Don’t worry, I will pray for you!” But many times, we only say the former as we seek pity from others, and we say the latter simply as a gesture of being nice and a consolatory act to our friends and relatives. Yes, of course, we want to be out of troubles, sickness, trials, or sufferings right away the reason why we ask for prayers – not realizing the fact that we always forget to pray, especially when we’re not in need of prayers. Now that we need prayers, we expect God to hear our prayers and that He gives us the desires of our hearts – ASAP! Pronto!
We need to remember that God has a high expectation of us that He commands us to delight ourselves in Him as a prerequisite to His giving (not as an aftermath of His giving). The word “shall” clearly denotes the certainty of His promises.
The Book of Psalms is crystal clear: we should continue to delight ourselves in the LORD – whether we need something from Him, or not. We should thank Him, for blessings and adversities. We should always strive to be righteous, godly, and humble to people around us, instead of flying higher than others. We are not eagles, we are only humans. We should watch our mouth. We should be careful of our actions. We should keep our focus to Christ, if we know Him, and if He knows us. We should be proud of our Salvation, if we know we are saved and have been born again. Otherwise, the first thing we should do is to seek Him. Matthew 6:33 is also clear, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Let us be sincere in our prayers, and let us examine our hearts and thoughts before we ask others for prayers and offer prayers to others. 1Chronicle 28:9 says, “…the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts,” and Psalms 44:21 says, “he knoweth the secrets of the heart.” Prayers will not work if our hearts and thoughts are in vain. Let us ask for forgiveness from people whom we had wronged first before we pray or ask for prayers; let us confess our sins; let us exercise humility; let us not forget that Jesus taught us how to pray in Matthew 6; let us pray to the Father and not to idols; when we pray, let us not use vain repetitions; and lastly, let us search our soul and ask ourselves the question: Do I delight myself in the LORD?
Only when we keep a positive answer to the question, that God will give us the desires of our heart. That is His promise to us! Calling God, “Lord, Lord!” has no merits in our prayers, especially when we do not the things (sic) which He says, according to Luke 6:46.
This testimony is my attestation of Salvation of my 90-year old mother on
December 13, 2009. This is aimed to touch the heart of every unsaved individual reading this blog. May you be blessed by my mother’s Story of Salvation!
Passage of Scripture (KJV):Ephesians 2:8-9
Ephesians 2:8: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:”
Ephesians 2:9: “Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Introduction
Not long after I got saved in 1996 (when my mother was only 77 years old), I started to pray that God would touch my mother’s heart so that she would come to trust Christ in her own free will and get saved by His precious blood. For many long years, I prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed, asking God to save my mother before she dies. But because my mother lives in Murrieta, California (north of San Diego), while I live in Raleigh, North Carolina -- I must confess that there were only a few times that I witnessed to her, both in person and over the phone. The first time I witnessed to her in person was when my wife and I visited her a few years ago: we took her to a Bible-based church; I gave her my testimony on how I got saved and how I changed; and I walked her through the Bible for the first time explaining the Gospel of Christ and the importance of Salvation. I felt all my effort was useless as it was like penetrating a hard rock. The Catholic influence on her was so strong that she wouldn’t even consider seeing the truth from the Word of God. Instead, she kept looking at the Catholic tradition. Like my brothers and relatives, they were afraid of accepting the Biblical truth about Salvation as they thought that “born-again Christians,” which they mocked, is a completely different religion. To me, the results of all my effort in witnessing to her were both disappointing and scary: I was disappointed because at the end, she almost threw the Bible to my face saying, “We were born Catholic, we should die Catholic.” I was scared because all I could think of was that my mother was going to hell when she dies. Yes, I was frustrated but did not stop there. I continued to pray for her Salvation. Since I believe in the power of prayer, I also asked many of my born-again Christian friends and family to pray on her behalf.
A few years later after my first soul-winning encounter with her, I tried and tried again to evangelize her over the phone. Most times, I found myself spending anywhere from one to two hours talking to her on the phone (with tears on my eyes) about the goodness and righteousness of Christ and about Salvation. The results were all the same as before: her heart was as hard as a rock. She still embraced her Catholic religion, regardless of what the Bible says about Salvation.
I was wounded, but full of faith to the Living God: I stick to what the Bible says in Luke1:37: “For with God nothing shall be impossible.”—thus, I continued to pray.
My Mother’s Final Wish
Then, in May 9, 2009 – my mother turned 90. As her health started to deteriorate, including her memory, she decided to go back to the Philippines for good. It was always the desire of her heart—as her final wish— to be buried in the Philippines (next to my father’s tomb) when she dies. After deliberating on her final wish, tough as it may seem, our family decided to grant her final wish. She returned to the Philippines, accompanied by other members of the family, on January 27, 2010. As I kept the burden of my family’s Salvation in my heart—most especially my mother’s Salvation— I decided to see her again in California (face-to-face) before she left for the Philippines, so I could lay out to her (for the very last time) the Gospel of Christ and the importance of Salvation, and win her soul. I might be persistent, but I knew it was in the deepest part of my heart that I didn’t want my mother go to hell when she dies. The Bible says in John 3: 3, “…Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Many days and nights, I prayed and cried out to God: “Please, God: Save my mother from the wages of her sin!” With that very strong burden in my heart, I prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed. I became excited for that very last chance to minister with her.
My Burden to Lead my own Mother to Christ
Finally, on December 12, 2009 (Saturday) – my 6-year old grandson and I flew to see my mother in California for a long weekend. I told my grandson (who himself is a saved and born-again Christian) that he and I would be missionaries that weekend, and that our special mission then was to present the Gospel to my mom (his great grandma) one last time that she may be saved and go to Heaven when she dies. We both asked God to help our mission come true. Non-stop, I continued to pray in our flight to California. I prayed that God would open up an opportunity and soften her heart that she may see the truth, which could set her free (John 8:32).
God Heard my Prayers
Lo and behold, God heard my prayers: On the morning of December 13th (Sunday), while at my brother’s house in Murrieta, CA—as my grandson and I prepared ourselves to visit Calvary Baptist Church (an Independent Baptist Church in Temecula, California, which I found in the Internet), to attend the morning Service—God opened up an opportunity that I asked my mother to come with us to the church. Although she hesitated at first (knowing that it is not a Roman Catholic Church), I finally convinced her to come. Inch-by-inch, one step at a time, my grandson and I walked my mother very slowly, from the parking lot to the Church Auditorium. As the morning service went on, I noticed that she inter-acted very well to the flow of the Congregation—she sat down; she stood up; she shook people’s hands; she sung hymns from the Hymnal Book and read through the Scripture as I guided her with my finger through each stanza and verse. It was such a great feeling as I see her inter-acting with the Worship Service. The sermon at the time was focused on The Magi’s Visit to the Baby Jesus in Matthew 2:1-12. As I carefully observed her during the entire Worship Service hour, I noticed that she was listening to the Pastor (as he delivered the Message) intensely and patiently, and glancing to the Scripture once in a while. I held and kept the Bible open in front of her for her easy viewing. Although she did not respond to the Pastor’s invitation for Salvation, I was able to discern what the Holy Spirit was trying to tell me: Not to worry, because He was in control. Then, while still inside the Church at the end of the Worship Service – all of a sudden the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart saying that I park the car on the side of the road, on the way out driving home, to lay out the Gospel to her one more time. This was entirely different from what I originally planned, that I would talk to her in private when we get back to my brother’s house. God made me realized that talking to her inside the car, on the side of the road, was the most private moment I could have to minister with her quietly and seriously.
How my 90-year old Mother got Saved
I did exactly what the Holy Spirit allowed me to think: I parked the car on the side of the road as we headed home. I was on the driver’s seat; my mother was at the front passenger’s seat; while my grandson was in the back seat of the car. Having two Bibles on my hand (one English/King James Version and one Tagalog version) – I started by telling my mother that I would like to spend a few minutes to explain to her one more time the importance of Salvation.
As she showed her interest in my request, I started by laying out to her the Five Steps to Heaven: (1) that she should acknowledge the fact that she has sinned, per Romans 3:10and 3:23; (2) that she should realize that there is a penalty for her sin, per Romans 6:23a and Revelation 21:8; (3) that she should know that Christ paid the penalty of sin for her, per Romans 5:8; (4) that she should accept that Christ wants to give her the free gift of eternal life in heaven, per Romans 6:23b; and (5) that she should believe in Christ and ask Him to be her Savior, per Romans 10:9-10 and 13. I was reading through the Bibles (both King James and Tagalog versions) showing her slowly every verse mentioned above and making sure that she truly understood every single verse we read.
As I read carefully with her through the verses, she started getting convicted when I briefly explained the wages of our sin, which is death (Romans 6:23a) as this is the main reason why Jesus had to die on the Cross. She started crying, which became heavier and non-stop – a sign of true conviction.
In addition, I read and explained to her Luke 16:19-31 (the story of The Rich Man and the Beggar) —while reading in both King James and Tagalog versions—explaining to her the fact that Lazarus (the beggar) died and opened up his eyes in Heaven while the rich man died, but he opened up his eyes in Hell; and the fact that there was no purgatory being mentioned in the passage of the Scripture (contrary to the false doctrine of the Roman Catholic). I also explained to her the part when the rich man was begging Abraham that he would send Lazarus (the beggar) to his father’s house for he has five brothers, that Lazarus may testify unto them fearing that they (too) would also end up to the same place of torment, called Hell. Then, after my brief explanation of the passage, I asked her where did she want to open up her eyes – Heaven or Hell? She answered, “Heaven,” and she continued to cry.
Finally, I told her that she, and only she, could make a decision for her own Salvation. Not I, not any one else.She then decided to accept Christ as her Lord and Savior, and we did exactly what the Bible says in Romans 10:9. As we held hands together in the front seats of the car (both of us crying), I led her to Christ by leading her to a short prayer of Surrender confessing with her mouth the Lord Jesus, repenting her sins, believing in her heart that God has raised Him from the dead, and accepting Christ as her Lord and Savior. She repeated every single word I uttered during the prayer and I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit within us.
It was a joyful and heartfelt experience for me, especially hearing my mother repeatedly saying “Thank you, God! Thank you, God!” (in Tagalog, “Salamat sa Diyos! Salamat sa Diyos!”) after we prayed, with tears in her eyes and conviction in her heart.
My 90-year old mother got saved and was born again on December 13, 2009, not based on the Roman Catholic’s false doctrine of Salvation, but based on the true doctrine from the Holy Bible. The Bible, indeed, is crystal clear – Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:,” while Ephesians 2:9 says, “Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
It was a Joyful Moment
Oh, what a great joy in my heart to see my own mother getting saved. Now I know for sure that my mother will see the Kingdom of God when she dies, per John 3:3. To me, it was, indeed, an answered prayer. God gave me the desire of my heart. The Bible says in Psalms 37:4:Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Even the angels in Heaven were rejoicing when my mother got saved. The Bible says in Luke 15:10: Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
After She Got Saved
Last time I visited with my mother in Murrieta, CA on January 16, 2010 – I saw her reading the Tagalog Version Bible, which I gave her. She indicated to me that she will be reading the Bible until she dies. This only means the Holy Spirit is starting to work in her heart. The Bible says in 1 John 4:15: “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.”
Praise the LORD
“Praise ye the LORD.O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.” (Psalms:106:1)
“Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD?who can shew forth all his praise?” (Psalms:106:2)
This testimony was written by Manny H. Moe - Founder of The Young Pigeons Ministry.
