First Gospel Tract entitled: JUDGMENT with link to download, print and distribute

JUDGMENT - Link to word document so you may download, print, and redistribute: https://spirituallysmart.com/judgment-tract.docx

2 CORINTHIANS 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad. Therefore, since we know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men…”

ACTS 17:30,31 “Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all men everywhere to repent. For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

ECCLESIASTES 12:13,14 “The conclusion of the WHOLE matter is this: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.”

HEBREWS 9:27 “Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,”

MATTHEW 12:36,37 “But I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

JOHN 12:48 “There is a judge for the one who rejects Me and does not receive My words: The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.”

REVELATION 20:13 “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And there were open books, and one of them was the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.”

MATTHEW 24:42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day ….. ”

WE HAVE ALL heard bits and pieces about Jesus. Mostly because of two major holidays many observe. On “Christmas” many acknowledge Christ was born. On “Easter” many acknowledge Christ raised from the dead. Major religions like Roman Catholicism also show quite plainly that Jesus died on the cross. We have all seen their crosses everywhere which they call the “crucifix.”

Unfortunately, Jesus, these symbols and holidays have been turned into a weapon of oppression world-wide. Many war-mongers and insane people have claimed to be “Christian.” That is why I will not use that term any longer. As it has been hijacked as a tool of deception, hate and death. Most of those claiming to represent God’s interests have been false.

But Jesus warned us 2000 years ago that this would happen.

God and His Representative/Son Jesus are not like so many professing to know and represent God. God proved this through His physical appearance in this world through His Son, Jesus the Christ. Jesus conducted His life as a total expression of God’s love.

God’s love is expressed in many different ways. And Jesus expressed them all. And those who truly follow Christ, are obligated to walk as He walked (1 John 2:6).

The Bible was written in ancient Greek. And the Greek words which were originally written often have a much more expansive definition than the English counterpart. When the apostle John wrote we are to “walk as He (Jesus) walked”, that actually means, “conduct one’s life as Jesus conducted His.” John says, “Whoever claims to abide, remain in Him (His commands) are obligated to, indebted to, walk as Jesus walked.”

And how did Jesus “walk”? In total love of God and for others (His neighbors), putting them first, as God has always intended for mankind to do for each other. That is how God intended man to “conduct their lives” from the very beginning of time.

As Jesus taught in the very heart of Israel, He was tested with a question by the Jewish religious leaders there. The question was asked by “an expert in the law [of Moses].” He asked, “Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?” Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Jesus says!

With this in mind, it should then be somewhat easy to see if someone is actually a representative of God. Do they teach what Jesus taught? Do they walk as Jesus walked? Now ask yourself. Do YOU walk as Jesus walked?
More than likely, the answer is “NO.”

But we need to walk as Jesus walked if we want to fare well in the final judgment. And God is offering us all a chance to do just that! And THAT is exactly what we will find if we begin to honestly and earnestly seek God for answers.

One of the most important teachings by Jesus is that He tells us to do just that. To seek God. Jesus said to seek God and not give up. To never give up until we receive an answer. Any of us can do this. And we don’t have to be in a church building or speak with a church leader. Anywhere we are, we can talk to God without even saying an audible word. Because God knows our every thought.

Technology is amazing isn’t it? Think about all the different things humanity can do through technology

technology. And think about all the things the government and large companies can do with and through technology. For instance, it’s been shown that people who work in this capacity can practically read our thoughts and know what kind of people we are just by how we browse the internet. Some companies do claim to offer ways to keep these things private.

But with God, NOTHING is private.

God has the most advanced technology humans will never be able reproduce. God has a recording device built into each and every one of our souls. Right in our heart. And on judgment day, that recording is going to play and expose every thought, word and act that we ever thought, said and committed. However, this technology can be used for our benefit and the benefit of our fellow man.

God calls this technology PRAYER!

That’s right. And it is through PRAYER that we CAN talk to GOD. And that’s just the very beginning. God is also the source of all energy. Energy which can power billions of power plants. Matter of fact, His energy is LIFE and the LIFE of every living thing on this earth. Everything is operating just as God created it…. …EXCEPT MANKIND
We have all been disconnected from service. God had to pull the plug. Now we all only have a very short lifespan. Some, shorter than others. Matter of fact, we never know when our lives will completely be cut off.

THAT IS WHY WE NEED JESUS THE CHRIST, NOW.

Through Christ we can all be plugged back into God’s wonderful and powerful ENERGY. With this energy in us, depression and anxiety doesn’t stand a chance. God provides perfect peace within our heart. Peace we never thought possible. I know. I had suffered from acute anxiety for years before God healed me.

And it was through prayer that God heard my cries and personally delivered to me salvation through the most powerful act of love no one could ever imagine. And He did this directly through His Representative, Jesus the Christ. The resurrected Savior.

In the end, God will judge us through Christ. While we still have a breath in our body, we need to seek Him for forgiveness and eternal life. This, God WANTS to give to us all. We only need to ask.

You can be saved!

If you have never repented of your sins and been saved and feel the desire to do so now please say this prayer. This is how I was powerfully saved 20 years ago!

Say, "My Lord and my God, have mercy on me, a sinner. I believe Jesus the Christ died on the cross and shed His precious blood for the forgiveness of all my sins. I believe Jesus raised from the dead and ascended into heaven and is now on the right-hand side of God listening to this prayer. I open up the door of my heart and I invite You in, Lord Jesus. Thank you, God, for saving my soul and I vow to serve you with all my heart which is the first and greatest commandment. Amen."

Contact Us

Email: email@spirituallysmart.com
Web: www.spirituallysmart.com
Converted to Christ in 1997
Written by Thomas Richards – Please copy and redistribute free of charge!

Have you been ENERGIZED?

The word "idle" is the English translation of the Greek word ἀργός and is an adjective. The word describes someone who is inactive, not working. It is the antonym of, opposite of "working" (adj). As in a "working (ἐνεργής) laborer" vs a "non-working (ἀργός) laborer."

In Matthew chapter 20 verses 1-16 we read about the Lord telling a parable about laborers/workers in the vineyard. He begins the parable by saying, "For the kingdom of heaven is like....", so those who are listening can safely apply this earthly allegory to their spiritual lives.

The main point of the teaching is that all who enter the harvest field and work for the Lord will receive the same pay when they are finished. But in the course of the parable many other important truths are revealed. The point I want to highlight is the very fact that if someone is inactive, idle, and not working, this person has not yet received and/or obeyed the call from the Lord. Or worse, they have gone astray, are being disobedient and/or have fallen away back into rebellion against GOD. (The Lord touches upon this fact in The Parable of the Two Sons Matthew 21:28-32)

When we become inactive (idle) after being made "hot" when we were first converted, we are then considered to be lukewarm. We then become fitting recipients of the Lord's rebuke in Revelation 3:15, 16 (“I am about to vomit you out of My mouth!”). Before we knew Christ, we were all "cold" (dead, spiritually). But when we were made alive (“quickened”), we were energized and began to move around and heat up. The more work we do by being joined to and walking with Jesus, the more we heat up. And when we heat up enough we boil over which is the very root of the definition of the word zealous (1, 2, 3). This is right where we (and the Lord) want us to be! It's where we are obligated to be! (1 John 2:6)

The Lord is willing to allow anyone and everyone to go to work for Him. When He hires us, we enter into an agreement with Him. Just like in the Parable of the Vineyard Workers, the master of the house hired (entered into an agreement) with the workers. Another word/synonym for agreement is covenant. So, you can probably see how this parable so aptly describes the kingdom of heaven. God has talked to us in very simplistic terms. But that is not how we will understand these terms. We will understand these terms if and when God allows us to understand them. And Jesus praise God the Father because God revealed the mysteries of the kingdom to babes. But hid them from the supposed wise and prudent. (Matthew 11:25, 26)

When the owner of a business wants to hire someone for money, the thought of that payment energizes the worker into doing work. We're talking about long hours and very hard work. They think of all the things they are going to buy with that money. With the Lord, it is much more powerful and we receive a payment that can't be compared to a day's wages. When our understanding is enlightened to what God is offering us, many things happen. But the main thing that happens is we become energized to do God's work. The gifts of God, His love to us, the faith He gives us and most of all, His holy Spirit. All these things energize us! "The word of God is ALIVE and FULL OF ENERGY." (Hebrews 4:12a) The Greek word is ἐνεργής (adj) and the noun form of that word is where we get the English term ENERGY. Paul says God's holy Spirit is the source of energy which results in all the varieties of spiritual gifts. (1 Corinthians 12:6). Paul again says, "Does God lavish His Spirit on you and (in turn) energize (energetically produce) miracles among you because you practice the Law, or because you hear and believe?" Think about how power plants energize whole cities. Now think about GOD who energizes the power plants. And think about the fact that He WANTS to, DESIRES to energize us to do His incredible work that He has for us through faith in His Christos SON!!

So why do we stand around IDLE? Have we not been ENERGIZED by God through Faith in His living LOGOS, THE Anointed Son of God? The bread of LIFE? This energy is available to us FOR FREE!

When we are hired by God it will be through the gift of faith in His Son. THE Christos (Anointed, Messiah) Son of God who is Creator, Lord and God over all. When we are hired by God to work in His vineyard, we are entering into covenant with God. The covenant is to accept the incredible, ineffable love God has shown to us by coming down to this world and dying for us. Us acknowledging this miraculous fact will enable God to cleanse us of all prior sins. That makes us a clean container for Him to enter into us via the giving us of His holy Spirit which is also called being "born again", anew, for a second time, fathered from above, made a new creature, receiving the Spirit of adoption and THIS makes us actual witnesses of God's reality. And in due time, God will make us able ministers of the new covenant.

Now this powerful experience changes us forever. Because it is when God enables and energizing us so we can then begin the work God has for us (i.e. to work in His vineyard for payment). At first, like any beginner of a trait or job, we are unknowledgeable and quite sloppy. "Carnal" and spiritually immature. But as we go to Him every day and yoke up with Him and learn of Him, we will become skilled workers. We GROW. As this is what God has showed us from the beginning. God's energy and life makes everything alive and causes it to be fruitful. That is "good" as God says (Genesis chapter 1).

When God's Spirit enters us, the same will happen. God's Spirit (Christ in us) will push us and provoke us to do what we are supposed to do. And what we are supposed to do is all we can to convince the world of its spiritual condition and what God has done to fix it. Yes, and we can only do that if we are actually participating with God in His work and according to His rules. And If we have entered into and are not breaking covenant, but are seeking to love Him with all our heart. Because not only is that the "first and greatest commandment" (Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34; Luke 10:25-28), but that is what we agree upon when we enter covenant with God through the confession that we are sinners in NEED of a Savior, and that Christ's shed blood and death upon the cross was the payment made for us to redeem us to God. God in Christ gave all and we give all in return. It is only natural. And yet, supernatural. 

Paul says,

“I ask the glorious Father and God of our Lord Jesus Christ to give you his Spirit. The Spirit will make you wise and let you understand what it means to know God. My prayer is that light will flood your hearts and you will understand the hope given to you when God chose you. Then you will discover the glorious blessings that will be yours together with all God's people.”

“I want you to know about the great and mighty power that God has for us followers. It is the same wonderful power he used when he raised Christ from death and let him sit at his right side+ in heaven.” ~Ephesians 1:17-20 (CEV)

Dear heavenly Father, please let these powerful words of Yours be burned forever into our hearts. With the result of us being energized so we may bring You the glory due to You. We ask only through the work You have done in and through Your Christos Son Jesus, our only hope. Amen

~Tommy Richards

Father of Nature

“Solomon composed three thousand proverbs (parables), and his songs (odes) numbered five thousand. He spoke of trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop growing in the wall, and he taught about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. So all the peoples came to hear Solomon’s wisdom, and he took gifts from all the kings of the earth, as many as heard his wisdom.” 1 Kings 4:32-34

God’s creation testifies of, yea, heralds His majesty. Solomon spoke of these things (i.e. “nature” - see fn 1) because God wants us to look at His creation, see Him in it, and in turn, give Him the honor and reverence due Him. Recognizing and meditating on these facts would naturally provoke us into seeking Him with all our heart, to the end that we may learn to be more like Him and represent Him in this world. This brings balance into the cosmos. Our positives from God neutralizing the negatives from ignorance and Satan. God created everything perfectly balanced. “A false balance is abomination to the LORD:” (Proverbs 11:1a) Man then quickly threw everything off-balance. God then began working to rebalance everything again. That "balance" came to us through Christ, God's Son (Romans 5:19), to the glory of the Father. The only part of His creation which has faltered is mankind. And that is solely the fault of each and every individual, and each individual will be repaid on judgment day for what they did or didn’t do.

“God “will repay each one according to his deeds.” To those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow wickedness, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil,…” Romans 2:6-9a

Solomon’s father David, the second king of Israel, also made many numerous references to God’s creation in songs while prophesying in Spirit. Right from the very first Psalm we read how happy is a man who doesn’t follow the advice of the wicked or take the path of the sinner or join in with mockers. Instead his delight is in the Lord’s instructions which he meditates on night and day. David says, “He is like a tree planted beside the streams of water that bears its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” (Psalm 1)

Fn 1: “from Latin natura "course of things; natural character, constitution, quality; the universe," literally "birth," from natus "born," past participle of nasci "to be born," from PIE root *gene- "give birth, beget."

When in trouble, he described the trouble through analogies found in nature;

Psalm 7 reads, “Lord my God, I seek refuge in You; save me from all my pursuers and rescue me, or they will tear me like a lion, ripping me apart with no one to rescue me.” Psalm 7:1, 2

When victorious, he described the joy through analogies found in nature;

¹¹ Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
    let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
¹² Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
    let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
¹³ Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes,
    he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
    and the peoples in his faithfulness. Psalm 96

Somewhere else we read,

“There once was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.” (Job 1:1)
 

And Job declares: “But ask the animals, and they will teach you,
    or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;
or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,
    or let the fish in the sea inform you.
Which of all these does not know
    that the hand of the Lord has done this?
In his hand is the life of every creature
    and the breath of all mankind. Job 12:7-10

Jesus also made many references to nature in His teachings.  And even more pointedly, Jesus illustrated God’s love and care for us from examples through His creation. (Matthew 6:25-34)

In every circumstance and situation, kings, prophets, men of God and Jesus Himself have done the same. As nature so aptly declares all the wonders and hardships of life.

I felt compelled to write this message after inadvertently viewing a clip of a nature program on Netflix. The narrator was bringing out marvelous observations about the incredibly delicate balance of nature. He then adds to the statement, which we have all likely heard before, “…It has taken millions of years to evolve in this manner.” That statement is very insulting to anyone with even a mustard seed of faith. As if by adding millions of years into the equation this earth could somehow provide the perfect environment allowing every living thing to thrive so beautifully. To try and rob God of His honor by espousing this ridiculous man-made theory is absurd. And much of mankind is doomed for denying the existence of God right in the face of His brilliant and complex creation.

“For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse. “

“For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts….” (Romans 1:19-21)

Instead of acknowledging this wonderful (lit. full of wonders) - God. They instead gave His glory to the created things and have attempted to cut God out of the equation altogether. And that willful ignorance landed them on the slippery slope to an extremely miserable life on earth and an even worse hereafter.

“Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.” (Romans 1:22, 23)

“They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise! Amen.” (Romans 1:25)

“Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and hatred. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They are senseless, faithless, heartless, merciless. (Romans 1:28-30a, 31)

There are no clearer verses in scripture describing the penalty of this sin than in Romans chapter one. And we can see how important acknowledging God through His creation actually is! Those who fail to do so end up paying tremendously for their arrogance. And unfortunately, the world seems to be full of these kinds of people.

I must admit, being that God is such an awesome God as He is, it’s hard to fathom it all. Some people even spend their entire lives observing one single species and still do not get close to knowing everything about it. But society usually hears about it through the filter of “God-hating” scientists who attempt to cut God out and instead give the credit to a natural occurrence which took “millions of years” to magically produce.

The Almighty God created it all within six days!

How do I know that? Because God has made it “PLAIN” to us! And yes, God is THAT powerful and wise to be able to do exactly what the record of creation states. And so much more. This earth is obviously tailor made for us to live on. Custom fit! A few more degrees either way and nothing could survive! Scientists know God created it all. None of them can draw any other logical conclusion. Seeing them attempt to explain it all in their own way is embarrassing to watch!

And God’s word says the same, “Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” 1 Corinthians 1:20

Yes, God has done this from the beginning and continues to this very day and will remain so until the very end of the age when everyone is judged.

Even a child can see what God has done. And for them to constantly see adults push a false narrative is depressing. Record numbers of children and adolescents are on anti-depressant/psychotic drugs. These same adults see exactly what is going on and they know why it is happening. They don’t care. Because as Paul says in chapter one of Romans, They are senseless, faithless, heartless, merciless. And I say that no matter how hard these same people pretend to be caring, God has labeled them and the label will remain upon their lives until they cease being senseless, faithless, heartless and merciless and make a 180 degree turn from their foolishness and give God the credit He deserves.