Lives touched by love

In your life here there are many who

come and many who leave. Those who

love and who give love to others, in whatever fashion,

are those that leave behind memories.

Our lives are and have always been touched by

the true love from our Creator. Because we are

His creation, His children, we are to show His love

to others.

He gives each of us a measure of faith, hope and love.

The greatest gift of these three is and always will be love.

Show the love of God and Jesus to someone during this Christmas season.

You never know, you might be showing your love to an angel sent to

check up on you.

If your life is not or has not been touched by love, reach out to

Jesus. He loves you more than anyone on this earth ever could.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

This past year has been good for some……

I'm not sure exactly how to describe the year 2009. It was the first year of Pres. Barack Obama’s presidency which some people consider a true victory. For others, this year has been a very hard year especially those who are unemployed, or those who have family deployed overseas in military operations or those who have lost a loved one because of those military operations. There have also been many "good people" who died this past year due to age or accidents or other causes.

I don't like to think about death, especially during holidays, but since it's a normal part of life I suppose it's always in the back of everyone's mind. I'm sure there are many people who don't really know where to turn when a tragedy strikes, if you can call death a tragedy. In some cases those who have died have lived a very long productive life, while others have died far too young. Yet in all cases we who love them are not ready to let go even if we know that they are going to a better place.

It is during times like these that we have to turn to God for our comfort and our strength, because the strength that we have is not enough. I have seen many people who try to ignore the grief and pain they feel when they lose someone but eventually it can take a terrible toll on your body if you do not let it out.

God loves us all, even if we have to go through some trials and tribulations here on earth. Christians can rely on the Him for their strength but people who do not have faith in God only have their own ways of dealing with grief, loss and pain which sometimes can cause more pain. Jesus came into the world to give us hope and strength through relying on Him so that we will be able to serve him and whatever capacity that we are called to.

In God's word, the Bible, you can find wisdom, hope, and much more useful information than you could find in most any library on earth. The Bible itself may be over 2000 years old but the information contained within it is timeless and is still relevant. There have been many people in the past few years that are trying to take all references to the Bible out of our society and our culture. As Christians in America we should not allow that to happen, in our service to Christ we cannot allow that to happen.

The Christmas season, joyous for all?

During this season of the year many people go through hunger, heartache, grief, anger and frustration. Some of these are caused by the season itself, some are caused by disease, war, famine and yet some of these problems are actually caused by humanity itself. Our inability to see you the needs around us or to take notice of those who are in need because of our selfishness.

Even in America there is hunger, homelessness, grief over the loss of a loved one because death does not take a holiday. The homeless depend upon the charity of others for their next meal them for shelter from the cold, the hungry just need to be taken care of until they can take care of themselves. Because most of the hungry in this country are children. In America we grow enough food to feed millions and yet children go to bed hungry almost every night somewhere in America.

God truly has blessed America but if we, as a nation, keep going down the road that we're on I fear that the blessing will be taken away. We don't revere God as much as we used to in fact there are more people bent on taking all reference to Him out of the public eye and as far from the government as possible.

I am proud to be an American but in the past few years, I have not been proud of some of the things we do at home, in our movies, or to each other on a daily basis. The moral character of our nation and its people is crumbling. Our education system was formed from the beginning of our country to bring up the children to know God and now we have taken God and all reference to him out of the schools. I have heard many people ask the question "Why is our nation in the trouble that it's in?", and the answer lies in the fact that we don't teach our children anymore.

God loves us all and He does want the best for us but, as the children of Israel found out, when you turn your back on God and chase after other gods He will punish you and I believe that America is beginning to be punished. Even with a revival and a turning back to God, I don't think that we could stay His hand. Like a parent with an unruly  child, there has to be discipline at some point.

The only possibility for us to truly change is for our country as a whole to turn back to God. It would truly take a miracle but if we all pray for this to happen, earnestly and on our knees, I do believe that revival is possible. Please get into the New Testament, read the book of Romans and pray over it. God will hear you, He always does.

Do you know God?

If you go to church and if you read your Bible, can you know God the way that he wants you to know Him. Our lives are extremely hectic today and in many ways we don't have the time to truly get to know God. I think He would really love to get to know each and every one of us. According to His word, the Bible, that is exactly what He wants.

Today it seems that those that He created have no interest in learning about or getting to know Him. Our Creator, the Creator of all things, cares deeply about each and every one of us. Otherwise He wouldn't have placed us on such a perfectly sized planet, in a perfect orbit around our Sun. Everything on earth works together to keep a life-sustaining planet from being a garbage heap.

It truly is sad that our lives have become so loaded with information and news and constant instant communication until we seem to be addicted to it all. The reason that we are that way is because we want more information about our father, God. Most of us don't know what we're looking for, or where to find the information. We're just looking for something. Until we find Him, and invite him in, that part of our hearts will forever have an empty feeling.

Are you looking for Jesus today? He's waiting for you. If you only invited me in, He would say, I would always be there no matter what. Our Creator knows us far more intimately than we realize or could possibly understand. Artists do have an idea of the way God feels toward us, at least those artists that sculpt or mold their art do. A potter does this when he creates a vase because he has to put his vision into it to make it what he sees in his mind. That is how God creates each of us, in His mind. He has known us since the beginning of time, exactly what we will look like and how we will act toward others and toward Him.

Did you kill Jesus?

For the Christians of the world this question is poignant but true. Yes, our sin caused the death of Jesus because He came to be the one sacrifice which would satisfy all of the requirements of God. Not just for some but for all.

The love and mercy of our God covers all. We are the ones who move away from Him and if we have never come to Him that is why we don’t feel His comforting presence.

He is our Creator! The Creator of all things including us. To turn away from Him and the grace that He extended to us through His Son is the ultimate rebellious act. God’s laws are not outdated  and they are not flexible! There are no appeals when it comes to breaking them and the punishment for such is death, spiritual and eternal. The death I am speaking of is separation from God or any knowledge of Him for eternity in hell! There will be no parties, no joy, no laughter.

God’s love for us, all of us, is true and unquestionable. Yet the response that God expects from us is acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins. If you do not accept Jesus as your Savior, it is the same as driving the nails in His hands and feet yourself! Rejection of Him, especially if you have felt the pull on your heart, is the sin which will not be forgiven! Especially if you die before repenting of this sincerely, and ask Him into your heart.

Our life can be so much more if we will allow Jesus into our lives and, on a daily basis, follow Him. The peace which will flood your soul and give your life a purpose is indescribable by human terms. The contentment and love that you will feel from God will be with you regardless of your circumstances. Accepting Jesus will not make your life on earth easy, by the world’s standard, but it will give you a peace that few will know until they come to Him.

Give Him a chance in your life to ease your burdens and lift your spirit. He is the greatest physician that you can know because He can heal both body and soul!

God bless and keep you all.  (read Romans 8 it is good for the soul)

Division is great in math class but not in the Church

In the past one hundred years the Church has been divided so many times that it is nearly unrecognizable today. Christians, regardless of denomination, have become too permissive and meek. We allow people to run over us and around us in the guise of being “politically correct and inoffensive”.

Jesus said that He came to put friends and family against each other because of Him and His teachings. We are not to be so meek that we are run over by every religion that claims the title of religion. Just because Jesus said that the “meek shall inherit the earth” doesn’t mean that we take it to an extreme!

I am sure that there are some real Christians in our world today that could be called friends of God but they are so few in number that they would not fill the sanctuary of a small church!

Our life is to be in service to Him regardless of the occupation that we have and being divided in doctrine or belief in the authenticity of the Bible is not the way to do it. There is no middle ground of service you are either serving God or Satan, you cannot serve both.

The Bible is the true and inspired word of our Creator! Those who disagree with this are challenged herewith to find at least 66 authors from all different walks of life. Without telling them what to write about other than to say that they must all be in agreement and have their stories point to one truth alone, have them to write a coherent book which will rival the Bible. Even if our lives were un-naturally long, there would be no possibility of this book ever being published in a coherent form within the next one thousand years!

The Bible spans about fourteen hundred years and tells of history back to the beginning of the earth and yet the story points to one Savior, Christ, who will fulfill all of the prophecies in Himself and through His ministry and His death and resurrection will be the salvation for all of mankind who have been called by God.

Friends

Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.

Our lives are touched daily by people that we know and some that we don’t, but the ones who make a lasting impression are friends. I claim Jesus as my friend and I hope you will too.

The friends which we have around us are those that we have found through work or school or in other circumstances in which we find ourselves. Whether it is through an accident, military, or other types of operations which puts us together, they are the ones that we rely on and miss the most when they are absent. The length of absence doesn’t make any difference between friends, there is always some common bond between you that will be there regardless of the circumstances life throws at you.

I had such an encounter recently with a friend that I haven’t seen in almost thirty years. Yet there was a bond which spanned that time and made it seem as if it wasn’t a concern. This friend and his family are important to me in ways that they do not realize and when the patriarch of their family moved on to his heavenly home it saddened me. But, I still feel joy because of it. I know that we will see each other in Heaven and we will have an eternity of service to our Lord together.

The friendship which Jesus offers to all is closer than those which we have here during our lifetimes. As God’s word says, “ I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6. This is the kind of friend we need, now more than ever in these troubled times. I pray that anyone who reads this will take this message to heart and accept Jesus into their lives so that you will have a friend forever!

Service is only service if you serve!

If you are a religious person, who/whom do you serve? No person on this earth serves no one. Some may think that they only serve themselves, but they are being fooled by the original trickster, Satan himself. As long as your priority is yourself and no one else you are serving his purposes and him indirectly. We were not put here to be his servants. We were all put on earth to serve the Living God!

Our lives are but small puffs of wind compared to eternity so why not serve the One who created it all, God! He gave us a choice to do so or not but once you realize that your life is worth nothing if you don’t believe in Him and His purposes, it takes on a completely different meaning. Because your life has meaning in service to Him!

There are so many “priorities” vying for our attention on a daily basis until it is easy to miss the one that is most important. There truly is a small voice from God which is there you just have to listen with an open mind and a contrite heart. Being willing to do whatever that voice says and not wavering will get you great rewards in the end. Read the Bible, hear the wisdom in its words, get an mp3 Bible and listen to it. You won’t be disappointed or bored and your soul will shout for joy!

Telling people about Jesus, should we do that today?

Jesus said before He went back to the Father, “Go and tell others” (paraphrased). Are we doing that? How are we doing that? Do you live according to principles that you have learned in church or from the Bible? Does your life reflect Him or does it reflect your interests and your life instead?

If you are a Christian reading this, do you tell people about your faith and why you have it? Our life, on a daily basis, should be a witness to Him and should reflect what Jesus taught His disciples while He was here. Those principles and teachings haven’t changed. The world has changed, people have changed, politics and governments have changed dramatically but God’s Word and the teachings in it have not changed.

Living according to those teachings is not easy now nor was it easy at the time Christ taught His disciples. The laws of God are still relevant today just as they were when God gave those laws to Moses before the Torah was written. Living according to those precepts has never been easy but with faith it can be done. Not in our own strength but with strength from Him.

If you are searching for answers to questions that have been bugging you, the answers you seek are in the Bible. I don’t know where to tell you to look, but there are many answers in God’s Word to any or all of life’s questions. There are some Bibles today which have topical indexes in them which will guide you to the place you may need to go.

God wants to know you from your side, He already knows you from the inside out. Once you give your heart to Him and begin living according to His principles, He will get to know you even more personally. He will be your true Father. He did form you in the womb you know! Read Romans chapter 8 and following. When you finish with it, pray for understanding and that He will reveal Himself to you even further.

Our Creator loves us all and He knows exactly when and where you are at all times in your life. The only separation that is between you and Him is YOU! Give God a call. The minutes are free and unlimited and they never expire.

To Live in His Service is to gain eternity

I don’t know how many people have thought of this before but in the interest of salvation and your immortal soul it has to be brought to mind. On a daily basis our lives are bombarded with messages from the secular world. Messages which contain violent images, hatred for Christians, war, disease, natural disasters. And this is just from our morning news! How much more are your children exposed to at school or through commercials? If they aren’t learning about Jesus from you at home where are they getting their information? What information are they getting daily? Is it something that you would be proud for them to tell Jesus about?

Children are the next generation and if we are not teaching them what they need or if we haven’t learned it well enough to teach it to them, how will they learn? What will they learn? Sometimes, that question scares me because of the amount of information out there and the ease with which our children have access to things that we would not be proud of them learning or seeing.

Eternity is a concept of time that we cannot understand because it has no end. Our service to God begins at home by leading our families to Christ so that we will have them with us for eternity. Then we have an obligation to tell others about Him and mentor them in their walk so that they will not be crowded out by the “thorns” of society.

If we are to gain eternal peace with Jesus in Heaven we must live in service to Him while we are here on earth. It doesn’t take being a martyr of any kind nor is it required of us to do anything. The most that we have to do is believe in Jesus and what He did for us and accept Him into our heart. Once that change happens, you will no longer want to go back to your “old” life. Even if you do, your new spirit will not allow you to be happy with it.

There are many ways to find out about Jesus. Go to a church and listen to the sermon, listen to AFR on the radio, read the Bible (especially the New Testament). He is the only way to get to Heaven though. At least belief in Him and asking Him into your heart is the only real way to get to Heaven and to have salvation from an eternity in Hell. Many people don’t believe in the existence of hell or that God would send you there. He doesn’t. You do. By rejecting His grace and the sacrifice made by Jesus and rejecting Jesus from your life, you condemn yourself to hell. Our spirit is eternal, whether we spend that eternity in torment or in service to Him is our choice. Personally, I would rather serve Him! I don’t like pain.

Our Moral Character is Broken

The character of our society is broken, spiritually. Is it possible to fix this?

Yes, it can be fixed but it is going to take real effort on the part of all Christian Americans to do it. It can’t be wished, or prayed away. Prayer is a good start, but by itself it will not fix the problem. Our country is going further into spiritual brokenness every day. Christians, pastors, Gideons should all be mobilizing to get the Word out to teens and the rest of our country. If we don’t, there will be more people left behind to endure the Tribulation than there should be.

God knows who will accept and who will not regardless of how much they know or hear about Jesus. But that should not stop us from getting out there and letting people know that God loves them and cares about them deeply. The time is now and it cannot be put off because our society is just getting worse. The lack of God in our schools and in everyday lives is eroding the fabric of our nation. I would say that people of even one hundred years ago would not recognize our country anymore. They would be appalled at the way our people have put God out of nearly every area of America’s government and out of people’s daily lives.

Something must be done and that something is getting Christians out as missionaries in our own land, not just going elsewhere to spread the news of Christ. It is needed here just as badly if not more because we as Americans should be the leaders of the world not following it to destruction. We were called to be lights in the darkness, and we need to be doing what Christ called us to do?

God loves all of us because He created each of us as individuals and He knows us intimately. Read His Word, pray about what you read and ask Him to show you what He wants you to do and how. All of the New Testament is good training for us but the whole Bible is good for your soul. Read it, think about the message that is contained in it.

Don’t throw it out or treat it like it is an old book that doesn’t have anything to do with today. God can see the past and the future. He knows exactly what is going to happen tomorrow or even the next minute. Give Him your life and allow Him to work through you. I can guarantee you will never regret it.

Can you know the Father and the Son?

Is it possible to know both the Creator and His Son? Yes it is, in fact it is part of being a Christian to know them both. They know us more deeply than we can ever imagine, down to the DNA which makes us who we are. Doesn’t it make sense that the creation would want to know the Creator intimately too? This is a relationship which the ruler of this world does not want to happen and will do anything to keep it from becoming the relationship we were meant to have with God and His Son, Jesus.

Satan loves to entice people into doing things which he knows that they want to do. He knows your weaknesses and how to tempt anyone into doing that which they know to be wrong. He even can entice us into doubting God’s love for us. He has been doing this for a very long time so he is very good at it. Jesus called him the “Father of lies”, and he knows how to make them sound so convincing, even using scripture in a twisted way to make it sound good.

The only way that we can withstand his assault on us on a daily basis is to submit to the Lord daily. Ask for Jesus to come into your heart and to give you the strength and faith to be able to say to Satan, “Get behind me,Satan, I have the Lord on my side”. Although I wouldn’t want him behind me and by quoting scripture he will leave you alone, for a time. But, you have to have Jesus in your heart otherwise he will come back stronger and possibly meaner than before.

When you are making a difference for God you are fighting him and he doesn’t like it, especially when, by the power of Jesus’ name and our faith in Him, we are winning the fight. I fully expect him to come after me in the days to come, but I know that in the end he has already lost regardless of what may happen to me.

Give Jesus a chance in your life and then go out and let others know what He has done for you. He will work through you and bring others to Him and the result will be even greater than you can imagine. Think about it this way, you comfort someone and pray for them in their time of need. When they come to Jesus, then they speak to someone else about Him and what He did for them. Then that person tells a couple of their friends about Jesus. Later, they tell someone else what Christ has done for them. In a few months or years, one act of kindness from you has spread out to hundreds or maybe thousands. I pray for all who read these pages in His Holy name so that He will call you to Him.

Is Your life in need of something?

Today is a very somber day in our history because of what happened eight years ago today.  Our perception of the world and our safety in it changed dramatically on this day eight years ago and I pray that we will not forget what we have learned from it. When we don’t pay attention to the little things, bigger problems will arise.  Sometimes our everyday lives are like that. Little things like taking an aspirin or eating certain fruits or vegetables can have an enormous impact on your health years after your mother tells you that you need to do these things. Your spiritual life is the same way, and the Bible tells us exactly what we should do and how to do it to keep our relationship with God alive and fresh. If you don’t follow those instructions though, that relationship won’t be what it could be.

He wants that relationship with you because He created all of us. Not only us but the entire universe all the way from the largest galaxies and stars to the smallest atomic particles. He knows exactly how many hairs are on your head and on your body. God knows how you will answer a question before you answer it and what consequences will arise from that answer. Your life and what you do with it cannot be hidden from God regardless of what you do or where you go. It doesn’t matter who you are because God doesn’t respect your standing here on earth, He only respects the decision that you make regarding His position in your life and your heart. Some would say that what I just said is wrong and that Jesus is the answer. He is, but He is also part of God too. What you decide to do with God is the same as what you do with Jesus. Jesus came to pay the penalty for all of our sins and He did so all you have to do is accept His gift of grace and forgiveness into your heart and you will be changed. The old, sinful life that you were drawn to will pass away and everything will be new.

Believe me, if He can create the universe in six days, changing your life isn’t hard to do. He will change your heart and your perspective toward life and serving Him and your life will be totally different from that moment on. The life that we live before He comes into our heart is in total opposition to Him. Afterward, you may still have problems and sinful thoughts which come back from time to time, but He will give you the spiritual strength to withstand those temptations if you will let Him. Your life is not without purpose because He gives you a purpose, to serve Him. When He calls you and you answer, your purpose in life is to serve Him wherever you may be. Regardless of title, position or rank to the world. You are a child of the Living God and the Creator of the Universe and have been called to be His servant no matter what. That position is above all others and supersedes all others . Of course, you can serve Him by doing your daily job as well and representing Him in everything that you do.

Organized Religion and Jesus

It seems that there has been a lot of shouting, screaming and gnashing of teeth lately over organized religion. I am not sure what this term means exactly, “organized religion”. Is it referring to all Christians, Muslims, Hindi, Buddhists, or is it directed at Catholics, Jewish Temples, Presbyterians, Baptists, etc. ?

The latter are more doctrine than “organized religion”. Granted, the Catholic church has been around nearly as long as Christianity itself, and the Jewish religion has been around for far longer than most any other out there, but that doesn’t mean that the religion itself is bad. It just happens to be an old religion. Religions are not bad but some of the people who claim that they practice those religions may be. You can be religious at doing anything that you like, such as fishing or hunting. That doesn’t make it a religion but you get the idea.

Christianity and following Jesus is a different matter from “religion”. Christianity is a state of mind that you have after accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior that you practice religiously. So, in a sense, it is a religion. There have been many “doctrines” applied to it over the past few hundred years but the basics of being a Christian, as outlined in the Bible, are the same. I know that many terrible acts have been done in the name of religion and in the name of Christ too, but that doesn’t mean that Jesus was behind any of it. It just means that His name was used in the commission of the act itself by someone who wanted to stand behind that name.

There have been horrendous acts done by other religions as well but it seems that everyone wants to pounce on Christians these days. Maybe because we are nearing the time of Christ’s return? I am not sure what the reason for the animosity except that it was predicted by Jesus Himself nearly two thousand years ago. Our lives, in service to Him, are forfeit in the grand scheme of His plans. Our spiritual lives will go on no matter what happens to us here. We will serve Him and the blotting out of God or religion will not have any effect on the world or its condition into eternity.

Please, read Romans chapter 8. Pray that you will accept Jesus and I will be praying for all who visit here and read these pages. He is knocking, won’t you let Him in?

How do I know that I know God and His Son?

There are three “tests” that John put forth for a person, a believer, to know that they know God without a doubt. These tests are that we keep His commandments, to walk as Jesus walked in obedience to the Father and to show unconditional love toward our brothers. The first one is usually the hardest for some to understand. It is to keep or obey His commands. Not just the ten commandments, but the two which Jesus put forth in Matthew 22:34-40. Jesus said, “Love God with all of your heart, and with all your strength, and with all your soul and love your neighbor as yourself, on these two commandments hang all of the Law and the Prophets”.

Those who say that they know God, but do not keep his commandments are liars and the truth is not in them. Belief is not enough, reading the Bible, God’s Word is not enough, your life has to show beyond a doubt that you belong to Him. We are put where we are to be “salty” and to be reflections of Him, not of ourselves or our personal views. Our mission, if we are Christians as we claim to be, is to be the best reflection of Jesus that our lives can be. How we live our faith on a daily basis shows what is in our heart, not what may be on our minds at the time. At least, that is what the world should see.

To walk as Jesus walked, in total obedience to God’s will, is our goal and purpose. As Christians, we are to submit to the Spirit’s leading influence in our life on a daily basis. This does not mean to give up entirely, but we are to give Jesus and His Spirit control of our lives daily. This is a hard concept for us because we do not like to give up control of our lives.

How can we, mere humans, accomplish this? The only way that we can do this is through Him and His Spiritual control of our lives. The only way that we can be truly effective for Him is by the power of His Spirit in our life. If we did good things (works) for others before becoming a Christian, how much more could we do with Him in our life? Those works that we did before becoming Christians may have been good but they did nothing more than to make us look good in other people’s eyes. What about the ones we are led to do or accomplish after becoming Christians? As long as we obey Him and accomplish them, we are doing His will and fulfilling His purpose in our lives.

Even though we are not bound by Jewish law, are we required to act as if we are regarding the Ten Commandments, as well as the commandments Jesus gave in Matthew 22? If we are truly His, yes! Our life is to reflect that His spirit lives in us and that we live through Him. If our lives do not reflect what is in our hearts as the truth of God, we need to re-examine our faith and our beliefs. We can only pass the test when we are led by the Spirit on a daily basis.

Is there a broken relationship in your life? Is there any prejudice or animosity toward any particular group of people? Do you fail to demonstrate love for others through tangible actions, not just  giving people “stuff” ? Is there a way we can fix these failures? Yes! Come to Jesus and show that you truly love those who love you and those who don’t.

As followers of Christ, we are to love Him so that we can resist the attraction of the world and all that it tries to offer us. To serve Him in whatever we do, regardless of how insignificant it may seem to us is our calling and purpose. In that way the light of God and His Son, Jesus, should shine through us so that everyone we come in contact with will see that we have something that they need and in doing so we will be the true followers of God that we were called to be.

Should we look for signs of God today?

No, the signs some of us seek are all around us. We should not test God to see if He will give us a sign when there is none needed. The air we breathe, the earth we stand upon, the sunrise, and the fact that we are alive are all the signs we should need. God gave us everything that we have to live our lives in service to Him and to others. He loves us all enough to give us everything we need daily, we can’t do it on our own.

 

No one can make themselves young again or change the color of their skin, why should we think that we could possibly live our lives without His grace. God loves us all, there is no denying that. I know many people don’t believe it, but if He did not we would not be here now. Our lives are mere shadows, smoke in the wind. We do not live long enough to decide that we are gods or even to believe that we may become gods because it is not possible. There is only one God, the Creator of the Universe and everything in it. It has always been this way, regardless of what some may want to believe.

Jesus came to save us from our own limited beliefs and from ourselves. To believe in Him is to have eternal life, to serve Him is a joy beyond what we could imagine in our mortal bodies. God loves us all and sent His Son to pay the price for all of our sins as the perfect and sinless Lamb of God. He was the only one that could pay the price and free the captives from Satan.

Our lives and our service to Him are a reasonable sacrifice on our part because it is all that we can do through Him and the strength He gives us. The life that we have after accepting Him we truly live through Him. That is our purpose, to live our lives through faith in Him so that we can be His voice, and His presence in this world today.

If someone were to give you your life back due to an organ donation, what would you do for them? If they were still alive would you be willing to work for them if they asked you to? Would you do it out of gratitude or out of love? If they did not ask anything of you and yet you wanted to give them something in return for a second chance at life, what could you possibly give that would be worthy of the gift that you were given?

In light of these questions, what could we possibly do for God that would compare with the salvation which was provided through Jesus? The only acceptable gift or service that we can offer is our life through Jesus and the service that we can provide through faith in Him. Even if we only have faith that could be compared to a mustard seed, anything is possible if we place that faith in Christ.

Scientists have proven that everything in the universe is there in precise amounts to provide for the sustaining of life. Nothing has happened due to random chance, it was all planned out by God in the beginning just as He said in the Bible. He named all of the stars that we can see and the Bible names them too. The Pleiades, Orion the Hunter, Leo, etc. In His word God said that He hung Orion’s belt and placed the Pleiades in their place. There is nothing that has happened that was not appointed by Him in the past nor will it happen in the future without His knowledge.

Your life was chosen in precise detail by Him long before you were born. Who your parents would be, where you would live, who you will marry, how many children you may have if any, and when you will die. God knew these things and many more about you at the beginning, each person on earth is known by Him in great detail. Regardless of the religion that you claim or which “god” that you pray to, the creator of all things who is the true God of the universe, knows and has known you, all of you who may read this, since the beginning of time.

Signs are not needed for us to know that there is a God because we can see His handiwork and the care that He designed into everything about our world and into each one of us. What we choose to do with our life is still our choice, whether we use it for good or for evil. He doesn’t control us, He only provides for us a place to be born to live and to die. Our life and the meaning that it could have is dictated only by our choice to give our lives to Him or not.

Faith, Hope, and Love: Which is greater?

There have been men of great faith in the past like Moses, Abraham, and Noah. They all had faith in God and in His power, but that wouldn’t have been enough to get them into Heaven. Hope for a better life and better world is a good thing but hope alone won’t get you much, especially nowadays. Hope may help when you are suffering, but you truly need something or someone to hope for or to place your hope in.

Love is a word that is over-used today and has come to mean very little compared to what it meant in the past. Jesus said that the greatest of these is love but He was speaking about the love that He and the Father have for us and the love that we should show toward our fellow Christians and non-Christians too. Which is an unconditional love, one that you don’t expect anything in return for. It has become very scarce in the world we live in today to find a love that fits that description except in a loving home between parents and their children and between husband and wife.

When we ask Jesus into our hearts, He comes in and cleans our hearts. We should take a look at our lives and what has been in our lives and check it against Jesus and His way. Would you want Him to look at the books and magazines that you have in your home? How about the television programs that you watch? Would you feel comfortable with Jesus in your living room during the week?

Our devotion to Jesus is supposed to take precedence over every area in our lives whether it is our family or our work or finances, even the little things that most people don’t think God could possibly be interested in. But He is interested in all aspects of our lives, like a parent, He cares for and is interested in everything that you are. He may not like some of them, but He is taking notice of even the little things.

There are many temptations in our world today which can draw us away toward other so-called “faiths” or religions. Regarding religious behavior or religions, many things can be made into a religion. But, none of them will get you into Heaven except placing your faith in Jesus and His love for you. So, to answer the question in the title: Love is the greatest of these.

There has never been a greater love than the love that God has shown and shows today for all of us, than the giving of His Son as a sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sins. If we can accept the grace that was extended to us and ask Jesus into our hearts, nothing else is required. Though, you will want to serve Him after He has come into your life, even if you only serve Him by walking as He would it is enough.  DeColores.

Science, God, Jesus, faith....can they co-exist?

Yes, they can! Our creator intimately and meticulously put your DNA and all of the cells which make up your body together to do mainly one thing, serve Him. Every atom in the universe was created by God. It doesn’t matter if it is in the air which you and I breathe or if it is in a cloud of hydrogen gas light years away from earth. Each being, sentient (meaning us) or instinctual (the animals) was created by Him to serve a purpose in their lives for Him. The animals don’t have a choice in their service, they do what their instinct tells them to do, no questions asked. Humans have a choice to serve or not, to follow Jesus or to follow their own ways and the way the world says is the “right” way because it feels good.

God created all of the laws of physics, thermodynamics, chemical reactions and every other “discovered” law that we have found to be immutable in the way of things and how things work. Light only goes a certain speed, no slower and no faster. There is an absolute temperature at which all molecular motion stops, there is also a temperature at which every nuclear force breaks down and molecules will fly apart. God knows these because He created them to work that way. Our cells were created to work for a certain period of time, although in the beginning we were designed as perfect and would have been immortal had we only obeyed God’s commands.

Science, no matter which one is being discussed, is an extension of the Creator Himself. Every created thing on earth now and in the past was put here by Him for a reason. We cannot know that reason, but it is there nonetheless. God’s will for us is to know Him and to serve Him, not because we are forced to do so but because He loved us enough to create us and to send His Son to die for us as payment for the sin in our lives. We all sin, even though some have covered up their sins or glossed them over with less sinful names. In some cases, our media (news, radio, television) has made us so used to them until we hardly notice them unless we are following Him and our spirit lets us know that what we are seeing or hearing is wrong.

The coexistence of God and science is not something which has to be worked on, it has been happening for hundreds of years. Until the latter part of the 19th century and the 20th century, no scientist questioned how the universe was brought into being. They just wanted to understand His ways and processes in the creation of it all and how things worked. There is nothing wrong with that. But, when your categorically dispute that there is an intelligent designer behind everything that is in the universe, you are denying the existence of God at all levels! God will not be mocked, He knows your heart and your mind more intimately than even you do. Give Him a chance in your life. Read the Bible and pray that He will show Himself to you through it while you read. You will truly be amazed at what and who you will find. Decolores!

So many challenges, can we meet them all?

Yes and no. Our lives, as Christians, are under scrutiny on a daily basis. Not only to walk the walk that we claim in Jesus, but to do it without complaint and in some people’s eyes without stumbling. Unfortunately, we are not made perfect enough for that. In and through Christ’s spirit, we are able to do all that He commanded us to do. The real challenge is to be connected to Him, in Spirit, daily.

By that I don’t mean prayer time in the morning or at night, although that is part of it. There are too many people who only get in touch with Him in that way and many who do, do it only once a day. God wants us to be in touch with Him on a continuing and constant basis. In our society today many would say that that kind of communication is impossible because of how stressed our lives are and how many other things we have on our plates.

Through His spirit and by submitting our lives to Him daily, we can do all things. Even our jobs and the job that He has commanded us to do can be done at the same time, if we will allow Him to work through us. Our walk with Christ and through Him, can reflect His holiness and His attributes in and through our lives. I am not implying that we are holy, but His holiness is what others should see in our lives.

Your life in this world is temporary and our lives are not long enough to attempt to do things our way all the time. The sad fact is that when our earthly lives are over, our eternal life begins. I say that is sad because for some, they will be separated from God and Jesus forever. For humans, it is impossible for us to comprehend time as more than our lives provide for us. We can understand one hundred years, we can, in theory, understand how long one thousand years is. Any amount of time that goes beyond that cannot be understood by us.

We have been taught about millions and billions of years in high school “history” and science classes but we cannot wrap our finite minds around those numbers. Even our imagination is incapable of grasping time in such huge amounts, but even those pale in comparison to the prospect of eternity. You will either spend it serving and praising God or in torment and agony because you rejected Him. Which would you rather do? Choose Jesus and service to Him. The rewards following your life on earth will far outweigh any amount of wealth that can be amassed during your lifetime.

What is your attitude toward serving God?

Should we be truly humble….yes. Should we be servants….yes. Is our life to be His alone? YES!!

This is something which most of the world would call crazy. Why would you give your life, daily to someone who is dead! Well, He isn’t dead! That is the point, really. All of the other so-called “gods” are dead. Buddha, Krishna, Mohammad, they have been dead for hundreds of years. Jesus is alive and sitting at the right of God the Father and always has been. We are His creation. Not only us but the entire universe including all of the stars and galaxies and the plankton and bacteria.

Nothing “evolved” in our cosmos, it was all created with the “age” that it seems to have because that is the way God wanted it to be. He did not create Adam as a baby but as a grown man and He did the same with everything else. If He chose to do it now, He could. Science doesn’t believe this because it seems too simple to explain, but it is true because He said so in His word the Bible.

I have read accounts of so-called “carbon dating” of freshly cooled lava which showed an age of hundreds of thousands of years and sometimes more. Scientists would say it was due to the rock coming from the interior of the earth but I don’t buy into that.

Our lives and the life on this world was put here purposely by the will and word of God, nothing else. Evolution didn’t happen and has been proven, although many would deny it, to be impossible. It is statistically impossible for all of life on this planet to have evolved from a single-celled organism which grew from a pool of amino acids that just happened to come together to form protein molecules which then organized themselves into DNA. Even scientists know that life and death tends to go from complex to simple not the other way around. Things break down they don’t build up on their own. If that was the case I could take some eggs and flour and sugar and throw them into a blender and come out with a cake with decorations and candles on it.

Our service to God doesn’t happen all at once when we decide to follow Him. Our Spirit has to teach us something about Him and our service to Him and when we are mature enough, the service is a natural part of our being. It is not hard but it isn’t easy either. It is a process just like planting a field and it takes time. Nothing is ever gained by fast growth except a field full of weeds.

Good crops, like mature Christians, take time to grow, but you have to invest the time in Bible study, prayer, fasting, and more prayer. Living a true servant’s life to Christ and for Him is not the easiest way but it is the most rewarding. Part-time Christians are not what Christ wants. How would the gospel have been spread if Peter, James, John and Paul decided to work only on Wednesday’s or Sunday? They wouldn’t have gotten very far would they? The Good News of Jesus wouldn’t have been spread to most of the known world if they had been part-time servants.

Our lives, short though they may be in comparison to eternity, are given to us to serve Him while we are alive on earth. Even though we will serve Him for eternity He desires our service here in order to bring others to Him. We are called to go and tell and if we don’t we are not being faithful to our calling as Christians.

Ain't God Good!!

Our lives would not be worth much if it weren’t for Him and the grace that He gives us each day. He gives us the grace and strength to get up each morning, the air we breathe throughout the day, our minds and our health to serve Him in whatever job we have and the grace to know when we have messed up so we can confess it and leave it with Him.

God loves us all, not just the ones who serve Him willingly. He created every living being on this planet but he gave us humans the ability to know Him and that is very special. Our lives are special to Him because He created each of us and knew us before we were even born!

Our experiences in this life, good or bad, are our own doing. He doesn’t cause us to fail or stumble, we do. Even in our Christian walk with Him there are going to be days that are tougher to stay focused on Him and His purpose for us. Our enemy in this world is satanic in nature but it is everything that can draw us or our attention away from God.

Truly, that is a lot of STUFF!! But with His strength and guidance, as long as we persevere in our walk with Him daily, we can be overcomers and bring Jesus and His love to the world. Not in a “holier than thou” attitude, but by loving those who would otherwise not be loved or not see or feel loved. In 1 Corinthians it says that all the gifts in the world are useless if we don’t have love to back them up and that is the truth.

Ain’t God Good!!

Are you in dial-up mode or broadband?

In our society and our world almost everyone is connected somehow to the Internet. Whether it is by dial-up or broadband really doesn’t matter except when you are trying to do something on the Internet. If you have dial-up there is a LOT of waiting involved regardless of where you may live. If you have broadband, whether it is by cable, satellite, or DSL, as soon as the computer is turned on you are online.

Our life with Christ should be like broadband. As soon as you wake up in the morning, you should be in contact with Him. This connection should stay on all through your day so that you won’t miss His voice or wisdom when you may really need them. There are some who are in dial-up mode when it comes to their relationship with Christ and religion. They “dial-in and log on” with Him when they are in trouble or when they go to church. Then when the crisis is over or the service is over, they log off. Some log on daily but only for a few minutes and then log off again.

The dial-up Christian misses out on a lot that God and His Son have to say and on opportunities for witnessing that may come up during the day. If you were logged on and in touch with Him all day you would be able to respond when you meet someone who needs Him.

I confess, I have been reading a book by Dr. David Jeremiah called “Signs of Life”. His book did inspire me to write this post but God had touched my heart and mind while reading it. Our life and the lives of those we come in contact with would be blessed on a daily basis if we kept our line of communication open to Him all day, every day. He would bless us and the people we meet as well because our conduct would show that He was influencing our walk on a daily basis.

Give God your best, there is no telling what you will get in return! I guarantee it will be worth far more than you realize.

Faith, what is it? Does it work?

There are many in our country today who wonder at and ask these questions. Do you have an answer for them? In the book of James, he wrote that “Faith without works is dead”. This is one of the prevailing truths of the Christian faith but do we put it into practice today, in the 21st century?

Many would say that the church doesn’t do anything for their communities. Is this true in America? I do know of churches that help others in their community. Big churches and small churches, they all help in the way that they can. The church that came to life a few hundred years after our Lord’s resurrection did far more that we do. They did not rely on the government to help others, they did it. They took care of orphans, widows, those in need and others themselves, from what the church could do and from their own pockets!

The work that could be done by Christians today far exceeds what the early church could do but we don’t. Why? Are we waiting for someone else to do it? Are we waiting for permission? Jesus told his followers to go and do likewise meaning to do what He had been doing and more! So, why isn’t the church doing that today?

We give money to missions and to people who have lost their homes but what about the homeless, the sick who don’t have insurance, those who are less fortunate than us regardless of their circumstances? Our faith and belief in Jesus can save us individually but what about the work needed to get things done to show others our faith?

I have faith that a house can be built with the right tools and material. I also have faith that seeds planted will produce a garden and vegetables but if I don’t do anything, my faith will not produce those results on its own. The church is supposed to be the “body of Christ” in these times and yet if our faith doesn’t have works to go with it, no one will recognize us as any different from anyone else will they?

Just something to think about.

Father….Dad…Daddy, which one are you?

Those of us who grew up without a dad in our lives knew what we wanted from him. Even when we didn’t get it, the “it” was usually his love or approval of us in one way or another. The lives of those who had a father who was present in their lives were very different from ours. Sometimes for better and sometimes for worse depending on the type of father you had.

Jesus had a Daddy who was always with Him no matter where He was or what He was doing. That is why He called Him, “Abba, father”, which literally means Daddy.

Being a Daddy is one of the most rewarding and satisfying “jobs” you will ever have. Though it can be frustrating at times. In our relationship to our dads as well as the relationship between us and God, our Heavenly Father, we are rebellious. We are not truly able to be cooperative, no matter which father we are trying to please, at least not on our own. It just isn’t our nature to be that way.

Our job, as fathers, is to raise our children to know God and His Son. If you aren’t doing that, then you are not fulfilling your purpose. We are put here and gifted with children so that we can raise up the next generation to know God and His Son, Jesus. Though there are those who are teaching their children contrary to this. Christianity is the only way to get to Heaven and belief in and acceptance of Jesus is what makes us Christians.

You cannot buy your way or work your way into Heaven. You cannot do anything by yourself that will get you admitted into Heaven. You can easily go to hell, not by killing someone or by cheating on your spouse or on your taxes, just by ignoring God and leaving Jesus out of your life and the life of your family.  By doing this you have condemned yourself and possibly your family as well to an eternity in hell. This is scary stuff folks. Hell is not going to be a fun place and there will never be a time when you won’t be able to feel the heat. Once you are there, it is for eternity! There is no reprieve and no “Get out of jail” cards!

Be a true, strong, loving Dad or Daddy. Get on your knees and ask Jesus into your heart and then lead your children to Him as well. Our strength comes from the one we trust and who could possibly be stronger than God!!

I am not sure what to do with my life

There are many answers to this question although very few of them seem to be the right answer at the time. The answer that most people are looking for is one that is very subjective and dependent upon the individual.

If you are a teen this question is put to you by your parents, your school counselor and your teachers as well as your peers. Adults ask this question after they have been working for a while and seem to have hit a wall that their career won’t go over. Kids younger than thirteen ask it, but it is a very confusing question since they aren’t sure what they might be interested in later on.

For older adults who have retired, they usually are looking for something to relieve the boredom since they left the workplace. Is it possible for you to consider volunteering at a shelter or your local church? I know that volunteer work is not a very lucrative way to have meaning in your life but it would expose you to other people and possibilities. Being of service to someone or performing a service at a shelter or church is an unselfish way to open up to other people and their needs. Helping someone with their grocery shopping or with their computer may show you that you have gifts and talents in other areas.

Our life is hard enough when we don't have problems but when someone needs help and you can help it is very gratifying. Jesus was the ultimate helper and His example is one we should all follow. I know that we can't do it on our own without His help and strength but if you ask for the strength from Him to do what needs to be done, He will answer. There are many ways that we can be more like Him, but only if we let Him work through us. Won't you give that a try and ask Him into your life? Your life will be so much more with Him in your heart and you will be too!

It is just the way life is but how can we live it?

Today, with all of the violence, abuse of all kinds, wars, etc., it is truly miraculous that we can live our lives period. When we look at the television and the internet it seems that all of the news is bad, regardless of what channel you may be watching or where you live. But, there is hope for all of us.

The way to live it fully and completely can only be found in the Bible and by faithfully walking the Christian faith daily. I know that this is an unpopular topic these days, but listen and you may learn something. I was sleeping soundly when I was awakened with this message and was compelled to get up and share this with the world.

God’s wisdom, found in the Bible or the Talmud, is timeless and applies now just as much as it did when it was written. Some of the concepts from the Old Testament may be a bit dated, like slavery, but the whole Bible points to the end of the age which we are living in now. I don’t know how much longer this world has because Jesus said, “Only the Father knows when that time will come”. I don’t claim to be a prophet, just a messenger. I don’t and cannot predict anything, only God knows when things are going to happen because nothing takes Him by surprise.

The books that are supposed to be “self-help” books just re-package the wisdom found in the Bible. None of these so-called “gurus” came up with this on their own. The ideas and concepts have been with us for centuries and were handed down by those who read the Bible and put it to work in their lives. God’s wisdom is timeless and no amount of advertising or marketing is going to change the core of the beliefs that most of the world has heard they just didn’t know exactly where it came from.

Please, if you are reading this, pick up a Bible somewhere. Read it, especially the book of Romans in the New testament. It outlines the way to salvation and peace with God and eternal life with His Son, Jesus. Here is a link to an important part of this book, I hope you will read it and read more after that:  Romans 8

God loves all of us and does not want anyone to perish in the pits of Hell. That is why the Bible and its message have not gone away like the courts and may others would like for it to do. It is the Living Word of God and therefore timeless. When someone goes to Hell, they do so not because they are being punished by God but by the choice that they made during life by not accepting God’s free gift of salvation through Christ. Yes, salvation is a gift although some see it as a binding or a curse. It is neither of these! If you are to truly live the Christian faith, it is a daily and at first it can be an hourly walk with Him. Because our nature is sinful and we are prone to follow it because it feels good or because that is what all of our “friends” are doing. This life is temporary and only lasts for a small amount of time compared to eternity. Our souls and the bodies that we are given for eternity never die, regardless of where you go after your earthly body dies.

Give yourself the chance to live fully because only through faith in Jesus and the message brought through Him can you be saved. The things you do on earth, regardless of how good they may be, will never be good enough to get you into Heaven. Rejecting Christ and His message is all you have to do to go to Hell. Think about it! Before it is too late.

How will anyone know?

How could someone who doesn’t know you, figure out that you are a Christian? Could they hear it when you talk to them? Could they see it by what you do every day at school or at work? Do you take Christ with you everywhere you go or do you leave Him and your faith at church when you go home?

We are supposed to be ambassadors for Christ in our daily lives. Do you know anyone who does this? If you do, how do they show it? By their words and deeds on a daily basis or just by going to church on Sunday?

Anyone can be religious about anything. They can religiously go fishing on Saturdays, they can be religious about watching TV every night or about how they comb their hair. Being religious about something is just making it a habit it doesn’t show your faith in anything. People who didn’t hear Jesus preach could watch Him and see what He did. They could tell that He had a faith and a purpose beyond this life and the day to day things that everyone else did. That is exactly what we are supposed to show the world. That our life is not based on our work schedule or when soccer practice is or when the big game is or who is winning the World Series this year, if you are a child of God through Christ!

The everyday stuff that we have to put up with while we are here is meaningless in the grand scheme of things. What will it matter in a thousand years how big your house is? In ten thousand years will anyone care what kind of car you drove while you were alive or even how much money and investments you had? NO!!! There won’t be any evidence that any of that ever existed by that time. Our life is only a few moments compared to that amount of time and if you stretch it out to a million or a billion years……? God loves all of us and he gave us a reason to be where we are. If you truly want to follow Him or are just curious, read the Bible! Especially the book of Romans. The way to salvation is in it from start to finish.

God doesn’t leave us alone, ever! No matter how far you think you have gone or what bad things you have done, He still loves you. It is simple to accept Him and His way if you will just trust in Jesus. He doesn’t require you to jump through hoops or anything like that. What He does require is faith in Jesus and the willingness to follow His way of life on a daily basis, giving up your sinful ways and so-called “friends”.

Living for Him and through Him is the same

Our life in Christ must be through Him daily. We cannot attempt to do it ourselves without Him. Because we can’t! If anyone is going to live a life dedicated to Christ and in service to Him they have to admit that they are sinners on a daily basis. Just as someone who smokes cigarettes has to admit that they have an addiction to cigarettes before they can possibly quit. We have to depend on Him daily for the strength to resist sin and the temptation to sin, no matter what the sin is or how “small” we consider it to be. In His eyes, there is no small sin. Just as there is no little lie or a little bit of murder. They are what they are and nothing else.

No one should consider themselves a Christian if they cannot say, truthfully, that they pray daily for the strength and wisdom to carry them through each day. Some people have said that being a Christian should be easy and that after accepting Christ we are supposed to be perfect. Jesus did say that we are to be perfect as the Father is perfect but He only meant that we are to strive to be perfect by confession of our sins and prayer for strength to resist temptation. We cannot be perfect in our sinful earthly body because anything that is corruptible cannot be perfect and our bodies are not perfect in a spiritual sense. God made our bodies perfect in the ways that they need to be so that all of the parts of our bodies work together, at least until something starts going wrong as we get older or due to disease or accidents.

Living in the times that we are living in is getting harder for Christians because we are considered to be the ones committing “hate crimes” and being non-conformist because we live according to our beliefs. Jesus said that we would be hated because of Him and we are seeing more and more of that everyday. It is going to get worse for all of us but we, as followers of Christ, are going to be targeted more and more as time moves closer to His second coming. I truly look forward to the day or night when He calls us home. Then the world will truly see what hard times really look like. Be in prayer for all who haven’t acknowledged Him and especially for those who don’t know Him at all.

Life is hard and it’s going to get worse!

In the economic times that we are living in, anyone with a job had better be satisfied with it or decide to be satisfied with it. The first six months of a new administration is always an uncertain time regardless of the political party involved. This has been true of Republicans as well as Democrats, so people who are playing the blame game trying to pin the problem on one or the other, are just wasting their time and everyone else’s.

The Creator, God, who made everything and controls it all, is the one who put each government into power and those who are in power are doing His will whether they know it or not. Nothing happens without His knowledge, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem to be at the time. Some people may ask, “Why does God allow suffering or murder or any of a thousand other atrocities which happen in our world everyday?” He allows it because He doesn’t control us!

We are the ones who commit those crimes every day and most are committed by people who do not know God at all! They may know of Him, but knowledge doesn’t make you a Christian. Believing in Him and His son, Jesus, does! The decision to follow Jesus is easy but the “following” is not. Our old nature tries to take over every second of every minute and if you do not decide to truly follow the teachings found in the Bible, you will not be a successful follower of Christ!

Once you truly decide to allow Christ into your life and your heart, it does become easier but the temptations never really go away. Satan is in control of this world but he is also under subjection to God so anything that he does is still in God’s will and His purpose. Humanity chooses to do whatever evil or good is in their hearts to do at whatever time they choose to do it. We are not controlled like robots, but only watched over by God. He loves and cares for us all, just like any loving father would for his children.

God put the universe together and He lovingly knitted your DNA together, just like He did with everyone else on this planet. He knows you far better than you know yourself and He would like to have a relationship with you if you would let Him. Give God a chance to show you what He can do with you and for you because no one else can do what He can!

Public opinion and policies

Our government has been working toward a premise that all of us need a college education to be an effective member of society. That is not so. A quote from an article that I read earlier says this:

“A good job requires a field of action where you can put your best capacities to work and see an effect in the world. Academic credentials do not guarantee this.“

There is proof of this since there are many with credentials up to PhD. that are working in jobs that do not require such lofty educational degrees. I am working as a technician on PC’s and I have a BS in Medical Technology but laboratories are cutting back on the number of employees rather than hiring. Although I do enjoy my work my degree is not being used at all. That is not to say that my talents are not being used, just my degree.

In other “policy” areas I have seen stories of legislation that is trying to bring about a “year of the Bible” but it will likely fail because there aren’t enough Christians with backbone enough to stand up for their own beliefs serving in Congress. On the other hand, there are plenty of lobbyists for the atheist side with comments such as this:

“Right now, we’re seeing atheism on such a rise,” said David Silverman, vice president and national spokesman of American Atheists, a group dedicated to fighting for the civil rights of atheists.

“We are seeing Christianity on such a dramatic decline that we’re not particularly worried about it. We’re thinking that this kind of old-style George W. Bush Republicanism is about to go away,” Silverman said, referring to the latest Pew Forum survey of American religious life, which showed non-religious Americans as the fastest-growing group.

Our country was founded on Christian beliefs and principles regardless of what the atheists would like for us to believe. The actual separation between church and state that Thomas Jefferson was speaking of was to keep the government from regulating our religion, not eradicating it entirely from the government itself.

There seems to be a growing public opinion that our country is a country of secularists and not Christians and the evidence seems to be pointing in that direction. Those of us who are Christians are just sitting back and watching this happen and not voicing our concern or our opinion at all. I am using this forum to at least get the word out although I am not sure if anyone is reading this or not. I pray that God will use me and my small voice to get some people upset enough to do something or say something in the right venue that may have some effect before it is too late.

Pentagon To Drop Bible Quotes From Daily Briefings - wcco.com

Dropping quotes from the Bible is not going to help!

Pentagon To Drop Bible Quotes From Daily Briefings - wcco.com

I realize that there is supposed to be a separation between our government and the church but only so that the government doesn’t control the church! That has nothing to do with whether our troops are Bible-believing Christians or not. Our country was founded by and would not have been settled at all if the people coming over to America had not been Christians who were trying to escape religious persecution and control from their own country.

Our government cannot escape its place in history or in prophecy. We have a place in both and we cannot ignore or deny this, if we do the end will be far worse than the beginning.

God is the Creator and He is waiting

God is the Creator of all things. By His own word it is told to the world that He put the stars in their constellations for signs and seasons. He created and is creating even now. He is the one who knits together our bodies and molds the personality that He knows will be each one of us. Science can’t prove this with their theories or computer models or equations.

He created all things and by Him all things were created. The sun, the moon and all of the planets were placed where they are by Him. In their precise orbits so that none would interfere with the others and so that they would inspire mankind. Our own planet is exactly where it is supposed to be, not by accident but by design. God’s design.

The primates which our own theorists think that we came from are not our ancestors. We are similar in many respects but God made us in His image and He did not do it with another animal. Mankind was given a soul and the ability to choose what he does with his life. Primates and all other animals have no choice, they are and always have been what they are and cannot change because that is how God created them.

Granted, there are some early “kinds” that God created that changed due to their location or climate but that is adaptation not evolution. All life was created to produce according to its kind regardless of what it may have started out as. Mankind has always been that and was never “in the trees” as a primate.

I know there may be some or quite a few people who will disagree on these points but that is how it was told to Moses and handed down through the generations to us. Our world and our very lives would not exist without the grace of God and His love for us. All of us get to live another day because He wants us to, He needs us to be here to fulfill our purpose in His plan not because we have to pay bills!

Your life is much more than what you may think it is. It belongs to God and it follows His purpose whether you realize it or not. Even those of you who have not given your lives to Him, you still live because He wills it not because of anything that you or I do.

We do not and cannot exercise that much control over our lives even though we believe that we do. Can you change your hair color or texture at will? Can you affect the color of your skin? No!!  God made all of us the way we are for His purposes, not ours! He loves us all, even those who have turned their backs on Him. He doesn’t turn His back on us unless He knows that we will not come to Him, which He does. All the sermons and prayers will not help someone who will not come to Him, but they will convict that person in the end because they did not listen with their hearts.

The message has always been available to all. God wrote the message in the constellations, it has been preached in churches for over two thousand years and in synagogues for longer than that. Millions of people have heard the message but hearing doesn’t mean that they have taken the message into their hearts and believed fully in the Son of God, Yeshua (Jesus). The time is getting closer. The age of the Church is drawing to an end. The prophecies of Revelation are being fulfilled on a daily basis and quickly bringing about the “end of the age”. Read, pray, listen with your ears and your heart before it is too late. Once the door is shut by God, nothing on earth can open it again.

Life as we see it

"My life is mine to do as I will!" This is the position that most people have about their lives and that is fine except that is not the way that God intended. We have the ability to choose, but we should be seeking Him and His way for our lives. I have noticed that many people profess to be Christians but their lives do not show it outwardly. In many people's lives the world cannot see any change in their life at all and that is sad.

Sad because in the end it is going to send them to hell. Sad because it is going to rob them of the joy of serving God now and forever. Sad because the people that they come in contact with, in this life, will think that Christians act this way and that they are hypocrites.

Our service to God should never be a question which needs answering, it should show in and through our lives and our actions. If your walk and your faith do not show, how will anyone know? Jesus called all of His followers to be in the world but not of the world so that we can be examples of His teachings. If we are not living our faith, then don't claim it! Don't tell someone that you are something that you can't show by your actions! If your faith is too weak, ask God to increase it and help you to be more like Him. He always answers a prayer such as that, especially from a Christian who is slipping from the path and needs to be nudged back up on it.

God loves us all, prove to Him that you can love Him in return!

Fearfully and wonderfully made

A quote from the Bible is in order here so:

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” (Psalm 139:13-14)

This verse, written by King David, has enormous implications in our world today. The abortion of millions of babies and the massacre of people who don't believe like you do are two examples of the horrors going on in the world. Persecution of Christians in countries where Islam or other religions are prevalent, sometimes to the point of imprisonment and death, is on the increase and seems to get worse all of the time.

God created us all. He knows every person, whether they want Him to or not. Their relationship with Him is what is at stake even if they do not think that it matters. It will one day. There is a picture that relates the death of Christ to each and every person and it is the picture of a substance which is present in all of us. Scientists may dismiss it, atheists will dismiss it, but Christians will not and I would advise anyone who reads this to investigate it and then read, prayerfully, the Bible. Don't dismiss God's Word as some old book that is full of stuff which doesn't concern you because it does! Every word in it is directed at and will be interpreted by each person the way it was meant to be, regardless of their belief.

Give Jesus a chance in your life. You won't be sorry for the decision now or in the future. Because by making Him the Lord of your life and believing in Him, you will have an eternal future.

I pray that Penn will learn the truth of the Bible

I have seen some of his video's that belittle our faith and question the validity of the Bible and that is OK. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Our lives here on earth are for service to God, not just ourselves. Of course, most of the world seems to think otherwise but that is the point of this blog! If we don't at least try to get the message out about Jesus and His love for us, we are doing Him a disservice and we are not living up to the commission that He gave to His disciples to go and preach. If Penn has hardened his heart and his beliefs so much that the Spirit can't reach him, then he has no hope and I will pray that it has not happened.

He may be an atheist but this video shows that we can touch anyone's heart. I pray that someday he will come to Jesus and stop belittling Christians and their faith. I know that according to the scientists and other "religious" people that the Bible has some points in it that may contradict acceptable behaviour today. The book itself was written by more than 60 authors over three thousand years and yet they are all pointing toward the same message and the Saviour, Jesus.

If you could find 60 scientists to write about evolution or biology, none of them would agree or even be writing about the same message let alone being separated by hundreds of years or even a thousand and still have the same message? Not possible!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JHS8adO3hM

Our freedoms are being taken away

I have tried to be as polite as possible in my service to Him and I will continue to be but when your first amendment rights to free speech are taken away, you have to stand up. I posted a couple of times on a website called drudge.com and they revoked my so-called privileges to post or even leave comments because I was "preaching". I did not mean to be offensive although my posts were not necessarily about a specific news topic, they were about news that most of the people on this site needed to hear, whether they like it or not.

John 3:16 said that ""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."

The Bible is very clear about this and the fact that we only have to believe in Him and who He is. This is too simple for some to accept or take into their hearts and yet it is and always has been the truth. The Bible may be an "old musty book" as some have said, but how many other books were written by more than 60 authors and still have the same theme from beginning to end all pointing to our Saviour, Jesus Christ? None!

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

We can do more for those who hate us, than for those who love us

Our lives are to be used in service to others through our faith in Christ. Our faith in Christ is what gives us the strength and ability to do what needs to be done for God and His kingdom. This is supposed to be the purpose of every Christian on earth.

The people who hate us and ridicule us are those who don’t understand our faith or beliefs. The say that they don’t want what we have and yet, the self-help section in bookstores is overflowing, psychologists are turning away patients, people are taking Prozac and other medications by the handful. Why?

Because they are searching for something to fill the emptiness inside them. It may be drugs or sex or alcohol or many other things that are harmful to them as a person, but they will turn to something, anything! Especially when they don’t know what it is that they are looking for.

Most self-help books just re-package the same themes which are found in the Bible. They take the “religious words” out to make it easier for non-Christians to incorporate it into their lives but if you take them and compare them to an English Standard Version of the Bible they sound almost identical.

People hate to hear the words which I have penned here, especially those in the tech-industry. I have noticed that if you mention God or the Bible or Christ around people who are “geeks”, you will be almost “run out of town” and “hung by the neck until dead”. It doesn’t matter if you are talking about software for a Church or for Bible study.

God created the people here and gave them the knowledge to created the computer and the software which runs it. It doesn’t matter who or why they say they did it, God has always been in control of everything that happens past, present and future.  The technology which runs almost everything today is not new to God. He knew about the Internet long before it came into existence. Give Him a chance in your life. Listen to the Word in the Bible. Pick one up in a bookstore and read a little, it won’t hurt. You might find something that you have been searching for all of your life, but you will never know if you don’t at least try it. He is waiting. He loves you regardless of who you are or what you have done.

God can do more with you than you can

Like a potter, God can mold you to be more of Him and His likeness. I was at a revival last night and the image of a potter with an old pot came to me. It was broken, chipped, with some holes in it. The potter sat down at His wheel, brought out just enough water to dampen the clay and make it pliable again and began to work. The process was not a quick fix and it took a while but eventually a new pot emerged from the old. This one was better suited for the task that the potter had in mind. This one had a large handle which would give him a better hold on it. It also had a larger portion in which to pour the Spirit which would fill it and allow more of Him to be poured out to others. The mouth of the pot was large so that as the Spirit was being poured out more could get in and make it an endless stream coming from Him.

This is the way that God wants us to be. Useful to Him as vessels into which He can pour the essence of who He is so that we can pour Him out to the world which desperately needs Him. If there is a void in your life, allow God to fill it! You will be amazed at how much of Him can fit in there and how much more will fit as well. Our lives could be so much more rewarding because of Him and what He can do for you and through you! Please, give Him a chance. Read only one book in the Bible with prayer, specifically Romans. He will work a true miracle in your life and through you to others. Be bold for Him and there is no way He will allow you to fail in His will for your life.

Are we content?

Paul spoke of being content in any situation in which he might find himself. His contentment came from knowing Jesus and knowing that he served Him to the fullest extent that he could. Is it possible for us to know this contentment in the times in which we are living? Yes! God and His son, Jesus are still in control and will always be! If we will be submitted to serving them in our lives on a daily basis, we can have that feeling of contentment in spite of the economic times in which we are living.

God wants us to be and have life abundant, especially when we are following Him and serving in His Kingdom. He created everything in the universe from the smallest atom to the largest galaxy. He knows exactly how things are supposed to work together and why. We were created for His purposes and He knows what purpose is right  for each of us in His service. It doesn’t matter what kind of “job” you have as long as you can do it in service to Him and with humility, not arrogance and pride in service to yourself or the world.

God loves all of us, no matter where we live or what religion we claim to believe in. If you feel a tug on your heart toward Him and to His son, Jesus, please respond positively! Humanity was created in His Image to serve Him in whatever capacity or position we find ourselves in. Our lives are not ours alone, but His!

If God is for us, who can be against us? ³²He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?  Romans 8:31,32

I do realize that there are some who do not believe that Jesus was the Son of God and that He was “just a prophet”. The prophecies in the Old Testament point to Him and His birth long before He came to us as the Son of David, the Messiah. I don’t have the room to point out all of the passages which speak of Him and tell who He is, but they are there.

Give the word of God a careful study so that you will find these passages, most of which are in Isaiah. There are also some in the Psalms of David and many others in Daniel, Jeremiah, Micah, etc.

Before your life ends here, please give yourself the chance to hear and really listen to a Bible teaching church and its pastor. Read God’s Word and ask Him to help you to understand and He will. When you do make your decision, it will be the right one. I pray that you and your loved ones will come to Him and be fulfilled in Him.

Our time is short but His message is timeless

God is the creator of the Universe regardless of what science tells people. He placed the stars and galaxies exactly where He wanted them to be and they will stay that way unless He says otherwise. Our lives should be the same. We should strive to do His will in our lives and in the place where He has placed us. Non-believers, take heart, God loves and cares for you too.

He is only waiting for you to decide to place your faith in Him. He knows exactly what you need and when you need it. Your life is in His hands and always has been, because He formed you in the womb! He knows exactly and perfectly about you. More intimately than anyone on earth could ever know you is the way that God knows you.

Don’t put off your decision to join in partnership with Him. Jesus stands at the door of your heart and knocks, gently. But, He knows exactly when you will answer. Give Him that answer soon, won’t you? God doesn’t love you because of what you have done in the past, He loves you because of who He created you to be! He knows what you can do for Him and His kingdom and the limitations that you may have, but He also knows how much you can accomplish that someone else may not be able to do.

We are each given a measure of talents and gifts by God to be used in His service, with no regard to our present circumstances. He knows exactly what you can and cannot do and will give you the words to say when they are needed.

Do what you can for Him while you still have the time to do so! He will reward you with far greater value than earthly things can be measured.

The 23rd Psalm, paraphrased

The Lord is my shepherd, I have everything that I need. He gives me rest daily in His pastures, and leads me beside peaceful, quiet waters. He renews my strength. He guides me in paths that He wants me to follow, bringing honor to His name.

Even when I go through tough times in my life, I will not be afraid, for you are there beside me. Your strength protects and comforts me.

You prepare a meal for me in the presence of my enemies. You welcome me as Your guest, anointing my head with oil. My portion of blessings is overflowing. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will be with me every day of my life, and I will dwell in Your house forever.

The time we have here is important

It is important to us, to our families and to God. Our lives are and always have been important to Him. If many of you would listen and check out His word, the Bible, you would see this is true. 

Psalms 118: 8  It is better to trust in the Lord than to put your confidence in people.

The Lord of Hosts and the Creator of the Universe loves all of His creation, especially us! He created us in His image, all of us! It is about time that we realized this. The word of God is full of passages which point to this out in detail.

We were put here to serve Him and His purposes on earth. Many people are confused about what this means. The Bible tells us if we only take the time to come to Him and pray about it while we study His word. He will reveal exactly what we are to do for Him and how to do it. The Bible is the only Living Word of God. It was sent to us to guide us and reveal to us what our purpose on earth is. Jesus was and is the Living Word and is manifested in the world now as the Bible itself. He is the Son of God and the savior of the world.

Give your life to Him and  live fully dedicated to Him and you will never regret it. He can and will reward you with more than you could ever hope for…. a life that will never end and more satisfaction in your life here than you can get from the world.

Life in our time

We should be grateful and humble that we are living in this time and in the United States of America. Our lives would be totally different had any of us been born in another country. I do realize that there are some who may read this from other countries so please forgive me for sounding like I am a bit too proud to be an American.

Our country and the world around us is in a financial mess that is likely to get worse far quicker before things get better. I am not a financial guru so I cannot give advice, though many people do that these days and their advice is not much better than what most have heard their grandparents say. Which was good advice but only if it is followed. The place that most of their generation got their knowledge from was the Bible and that is where we need to go back to. There are people who claim to be atheists or even wiccans who when faced with something that they know their belief doesn’t address they will call on God. How do you think He feels about that?

His patience and love for us cannot be understood unless we read the Bible where it is shown over and over again to the Jews but also extended to the rest of us, the Gentiles. Our life would not be what it is if He did not love all of us. We would likely be very different people than we are because He would have started over. He is the creator after all and can do anything He wishes to do with His creation.

The attitude of some against Christians as well as the beliefs we have is unbelievable to most of us. Of course the world doesn’t accept us because it rejects anything which makes it accountable for its actions, good or bad. It is truly sad to think that the only way that most of the world who aren’t Christians will ever see us as we are will be at the throne of Christ when He returns.

Something died in me

I was prompted this morning to write about, of all things, death!  I have never experienced the death of a sister or brother through war or by evil things that men do or even by accidents, but the feelings of betrayal and loss are the same. I have a half-brother and sister and I was very worried when she was serving in the Army because she spent most of her five year enlistment in Europe and some in Iraq. God answered my prayers and protected her, somehow as only He can do.

There are many people who have lost loved ones to the evil and hateful ways of men and I am sure that they question God’s love and His divine love when things go terribly wrong. He is still there and He does care. In fact, He will avenge their deaths in ways that we cannot possibly imagine. “Vengeance is Mine, says the Lord.”

The first death that I experienced was the death of my marriage, then my grandmother and finally my mother, grandfather, and my Dad. A few years later, my mother-in-law, my son’s grandmother, died. I was questioning, searching for the answer when I came to realize that He had a plan in all of this. I did not like nor enjoy how His plan for my life worked out but after a while of prayer and crying out to Him, I came to know Him better than I ever had before. I know that death is something that we all have to come to grips with at some point in our lives, and it is not a pleasant part of life at all but it is necessary. Even the loss of someone by gun or by an accident on the highway or even by drugs is not overlooked by God. He knows when your life will end and how, unfortunately He can’t prepare our family or us for it unless we let Him.

I wasn’t ready for any of the deaths which occurred in my life, but He knew that unless I experienced them I would never grow into the person that He intended for me to be. I know, that seems to be a cruel way to cause someone to “grow-up” but even in the Bible there are times when people would die so that a new leader would be brought into their place.

Bitterness, anger, frustration, feelings of resentment, loneliness, grief, frustration….these are all feelings that we experience when someone dies before their time or before we are ready. God knows and cares about all of us and for those who were Christians, He was there to greet them when they came into His presence. The sad truth is that many people die not knowing Him, but sometimes this is the only way to get another member of the family to come to Him and God knows that. It is not pleasant and it is never easy on the family regardless of how the person died.

God loves you! Give Him a chance to show it by coming to Him and crying to Him about your hurt and your anger. The only way that these feelings will be helpful to you is if you let Jesus heal the damage they have caused in your life. There is no way to bring back the people we have lost except through our memories of them, but those memories can be much sweeter if we will talk with the One who can help. The only One who can truly help spiritually, emotionally and eternally. Give Him the chance to show just how much He cares and you will be amazed.