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.