Speak the Truth but only in love!

Why do we tend to make up stuff to say in front of people? We want to make people think that we are more than we are. We want to be more important in the eyes of other people than we are supposed to be! Why do I think this? Because it is true! We, as Christians, are supposed to be examples to everyone that we meet and if we are not committed to being Christians then we might as well not be.

God loves you and all that you can do because He knows what you are capable of, especially when we are doing His will or at least trying to be in His will. We are able to be prophets and disciples for Jesus and bring His Truth to everyone who needs to hear it. No, we won't be giving the news ahead of time unless we are glorifying God with a prophecy from Him. God's prophecies are all in the Bible and unless you are repeating them, then you are telling something which is not from Him!

The Truth is from God because He is the Truth. We are here because of His Truth and grace. God loves you more than you or I can understand and the only way that you can learn of it is by reading and studying God's Word, the Bible. Yes, there are wars in the Bible, yes there is incest in the beginning of the book, there are people who kill their children and other people's children while worshipping other gods. The reason for this is because the people went into the land that God promised to them, but they didn't kill all of the people that had been living there. Why was this important? Because God knew that if they did not, His people would stray into another religion and worship other "gods".

We make up our own gods today and people do it all the time. We can't get by without our phones, our jobs, our families, our churches or the prestige that we have from our wealth and we turn those things into our "gods" today! The truth is that we look at all of these things as parts of our lives that we can't make it for a day or more without them and we need to put God in that place! He needs to be the One that we can't get up without in the morning or go to work without or drive home without! He needs to be more important than our cell phones? People walk around with those things stuck to their faces everywhere and yet they supposedly they don't have time for God!

Our life in Him, His Life in us!

Some people think that Christianity is just like other religions. That there is no difference other than the person that we believe in. We still have to try hard to be good enough to “get saved” before Jesus will accept us as His. This view of doctrine is not from God’s Word.

Jesus’ words were “I will abide in you and you abide in Me”. The word translated as “abide” can mean many things like “walk, live with, or trust”. Our responsibility as Christians is to daily live as Christ would have us live. Follow Him daily or as scripture puts it “pick up your cross daily and follow Me”.

God expects us to be holy as He is holy but He knows that we cannot do this without Him. We are not able to be holy on our own, our righteousness is as “filthy rags” before a holy God. Without Jesus in your heart, nothing that you do or say can ever be “worthy” enough.

Other religions of the world try to get us to work our way toward heaven so that it is our accomplishment and our way which brings us to heaven. These religions have been and are being deceived by the ruler of this world, Satan, the adversary of God. He can and has done this for many thousands of years and is still doing it. The world doesn’t like Christians or our message because our message is against their way of life. It makes everything that they do or say look foolish because it is when judged by God’s Word.

Before the troubled times come at the end of this age, please read the Bible! Ask someone to explain it to you, pray about it and ask God to show you what you should know and what you need to know. He will if you ask.

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.

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.

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.

At least half of every person belongs to……..?

Some more than others are controlled by their own lusts, pride, ambition or ego. There was a country song back in 1995 called “Cain’s Blood”. I don’t know if it ever became very popular but it describes the human condition perfectly. On one side is our conscience telling us that we shouldn’t be doing something we know is wrong and on the other is “Cain’s blood” , or the bad side of us, telling us to go ahead if it feels good.

There are many temptations in our world and for many people there is no way out, as far as they know. The way out is there, you just have to ask for it. Jesus provides the way and the Bible is the instruction book. It has always been there throughout history. Some people find it and embrace it, others know it is there but take a long time to embrace it. There are some people who reject it completely and want no part in any church or service to Him.

Those teachings come from God because the Bible is His word written by human hands by the prompting of His Spirit. God has led me to write this blog, although some people may not agree with nor believe that. I have never been a “writer” for most of my life until a few months ago when I started this. Now, I can’t stop writing!

Each person has the choice to make in their life which side they will follow. Nothing is ever forced on anyone regarding your spiritual condition. God left it up to us to decide. If we choose to follow Him and His Son, Jesus, we will have eternal life with Him in Heaven. If not, we will still have eternal life but it will be in torment because of the decision that we made not to follow Him. It won’t be because of anything that we did in our life here on earth. Paul was a persecutor of the early church and stood by while Stephen was stoned to death for doing nothing more than preaching about the risen Christ. So the most prolific writer of the New Testament was a murderer, and yet Jesus saw much more in him.

Your life doesn’t have to be just your job or where you live. It can be your service to Him! I would rather go into Heaven and hear the words from my Lord, “Well done good and faithful servant” than to have a billion dollars on earth. I still live in a “trashy trailer” and have all of my life. I am not ashamed of it. I would like to have a “real” house but that is not what a home is. Home is where you are loved and accepted and can enjoy being with your family in reasonable comfort. It doesn’t have to be anything more than that.  My real home is where Jesus is and I am looking forward to getting to see Him.

Eternity! That is a loooong time!

My life these past couple of years has been eventful and rewarding. God has taught me a lot about Himself and about me. I regret to say that there are still things about myself that I don't like but I suppose God looks over them and forgives me for them. I am not perfect and never will be until I am in Heaven with Him. At which point I won't have to worry about this world and its troubles anymore, and I will serve Him forever.

That word implies that our lives don't end and, if you are a child of God and have accepted Jesus as your Lord, they won't end. Oh, the earthly body will die unless Jesus comes before your time on earth is up, but either way eternity will be glorious. My acceptance of this was not easy and I did not come to this lightly. My grandparents and my parents died before I became truly committed to my walk with God. I am still not sure why I held so tightly to my own ideas and ways, but until my dad died about seven years ago, I wasn't ready to cling to God's way. I think God used my son and my responsibility to him as a way to get me to really commit to His service.

In reference to eternal life, whether you accept Jesus or not your soul will live forever. The big question is what will you be doing and where you will be for eternity? Eternity is a very long time and we cannot comprehend with our human mind the magnitude of it. It is hard for me to think about life as it was two hundred years ago or so. Jesus' followers lived two thousand years ago. Scientists say that our sun and planets are over four billion years old (although I don't believe it). Jesus is still alive and was alive before there was anything so regardless of the age of the universe, He is.

Just knowing that you will live forever is enough to make me commit my life to Jesus. I don't understand why anyone would want to spend eternity in hell. I know that many people think that it will be a big party, but it won't. There will be no laughter or merry-making there. If you have rejected God's provision of eternal life with Him through Jesus, you will be in torment and agony forever. Those are facts spelled out in God's word so they are set in stone and will not be changed. The only way to avoid that fate is to accept Jesus as your Saviour and live for Him and His kingdom.

Many people think that it couldn't be that simple and it really isn't. All you have to do is accept Jesus as your Saviour, then the work begins! Just because you accept Him your old nature won't go away, you will have to struggle against it for the rest of your life. But when you get closer to Him and study his word, it gets easier because you are becoming more like Him. You are not becoming a god, but you will become more like Christ by doing His will for your life. That can be as simple as doing a good job at your work whatever it may be. As long as you are following Him and studying His word to become a faithful servant of His, He will direct your life and “God causes everything to work together for the good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.” Romans 8:28

A prayer for us, all

Our Father in Heaven, who created all that is and was and is to come. I know that you can see through time as we see through a window, regardless of the direction you look. You knew well what people would do with your servants and prophets and your Son. Forgive us, Lord, for our lack of commitment and will to do Your will and not our own. To believe in Your Son and that He gave Himself for our sins and the sins of the entire world is all that you ask and that is too simple for many to accept, yet it is all that you require.

We are but puffs of smoke and our lives are nothing more than the tick of a clock compared to eternity. Even the "time line" that scientists say there has been on earth shows that the time of mankind is only a few thousand years compared to the length of four billion years which they believe our planet has existed. You could destroy and create the entire universe in less than a week and it would still appear as it does now if you chose for it to.

The amount of time that you allotted to man to live is but a puff of wind compared to eternity. In your word you said that "The days of our life are three score years and ten, or if we have strength, four score" (Psalms 90) Seventy years or, if You allow us, maybe eighty, but after that we are living on grace and nothing more. For it is by your grace and mercy that we live at all. We deserve death, but we are given life through your Son, Jesus, and through the grace which you extended to us through His sacrifice on the cross. Father, I know you will not forget your promises to us, your adopted children, or those made to your chosen people, Israel.

My prayer is simply....Come, Lord Jesus! Stir the spirits of those whom you will call to be yours so that they will come to you before the trumpet sounds for the gathering at the banquet for the marriage of the Lamb. In Jesus' name I believe and hope and I know that all these will come to pass in your time, not ours.

Thank you, Lord for the blessings which you bestow upon us daily and for the grace and mercy extended to us through your son. In Jesus' Holy name I thank you for all who will read and believe in Him and for all the blessings we receive every day we are alive. Amen.

An Open letter to the President:

I am a Christian, just as you claim to be and I have some problems with our government. Not you personally, but our whole nation in general.

The religious preference of most Americans, according to almost any “poll” you might believe, is that they are Christian or that they believe in God. The problem with that is that even the Devil himself believes in God for it was God who created him.

Ever since the late '50's our country has lost many of its so called “old fashioned values” which were taught in schools for years up until that time. I have done my research and have come to the conclusion that if our founding father's were to be transported here now, they would not recognize any aspect of our government. Not because it is two hundred years removed from their time, but because the principles upon which they had intended our government to be based upon, the Bible and its laws, has been taken out of our government altogether.

If we are to fulfill our duty to Christ's mandate and to our ancestors we must get down on our knees and pray, especially those of you in the White House and the Senate and the House of Representatives. Our nation has gone astray from the values which made the Great generation of WWII so great and we need to get back to those values which come from God's word. Please don't end your term in office without a declaration of a national day of prayer and fasting and a call to America to repentance and revival.

So many souls, not enough time

Christian's have been given the greatest commission of all, to spread the gospel of Jesus and his plan of salvation for humanity. In the world right now there are so many people who need Christ, but there are so few willing or able to bring His message to them all. I am hoping that some of you who read this blog will consider being a witness for Him. If you are not a Christian, please find someone who has a Bible and read it. The plan is in there and the purpose for your life is in there too. Don't neglect your immortal soul. Eternity is a long, long time. Spending it in hell would be horrible since accepting Him and His Son is what will keep you out of it! Once you have accepted Him, you can serve Him by showing others what He has done for you.

I had "accepted" Jesus, or thought I had, many years ago but it wasn't until I went to a Promise Keepers rally that my soul yearned for Him and His word. Ever since then my life has changed drastically. I am no longer working in the vocation I was trained for, although I am still working in a hospital. I am working in the IT field now which I believe He called me to as my ministry and since working with computers is something that I truly enjoy. So now, my work is not so much "work" until something REALLY goes wrong. But, He gives me the ability to handle even those times as well.

Please consider your options and read the Bible, at least parts of the New Testament like Romans and 1 Corinthians. They contain some passages which should prick your heart and your soul. 'Til next time. In Jesus' name.

The story of salvation is spelled out for all

I have read a book by Dr. D.James Kennedy about the true meaning of the constellations. God outlined the path of salvation in them so that if people could understand and take the time to understand His ways, the constellations would spell out salvation for all.

In ancient times, the "pole" star was in the constellation of Scorpio which is a representation of the devil. Earth was under the influence of Satan up until the time of Christ and His crucifixion and resurrection, and it still is to a certain extent. After Christ's time, the pole start shifted to the constellation of ursa minor. We see this as the little dipper but it is represented as a little bear in most paintings of constellations. It is actually a sheep-fold or pen, representing the church after Jesus' time, waiting for the shepherd to come back.

God named all of the stars and placed them where they are so that they would serve their purpose of showing all the people the way to salvation. Unfortunately, the message and the constellations themselves were perverted into astrology and myth by the pagan world and that is what has caught on and become popular. Their true message, if looked at from the perspective of the message in the Bible, is an outline of salvation and the struggle between Satan and Christ and Christ's ultimate triumph over Satan.

There is so much more to add to this, but the bottom line message is that we can be saved from our own sinful ways and the temptation which comes from Satan through the acceptance of Jesus as our savior. After that, we should serve Him and further spread His word and message to all who will accept it. He loves all of you like His own children because He formed all of us in the womb bit by bit and He knows exactly who will come to Him and when, whether you know it or not. We are not to take our lives for granted because tomorrow is not guaranteed to you much less next month or next year. Please consider the words of the Bible from John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whosoever would believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Believe in Jesus and the fact that He came to pay the penalty for all of our sins. He was not just a "good man or a great prophet". He was and is the Son of God. "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him were all things made; without him nothing was made that has been made." John 1: 1-3