You shall be filled!

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6 KJV https://bible.com/verse-of-the-day/mat.5.6/80118

He died for you

Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 1 John 3:16 KJV https://bible.com/verse-of-the-day/1jn.3.16/79993

Character comes from your heart

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. Luke 6:45 KJV https://bible.com/verse-of-the-day/luk.6.45/48430

Love not the world…

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 1 John 2:15‭-‬16 KJV https://bible.com/verse-of-the-day/1jn.2.15-16/6032

He lives!

Our Savior is not in the grave, He is at the right hand of the Father. This is the major difference between Christianity and all other religions. The other difference is that our “religion” is a relationship and not just a belief. Yes, I believe in Jesus Christ as my Savior but I also have a relationship with Him because He came and died on the cross for your sins and mine. No other religious leader in the history of the world can claim this and all of the others are still in their graves.

God gave us faith to see a future with Him even when we can’t see it with our eyes. It is our faith that allows us to believe and know that our Savior lives! Jesus is the only way to heaven because it says so in God’s Word, so don’t turn away from His call on your life when you feel it, believe it, and know that He has provided you with an everlasting gift through your belief in Him.

Your eternity with God is a gift from Him to each of us through our faith in Jesus Christ. It is not a “religion” that someone made up or thought up or even dreamed up. In the two millennia since He went back to heaven there have been millions of people who have died for their faith in Him. Nobody would die for a lie, although in some cultures over the centuries many have given their lives for a “cause” that has no merit that compares to having faith in Jesus.

What difference can you make?

Can you imagine the difference that you or I can make in the world? Most of us don’t think that we can make a difference in the world. Yet, some of us do go into the world with a dream of making a difference. Some of those start political careers. Some start ministries to reach people who need to know Jesus as their Savior. Some begin to get people together and start a movement that will bring change to our society in one way or another. Which of these do you fit in? Which one will make the biggest difference in the world?

Most of us could not answer that last question because we just don’t know. Jesus’ ministry only lasted for three years but it began changing the world before the first century was over and it hasn’t stopped since. The mother of Moses did not throw her boy in the river to be drowned but she put him in a basket and he was raised as an Egyptian prince and later came back and freed the Israelites with help from God of course. His life had an effect on the lives of millions of people.

There are many stories like his in the Bible and in many other history books. Some of the stories are about people who didn’t seem to have influence or power but before their life was over God had used them in mighty ways. God has a plan for each of us even before we are born but the only way that we will find out about it is if we will seek His will for our lives and that only comes by faith and by reading His Word. God’s will is found all through the Bible, for His people, and for you too if you will listen to Him while you read it.

Some people try to discredit the Bible or the stories in it as myths or fables but most of them have found that when they try to do this, God always has the upper hand. He always shows us that He is in charge even when we don’t believe in Him. Even when we don’t want to believe in Him. Usually, that is when He shows you some truth that can’t be explained away other than with faith.

So…is it possible for someone from a small town in Mississippi to touch many lives with the message of salvation in Jesus Christ? It is because you are reading it or at least one of the stories that I have put here. Jesus came to Earth two millennia ago and His ministry only lasted for three years but with twelve disciples plus Paul, salvation and its message has been printed in nearly all of the known languages of the world! Most of the world knows His name and His message of salvation. Believe in Jesus Christ for your salvation and you will be saved!

That is all that the thief had to believe in and Jesus told him that he would be with Him in Paradise that day! No baptism, no ministry needed, no amount of money had to be given because let’s face it the thief couldn’t do any of those things. Don’t wait until you hear the news of the rapture of the church…give your heart and your life to Jesus today!

Think on these things

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Colossians 3:1 KJV https://bible.com/verse-of-the-day/col.3.1/271

What does God want from me?

This is a long post but it needs to be said. I pray that everyone who reads this will do so prayerfully.

That is the question that many people seek the answer to sometimes for many years before they find the real answer. God doesn’t need anything from us because He is the Creator and the sovereign Ruler of the universe. When we read the Bible, whether we are reading the Old or the New Testament, there is a recurring “theme” that you can see if you are attentive while you are reading it. You will find it in every book of the Bible and it is that God demands our obedience. When God says to do this or says do not do that, He isn’t really testing you although it could feel that way. He wants our obedience. Period.

Just as the test that He placed in the Garden of Eden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God planted it there for a reason and that was to see if mankind would follow His instructions to the letter. Was the tree supernaturally powerful? Did it have some strange knowledge to bestow on mankind? Yes, it was supernatural because “their eyes were opened when they took a bite from its fruit”. Yes, in some way it did give them the knowledge that they should be ashamed of their nakedness but it was their disobedience to the command of God that started them down the pathway of sin and its consequences. This was only the first instance of disobedience but it started the ball rolling in a manner of speaking.

We are only three chapters into God’s Word at this point but the die is cast from this point on. Did Adam and Eve regret their decision? Of course, they did! While they were in the Garden, they didn’t have to work for their food at all. It grew on every tree around them. None of the animals were dangerous because Adam was their caretaker. But after they disobeyed God, the animals feared Adam and they had become more dangerous because of their fear of him. God had killed two animals to make clothes for Adam and Eve and before this time the Bible doesn’t even speak of the death of any animal. But blood had to be shed to cover their sin.

How long had Adam and Eve been in the Garden? We are not told their ages until after they were sent from the Garden and even then we don’t find out until after Seth is born. Adam was 130 years old when Seth was born, so that could’ve been how many years they had been outside the Garden. So you could look at it as there was no aging while they were in the Garden of Eden. It was their disobedience that brought aging into their lives because God had told them that “if you eat of the tree that I told you not to eat of, you will die”. Aging is a slow death. Not as slow today as it was back then, but that is the best way to look at it.

My point is that once disobedience began in the Garden, we have never been able to undo its effect on our lives. God has always wanted and required obedience to His laws and His commands but most of the time we only partially obey Him. He asks us to give a tithe (10% of our income), we give 2 or 3 percent if we give at all. He asks us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, yet many of us don’t even know our neighbors. Jesus asks His followers to take up their cross and follow Him and we can’t even figure out what that means! It means to crucify yourself daily and follow Him doing His will while you are able. Most of us choose not to crucify any part of our old lives even after we have given our hearts to Jesus. We just continue on with our lives, but maybe we don’t cuss as much or drink or smoke like we did before but would anyone who sees us every day know we are a Christian unless we told them?

Every book of God’s Word has a story of obedience or disobedience toward God’s commands in it. For most of mankind’s history, we haven’t been very good at being obedient. A small percentage of us may be obedient up to a point but there are very few who are totally obedient to every command of our Lord and Savior. I needed to write this more to myself than to anyone else because I know that I haven’t been obedient enough in my life and for that, I have asked God’s forgiveness. Maybe you should too.

No harm will come to you

And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? 1 Peter 3:13 KJV https://bible.com/verse-of-the-day/1pe.3.13/60129

What is faith?

Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Each of us has a “measure of faith”, how big that measure is has been determined by God. He gives our faith to us, whether we use it for His purposes or call it “hope” and use it for our own purpose, it is part of our salvation process. Because without faith we can’t please God and without faith, we won’t recognize our need for salvation, so we have to have it in order to be saved in the first place.

Abram believed in God and it was counted to him for righteousness. Faith and belief go together because if you don’t have one you won’t have the other. It takes faith to believe the promises of the Bible and to believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior. Some say that the Bible can’t be true but it is. It is the most truthful book in our world because all of the prophecies about Jesus were fulfilled in Jesus the Christ. All of the prophecies about the Jewish people have come true except their having peace in their land and that will come true after the Tribulation.