Our Good Shepherd

In Psalm 23 David begins with “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want”. There are many ideas and interpretations of that phrase but mostly it has to do with your Spiritual life not your physical one. The Lord provides physical food and the ability to do your job and get the things which you need, but the last four words do not mean that you will be wealthy. It means that you won’t be in need of anything beyond His will to provide it for you. God’s will overcomes all obstacles from disease and famine to relationships between Himself and you or your family.

That doesn’t mean that He overrules your choice or your right to choose because God doesn’t force His will on us. But He does provide for us in every way and in every situation. There are times when we don’t see His hand in our lives and we feel as if He has left us to fend for ourselves but God is still close to you and me. We are never truly alone if we are Christians. If you have rejected Jesus as your Savior, God is still close by but He isn’t as close as He could be in your life. Particularly if He knows that you can do something in His Kingdom that nobody else can do. God will keep touching your life until you finally realize that you need Him as your Savior.

God has loved mankind since the dawn of Creation and before. We will never know the depth of His love for us until we are in His Presence and even then it may be too much to take in, even with our glorified bodies. Jesus came to bring His message of love to everyone, Israel first and then the rest of humanity, but many people rejected His message and still do. Is it too simple or is it just simple enough? I don’t know. I do know that some don’t place much faith in salvation in which we don’t have a part in bringing it about. They don’t like “free” gifts from God. They would rather work for their salvation to help God save their soul but our works are not necessary because Jesus did everything that needed to be done, all we have to do is accept it and believe that He did it for us!

Salvation is a gift from God to us through our belief in Jesus for our eternal soul. We can’t save ourselves and our idea of working for our eternal soul is flawed because of our fallen state. Any righteous act on our part and apart from Jesus is nothing more than rags. Because when we do anything in our own strength to “help” God save us, we are stepping out of His will and into our own. God doesn’t need or want our help in redeeming us because Jesus already accomplished it. All we have to do is believe that He did and repent of our sinful lives so we can follow His footsteps to becoming more like Jesus every day.

Living forever, can you?

A better question might be “Will you be living forever?”. Immortality here in the flesh is not possible and frankly I wouldn’t want to. My aches and pains are bad enough at the age I am now, which is 57. I could not imagine living to be 150 or 250 unless Jesus cured me of all of them. In Genesis when Adam and Eve were created they were created with perfect DNA and therefore could have lived forever IF they hadn’t disobeyed God. Even outside the garden of Eden they lived to a ripe old age. Adam lived to be 930 years of age, so to many people today that would be immortal since it is almost 1,000 years!

Jesus said that if we believe in Him for our salvation we will never die. Our physical body on Earth will die but our spiritual body, which we live into eternity with, will not experience the “second death” of being in hell and it will live into eternity in Heaven with God and all of the believers who are there. There are passages in the Bible which tell us that we will know our loved ones and be known as we were on Earth but with a deeper understanding given to us by God Himself. Your body and mine will be recognizable by our family and friends regardless of our race or our age. So immortality is possible but only through Jesus and His redeeming grace for us.

Those who have rejected Jesus in this life still have an immortal body in hell but they will experience the eternal punishment of being in a place where the Life of God and His love for us is not present, even if you have refused Him in this life. In my opinion, immortality is only worth it if you can enjoy it. I pray that all who read this will seek Jesus for their salvation before that day when they meet Him as judge rather than being welcomed by Him to your eternal home.

Are we worthy of God’s love?

It seems that this is a question which is not often asked or answered in church or any worship setting. But it should be.

According to the Bible, we are not worthy to claim God’s love for us. We aren’t worthy to be granted access to Heaven either. So why are there so many people who believe that there is another pathway or another avenue which will grant them access to Heaven? Being worthy of God’s love for us isn’t hard because He loves us and because we are His creation and His children. But being worthy of Heaven is a totally different story. God is Holy and entirely perfect as well as being the Creator of everything. Do you truly believe that you are good enough to stand in His Presence?

Even Moses, when he came to the burning bush, was told to take of his shoes because he was standing on holy ground. Why was it holy? Because the Presence of God was in the bush and the ground around the bush was holy due to His Presence there. There are many instances of a place being holy in Scripture and the majority of them are because of God’s Presence. So, do you think you are worthy to be able to stand in God’s Presence?

We are not worthy of being in His Presence, standing or on our knees or even face down out of respect. Our sins make us unworthy of Him and His love for us except when we accept Jesus as our Savior and our sins are made as white as snow. Living in this world is possible without Jesus but it is not as enjoyable because in Him we have salvation, in Him we have access to the Creator, in Him we have hope of eternity with Him and that is worth more than all of the money in the whole world!

It is only through Jesus, the Son of God, that we will be able to see God face to face one day. There is a pathway to Heaven and it is by belief in Jesus as our Savior and for our Savior and Jesus is the ONLY way! In the world today, many people seem to be pointing to or trying to find many pathways to eternity in Heaven. But there is only one path and that is through Jesus. God has never lied and the Truth of salvation is only by belief in Jesus as your Savior. The most unusual part about Jesus as your Savior is that He will not try to convince you unless you are truly lost and He has a job for you.

Jesus is hope and strength and courage and the Son of God and He gives us everything that we need to do our job, whatever it may be. Whether it is as a teacher or a preacher or a nurse or a gardener or a janitor or a fisherman, Jesus can use you in any one of these professions to reach at least one more person. You are the only person who can reach that woman or man or girl or boy and Heaven will shout for joy when they finally listen and turn to the One Who can save them.

Even if there was only ONE person to die for, He would’ve died for just one.

How much…

In a song back in the 70’s (ancient history, I know) there was a lady who wanted to buy the stairway to Heaven. In some ways it seems that there are people today who think that they can purchase their salvation or work their way up the ladder (stairway). It doesn’t work that way. Jesus came to Bethlehem as a baby and He lived His life as one of us, without sin, so that He could pay the price for ALL of mankind’s sins. If you believe in Him for your salvation then you will be in Heaven one day. If not…then you will be in hell with those who chose that pathway.

There is no gray area and no place where you can be saved and yet go back to your old life. If you are truly saved by Jesus and the Holy Spirit comes in and changes your heart, then you can’t go back to the “old way of life”. If you do, then you are likely not saved at all. You just thought you were. God knows the difference and you can tell it too, so make sure of your salvation while there is time, because when this life is over the chance to change is gone.

We must find our way to Jesus while we are yet alive here because when you cross the threshold of life and step into eternity there is no going back. Your eternity will be whatever you chose in this life. Whether it is to be in the Presence of God or to be punished in hell with those who didn’t make a choice (which is a choice) or who chose to follow their own “god”. Why we follow our own idea of “god” rather than believing the Word of God I’ll never understand. God made us in His image and yet we try to live our lives as if we made Him in our image. That is idolatry because you are making your own image of God and He cannot be God as you see fit to make Him.

God is our Creator. He is the Creator of all that is around us and in the universe. We cannot and should not try to place Him inside our little box which has limits on what “he can and cannot do”. God is limitless and unknowable except through the study and reading of His Word. He reveals as much of Himself as we can handle through it and when we get to a point where we can handle more of Him, then He will show us that much more of His character.

Make sure of your eternal home while you can so you will know what is in store after this life is over. Heaven with Jesus and friends or in hell with Satan and his “friends”. Either way it is your choice, so choose wisely. Eternity is a very long time.

Do you know Jesus?

God determined from the beginning that a Savior would be needed for mankind. He knew this even before mankind was on the Earth but He gave mankind a chance to choose so that we could choose to follow Him on our own. But…mankind chose to follow his own path and disobeyed God’s rule in the garden. God promised that the Seed of the woman would come one day to bring salvation to humanity and He did. But do you know Him?

Jesus is our Savior and He came to bear all of humanity’s sins and pay for them all so that even those who had gone to hades in the past might have a chance to decide to accept salvation through His sacrifice. This is what is meant by the Scripture, “He led captive captivity”. Jesus descended into Hades and led away those who were captive there and who would believe in Him for their salvation. God has never wanted mankind to be captive in Hades or Hell because that place was made for the punishment of Satan and his demons, not man.

The problem arises when man chooses to follow another “god” or chooses to believe the lie that there is no God. When mankind, regardless of creed or color or nation, chooses to follow someone other than Jesus then they are under the same curse that Satan and his demons are. Unless their heart has not hardened to the point of no return they will be sent to the same place as Satan. Satan knows that this does not give God pleasure and that it hurts Him which is why he has become so good at fooling us into believing things and doing things which we wouldn’t do otherwise.

The most worrisome deception that people tend to follow is that many people know about Jesus and Who He is but they haven’t given their lives to Him. They haven’t repented of their sins and learned to follow Him. They have been to church and some may be leaders in the church but knowing about Jesus doesn’t bring salvation. Knowing Him and being known by Him does. Knowing that you need Him as your Savior is the first step but you have to learn to follow Him and trust Him for your salvation. This is another trick of Satan. You’ve been a member of the church for years. You may be a deacon or teach a class or even be the pastor, but do you really know and believe in Jesus for your salvation?

We are not invulnerable to the tricks of Satan because he has had thousands of years to perfect his lies. He knows exactly where our weaknesses are and how to probe and tickle us to the point of following our own ideas and lusts rather than listening to the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is only through belief in Jesus that we can attain entrance into Heaven but today the media and many other “outlets” tell us that there are many ways to get to God, Jesus is just one of many. That is a lie straight from Satan’s mouth! He knows it and his demons know it but they want to hurt God so much until they rebelled and were sent into outer darkness until their judgment day comes.

Belief in Jesus as our Savior and Messiah is the only pathway to Heaven. The thief knew it, His disciples knew it and every Christian since then has known it if they have heard the Truth of the gospel preached. Many times in the past two thousand years Christians have been punished and tortured and killed because of their belief in Him and it is still going on today in some parts of the world. I pray that anyone who reads this will seek out their Savior today and find Him in Jesus because one day soon the world will follow someone else and he will demand that you either worship him or you will die.

Please make sure of your salvation before it is too late. None of us is sure of waking up tomorrow so make sure today while there is time for you to do so.

John 3:16 says: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son. That whosoever believeth in Him should have everlasting life.

Don’t put off your salvation decision, make it today.

What is a life with Christ?

A life with Christ is not what most people think about when they think of Christians. Many people seem to think that being a Christian is a life of lack, one in which all of the fun things in this life are forbidden. God has given us a life of abundance but not one which we should live as the rest of the world around us lives. God calls us to be “in the world but not of the world“; Christians should live in this world but we are not to follow those living in the world. The world around us follows the ruler of this world, Satan, who deceives the whole world because that is his purpose. This is why we should keep our lives separate from those living in the world.

A life with Jesus the Christ is one which should mirror His life on Earth. We may not be called to be evangelists or healers or teachers or even preachers, but we are called to be “set apart” as His followers. If for no other reason than to be a beacon of light in a world of darkness. Sometimes our speech shows other that our progress in following Jesus still has a way to go and that is when people wonder about our conversion and whether it is real or not. God can come into your heart and change you so completely until your manner of life, your speech and your personality, is completely changed but you have to be willing to walk with Him to get to this point.

God doesn’t force us to change because love cannot be forced upon anyone. But the very idea that Jesus came to give His life so that you have a chance at being accepted by God into His family should humble you to the point of your asking Him to mold me and make me what You want me to be. Because it is only by becoming the person that God wants you to be and the person that He knows you can be so that you can be the most useful to Him. Why does He want us to be “holy or set apart” from the world around us? Because if our life isn’t much different from the world and those living in it, why would anyone be interested in becoming a Christian?

It is only because of the lives that are changed that people can even tell that there is a difference between a Christian and a Muslim or a Buddhist. If we walk and talk like they do or even like those who do not believe in any religion, then how will people know that we are different? Why would they want to know what makes us different? Yes, we can say and tell others that we believe in Jesus as our Savior but if our speech and our life doesn’t actually reflect that then how can they know? Will they actually believe that what you say about your Savior is true if you still talk and act as if you don’t know Him?

A life with Christ in it should be a life with love and compassion for others in it. It should also be a life with more of God’s Word in it than the words of the world around us. Seek His wisdom today to help you to see what may be missing in your life and ask Him to come in and clean out the old stuff and make your heart and life fresh and new and completely whole in Him.