Category: Abide in Him

Satan was sent here…


When Satan was Lucifer he convinced at least a third of the angels of heaven to join him to take God’s throne. But God exiled all of them to the Earth. I never did understand why God would send him down here and I still don’t. We have our own “demons” to deal with every day without any help from them. My point in this is easy but it also is a warning to everyone who reads it, if Satan can convince angels to rebel against God, how easy would it be to get into your mind or mine and make us think about something that is sinful, even when we know better.

He tempted Eve in the garden and of course her husband went along with the temptation. Then the whole of creation was cursed because of their disobedience. I am looking forward to the day when Jesus comes back and sends Satan away for a thousand years. I know the King that rules the world during that time will be much better than any “politician” we have ever had.

During that time, the world will be much better than it is today and I hope that many people who live during that time will be followers of Jesus Christ. God loves all of humanity but He isn’t thrilled with the way many of us treat each other or the way we believe or don’t believe in Him. Seek to know Jesus by reading His Word and the more that you know about Him, you may find that you want Him as your Savior.

Do you believe in God?


Here is a simple explanation between believing or not: when asked if there is a God, a theist says “yes”, an atheist says “no”, and an agnostic says “I don’t know”.

You can choose to argue if you wish, but the answer is the same. Life and creation can prove that God exists, although most atheists choose to believe that evolution caused everything to form spontaneously. In my view, it takes far more faith to believe in evolution than it does to believe in God or the Bible itself. Where do most people seem to be in this description of beliefs?

Here is a breakdown of some beliefs or lack thereof:

When pollsters like the Pew Research Center survey people who are religiously unaffiliated (often called “nones”):

  • Nothing in particular: The majority of unaffiliated individuals (about 63% in the U.S. and similar majorities globally) describe their religion as “nothing in particular” rather than adopting the label of atheist or agnostic. Many of these individuals still hold spiritual or vague higher-power beliefs.
  • Agnostics: Make up about 20% of religious “nones” in the U.S. (or roughly 6% of the total U.S. adult population), identifying with the view that the existence of God or the ultimate truth is unknown or unknowable.
  • Atheists: Make up about 17% of religious “nones” in the U.S. (or roughly 4% to 5% of the total U.S. adult population), explicitly rejecting the belief in God or deities.

My blog has always been written by a Christian, so yes I do believe in God and His Word, the Bible. There is no reason to ask the question about whether there is a God or not because the heavens declare His handiwork. Yet, the most beautiful area of the United States, in my opinion, has the most non-religious people in it. I’m speaking of New England. I drove through there many years ago and the mountains and trees were so beautiful, I thought “God was having a good day when He designed this part of America”.

Belief in God is not a requirement for living but it should be. A baby is formed in the womb by cell division and multiplication and God places all of our characteristics inside each of us before we are born. He told Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you…” God knows each of us in such an intimate way that it cannot be denied but many people choose to do so.

What will be your destination?


Many of us just live our lives as if they are going to keep going. We don’t think about “end of life” until we have to. Even then, we don’t consider our eternal life. So…what will be your eternal destination? Will you just go puff and that is it after your mortal body dies? Do you believe in an eternal destination? It seems that many people do because most obituaries seem to point to a heavenly destination. But what if your soul doesn’t go to heaven? How do you get to Heaven?

How do you get to Heaven?

According to the Bible and the Christian definition, you can only get there by believing in Jesus as your Savior. There are no work requirements and no other “hoops” you have to jump through. Is this the right way? Again, according to Jesus Christ, belief in Him is the only way to come into the presence of God in heaven. Accepting Jesus as your Savior takes all of the punishment for your sins away and you are wiped clean.

There are other religious ways in the world and I won’t list them here. But, in the past 25+ years that I have been a follower of Jesus, no other religion offers you an eternal relationship except Christianity. God loves all of us, but He knows our weaknesses and our strengths and He knows who will accept Jesus as their Savior and who will not.

Remember the thief on the cross? He asked Jesus to remember me when you come into your kingdom. Jesus told him, “today you will be with Me in paradise”. He couldn’t even be baptized, but he was saved. Just believe in Jesus and ask Him to forgive you of your sins.

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High price conversation


I met a man in 1990 who I have prayed for ever since. Not every day, but I still pray for him. He may be deceased by now, I don’t know. I got into an elevator with him and I tried to strike up a conversation with him, just small talk while we were on the elevator. He interrupted me and said, “I’m going to stop you right there. I charge $800 an hour for my time.” I just said, “Okay”. The trip in the elevator wasn’t going to be very long, but according to his estimate, talking to me wasn’t worth his attention, even if it was just small talk.

I’m glad that God isn’t like that. He listens to every prayer, and every cry for help. Even if it is just one word spoken in anguish and pain. God loves us and cares for each of us more than we will ever know, until we are in Heaven.

I listened to a program a few minutes ago talking about the prayer shawl (Tallit) that every Jewish person knows about. The prayer shawl represents God and all of His attributes. His name YHWH is represented by the knots on the corners (Tzitzit) of the prayer shawl. All of the threads mean something, in particular the commandments of God. I apologize if I have gotten parts of it wrong. My point is this, in reference to the “corner of His garment” mentioned in the New Testament, the woman touched the name of God. She had faith enough to know that if she could only touch that, her medical problem would be cured.

God’s economy doesn’t work by how much money you have or what value you can bring to Him. God is the Creator of everything! You are worth the life of His Son, Jesus, so you are worth far more than any amount of money, including the entire wealth of the whole world! God could create a planet-sized diamond if He wanted to, so there is no amount of gold or silver that you could offer Him to gain His attention.

Your life and your soul are worth Jesus’ dying on the cross and coming out of the tomb on the third day. Jesus is God in human form, with all of our feelings and temptations and it was only because He had the nature of God in Him that He was able to live a sinless life to pay for our sins. If you can place your faith in Him and give your heart to Him, like the thief on the cross, you will be saved. No amount of work required. No giving away your wealth, although that would take a burden from you. Just give Him yourself as a living sacrifice each day and walk with Him until He returns. It is a daily walk, one step at a time.

Why does God care about us?


This is a question that, it seems, crosses many people’s minds today. It is a question that many have wondered about for many centuries. If you have read the Bible, especially the New Testament, Jesus showed God’s love for mankind all during His ministry. It is easy to see God’s love for us because He has waited twenty centuries to allow as many people to come to faith in Jesus. Your life and my life also show how much God loves us because we are alive today. Yes, I have pain in my legs and my back but that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love me. There are many people dealing with pain and suffering caused by cancer and arthritis and other diseases, but God provides the strength for them to weather them.

God loves us and cares about us because He stitched us together in the womb and for many of us, He does have a purpose. Some of us will not accept His gift of salvation and that’s their choice, but God knew their choice before they did. It is sad that people don’t like to hear that. Yes, God is like any Dad, He will let you make your mistakes and sometimes He lets you suffer because of your mistakes. The gift of grace and salvation is offered to all, but some will not accept His offer. God doesn’t force you to take His gift, it is your choice to accept it or not.

What excites you about eternity?


Has anyone ever even asked you about your eternity? Many people have likely never been asked this question. But, have you thought about it? Eternity is a long, long time and since Jesus talked about it then it surely is your destination. Where will you spend it is the question that needs answering. Some people, even pastors, have questioned where we will be after our life here. If you have read the gospels or heard a sermon from them, you have heard about it. Jesus died for us to have a chance at being in Heaven with Him so there is a life after this one, the only question that needs to be answered is will you be with Jesus?

If you haven’t given your life to Him then your eternity looks very different. You will be outside the boundaries of Heaven and outside the presence of God. Have you ever thought how that would be? Life would not be here without God’s sustaining it, including each of us.

When things go wrong…


All of us have those days that try our patience. We lose our keys or our glasses. The car won’t crank or maybe its making some awful noise going down the road. Hopefully, these things won’t happen on a Monday or a Friday but we don’t have control over any of it. God will help you through it. I know when these things are happening it doesn’t feel like God is anywhere near you, but He is.

God loves us and He is there with us wherever we may be. That is why I pray while I’m driving. I need Him to be near so I can get to my destination and back home again. I know He’s always near, but it makes me feel better when I’m in traffic. Our lives can be so useful to Him in many ways. When you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, you have access to Him all of the time, every day and in any situation. You are loved more than you realize because the love of God is like nothing we can imagine.

God gives us the strength and the faith to make it through many situations so don’t think you can do it on your own. For some things you might be able to get by without His help but even those could’ve been easier with His help. We are very stubborn at times and I know that I’m not the only one. Allow God to come into your heart and your life so you won’t be going through bad days or good days without Him.

Which world do you live in?


All of us live in the world, mainly the three dimensional world that everyone else lives in. But, there is a world here that is darker and more malevolent and evil than we can imagine. We, humanity and anyone who believes in Jesus, are hated there with a deep and abiding hatred that we cannot understand. So we actually live in both worlds, except the world that the devil and his minions inhabit is a spiritual world that occupies the same area that we live in. But, God doesn’t allow him to do as he wishes with the Earth and its inhabitants thankfully.

God is gracious enough that He protects us as we live our lives every day. Life here is literally held in God’s hands because if it were not, the devil would likely kill every person on the Earth. But, God won’t allow him to have that much control on Earth. The devil can only do things that God allows him to do and we should be very grateful for that.

God loves all of us, yet He cannot save all of us because of our stubbornness and refusal to believe in Him. Life can have an extension into the future but only if we believe in Jesus for our salvation from our sins. I ask all of you who may read this to seek a church that teaches from the Bible and learn about your Savior. Then give your life to Him and believe that He saved your soul from an eternity apart from Him.

Your Jordan river…


All of us have a Jordan to cross or be baptized in or even to be cleansed in. Whatever your Jordan may be, don’t turn away from it because it looks dirty or muddy. Jesus stepped into the Jordan because He came to be our Savior. He didn’t need cleansing. He didn’t need forgiveness. He was being washed with the water because His ministry was just beginning. The Spirit sent Him into the wilderness to begin His testing. Not because He needed to be tested, but because His ministry needed to begin with the testing and His victory over the one testing Him.

Our Christian life is our testing ground after we come out of the baptismal water. Every day is a test that we have to pass by leaning on and depending on Jesus to get us through each day. One day at a time, one step at a time. Some of us try to do it on our own and God will let us try it that way but we are more likely to stumble and fall when we do it “our way”. Walk with Jesus every hour and every day, praying and being in a prayerful attitude each and every hour. Why? Because the devil doesn’t stop trying to trip you and me. Every step we take, he puts something in front of us or in our thoughts to cause us to trip and fall. But, we have been forgiven through the blood of Jesus. As long as we confess the stumble or the fall, asking for forgiveness we are forgiven fully and completely.

Life is a constant walk toward Heaven. God knows the date that you will arrive. He is in control and will give us the strength to finish that journey. Follow Jesus into the Jordan and out the other side and your life will have the meaning that God had always prepared for you.

He loves you