Category: Abide in Him

Life ahead


Are you prepared for life ahead of you? Most people today are not. Mainly because they don’t see much life ahead of them, particularly if they have a terminal illness or maybe they are advanced in years. But God says that eternity is in front of us even after this body is gone. Jesus told the thief on the cross that he would be with Him in Paradise that day. The cross and the death which it brought was not the end of life. Even though it was the end of the body, the Spirit would live on into eternity.

Most of us seem to have trouble preparing for retirement for the end of our working years (so we are told). Many don’t save up or invest enough to carry us into our later years and we miss out on the travel and the “golden years” as they used to be called. Nowadays people are working at Walmart or some other part-time job just trying to make it during those years after the job that they may have been lucky enough to retire from. Some don’t even get that luxury. They are laid off at such a late age until finding a job is next to impossible.

Your life with Jesus in eternity is something which we should be preparing for well ahead of the time, even when we don’t know when we may die. We should still prepare for it and we should start doing so as soon as we hear the gospel message and determine that we truly need Jesus! Many of us have been in church since we were children especially if we live in the South, the so-called “Bible Belt”.

But do we prepare for crossing over into eternity?

Unfortunately, most of us don’t consider our mortality until a near miss on the highway or when we get a disturbing diagnosis from our doctor. Until some of our friends begin dying before we do, death is just not part of our thinking process. Then when our grandparents and our parents die, we begin to consider that our life could end at any time as well. Even then some of us still put off any kind of preparation for eternity. I suppose we think that we will have time to do it just before the end.

The people killed on 9/11/01 didn’t have any warning that they wouldn’t be going home that night. People who are killed in car wrecks don’t have time to “fess up” before the car flips over or a truck hits them. Most of the time people who have a heart attack don’t even have the time to do more than die. The end of our life usually takes us by surprise. So much so until there is no way to prepare for it or the eternity which comes after it unless you have done so by giving your life to Jesus ahead of time. I pray that anyone reading this will seek Him out as their Savior today because tomorrow is not promised to anyone.

God gives us…


We have wind and rain. God gives us breath and our health. We are also given the light of the sun to warm us and water from the rain. God has given us all of these good things but we take them for granted each and every day. Some people are living with problems which make their lives miserable, but God is still there with them.

Why do I bring this up today?

Because in the world that most of us live and breathe in, we forget about all of the good things which God has provided for us. Humanists tend to look at the world around them and think that we have destroyed or rather we are destroying this world. The fact is that we are living in a world which has been under a curse since Adam’s fall. Of course, the “world” doesn’t look at things from the perspective of God’s Word. Much of the world and those living in it don’t even believe that the Bible IS the Word of God.

But, that is a story and a sermon for another time.

God is our Creator and He is the One Who takes care of our needs, not our wants. When we look at life and His provision for us in that light then we will see just how His provision is the best of all things. We may not get the best of those things here and now, but His best comes when He deems that we are able to receive it. God gives us talents and abilities in this life to be representatives of His goodness and His love toward the world, the people, around us.

Why? Because we are the only representatives which Jesus has in this world today and in many instances, you and I may be the only representation of the love of Jesus and His mercy that someone may see before the end of their life. Seek God’s wisdom and His direction for your life each and every day. Every decision that we have to make should be prayed over and placed in God’s hands through prayer and reading of His Word. I am speaking of major decisions here, not whether to put creamer in your coffee or not.

Make sure that people can see Jesus in your life and in the way that you live and conduct yourself in this world. Sometimes it is difficult to do, sometimes bills come due for one thing and prevent you from paying another bill. But…you can still honor God in your life and let others know how you are doing and living.

God gives us more than we need most of the time. Maybe not more money but more than we could ask for in regards to our relationships and our salvation through Jesus.

The Word


Have you heard that Jesus was the Living Word made flesh? Considering that He was with the Father in the beginning and it was the Word of God which brought everything into existence, I would believe it! John’s gospel tells us that He was with God and the Word was God and He was manifested with us as a man, the only begotten of the Father.

He is our Savior and Lord and He is our Creator too. There are many people who don’t want to believe in Him or the grace and salvation that He brings to us and all we have to do to receive it is believe in Him for our salvation. Then, to grow in His Spirit, we should choose to follow Him, reading His Word and studying it to know Him better and to be known by Him. This site is my only way of reaching out to the world and I pray that anyone who may be searching will seek Jesus out as their Savior and believe!

God loves us and He has loved us since the very beginning. That is why the Seed of the woman was promised so many years ago. Jesus came as the Son of God through His love for us so that we could regain our place in His house and His garden one day. Living your life as if the Word of God is null and void only makes your eternity an endless point of pain and suffering. Not because of your sins but because of the simple decision which could’ve saved you from that place!

God never intended for humanity to go to that place of torment, at least that is what I believe. But by deciding to do things your way and not His way, you are aligning yourself with Satan and his rebels. Eternity in heaven is only a decision away and I encourage you to make that decision soon. None of us are guaranteed tomorrow let alone next week. Make sure of your eternal destination soon because you may not get another chance.

and three nails. He did this for you, don’t turn away from Him.

In the Garden


And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

So the man’s days were filled with tending it and keeping it and with naming all of the beasts in the field. But there wasn’t a mate found for him. The Lord made a deep sleep to come over him and took a rib from him and closed up the flesh at the place. Then the Lord fashioned a woman from the rib of the man to be his helper.

Why would God give the man a helper?

Because God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone”. This was done not because Adam was really alone but because he didn’t have someone like himself to be with and to talk to. He walked with God at this time and talked with Him too but God was a Spirit. Surely Adam could see His feet or His back, but being able to speak face to face with another person would alleviate his loneliness which he surely must have felt.

God loved His Creation. Not just mankind but every part of it. He made everything in the universe and called it “good”, but the fall that happened later had an effect on all of creation too. Death began to be evident in creation because of the fall. Not just mankind would begin to die but stars and animals and trees and all other life would begin to die as well. Creation paid the price for man’s disobedience and is still paying the price until Jesus comes back to make things new again.

Jesus is the Savior of Creation. Not just of mankind but He will renew all of the relationships between man and the animals and when the end of days comes, everything will be made new again. See that you will be a part of His Kingdom when this happens because we will witness it and be a part of it from that point on into eternity. Amen

Revelation 21:5 says: Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

Trust God


He is our Creator and our Savior so why don’t more people trust Him? He came to us, clothed in humanity and lived with our limitations for the majority of His life here. He knows the suffering and pain which we experience every day. He got rocks in His sandals and likely even a few bruises on His feet and hands while being a carpenter. Even though He didn’t sin in anything that He did or said in His lifetime, those limitations of being a human being made things a bit hard I would imagine.

Could He have done things as God in the flesh? Of course, He could’ve but He didn’t because “showing off” as God would’ve been a sin. He could’ve given His parents every advantage in life as He grew into manhood but that would have been favoritism as well as a sin. He couldn’t do this because He had to go to the cross as a sinless, spotless Lamb of God. He was tempted in every way that we are and yet He was true to His nature as the Living Word.

If you are searching for freedom which can only be found in Christ then believe in Him for your salvation. Satan and his demons believe in Jesus because they know Who He is but they won’t serve Him as disciples or “slaves” as some writers put it. They know in their mind and in their heart that Jesus is the Holy One of God because they said so when He sent them into the swine.

God has made a way for anyone who is seeking salvation to find it IF they will seek out the Source of Life and the Author of our Faith, Jesus the Christ. I pray that all who read this will seek Him out while there is time. Don’t condemn your soul to hell just because you can’t humble yourself and repent of your sins and ask Jesus to make a new heart in your soul.

Ask Him to come into your life and change you from the sinner that you are to the saved son or daughter that you can be!

Human wisdom?


There have been many “wise men” in history and we have their speeches and their wisdom to prove it. Some of them truly are inspirational and many of their ideas and sayings are very wise, especially by today’s standards. But…have you ever considered the fact that our wisdom is foolish when compared to God’s wisdom? I used to wonder exactly what that meant until I found out that when God told Abraham to circumcise his son after 8 days and there is a medical reason for doing so, because it proves that God is our Creator and the One in charge of all things.

A baby doesn’t have platelets to clot blood until the 8th day and if God had not told them which day to circumcise any child on, the boy would’ve bled severely or possibly have died. Abraham couldn’t have known about the platelets in the child’s body and very few at the time would’ve known about it otherwise. What is my point? Only the Creator knows things which we don’t. God told this to Abraham thousands of years before any “doctor” found it out.

Human wisdom is almost a joke today because wisdom just doesn’t seem to be a part of our culture anymore. Much of what is taught in schools is human “wisdom” and thought. Very little of it is actual history and the ideas which are taught in science class and in math class are not much better. Some, I will admit, are actual science and math but there are other concepts which are hard to accept.

The real truth of wisdom is contained within God’s Word and since we have tossed it out of the curriculum of learning these days, there seems to be very little wisdom in our society anymore. Wisdom in the book of Proverbs is characterized by God’s Word because it is said to have been part of the creation process by which He founded all of Creation upon. It truly was part of it because His Wisdom was His Word.

Regardless of what the world thinks about the Bible and the Truth contained within it, the fact is that it is God’s Word and He can’t lie! Whether you think it is His Word or not doesn’t change the fact that it is. The prophecies which are in the books of the Old Testament have all come true with the exception of those which pertain to the time of Tribulation. The nation of Israel being born in a day and the Jewish people coming back to their land with their ancient language intact were both foretold a very long time ago. Those two instances are miracles from God since no other nation or people has ever done such a thing.

God’s Wisdom is complete and comprehensive and there is no denying its Truth or its power in the world or the universe itself. If you are looking for a Savior then you don’t need to look any more, Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life and no one comes to the Father in Heaven except by believing in Him for salvation and choosing to walk with Him until that Great Day!

What else do I need?


If you are searching for salvation there is only one name under heaven that can bring it to you, if you believe. His name is Jesus (Yeshua) the Christ! God knew a long time ago that mankind could not follow His instructions to the letter. That is why He purposed, far ahead of time, that Jesus would come into the world and be the perfect Sacrificial Lamb for all of mankind!

There is nothing that we can add to His work on the cross to be saved, but once you are you can work for Him to tell others about Him and what He has done for you. Jesus is not a taskmaster who forces any kind of work or burden upon us. He is our Savior. Truly we should do His work on Earth because we owe Him for our salvation and not because we have to do it in order to gain our salvation.

There is nothing which we can do to add to our salvation nor to gain it. It is a gift from God to us through Jesus…period! We should be grateful enough to work for Him because of our salvation and His grace toward us and that is exactly how I tell others about my Savior. God loves each of us in a specific way. He doesn’t have to and for some who refuse His offer of grace and salvation, I do believe it hurts His heart as well.

God loves each of us but He also knows which person will accept salvation through Jesus and which ones will not. But, God doesn’t force anyone to accept salvation. It is an offer through Jesus the Christ and His atoning sacrifice on the cross which has paid for your salvation. Whether you accept it and live in Him and in your salvation is up to you.

Do I need to do anything else for salvation?

In order to gain your salvation, there is nothing that we can do or add to it in order to obtain salvation. The only requirement is that when you feel His touch in your Spirit or your heart, don’t turn away from Him. Accept it as your day to be saved. Walk with Him from that point on and don’t look back for the life you had before. Make sure to keep your life and your spiritual eyes focused on Jesus, no matter what happens in your life.

What do you feel?


Have you ever wondered aloud about how God might feel about the state of the world today? What do you think He would say if you could ask Him? You know what? You can. Prayer is powerful and He does listen to all of them, but He also answers you back. Sometimes you will get His answer by the Holy Spirit and sometimes it will come to you by reading the Bible.

God’s Word is powerful and to the point in many ways which most of us don’t pay much attention to. Usually, it is because we don’t read it. Most people who go to church read scripture when the pastor tells them to and most of the time they only read the verse which he reads. So, how are you going to know how God feels about any subject if you don’t read what HE says about it?

I know there are some Christians who do read their Bibles regularly and it would be great if everyone did but the condition of our world and our society just doesn’t bear the evidence which comes from doing so. If we are going to ever have a world which reflects God’s kingdom, then we need to live every day as if we want to be a part of His Kingdom.

Truly, life is hard at times but with God on your side it is bearable. Don’t turn away from the love of God because He never turns away from you. So, how do you think God feels about the times when He really would like to hear from you…about anything but you’re too busy? You don’t have time to pray to God or you don’t feel the need. God is not a man and He is also not like us with our selfish ways. He is our Creator and He is holy, so we are to strive to be more like Him.

But in our culture and our society, most of us tend to place Him in a box or we try to squeeze Him down to our size, to be more like us so we can relate to Him better. What if God were like you or your best friend? What if He were more like your enemy? Then how do you think the world would be?

Thankfully, God is not like us!

He is perfect and holy and cannot look on sin in any form, so He can’t be like us. Jesus was more like us because He was born of a woman but He had the nature of His Father, God. It is that nature which makes a difference between us and Him. Human nature can be good but it has to really try to do well most of the time. It is easier to do bad things. When you give your heart to Jesus and learn to live like He taught His disciples to do, then those bad things which were easy are not so easy anymore.

Seek Him out while there is time to do so because none of us have been guaranteed a certain number of days. We don’t know when our last day will be, so seek out the One Who can make your days better and lead you into eternity.

Love…


Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and for many, it is a day to show their love for those who they love. Whether it is by giving candy or a flower or a bunch of flowers or even a card, it is a day that we are supposed to express our love for those that are the love of our lives.

What about when Love came to Earth for us to know Him?

Jesus is God’s Love expressed toward us and for us and He did this because He loved us! Not because He had to but because He wanted a relationship with all of us who would accept Him as Savior. God had that relationship in the beginning but it was taken away when Adam and Eve, together, disobeyed God. No one can place the blame on one or the other because God had placed Adam in charge and had given him the commandment about the tree of knowledge. But the blame game still goes on today.

God loved mankind then and He still does today, although with all of the things which we are doing which He doesn’t approve of today I don’t think that He likes our choices very much. He blessed all of us with love by giving us a home and a world which is mostly compatible for us and our lives. We have a sun and a moon which don’t overpower the Earth with heat or cold. Yet there are many today who believe that the least little thing can have an effect on our planet’s comfort level.

God loves you and cares for you. Seek Him out and know this before your life ends because if you don’t believe in Him now for your salvation, it will be too late when you meet Him at your judgment day. You will stand and give an account for every word and deed, well-intentioned or not because the Bible says you will! I pray that all who read this will seek Him out as soon as possible because in our world today there is no way to know if you will be alive to make the choice on Sunday or even tomorrow.

Amen!

Come…


Jesus sought out disciples with a simple request, “Come, follow Me”. Sometimes He chose to say it a bit differently depending upon which disciple He was seeking but essentially it was just “Come, follow Me”. Even today when He touches us and we feel His call in our heart and our lives the request is still “Come, follow Me”. Why is it so simple? Because, when you are speaking to a child, that is what you say and we are all His children.

So why are so many of His children, who claim to be Christians and followers of Jesus, NOT following Him or His teachings? There are so many who do know of Him because of things that they have been taught by parents or in Bible school or Sunday school but are they truly followers of Jesus? Do they know Him as their Savior and Lord? Even the demons in hell know Who He is but they don’t serve Him. Satan knows Who Jesus the Son of God is and can quote you every scripture which points to Him from either the Old or the New Testament but he doesn’t serve Him nor will he ever.

One day every knee will bow to Jesus as King and Lord but not all of them will do it willingly, especially Satan. God knows this to be true and there are many people in the world today who will not ask Him to be the Lord of their life, not because they don’t need Him but because they are too proud. They look at Christians and weak because we submit our lives to Him willingly. Do we fail at serving Him? All of the time! Many of us “lose our religion” on multiple occasions during one day but we are forgiven and all we have to do to claim it is confess and ask for His forgiveness.

Will we fail again tomorrow? At some point during the day, we will. We won’t do it willingly or on purpose but at some point, we will think a thought which we know we shouldn’t. God knows we are human and that our will and ability to serve HIm can only be accomplished through the strength which we get from Him! Because, trying to live the life of a Christian is impossible without faith and without Him in your heart and a mind which has been washed in the Word of Truth and by His saving grace.

Being a disciple of Jesus is an ongoing process because it is a life of surrender to our Risen Lord and Savior. Submitting our will to Him every day, reading His Word and studying it is something which we do because of His love for us. This is the love which sent Jesus to die on the cross and pay for our sin debt, every one of us, just for the privilege of being His. We don’t become Christians just by our decision or by anything which we do. We feel God’s touch in our heart giving us the faith which carries us from today until tomorrow and then the next day and the next until we know that we NEED Him in our lives. When we come to that point we will know and seek Him out!

I pray that you will seek Him out for your own salvation because one day soon I will be gone and this site will only have enough information to point you in His direction. Seek Him while you can because when the “world order” is taken in by the man who claims to be our Lord, many people will follow Him but they are on the wrong side. God wins.

Amen