Category: Abide in Him

God loves us…


John 3:16-17

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

Some teachers of the past and preachers today say that we should not be preaching that God loves every person on the planet. Why? If that is true, then these verses should never be quoted nor should they be in the Bible!

God did not pick out a few here or there to know His Son, even though God knows which people will give their hearts and lives to Jesus. He didn’t pick them. We pick and choose what we want to believe or not believe in the Bible, but God’s Word is true from every page of the Bible, regardless of translation or version you like.

There are some Bibles out today which gloss over some parts of Scripture or leave out parts of it entirely which is totally against God’s command of not removing or adding to any part of it. But, those are versions of the Bible which mankind has changed because of some verses which certain groups don’t like. God’s Word is true and powerful today and it will be that way for all time.

Okay, off the soapbox, verse sixteen says “For God so loved the world”, it doesn’t say which parts of the world or certain people groups or religions, it says the world! Which means that God loves all of the world, regardless of creed or religion or region or politics! It is our ideas and our convictions which change because of what is politically correct or accepted in the state or nation in which we live, God’s view of sin or anything else hasn’t changed and won’t change because He says, “I change not”.

God loves His creation and we are a part of that. It saddened Him before the Flood that mankind had strayed so far away from knowing HIm and seeking Him and had turned to evil in all of his ways. God felt this way because He had made mankind to have fellowship with Him throughout our lives, yet after the fall in the garden, man drifted away from knowing Him or even wanting to know Him.

In the world, whether it is at a college campus or a big city or even a small town, people don’t like to hear the absolute truth because today the “truth” is said to be relative. What is true for you doesn’t necessarily mean that it is true for me. That only works with opinions and ideas.

The Truth of God’s Word is true regardless of your ideas and opinions, just as the laws of physics govern how gravity and light work (which God put those laws in motion as well). Gravity and light behave the way they do because God ordained it to be this way. Your opinions or beliefs about them have no effect on their actions or performance. God’s Word is the Truth and it is the Light of the World which guides all men who are seeking Him to come to Him. Your individual belief about it or opinion of it doesn’t change that.

God did send His only Son to change the world one person at a time. Not a radical change for all of mankind, but an individual change which begins at the heart of each person who is seeking God for whatever reason. Jesus came as our Savior and as a Servant to His Father to do the will of the Father and make it possible for each person to move closer to God because of their lives being changed and to show the rest of the world that it is possible to be His through Jesus Christ.

We are not condemned by God if we obey His Word and have given our lives and our hearts to Jesus to do His will for our lives in this world. If you reject this and live your own way without Him, even though you may do many good things in your life, doing so will bring judgment upon you when you die because you “did many good works in your Name”. But if He didn’t abide in your heart then you did those good works on your own without His blessing, even if they were done “in His name”. Seek Him in all of your daily walk and your life will be blessed because His Spirit resides in you and empowers you to accomplish these good works in His Name and in His Spirit as well.

How do we make a difference?


Making a difference in the lives of those around us and for those who might be searching for what makes Christians different is the real reason which the church is still here. Yes, there are many in the world today who don’t like the message, regardless of which church or denomination it comes from, but if we could just show the love of Jesus in everything we do then hopefully it would make a difference.

God’s love for all of us is deeper and more alive now than it ever has been, not because there is more sin in the world but because the time is growing short. All of the prophecies in God’s Word have come to pass except for those which happen in the book of Revelation. We should be speaking to those that we know about His love for them and His offer of grace and mercy through Jesus and your belief in Him.

You may ask “Why?”; its simple…because God loves you!

Nothing in the Bible happened because of God’s hate because He doesn’t hate people, He hates the sins that they are living in! God loves the whole world, not just a small part of it or a certain country or people group! Yes, He chose the Jewish people as His people but during all of the Old Testament He tried over and over again to bring them to a place of loving Him and of following His laws and they would for a while. But eventually, they would turn away from Him and go in their own direction.1533312427253_image.jpg

The Old Testament is a reflection of all of humanity, not just the Jewish people and not just Israel either. All of us, whether we have given our heart to Him or not, we get disillusioned and we stray from the path. The good news though is this: we are the ones who have moved, not God. He is still patiently waiting for us to realize that we need to come back to HIm and when we do and we ask forgiveness for our stubborn streak…He forgives us and we can start again.

Making a difference in the world begins with one person. You or me telling the story of Jesus’ love and compassion for every person in the world. Giving your life to Him and living it out in front of those who see your witness, not just hear what you say but see how you live it out day by day. That is the greatest sermon and the greatest witness of all. Show people, family, and friends, that Jesus loves them with their warts and their faults and their struggles too. Jesus came to bring salvation to all!

God knew that this was needed and necessary for the whole human race, not just a few here or there. But, it is usually our pride and our stubbornness which gets in the way of every step that we think we are taking for Jesus and those steps turn out to be steps that we are taking alone. Especially if we have been in the church for most of our lives! We have been in church services and heard about all that Jesus did for us and what God tried to do for Israel.

Then sometimes we will begin thinking that we can forge our own path and that God will approve of our efforts. Those efforts which we are attempting will not succeed until we are following Jesus’ path and not our own. The thing which many people don’t understand is that God will let you think you are doing His work, even if it is by your own decision and strength until you fail. Then you will wonder “What happened?”!

The biggest problem in our world today is that if God isn’t in it, Satan may be. He will try to help you be successful just to show God that he can bring someone down by letting them succeed. You may not fail in this life and you may live luxuriously by your “success”, but at the end of your life when you stand before God you will find out that your “religion” was based on a lie.

We have to tell people about Jesus’ love for us so that they can tell the difference between fake religion and faith in Jesus Christ.

Can you be content with little?


Judas gave up his relationship with Jesus for thirty pieces of silver and by the time he realized what he had done it was too late. In our world, it seems that everyone has an iPhone or some huge phablet that they are carrying around. Granted many of those phones were “free” from their carrier or in some other way a gift, but those are worth hundreds of dollars. Could we be content with less than we have today?

Consider that we have been given a tremendous and fabulous gift by Almighty God, our salvation through Jesus. Is there anything which could compare to that? I’ll answer that question and the answer is NO! There is nothing that we have or could get our hands on which is worth even a fraction of the gift which we are all partakers of if you are a Christian. So, what can we be content with?

Most of us seem to be chasing after things more today, following our friends and those that we work with. If they have a nice home, we want one better. If they have a 3-series BMW then we want one on the next series. I know that not everyone follows this pattern, but in many places in the world and in our country too it does happen. But…why? What difference will it make in your life if you have the best of things?

An Android phone will do everything that an iPhone will do and it does so for less money in most cases. But why do so many people have to have the latest iPhone or Apple watch? Is it because of the image? That must be it because products besides Apple’s products can perform just as well and in some areas, they will perform better.

Making do with less is not looked on as a desirable trait in our culture. So why does our culture look back at the Greatest Generation that went through the Depression and WW2 and idolizes them? They made a little go a long way and they didn’t really complain about their place in life while doing so. They did what they had to do and made it work one way or another.

So…why can’t we do that today? Is it because we are spoiled brats who don’t know how to “make it work” no matter what it takes? Is it because we have been given so much until we don’t really want to work for our satisfaction or our blessings either? God had to deal with His people who became complacent about what they had and would turn away from Him until He used someone to punish them enough to bring them back. They would get “rich” and prideful so that they considered that they didn’t need God and they would worship other gods which were not gods.

Today we have made things into gods and convenience into a god as well. If our money can’t provide it or if we don’t have enough money then we throw a fit and sometimes blame God for it. The god of convenience has killed more babies in abortion clinics than all of the wars which we have fought but nobody seems to care.

One day that bill will come due and it will be God Who will require a payment for all of those innocent lives lost.

Can we get by with little or must we always be consuming more and more? If you follow the advice of God in Proverbs you can but there are so many who don’t even know where the book of Proverbs is. They wouldn’t know where to look. I pray that our world and our country will have a revival and move back to having faith in God and learn from His Word before the time of testing comes. Many don’t believe that the time is coming but it is and the world will regret their actions when it does come but it will be too late by that time.

What will you do with your life?


Have you considered that question? Many of us think about this kind of question when we graduate from high school or college but what about when you become a Christian? You have a new Life in Christ because you are made new in Him. Your old life is supposed to be gone and a new one is just beginning, so what will you do with it?

We all have ideas about what we would like to do for God’s Kingdom but have you ever asked Jesus what He wants you to do with your new life? We have been given a new heart and are made as “new creations in Christ” so we should walk and talk like a new person and not like the old one. But…do we actually live like a new person after we have accepted Jesus as our Savior?

Did we really become a “new creation” or did we just go through the motions and say some words but really didn’t mean or intend to change? It seems that there are more people who attend church or claim to be “Christians” but are not any different from their old selves and it is this trend in the churches which is causing some confusion. Because people who know you outside the church can’t tell that any change has taken place. This is showing the rest of the world that Jesus doesn’t have the power to change lives when in fact He does!

These “false Christians” who seem to be just as sinful and worldly as they were before they claim to have changed are not Christians at all. They claim to have changed at some point but they are doing things which are not reflecting that new creation that they were supposed to become. The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity and it is He Who comes into your heart and soul and causes that change. But when you keep doing those worldly things which you did before your “change” you are calling Him a liar and saying that He can’t change you at all!

If you are going to change when God calls you, He knows it and He will convict you of the sinful life which you need to repent of. Your spirit cannot continue to sin and live as if He doesn’t live in your heart unless you didn’t actually receive Him in the first place. There is no gray area in being a Christian and following Jesus OR being a sinner who is still in the world doing what they did before hearing the gospel of Jesus. You either are saved or you are not!

Think of it this way: the fence is a razor wire fence; on one side you are a Christian and on the other, you are still in the world doing whatever makes you feel good at the time. You cannot straddle razor wire for long without injury. You are either on one side or the other, so which is it? The side of Life and eternity or death and eternity, you must choose.

lifeordeath

What is our message?


The message which our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, gave to us. To go and tell the world, meaning anyone around us, about Him and the work which He accomplished while He was here. Our preaching or writing of the salvation provided by His teachings and the death and resurrection of Jesus, these facts make up the gospel of Jesus. There is no greater story to tell and there is no other story that will bring people to a knowledge of their Lord and Savior except this message.

Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, was sent by God the Father to be the Perfect Passover Lamb for the whole world, not just a few people here and there. This is the message of the Bible itself but in the early books. it is represented by the Temple and the manna and the Passover lamb. All of these point to our Savior, Jesus the Christ, because there is no other name which can bring salvation to anyone except His Name.

In John 3:16-18 we can read:  16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

All of us have been given this amazing and priceless gift from God Himself. There is nothing which we can do which will add to this gift to make it more effective. There is also nothing which we can or should take away from this gift because it is a gift from our Creator and it is complete in its design and purpose.

If we don’t spread the good news about Him to the whole world, then we aren’t doing our job as Christians in this world. Even if you can only tell one or two people about Him each day, those words and messages will add up. God can and will use those seeds which are planted in people’s hearts in order to draw them to HIm. If they haven’t given their heart to Him prior to hearing the gospel, then God can certainly use that seed to draw them to Himself.

There is no getting around this job which each of us, as Christian believers, has been given. We are supposed to do this during our lifetime here so that others will hear about our Savior and Lord. Even if only one person comes to Jesus by our testimony or if none do, God can still use the seeds of His message which was planted in their heart and mind by our words, whether they were spoken or written.

If you don’t believe that your contribution is necessary or even worth the time, remember what Jesus said about the “widow’s mite”. He told His disciples that of all of those who have put into the treasury, she put in more than all. Because out of her poverty she gave and it was out of their wealth that the rest of the offerings came from.

Related imageHere is the passage which brings this to bear on our sinful world:

Luke 21: 1-4  

The Widow’s Two Mites
21 And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, 2 and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites.[a] 3 So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; 4 for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings [b]for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”

 

Consider this when the next offering plate is passed in your church.

Consider your own life, not because of the tithe you offer but the life that you either have given to Him or maybe you haven’t asked Jesus into your life yet. The amount of your tithe at church does not determine your salvation, only the condition of your belief in Jesus and your acceptance of Him as your Savior and Lord.

You are not an accident!


We are not accidents!

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A Psalm.

1 You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts,a God! How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you.
19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
God doesn’t cause accidents in His creation and each of us is a person that He caused to come into being for a reason. He has a purpose for you and for me and for all of those on the Earth. What that purpose is only He knows. He has given each of us gifts and abilities to be able to glorify Him and to be useful to Him in His Kingdom. So we need to start acting like we have a place in His Kingdom. If you don’t want to have a place in His Kingdom, that is fine. He doesn’t force anyone to be a part of His design and His will for His creation.

Our God and Savior is the only pathway to Heaven, there is no other. Seek Him while you can find Him because when the shout comes and the dead are raised incorruptible and the church rises to meet Him, the easy time of coming to Jesus will be over. The time of “Jacob’s trouble” will be upon the world and the act of giving your heart to Jesus will carry a death sentence soon after. I pray that all of you will be counted among those who rise to meet Him in the air. Amen

Be strong in the Lord!


The church in our time


We are closer to the end times than you think. If you have ever read the book of Revelation you will know which church is reflected by the church today. The Laodicean church.

In Rev. 3:15-18: 15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Many churches today have a service which resembles a performance more than a sermon. Some of the smaller, less liberal churches have regular sermons but the time is spent more with praise music than with preaching from God’s Word. There are other things which are going on in the church today which I don’t have statistics to show you but if you look up the status of the Christian church you can find the same statistics which I did.

Why am I bringing this up today? Because our world is walking and sometimes running away from Biblical preaching as fast as they can go and it is leaving those congregations with a very light dusting of God’s Word rather than a full meal from the Word. Paul wrote to some of the churches that they were still babes in Christ and they hadn’t matured enough to savor the “meat of God’s Word“. In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul tells his listeners this: 1 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—as infants in Christ. 2, I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready, 3for you are still worldly.

God loves us but we cannot remain as “babes in Christ” for our whole lives! At some point, we need to study to show ourselves approved to be His disciples and His workers in Jesus Christ. The church today is lacking in its study of God’s Word and in the building up of the body of Christ, the believers who actually make up the church. Regardless of your denomination, each of us who claims to be a Christian who knows the Lord of Glory, all of us should be able to answer a simple Bible quiz and yet many cannot!

We have fallen behind in our studies of the Word of God because we are not passionate about our love for Jesus and our Life in Him! What happened? Has your heart grown cold against your Savior? He gave His life for each of us so why can’t we live our lives as a true living sacrifice to Him for the rest of our lives until we are called home? It is the least that we could do considering what He did for each of us.

I would rather hear Him say to me, “Welcome home” rather than “What happened after you accepted Me?” If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, do you read and study God’s Word at least once or twice every week or do you just pick it up when you attend church services? What would you do if you had to give the reason for your hope in Christ? Would you be able to quote Scripture for it or do you know enough verses that you could?

Are you or your church only lukewarm in your service to Him? If you are then you need to dedicate your life to becoming more passionate about Jesus and what He has done for you.

Are you in a wilderness?


There are days when we find ourselves lost or at least groping around for the way out of wherever we are. Sometimes it is figurative and sometimes it is a spiritual wilderness without trails or road signs or any other clues about the way out. When you feel like this, what do you turn to for help? Who do you turn to for guidance?

Image result for God's word as a compassA person who is on a hike in an area where they have never been before will usually take a guide or at least a compass so they can find a bearing or the trail which will lead them from one place to another. When we are spiritually lost, most of us don’t even know that we are until God touches our heart and lets us know. Until that time we won’t look for Him nor will we seek to know Him because we don’t feel the need for a Savior.

So, are you lost in a wilderness of your own creation? Do you feel like something isn’t like it should be in your life? Many of us who were lost and away from Jesus, even if we didn’t know about Him, have always felt an emptiness as if something was missing. Many of us have tried alcohol or drugs or sex or who know what else to fill that empty place, but it is never filled. We may feel better or happy for a time but when we come out of the high…the empty place remains. Many times this is why people become addicted to drugs because they are trying to keep that feeling of fullness of joy and peace.

The problem is that no man-made drug or high of any kind will ever fill that space because it is only filled by the Holy Spirit of God when you accept Jesus as your Savior. Then you will be free of the empty feeling and you will belong to Jesus because He can make you whole again. All of us are born with a place in our soul which feels empty and sometimes we don’t find out what fits in that place until we meet Jesus. Only He can make you whole and give your life a True Purpose through Him.

Your job and your family may fulfill your life in many ways but without Him in your heart working in step with Him to really fulfill His purpose in your life, even those will be only a shadow of what they could be. Being saved by Jesus’ Spirit and believing in Him for your salvation is the greatest decision you will ever make in this life. Everything else falls into place after that.

While giving your life to Jesus will not make your life perfect it will give you the strength and the ability to seek His Wisdom for your decisions for the rest of your life. The Bible is the best “self-help” book ever written and it does have many words of wisdom for business and life too. Don’t believe the lie of Satan or the rest of the world which tells you that it is an old outdated book with nothing in it for today! Its wisdom is useful for today and tomorrow on into eternity.

The Bible, God’s Word, is the best and most useful “compass” for this life and every situation that can be found. No other book has the Wisdom of the Creator inside it because the Bible was inspired by the Holy Spirit of God, so every word in it is true.

So much discord and hate


Why? Aren’t we supposed to be trying to get along? I mean, how can we possibly come up with solutions to our own problems when it seems we can’t even disagree in a peaceful way? We can’t even seem to accomplish this in Congress with people that supposedly know each other, even if they are on different sides of the political aisle! Why is our society acting like a group of spoiled children who can’t have their way?

We are supposed to be working toward a society which can bring some semblance of peace, if not in the world then surely in our own country! The reason for all of this discord and hatred in our country and all over the world falls on one personal fault which everyone has and that is pride. The obstacle which is the root of nearly all of the sins in the Bible from the beginning to the end is this one!

We are living in the time just prior to the Great Tribulation and that is another contributing factor which is making our world and the people living here act like mortal enemies. Satan is pushing the buttons of every person who has a prideful idea or thought or harbors pride in themselves believing that they are better than those around them.

Each of us is the person that we are supposed to be, unfortunately, some think that they are different and special in a way which makes them better than those around them. They believe in themselves true enough but outside of that, they look down on other people. This is the most serious form of pride which can cause a person to believe that they are “like god” or “like a god”.

We are created beings, just as the angels are, and we are not gods. Though we are created in the image of God, we are not gods and never will be. It is a false teaching which has been spread around the world that this will happen when we if we are Christians, make our home in Heaven. We will have a body like Jesus had when He was resurrected but we will not be gods.

VineandBranchesGod loves each of us and we will enjoy eternity with Him as His adopted children, nothing more. We may fill some useful post in His Kingdom one day or even during the 1,000-year reign on Earth of Jesus but other than that we will be His people and HE will be our King! Seeking to know Him better here and now is the responsibility of every Christian and it is a job which we should take very seriously. To grow to be a mature Christian, living in the strength and power of Jesus every day will allow us to carry His Image with us wherever we go…until He comes for the Church.

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Matt. 6:33

The Kingdom of God is our life in Jesus Christ walking with Him daily, praying and studying His Word and doing those things which He would do if He were here, at least to the best of our ability.