Category: Abide in Him

Rights in America


Are we secure in our rights today? Whether the rights are involved with religion, race, marriage, or racial equality, in America these are supposed to be part of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights that was adopted when our country was founded over two hundred years ago! You have the right to do many things in America today which grates against the beliefs of many different religious groups and their doctrines. So what is the fuss about in our nation’s capitol?

There are so many different voices and constituents speaking up in Washington, until many of our law makers can’t hear themselves think let alone be able to make any sense out of what is being said. So many voices and opinions in Congress and the Senate are speaking out, and very loudly too, until I wonder if many of the Senators can concentrate on their actual job. I wonder sometimes whether they got elected to do what we, the voters, thought they were running for?

Yes, my blog is a religious blog but sometimes I have to get up on a box and speak out. I get so tired of hearing our news media speaking like politicians. They talk for thirty minutes or more and never really say anything. The thing that many don’t seem to understand is that our rights and laws are all based primarily on God’s laws in the Bible.

It is God that established our land through the faith of the pilgrims and our forefathers, so all of America owes its existence to God’s grace and provision. Like it or not, America was founded upon God’s principles and not some secular principle or belief. America wouldn’t have lasted this long had it not been for the grace and mercy of God.

Of course, in the past sixty or so years our country has been steadily pushing God and prayer and the Bible out of government and schools and out of the courts as well. Our country has passed laws which go totally against God’s law against killing, especially children. Abortion has taken the lives of multiple millions of babies and it seems that everyone thinks that they were just clumps of cells. Doctors know better because the heart begins to beat in the first month or so. A beating heart signals life, so that means it is a little person!

We have gone a long way from being a society which reveres life and family and we need to come back to those beliefs.

Living through Jesus


In life and in death, Jesus is the Way to a life more abundant. I did not say a life of riches and wealth or fame, an abundant life is one that has hope, abundantly and steadfastly in Jesus! You might say to me, “Why can’t I be good enough to get to Heaven on my own initiative?” Because the Bible says that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. God had to kill animals in Eden to cover the sinful situation that Adam and Eve had gotten themselves into. Jesus died and shed His blood, as the Son of God, in order to cover the sins of the whole world. Everyone in the whole world is covered by His blood, all of your sins are covered by it, all of my sins are covered by His blood and it is offered to all to claim in belief and repentance with no other requirement than believing in Jesus’ sacrifice for them.

Simple faith and belief, like a child, is all that is necessary. When you feel the Spirit telling you that you need Him, that you need Jesus, don’t turn away. Don’t walk out on Him and the salvation that is being offered. God does love you, more deeply than you can know and He wants to call you, if you are willing to answer. The gods that are in temples all over the world will not help you. Belief in yourself and your ability to be a good, moral person is nice but it won’t take you into the gates of Heaven.

Doing all of these things, other than believing in Jesus, is like building a bridge over a huge river out of cardboard and paving it with paper. As long as the river is dried up and there isn’t any water (troubles) to cross, it may hold up pretty well for foot traffic. But, if there is a flash flood or lightning strikes it, your bridge is gone. Another analogy would be like standing on sand, it is fine and it feels good until the waves start raking it from under your feet. Then, you either go with it or you back away from it but it is no longer stable.

The only solid foundation for faith which can save your soul from hell, is Jesus Christ. Believe in Him and repent of your old ways, following Him by seeking Him in God’s Word every day. Pray about the things which are wrong in the world, ask Him to help you to understand the Bible and its wisdom. Look to Him for your strength in sickness and in health, on good days and bad because He is always near if you have asked Him into your life and into your heart. God and Jesus both know what you have done, when it was done and where. There is nothing hidden from them.

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33

So much to do, so little time


Yes, I know, I am trying to scare you. I’ve heard it before…Boo!

Life goes on, it always has, even in the midst of riots and wars and natural disasters like the earthquake in Nepal or the volcano in Chile. I get it, nothing new has ever happened because it has all happened before at some point in our past. These are the same musings which the Preacher, Solomon, wrote when he wrote the book of Ecclesiastes, and yet it is true.

The only new stuff that is happening now is that technology is exploding! So is the population of the world. Can we stop or take a breath in this rush to oblivion? Not really. It was bound to happen sooner or later, but it has been prophesied for many thousands of years that all of this would happen when the “end of the age” drew closer.

Well, like it or not we are getting closer. How much closer? I don’t know. Nobody on Earth can answer that question. Although, each one of us has a date that is immovable and irrevocable and that is the day that we die. It is different for us all of course. My death may come tomorrow or twenty years from now, just the same as yours. Thankfully we don’t know our “expiration date”, although there are times that I wish that I did.

I am not going to be arrogant enough to take that date into my own hands and force the end to come sooner rather than later. Some seem to be destined to do this and I suppose that is fine, but it isn’t for me. I don’t know that I could take another human being’s life, let alone taking my own. I am just not made that way and never have been.

God gives each of us a job to do. Whether we choose to accept that job and follow through with it or not is our choice, individually. He doesn’t force the issue on us nor does He punish us for taking a bit longer to get around to it. Why? Because, if He has something specific for you to do that only you can do then He will make sure that eventually you will come around to being the “right person for the job”.

God loves us, regardless of how small our planet may be in the grand design because He is God. He can love and care for whoever He wishes to and since He lives above time, He knows exactly when or if you will choose to come to Him and give your life to Him. From that point on, your life will never be the same…it will be awesome!

I don’t mean that you will have fame and fortune like the people in some places do. I do mean that just thinking about being a servant to the King of Kings and the Creator is…well, enough. If you aren’t a believer and don’t have spiritual faith in God and Jesus, then this concept is a little beyond your pay grade. I am not saying that Christians are better than you, but we are forgiven.

The best part about this is that God loves you and has made His grace available to you without cost. All that you need to do is to acknowledge that you are a sinner and come to Him like a child and ask Him to come into your life and fix it. Help you straighten things out…get your heart right with Him by allowing Him to do the work. If you try to get things right first, you are just in the way. Let Him do it because He is the only One that can!

Faith, how much do you need?


mustardseedFaithThis is what Jesus said, “with faith as much as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain “Be thou removed into the sea and it will move”. Matthew 17:20

Our lives, spiritual and daily, would be so much better if we used our faith and cultured our faith through prayer and reading of God’s Word. Much of our country would be in better shape if people of faith used their faith in God in the way that He intended for us to. Truly, it doesn’t take much faith but it has to be unwavering faith. The kind where you don’t doubt what you believe in, which seems to be hard for many people.

I admit, unwavering faith is not easy to achieve, especially for people who have not been in church much or at all, but with prayer and learning about God from reading the Bible it can be done. We have faith in our football teams and in lotteries, why not have faith in the Creator Who can actually DO something about your problem.

Many will question me about this because God doesn’t answer prayer in the way that you or I expect Him to all of the time. It has to do with His will in the matter. What He sees as being the best outcome, may not be your idea of the best outcome but He is God and it is His prerogative. After all, He is God.

WAKE UP, PEOPLE!!


Does it occur to you why we are going through so much right now in the world and at home? Many are saying on TV and other media that it is because of global warming or some other nonsense science. The world is changing because of us and because of all the damage that we have done to it over the past 150 years or so. Really?

Why in the world would the climate change around the entire world because of a few tons of carbon dioxide? Yes, I know it is a greenhouse gas, so is methane, but these have been in our atmosphere since it became an atmosphere. The world is changing more because of overuse of resources, such as fish, than because of fossil fuel use. This is a more plausible reason for the “warming” effect than our one hundred years of burning gasoline and diesel.

The thing is, there is a lot more happening in and around our world than just “climate change”. Except, most of the news outlets are not reporting on that part of the news because it doesn’t pique enough interest in viewers. What is being reported on is that people are giving up on their belief in God, that they have walked away from their faith (if they ever really had any).

Yes, there are questions that need to be answered, not so much about climate change but about the difference in religion, religious beliefs, and Christianity. Religion and being religious can be about almost anything that you want to put in the sentence. You can be a religious fanatic about fishing or hunting or even making money, although what will that get you? Broke in more ways than one.

A religion is defined as: the belief in a god or in a group of gods;an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods; an interest, a belief, or an activity that is very important to a person or group

You can make anything, activity or a god or interest into a religion and follow it religiously, even fanatically, but what is the eternal answer that it gives you? Does it have an answer for eternity at all? Many religions actually don’t have an answer and those who follow them will get angry with you if you ask them this question. Especially if you are trying to find out if they believe in Jesus as their Savior or not. It seems that His prophecy that “you will be hated because of Me” is spot-on for the time that we are living in for today.

Although many don’t believe that we are living in the “last days”, I do. We are not living in the “Tribulation” as spoken of in Revelation, but I don’t believe that we are far from it. Many people, believers and non-believers, need to truly wake up and read the Bible. Compare the prophecies of Daniel and Ezekiel and the book of Revelation. Yes, they are hard to understand but with prayer and asking for God to reveal those hard parts to you, you can understand it enough to know the signs that are happening all around us. We cannot know specifics like dates or times, God alone has that information, but we can learn enough to be watchful of the events that are happening in the world. Even if the media won’t tell people the implications of what is happening, we can see it from a Biblical perspective which is what was meant by the Bible when it says “watch and pray” during this time.

Keep looking up, because our Redeemer and our redemption draws ever nearer every day!

What is there to say?


So many are against Christians today. Dredging up slights from the distant past, like the Crusades. Yes, it is sad that it happened but the “church” at the time also oppressed and killed many believers too. Just because they had obtained a Bible which was in English and not Latin and they had learned to read it and what it REALLY said. They had put their trust in Jesus as their Savior and they did not have to come to the church to be forgiven anymore! Many were burned at the stake for this belief and for the possession of an English Bible, and they were Christians being killed by the “church”! How sad and horrible!

The world is full of atrocities by different people and religions or by countries which have no religion or conscience it seems. Some are even speaking out about how Christians persecuted people in the past. Many are still doing it, just a bit more subtle than others. So, what can we say about all of this bickering and persecution? Really, not much. It was prophesied to happen toward the end of the age and in my opinion that is where we are right now. No, we are not exactly in the seven years of tribulation foretold in Daniel and Revelation, but we are getting close.

There really isn’t much that can be said except to do what Paul told his protégé to do:  “2 Timothy 2:15 “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly handling the word of truth.” See that these things are foretold to happen in God’s Word and accept it in faith. He has history, past, present and future in His hands and we don’t need to worry.

Yes, many of us are the worrying type, but don’t do it to extreme. There is nothing that you can do to change yourself or your hair color (without chemicals), your height or anything about yourself which matters. We are not gods, we are the creation of God. We also have no control over our situations in life, good, bad or otherwise. I know, I am stating the obvious but it seems that these topics are part of the conversation on social media sites.

What changes in your life from day-to-day? You may feel out of control in some things, some have lost loved ones due to disease or other mechanisms but, these are part of life and until Jesus comes again it will be this way. Seek Him out in your daily life, through scripture and study of God’s Word. Learn to know Him and love Him every day. He went through many things for our sakes to redeem us to Himself and to God, it seems that we could at least attempt to return the love that He showed toward us!

If you see these things which are foretold in Scripture happening on the news media, then you should realize that we are getting closer to the “end of the age”. Please, seek Him out in your life. Read and study God’s Word so that you can know the One that loves you beyond your own understanding. I will be praying for all of those who come here, even if I don’t know your name or nationality and I thank God for you all.

The healing power of God


Anger, resentment, fear, impulsive rage are all emotions which Satan uses to begin a rip or a split in a community or a church. All of these can be overcome by God’s Awesome power to heal, but NONE of them can be overcome by our own strength or our own will. Consider these verses in His Word and think about what they are saying to all of us:

  1. “… But You are God, ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness …” (Nehemiah 9:17)
  2. “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.” (Psalm 103:8)
  3. “But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in mercy and truth.” (Psalm 86:15)
  4. “Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness …” (Joel 2:13)
  5. “The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.” (Psalm 145:8)
  6. “The Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting …” (Psalm 100:5)
  7. “For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him … But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him.” (Psalm 103:11,17)

God loves each of us as I have said before in a post or a sermon as some call these words here. One of the main attributes in all of the verses above is His patience with us and His kindness toward us. His mercy and the fact of His character being “slow to anger” are also mentioned. The Lord is merciful and His mercy and His love for us is everlasting, meaning that no matter what we do or how we act or feel toward Him or His actions, His love and mercy will endure for eternity.

Satan is always quick to use any tool that he can to break a church or a community apart, especially if he thinks there might be a revival coming soon, or even if there is one coming at all! Our community and our nation NEEDS a revival of faith in God and in the power of Him Who has called us out as Christians. We are supposed to be different from the world around us! Not the same nor are we to be melded into the world enough that we can’t be seen as different because of the One that we have in our hearts!

God loves each of us, no matter what we have done or said to each other or about each other or even about Him! His love is not fickle like ours. One little word or even the tone of your voice can set off a chain reaction between friends or church members that can tear a church and a friendship apart. Come back to God in prayer and fasting, repent of your thoughts and ways which you know are against Him. This world needs Christians to stand up for Jesus and what the cross means to each of us and what it should mean to all who need hope and healing.

Have you spoken to God today?


Many people laugh at the notion that we can speak to God any time that we wish to. His line is never busy and the reception is great. The problem is with the believer or with someone who isn’t a believer. Some Christians aren’t sure if their prayers get past the ceiling regardless of getting them to God. In many ways we short-circuit our own prayers and our prayer lives. We hold grudges against someone from our past or we are angry and resentful toward a family member or a friend, for whatever reason it might be. Any of these so-called “little sins” will take the power out of your prayer life, cutting the line of communication between you and God.

That doesn’t mean that He doesn’t care about you any more, but you have to repent of whatever it might be which is getting in the way and ask forgiveness for it. God loves you and always has, but just as hurt feelings can injure a relationship here and now, even “little sins” can interfere with your walk and your prayer life with Jesus and God. You have heard the term “quenching the Spirit” before, and that is exactly what is happening when sin comes into your life and blocks your access to be effective in the Kingdom with God.

The thing is, God wants to hear from you and this is what most don’t understand either. But as it says in the first book of the Bible, “God walked in the cool of the evening in the Garden.” While it is true that this was the time that God found that Adam and Eve had sinned and broken the only rule that He had given to them, I feel sure that God had come like this before. After all, He was the only Teacher that they had and since they were formed as adults Who better to teach them about their world?

The same is true for us, although we have many teachers today. We begin life with our parents, then we are in school for such a long time with others (it seems), all the while we are learning from everything and everyone around us. While we should be learning from God’s Word at this point. Sure, it is hard for young minds to understand, especially some of the books in the Old Testament. But, the wisdom is there and the evidence of God’s love is there too.

Don’t discount God or His Word as something that is only for Sunday. Being in His presence every day is what Jesus meant when He said “seek ye first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness and all of these things will be added unto you.” It doesn’t mean that we have to read our Bible constantly during the day, but the day seems to go better when you begin the day with it and pray for the day before you start your day.

Consider it, learn about God, seek Him especially when things aren’t going good but also when it is and thank Him for it. Our lives aren’t very long and if we wake today then we have the day to do as much as we can do for God, regardless of what we are doing.

We have a testimony!


Regardless of your belief or lack of it, IF you are a Christian you have a testimony. Your life has been changed because you cannot take part of God’s Spirit into your heart and your life without being changed! It just isn’t possible!

Just as those who are possessed by demons are changed and do not act like they did before, we shouldn’t either! God has always been One in Three, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit! When you ask for Him to come into your heart and your life, the Holy Spirit comes into your spiritual heart and changes you into the person that you are to be from that point on.

The problem is that many of us stay at that point in our Christian lives and never mature. We don’t study God’s Word or really sit down and pray every day about our life or those around us. We don’t do what Jesus said to do, “seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all of these things will be added unto you”. Many people don’t understand what the first three words of that actually means. How do I seek Him first? It is so simple and yet profound, pick up your Bible and read it!

When you are in a relationship with someone, you don’t go on dates for a few days and then get married. Usually, you see each other for a while and get to know them a little bit first, sometimes this takes months, for others it may take a year or more. The point is this, if you REALLY want that relationship, then you seek to know that person better. You want to know their favorite color or song, the type of food that they like to eat or their favorite shoes or hobby that they might have or enjoy.

The same is true when you become a Christian, or at least it is supposed to be this way. You want to learn more about God and Jesus. Who they are, what they like or don’t like, everything that you can learn about them is precious to you even if you can’t see or touch them right now. This is the relationship that we are supposed to mature into and the way to do this is by getting to know them through the Bible and by prayer, asking God to show you His ways, to help you understand His wisdom and His grace.

Our lives are brief, usually only seventy or eighty years although some live a bit longer. When we truly find someone who we love and want to spend the rest of our life with them then we are truly blessed in that relationship. It is the same when we come to a relationship with God through His Son, except…your life will not end and neither will the relationship or the fellowship! Eternity is a span of time that we can’t fathom, yet when you are His that is the life that you have to look forward to. It will not be a waste and it certainly won’t be boring.

God has a plan for each of us. That plan is for us to be His adopted children and for us to do His will while we are able in this life. Then, when we enter into eternity we will be ready for the next step in our life with Him. Learn all that you can about Him through prayer and study of His Word in the Bible. Grow into the person that you can be in Christ and then when you walk through the door into eternity you will be ready to know Him even better than you thought possible.

Good Friday, what is good about it?


At some point, I am sure that some have asked that very question. What is good about this day? What makes it “Good Friday”? First, it is the belief that Jesus was crucified on this day, although how you fit three days between today and Sunday for His resurrection I am not sure. Why would the crucifixion of our Savior make a day good? Another point to answer that would be that without His crucifixion, there could be no forgiveness of sins extended and offered to the whole world because of His death.

Why was His death necessary? Because He had to be resurrected from death in order to conquer death and the grave. I mean, you can’t come out of a grave unless you have been put into it, right?

All of this came to be, not because of a rebellion that Jesus started, not because He was inciting people to revolt against Roman rule although many wanted Him to do just that, it didn’t even happen because priests were afraid of Him and His power although that did have a part in it. The whole plan had been put into place at the point where Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden. When God told them that “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” Genesis 3:15
Jesus’ life and death was foretold that far back in order to take care of the sin that had come into the world and many other prophecies between that time and Good Friday happened as well. The “woman” in that first prophecy was a symbol of many things. Not only was it a symbol of a mother, but she was a symbol or type of Israel and the Jewish people too. She also symbolized humanity, because God was not speaking of a serpent as a snake, He was speaking to Satan who had inhabited the snake to entice her and tempt her. Satan hates humanity simply because God loves us, that is where the enmity comes from.

Anything which he can do to destroy or hurt us, as humans, he will do. Whether it is by violence, war, diseases, famines, murder or any of a number of ways that he and his cohorts can bring to bear on us in order to hurt that which God loves, he will do it. Especially if he can keep us from accepting Jesus as our Savior, ultimately that is his number one goal!

Christ conquered death, hell and the grave as well as paid the price for all of man’s sins with His death and resurrection. God offers us the grace through Jesus to accept Him as our Savior to become joint heirs with Him in God’s Kingdom. It is a gift offered from God, all we have to do is ask for it and accept it in order to have it! What makes that so difficult? If someone offered to pay off all of your debts and give you ten million dollars also, would you refuse it just because you didn’t have to work for it? Of course not, so why do we refuse to accept the gift of eternal life with Him when we are given the option?

We don’t have to do anything to get it. Though, in return we do work for Him after we truly accept who we are in Christ. Nobody forces you to do anything, but it is not cool if you have accepted Jesus at one point in your life and then turn back to your sinful ways of living. Yes, you can do this but it is wrong. Why? Because you are witnessing to people with your life and telling them that you can get a free ride into Heaven. Just accept Jesus and then go on with your life as if you had not accepted Him. Wrong!!

If your heart is changed by Him, really changed, then you won’t go back to your old way of living as a sinner. you will be grateful for the pardon that you received from God and then tell as many people as you can about Him! Pray about this, read God’s Word and ask Him to show you what to do and then DO IT!!!