Category: Accepting Christ is your choice

Consider our world…


For over one hundred years, give or take fifty, most students have been taught that evolution brought all of the species into existence including us. But if you buy a book like the Photo Ark and look at all of the colors and the range of species and everything that is even in just the amphibian branch of life…there is no way that our world has been around long enough to have brought that many different species into existence.

And that is just one branch of an enormous tree of life on this planet! The mind of God can think up all of those variations and differences but to even imagine that pure chance and natural selection is purely ludicrous. Even Darwin decided that there is no way to explain the eye in its formation because it has to work from the beginning or it isn’t an eye. There is no trial and error. God is the Creator and only He could come up with all of the diversity that is in the ocean and on land and under the ground. From an ant to an aardvark to a giant condor to the blue whale and everything that has been here on this Earth, from the largest to the smallest. Only God can do that.

Life on this planet is diverse in the extreme, yet every species has a specific place that they thrive in and a specific niche that they fill in the natural world. God designed all of this so that we would realize that chance just can’t produce the awesome world that we live in. Why did God do this? Because, as He said in the Bible, man cannot live without the knowledge of the Creator.

I have been reminded of the great love that God has for each of us, and to say that it was startling would be an understatement. It brought me out of a dream at three this morning. God does have a way of doing that sometimes.

When you feel or hear His calling in your heart please don’t turn away. He is the Creator and He knows you better than anyone…even yourself. John 3:16 tells us that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but will have eternal life”. The key words here are “God so loved the world” and “whosoever”. God doesn’t pick and choose because He loves everyone and whosoever believes in Jesus as their Savior will have eternal life in Him and with Him. This is as deep as the theology goes. Seek Him while there is time because none of us are guaranteed to have tomorrow.

You shall be filled!


Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6 KJV https://bible.com/verse-of-the-day/mat.5.6/80118

Amen

He died for you


Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 1 John 3:16 KJV https://bible.com/verse-of-the-day/1jn.3.16/79993

Amen

Character comes from your heart


Amen

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. Luke 6:45 KJV https://bible.com/verse-of-the-day/luk.6.45/48430

He lives!


Our Savior is not in the grave, He is at the right hand of the Father. This is the major difference between Christianity and all other religions. The other difference is that our “religion” is a relationship and not just a belief. Yes, I believe in Jesus Christ as my Savior but I also have a relationship with Him because He came and died on the cross for your sins and mine. No other religious leader in the history of the world can claim this and all of the others are still in their graves.

God gave us faith to see a future with Him even when we can’t see it with our eyes. It is our faith that allows us to believe and know that our Savior lives! Jesus is the only way to heaven because it says so in God’s Word, so don’t turn away from His call on your life when you feel it, believe it, and know that He has provided you with an everlasting gift through your belief in Him.

Your eternity with God is a gift from Him to each of us through our faith in Jesus Christ. It is not a “religion” that someone made up or thought up or even dreamed up. In the two millennia since He went back to heaven there have been millions of people who have died for their faith in Him. Nobody would die for a lie, although in some cultures over the centuries many have given their lives for a “cause” that has no merit that compares to having faith in Jesus.

God loves you!

Think on these things


If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Colossians 3:1 KJV https://bible.com/verse-of-the-day/col.3.1/271

Amen

What does God want from me?


This is a long post but it needs to be said. I pray that everyone who reads this will do so prayerfully.

That is the question that many people seek the answer to sometimes for many years before they find the real answer. God doesn’t need anything from us because He is the Creator and the sovereign Ruler of the universe. When we read the Bible, whether we are reading the Old or the New Testament, there is a recurring “theme” that you can see if you are attentive while you are reading it. You will find it in every book of the Bible and it is that God demands our obedience. When God says to do this or says do not do that, He isn’t really testing you although it could feel that way. He wants our obedience. Period.

Just as the test that He placed in the Garden of Eden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God planted it there for a reason and that was to see if mankind would follow His instructions to the letter. Was the tree supernaturally powerful? Did it have some strange knowledge to bestow on mankind? Yes, it was supernatural because “their eyes were opened when they took a bite from its fruit”. Yes, in some way it did give them the knowledge that they should be ashamed of their nakedness but it was their disobedience to the command of God that started them down the pathway of sin and its consequences. This was only the first instance of disobedience but it started the ball rolling in a manner of speaking.

We are only three chapters into God’s Word at this point but the die is cast from this point on. Did Adam and Eve regret their decision? Of course, they did! While they were in the Garden, they didn’t have to work for their food at all. It grew on every tree around them. None of the animals were dangerous because Adam was their caretaker. But after they disobeyed God, the animals feared Adam and they had become more dangerous because of their fear of him. God had killed two animals to make clothes for Adam and Eve and before this time the Bible doesn’t even speak of the death of any animal. But blood had to be shed to cover their sin.

How long had Adam and Eve been in the Garden? We are not told their ages until after they were sent from the Garden and even then we don’t find out until after Seth is born. Adam was 130 years old when Seth was born, so that could’ve been how many years they had been outside the Garden. So you could look at it as there was no aging while they were in the Garden of Eden. It was their disobedience that brought aging into their lives because God had told them that “if you eat of the tree that I told you not to eat of, you will die”. Aging is a slow death. Not as slow today as it was back then, but that is the best way to look at it.

My point is that once disobedience began in the Garden, we have never been able to undo its effect on our lives. God has always wanted and required obedience to His laws and His commands but most of the time we only partially obey Him. He asks us to give a tithe (10% of our income), we give 2 or 3 percent if we give at all. He asks us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, yet many of us don’t even know our neighbors. Jesus asks His followers to take up their cross and follow Him and we can’t even figure out what that means! It means to crucify yourself daily and follow Him doing His will while you are able. Most of us choose not to crucify any part of our old lives even after we have given our hearts to Jesus. We just continue on with our lives, but maybe we don’t cuss as much or drink or smoke like we did before but would anyone who sees us every day know we are a Christian unless we told them?

Every book of God’s Word has a story of obedience or disobedience toward God’s commands in it. For most of mankind’s history, we haven’t been very good at being obedient. A small percentage of us may be obedient up to a point but there are very few who are totally obedient to every command of our Lord and Savior. I needed to write this more to myself than to anyone else because I know that I haven’t been obedient enough in my life and for that, I have asked God’s forgiveness. Maybe you should too.

God is faithful!


There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV https://bible.com/verse-of-the-day/1co.10.13/6035

Amen

Do not be afraid


Joshua had to take over the leadership role of Moses after his death. Wow! Talk about some big shoes to fill. That is why God was telling him to be strong and courageous and that He would never leave Him. So, why can’t we, as Christians, learn from Joshua’s experience and be courageous in our faith and our life? Sometimes we are but until we learn to be bold as well as courageous, most of us just hide in the background and let someone else be bold.

What would’ve happened if Peter had not been bold on the day of Pentecost? The day of Pentecost wouldn’t have had much to show anyone if he and the rest of the disciples had not been bold. While it is true that the Holy Spirit is what made them bold, if they had not followed the lead of the Holy Spirit there would’ve been no New Covenant church. All of the Christians over the past two thousand years would have never come to know Jesus as their Savior.

The Holy Spirit gives us strength and knowledge today so that we can be bold in our faith. I pray that anyone who is looking for their Savior will seek Him in Jesus Christ because there is no other Name that can bring eternal salvation to you along with eternal peace and assurance.

Walk with Christ through the Bible


How do I do this? I gave my heart to Jesus over thirty years ago (I think). Why do I not know the exact date? Because I have known about God and Jesus for many years, but that’s not enough. I had to have the transforming power of the Holy Spirit to come into my heart, not to give me the gift of tongues as some believe is necessary. The Holy Spirit did change my heart so that I could be used as a pastor for almost ten years. So…what happened? When did this change take place? My only answer is that it happened when I fasted for a month on juice and water in January of 2011. I have never felt as healthy since then but during that time…I can’t explain it.

Fasting by itself does heal some areas of your body because your body isn’t having to process food anymore but my only explanation is the Holy Spirit was working inside me and through me. I prayed for a friend of mine who had just had an operation of some sort and he came home and couldn’t keep his food down. While I prayed for him I felt something go through my arm that was touching him and I found out later that he didn’t have any more trouble eating and keeping it down. God did that!

Ever since then I have read through the Bible at least once every year from Genesis to Revelation. As soon as I finish I may take a day or so but then I start over because I have grown so used to reading His Word until a day without it feels useless and empty. You might ask me “Don’t you get tired of reading the same thing over and over again?”; I would have to say, “No, I don’t”. Because God’s word really is the living Word, Jesus Christ, so the message is about Him from the beginning to the end. It is hard to see in some books like Numbers or Leviticus since they are dealing with the duties of the priests but He is still present in every book in either a type or a representation in the book. When you re-read Scripture like I do, whether you intend to memorize it or not it will take root in your mind and your heart. God wants you to write His Words in your heart and keep them so you will have them to defend yourself when they are needed. He will bring them to your mind so that you will not be confounded by someone trying to trick you.

Adam was a type of Christ, Abel was too. Enoch was a selected type because God took him to be in heaven. Noah was a type of Christ, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were types of Christ. Joseph was a type of Christ, Moses was a type of Christ. Wherever you see the word angel written with a capital A, that was the pre-incarnate Christ visiting His people. So as you can see, Christ or a type of Him is present from the very beginning and He never really leaves His people without His Presence in some form.