We are forgiven

It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, the blood of Jesus has covered it with His righteousness. If you have felt His touch on your heart and in your life please don’t hesitate. The age of grace, the church age, is coming to an end. When? Nobody knows exactly, only God Himself. Jesus died and paid the price for our sins and it is a gift from God to each of us…if you accept it and Him as your Savior.

Read John 3 here:

You Must Be Born Again

1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again^b he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.^c 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You^d must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you^f do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.^g 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.^h

For God So Loved the World

16 “For God so loved the world,ⁱ that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

John the Baptist Exalts Christ

22 After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. 23 John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized 24 (for John had not yet been put in prison).

25 Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” 27 John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ 29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”^j

31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 33 Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

In the path…

There are many people who are in the path of Hurricane Ida and all of us should be praying for their safety. We also need to pray for the workers who will be trying to rescue people afterward since New Orleans is getting hit hard by the amount of rain that they are getting. Pray for those who will be taking care of everyone as well.

This storm was not a surprise to us and it was not sent as punishment from God. It is simply a storm that we have to get through one day at a time and one more prayer at a time. God knows what is happening here and not one thing that is happening is a surprise to Him at all. He foretold all of the diseases and wars and everything that has happened in the past up until today. God loves us and we should love Him because if you are reading this, He has brought you here for a reason. God gives me the words to put here so that you can see them and know that He loves you and He wants the best for you.

All that you need to do is repent of your sins, believe that He paid the price for those sins and ask Him to be your Savior. Then live your life as if you are walking side by side with Him because in Truth, you are! God said that He would never leave us nor forsake us and Jesus told His disciples that He would not lose one person that the Father draws to Him. Remember that when you feel alone and afraid, God is closer than your next breath.

Our Savior and our God can do anything. All that we need to do is believe it and keep our eyes on Jesus for every good outcome that comes into our lives. Keep your eyes focused on Jesus when you have a bad day or some other problem crops up because He will be with you through those times as well. Don’t do like Peter did when he was walking on the water toward Jesus because he took his eyes off of Jesus and looked at the water and the waves driven by the wind and he began to sink. Then he cried, “Lord, save me!“.

That prayer of only three words is all that you need to come to Jesus. When you are overwhelmed and afraid and know that you need Jesus as your Savior…don’t forget to say them: Lord, save me.

Don’t give up!

16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/2co.4.16.KJV

Our lives are being challenged every day. Keep your focus on Jesus Christ and He will be with you through every trial that you have.

Consider the dash…

On gravestones, there is something that seems out of place. Some have a favorite Bible verse plus the name and the birth date and the date of a person’s death. Some don’t have anything beyond the person’s name and the date of their birth and the date of death. The one thing that seems out of place and without much explanation is the dash. It is hardly noticed because it is placed between the years on the stone. It essentially represents our life. From birth to death this “dash” is where everything in this person’s life has happened.

They grew up as a child and went through school, got married, and had some children (maybe) and along the way, they worked at a job. They could’ve gone on a mission or to church most Sundays, but unless we knew them there is no reference to this.

The dash between the dates of your birth and your death is all that is left here on your grave to give evidence of your life. The real evidence of your life is your children and your spouse and possibly some friends that you made along the way. But what does the dash mean? It signifies your life. As Solomon said in the book of Ecclesiastes “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity”.

Anything and everything that we have done in this life is meaningless unless we have done most of our work during our life for God and His Kingdom. I don’t mean that you have to be a pastor but living your life daily as a Christian does count for something. Even if the dash doesn’t show it. So what happens on the dash? Your life! Every person’s life is different so only their family and friends would know what belongs in that space. God, of course, knows exactly what happened and why.

The dash of your life looks short and it is, just as your life is short in comparison to eternity. Even if you live to be over one hundred years old, eternity is unending. God’s Kingdom is in eternity and it had no beginning and it doesn’t have an end just as God had always been existing in that realm. That is why our lives are referred to as a wave on the sea or a puff of smoke because our life is like the snap of your fingers. Earthly life only lasts as long as God allows it to. The end of your life is known to God but thankfully not to us.

We are not guaranteed tomorrow so seek the Lord while He can be found on this side of life because once you pass into the next life, your eternity is determined by your choice. Follow Jesus and be useful to Him in this life and in the next.

Are you seeking Him?

Many people today seem to be seeking Him. They are asking questions about Him and the life that they would have with Jesus in their lives. But…are they seeking Him to be their Savior? Asking questions and reading books about Him from other authors and preachers who write about Him is a step in the right direction. But what are you getting from them? Second-hand information mostly. Possibly even their interpretation of Who He is. You aren’t getting the Truth or at least not all of it.

Reading the Bible, God’s Word, on the subject of His Word which is the Savior, Jesus Christ! I know…many people say that the information on Jesus is only found in the New Testament so why should I read the Old Testament? Because every book of God’s Word has a reference to or a type of Jesus Christ in it somewhere. From Genesis, He is referred to as the Seed of the woman and the Angel of the Lord to Exodus where the type is the “bread” from Heaven, manna, or the Rock which gave its living water to the Israelites in the wilderness. Those are just two or three references to the Christ Who is to come.

Moses was a “type” of Christ, Joseph was a “type” of Christ so there are many references that allude to a Savior in the very beginning of the Bible. Actually, every book of the Bible has some reference to Him in it somewhere.

When you seek Him, don’t just read or pray about Him or what your need might be. Seek Him earnestly in His Word, pray while you are reading it, and ask Him to reveal Himself to you. When you feel Him touch your heart and you will know when it happens, you will want Him as your Savior because you will feel it in your heart. You will realize that you are a sinner who needs a Savior, otherwise, you will be going to hell.

God loves each of us but He is not pleased with our sinful lives unless we have accepted Jesus as our Savior. If we have done that then the sins that we have confessed and asked His forgiveness for are wiped away. When the Holy Spirit comes into your heart and Jesus takes your sin away, it is gone. I’m not saying that you won’t sin again, but the guilt from your previous sins is taken away. Although, Satan will bring them back to your memory later to taunt you with them. God has put them all behind Him as far away as the East is from the West.

Life with Jesus in your heart is not an easy road to travel, especially today, but He will give you the strength to get through the troubles and trials which will come. Give your life to Him because He has already given His life for yours.

Find your peace in Him

33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. John 16:33 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/jhn.16.33.KJV

God gives us His strength

4 Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength: Isaiah 26:4 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/isa.26.4.KJV

God gives us blessings!

19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah. Psalm 68:19 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.68.19.KJV

You are called!

If you have felt the touch of God in your heart then you have been called by God! This is one call that you don’t want to hang up on or ignore!

Why do I say this? Because no one is sure of waking up or having a tomorrow morning. God loves you and He knows what you can do because He is the One Who created you and placed your talent in you. Each person that God has called, He has always equipped them with the ability to do what they have been called for. Whether it is preaching, teaching or just washing dishes you can be useful to God’s Kingdom.

I know that sounds crazy but God can use crazy sometimes. I mean He even made a donkey talk once so He can surely give you the talent and the ability to fulfill His calling on your life. Don’t turn away from His call. He sent Jesus to save humanity from their sinful natures and from the punishment that disobedience brings. All that you or I or anyone else has to do is recognize His touch on your heart, admit that you are a sinner and that you need Jesus as your Savior. Then believe in Him as your Savior and change your life to follow His teachings from the gospels.