Category: Accepting Christ is your choice

Off of my game


The past few weeks…basically since the election, I’ve not been writing as much here. I have also been a bit distracted because of having to have a colonoscopy done. That’s as much information as I’ve giving here on that.

I have been studying my Bible although not as regularly as I was. Why am I slacking off? Truthfully…I’m not sure. I’ve noticed during the last few years that my holiday writing and studying drops off a bit. Maybe it is a little bit of the so-called “holiday blues”. It feels as if I am having to put out more effort each day to study the Bible and get the Word, the wisdom that God wants me to understand for my life, to make sense to me. Sounds like I have a real problem.

My problem is easy to pinpoint when I look at it that way. Even so I have to consciously bring my mind into subjection to His Holy Spirit so that I can write and understand that what I’m writing may bring someone who is looking for Jesus will find Him and not me. I cannot make the change in their life, in your life that will give you an eternity in heaven. Only Jesus Christ and your belief in His atonement for your sins can do that. God loves each of us so much that He sent Jesus to Earth to live as one of us and then die for all of our sins.

The only veil separating you from eternity is God’s love and He knows when you will come to know Him as your Savior. Some say that we are immortal until that day that God touches our heart and lets us know that He is waiting and all we have to do is accept Him as our Savior. Some people say ” Now wait a minute, you said that I have to believe in Jesus Christ for my salvation and now you are saying that God loves me enough to wait for me to give my life to Him!” Which One of Them is my Savior? They both are.

Jesus is the Son of God but He is also the Second of the Trinity which makes the Godhead. This is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit or Ghost if you prefer. All of them were present on the day that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist if you will read it in Matthew. So what is my problem these days? Satan.

Just because I am a Christian and a pastor doesn’t mean that he leaves me alone. In fact, he attacks me harder when I am about to write here or when I am working on my sermon or just studying the Bible. Why? Because as long as he can keep my mind occupied with bills and surgery and medical tests and my medication then I won’t be thinking about the work that I should be doing while there is still time to do so…to tell you and others about my Savior and what He will do for you. He doesn’t bring us wealth or fame here on this Earth or in this life but consider that no one on Earth can give you eternal life! What is wealth here compared to being in heaven with the Creator and my Redeemer? I mean the streets of New Jerusalem are paved with gold! How fantastic is that?

There isn’t a rich man on Earth that can pave his driveway with gold bricks because they would be stolen during the night. Nobody would spend thousands on a brick of gold and then place it in the dirt or in concrete to pave even a driveway. But God does. God doesn’t care about the gold and diamonds and pearls, each of the gates of the city in heaven are made from one gigantic pearl and there are 12 gates! Each one made from a precious stone like diamonds or sapphires. Can you imagine a door 12 feet tall made from one gemstone or pearl?

No amount of money impresses God…He wants your obedience and your love to be focused on Jesus and His life. We are supposed to be reflections of Him in our lives so that others can see Him in and through our lives because for some people you and I and the lives that we live in front of them are the only example of Jesus’ love that they may ever see. Live your life as close to Him and be as close to His example as you can with the strength that He gives you through the Holy Spirit because that is the only way that you and I can do this.

Turning away from the Bible?


Many people, it seems, are more than willing to turn their back on the Bible just because someone can make a case against its accuracy. But if you pick up a copy or two you will find that most translations do agree with each other. So why do we turn away from the book that has shaped civilization for at least the last five centuries?

Mostly it is due to our own idea of what Truth really means to us today. Some people who have turned 30 or even younger are turning away from the Bible and the churches that teach from it. Truth is not relative or individual. God’s Word is True and it is the Truth. Like it or not it was given to the Jewish people first but salvation comes through Jesus Christ and belief in Him alone. Each of us has to have faith to believe in Jesus and in the Truth of the Bible and God is the Author and Finisher of our faith but you won’t hear that from a church that doesn’t teach and preach from the Bible.

The refusal of people to believe God’s Word is a far more dangerous tone to take than what is happening in regard to our healthcare and the election too. God is not some fairy tale and His Word has been proven to be true. The prophecies have all come true except for the taking up of the church, those who believe in Jesus for their salvation. When that prophecy finally happens the whole world will know that God is real but whether the news will report the truth about it will be another “spin” which will hurt more people for eternity.

Why do I defend the Bible like this? Because if it isn’t true…then God is a liar and that is something that He cannot do. The life that is in the universe and that which we see every day on Earth could not be here if it weren’t for God and His Son keeping the little things and the big things in balance. There are so many documents which prove that the Torah and the Prophets are true and have been copied accurately down through the years. There are more than five thousand copies of most, if not all of the New Testament.

Please go to a Bible teaching church, pick up a copy of the Bible if you don’t already have one and begin reading it. So much of the Bible backs up the New Testament because Jesus and His disciples only had the Old Testament to read and go by. We benefit from Paul’s letters which were written mostly from prison due to his preaching about Jesus and His sacrifice for our salvation. In fact, Paul wrote almost half of the New Testament himself so if it weren’t for his letters we would have a much smaller New Testament and Bible.

I urge everyone who reads this to tell others about it especially if they don’t go to church or if they don’t know Jesus as their Savior. He came to give us eternity with Him and save us from an eternity in hell. Make sure of your salvation because not one of us is guaranteed to be here tomorrow.

PTSD-Pray through sin’s denial


How should we live and act when we sin each day of our lives? Should we just shrug it off and tell ourselves that “God has already forgiven us through the blood of Jesus because I am saved by my belief in His atonement for me.” These words are true…but God’s Word says that we should confess our sins and He is just to forgive us. We should NOT assume God’s forgiveness because of our belief in His Son.

Consider this: many people, especially in the “Bible Belt” of the South, THINK that they are truly saved by Jesus but their life doesn’t show behavior that proves this out. Why is that? Because of our culture in the South. We attend church almost from the day we are born and we grow up in the church. Many of us can quote Scripture almost as good as our pastor can…but have you truly given your heart to Jesus? Did the conviction of His Spirit touch your spirit and show you that your life doesn’t reflect what you say you believe?

Many of the people in America, whether you are from the Midwest or the Northeast or the South, claim to be Christians! In some recent polls, there has been as many as 80 to 90 percent of the population making this claim. Then why are so many churches closing their doors because there are too few people in the congregation to keep the doors open? Those same polls show that when the questions get down to true, serious, Bible studying Christians the percentages drop to as little as fifteen percent regardless of their location in America. Now that this “new” coronavirus has hit and churches have been told NOT to meet together in groups of more than fifteen persons I wonder how many more churches will close their doors?

So…should we pray through the denials that we have been inflicting on ourselves for more than forty years? Of course, we should! The Church is the people who make up the Body of Christ here on Earth, not the buildings. Prayer is our connection to God in all of His Glory and it is He that will bring about a return to church and the study of the Bible. How can we just hide behind a tree the way Adam did when he heard God walking in the Garden so long ago? We should confess our sins and beg for His forgiveness of our sins. It was our sins which nailed Jesus to the cross and it was for our atonement that He died and rose on the third day to bring that forgiveness to each person who will ask for it with a humble heart knowing that each of us is truly in need of His forgiveness today and forever.

The instances of PTSD that we hear of today can come from many different situations, but God can get each of us through them if we will learn to rely on Him every minute of every day. What do I mean by “different situations”? The teenager who was sent into a war zone during the Vietnam war gets it because of what he feels or sees around him in the jungle. If he sticks his head out too far the enemy may put a bullet in it. The child of an alcoholic develops it because of how their personality changes and they become violent for little reason. A policeman or woman develops it because of the culture that we live in today that seems to be hunting cops while they are working. Firefighters and ambulance workers get it because of what they see and hear and fear during their shifts. God can help us through all of these but we have to know Him to come to Him for our comfort during our episodes of PTSD. Seek Him every day for His strength and His comfort in every trial, no matter how small or big it may seem to us.

Life and Love


Both of these words are part and parcel of the message which Jesus taught to His disciples. What do I mean by “life”? Well, you are alive and the life that you live every day is a message that others see when they see you on a daily basis. People notice how you walk and talk, especially when they find that you have given your heart and life to Jesus. When Jesus went to different towns during His ministry do you think that He announced His coming? No, the word spread because of what others had experienced because of His life and because of the love that they felt when He spoke to them or preached to them or blessed them.

His ministry was and is the same as our ministry today. We are supposed to go out into the world and let people see Jesus in our daily life. Not being arrogant or boastful about our life but simply living our life with His life as a pattern by everything that we do or say. If a person can’t see Jesus in your daily life by how you speak or your actions then you may not have Jesus in your heart at all.

What about “love”? How do we incorporate that into our lives? According to the apostle Paul, “if we do not have love then we are just a clanging cymbal“. Why would he say something like that? Because everything that Jesus did in His ministry was done because of His love for His people and for each of us. Jesus healed people because He loved them. He blessed children because He loved them. Every action that He took during His ministry, even His death on the cross, was done because of His love for us.

In the culture that most of us live in today, the word “love” has been used and abused so much that it means much less than it should. Even saying “I love you” used to be an endearing thing to say but today love doesn’t carry the weight that it did in the past. There are many words that don’t mean the same today and many of them have been reduced to abbreviations or even emoticons.

God’s love is deeper and more meaningful than we can imagine but many people who attend church today don’t seem to see God in that way anymore. Mostly because very few people even believe that the Bible is the actual Word of God and that it is ALL TRUE! God cannot lie and yet many teachers and preachers will tell you that God didn’t mean it that way or that it only meant that when it was written but today it doesn’t mean that at all.

The Ten Commandments are still commandments and God meant every word. The Bible, Old and New Testaments, was inspired by the Holy Spirit and since He can’t lie then every word is true and was meant to be taken as absolute Truth then and now. Some people try to water down or change some words so that the message is skewed or changed to have a different impact on people today. In other words they don’t want to offend people. I don’t remember Jesus backing away from His critics or changing His message so that they wouldn’t be offended.

Live your life as a reflection of Jesus so that others will see Him in your words or your actions and maybe they will want the Savior that has come into your life and made such a change in your life and the way you live it.

Have you ever wondered…


How did the universe get so big in six days? How did God make some stars HUGE and some that are just the right size to provide warmth and life? Why did God create people who can be so cruel and who will reject Him as their Savior?

These are just a small sample of questions that have come through my mind in the past few weeks, but I still don’t have an answer to any of them. I probably won’t get an answer to any of them until I meet Him in eternity one day. I pray that my life and the decisions that I’ve made in life will at least get me inside the door to Heaven. It will not be my life or any of the “works” that I have done which will bring me to heaven’s door. What will get me in will be the fact of my salvation by my belief in Jesus and His atonement for my sins.

The question of the universe and the stars which God placed in it is actually answered in Genesis. The “how” God did it part was by His Word. Everything that God created was spoken into existence with the exception of mankind, the man and his wife. God sculpted him from the clay or mud if you like it that way and then He breathed His breath of Life into the man and he became a living soul. When God formed the woman, He put Adam to sleep and took one of his ribs and formed her from that.

Mankind was formed by God’s hands. Everything else was spoken into existence, even the fish and the birds and the animals and trees. God wanted a special relationship with mankind which is why He formed him from the clay like a potter but I’m sure there were no imperfections in His creation at all.

Why was mankind created in this fashion? Because God wanted to have an intimate relationship with us and for a time He did have that relationship. But…when mankind disobeyed God’s rule about the tree in the midst of the Garden, he was cast out of the Garden and into a world which suffered because of his disobedience. Death wasn’t spoken of at all until the Fall and then even the stars and the planets and the animals and everything else that God had created felt the sting of the disobedience and the fall. God cursed the ground so that Adam would have to work hard to make things grow to support his family.

Life had been as close to heaven as possible before mankind disobeyed God’s rule about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That is where all of the evil in man’s heart began and we have made it show in many ways over the thousands of years since then. God had seen that man would not be able to resist the temptation to give in to enticement from Satan or from any other source. Which is why He told the woman that one day the “seed of the woman” would conquer the sinful ways of man and pay the price to redeem everyone and bring them back into a relationship with God again.

Jesus was that seed and He did fulfill that prophecy because nobody else in humanity would be able to live a spotless, sinless life in order to pay the price for all of mankind, past present and future. The sacrifices of goats and sheep and birds and bulls in the Old Testament were just a foreshadowing of Jesus shedding His blood to atone for all of mankind’s sins. They could not wash away man’s sins because they were only temporary substitutes for Jesus Christ’s blood which would take all of our sins away.

I pray that all who read this will take it to heart and believe in Jesus for your salvation today! Because you don’t know when your days may be over

Have you ever heard God speak to you?


Many times we think we hear or feel a small voice or something that is telling us that we are not doing what is right. We may call it our conscience, but whatever you call it I believe that it is the voice of God by the Holy Spirit. Touching your spirit with His words of wisdom and caution in our time of spiritual need. Sometimes we listen to it and sometimes we just push it aside and forget about it for a while.

God does speak to people today, maybe not from a cloud or a burning bush the way He did when He called Moses, but He does speak every time you hear a message from His Word. When you read the Bible you are hearing His voice from its pages because He inspired the writers to pen those words. Why do I point this out today? Because the Bible was written many thousands of years ago by over forty writers separated by geography and time as well and yet it contains a coherent story line that points to our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Hearing God’s voice today is harder than it has ever been. Not because He isn’t speaking but because of all of the other competing voices that get in the way. Our jobs, our family, our own self-interest gets in the way and many times shouts louder than God ever would. We are too busy to go to church. We have a game or a recital to attend. We need to visit our parents and grandparents this weekend. All of these and more get in the way of our discipleship to Jesus Christ. We allow these important, to us, “busyness” events to take our attention away from God and from our education by the Holy Spirit. Most of the time we don’t even pay attention to the fact that is drawing our attention away from our walk with Him.

One day it will make more sense to those who know Him and it will be a terror to those who are not known by Him and for those think they know Him but do not. I pray that all who read this will make sure of their relationship to Jesus and their belief in Him or not before His return for the church. Will you be able to accept Him as your Savior during the Tribulation? Yes, but the consequences will be much more severe and immediate at that time, but if you do accept Him your eternity will be much better than it will be if you don’t.

Do you understand?


There are many, many things in this world and in the universe that we will never understand. Such as, why do birds sing? Why does the humpback whale sing and what is the song’s purpose? Why does the sky seem to light up with crimson fire just before dawn?

Understanding our life itself and why we are here is a mystery to every person on the Earth. Many of us search almost the entirety of our lives trying to find the true answer. Some people do find the answer but we don’t want to believe that it is as easy as believing in Jesus as our Savior. A child can understand it but most adults want to try to “help Jesus save my soul”. The fact is that no amount of work or prayer from us is needed in order to save us from an eternity in hell.

Understanding even a small amount of what Creation itself is and also understanding Who our Creator is…well it is too much for our finite minds to hope to grasp in this life. Maybe in a thousand years or more in His Presence we may grasp a fraction of His greatness and the purpose for the whole of creation. We may begin to grasp it during that time but it will likely take many thousands of years if we ever grasp these mysteries at all

Look at a hummingbird. It is the smallest of birds and yet it is the only species which can fly backward and hover in place. God designed them. He designed every cell in their body and in ours to carry oxygen and nutrients to all parts of the body in a timely fashion. That is something which can’t be “evolved”. God is the Creator and it is His creation, those who don’t want to believe in a created universe just refuse to believe in the truth of the Bible.

What is God’s will for me?


Unless your pastor or your parents tell you where you can truly find out His will is for you, it can take a long time to find it. Being a Christian is not a simple decision with a easy pathway. God gave us a way to find His will but most people will miss it. It takes study and prayer through the Word of God to learn what your place is in His Kingdom. That is where you will find His will for your life. Every day thank God for allowing you to be alive for one more day, study His Word, praying about the scripture you are reading then use the scripture that day. Then do this again tomorrow and the next day and the next day. Learning more about the God Who loves you will bless you in ways that you cannot imagine.

God’s will for each of us is different but studying God’s Word is the best way to find His will for you and your life. Some people in the church never find out what His will is for their lives because they read the passage that the preacher is talking about and that is as far as their reading of God’s Word goes. You will never know God’s voice listening to a few verses on Sunday and His will for your life is not contained in a couple of verses either. The Bible is written as a living document from God so it needs to be read as if you and God are having a conversation about lots of different topics.

God loves and cares for every person on the Earth but He knows that many will not accept Jesus as their Savior. Only those that He calls and who choose to follow Jesus will know Him and be known by Him. Is this fair? Yes it is because it is the same for everyone! God doesn’t choose us by our name or how much money we have or by our ability to speak to a crowd. He chooses each of us because He knows that each of us can touch someone’s life in a way that may get them to seek out their Savior, Jesus.

Our lives and the lives of many people, in fact all people, are orchestrated and guided by God. We think that we are in control but God can move each of us around so that our life and His plan for our life will line up and match exactly the way He wants it to. Your will and God’s will are only the same when you are searching the Scriptures for your destiny, seeking Him as your Savior and living by what God says in it. Make sure that your life and His will for it line up at some point before your life is over.

Do you know His Names?


Biblical Names of God the Triune One (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)

Advocate – 1 John 2:1
Almighty – Revelation 1:8
Alpha – Revelation 1:8
Amen – Revelation 3:14
Angel of the Lord – Genesis 16:7
Anointed One – Psalm 2:2
Apostle – Hebrews 3:1
Author and Perfecter of our Faith – Hebrews 12:2
Beginning and the End – Revelation 21:6
Bishop of Souls – 1 Peter 2:25
Branch – Zechariah 3:8
Bread of Life – John 6:35,48
Bridegroom – Matthew 9:15
Carpenter – Mark 6:3
Chief Shepherd – 1 Peter 5:4
The Christ – Matthew 1:16
Comforter – Jeremiah 8:18
Consolation of Israel – Luke 2:25
Cornerstone – Ephesians 2:20
Dayspring – Luke 1:78
Day Star – 2 Peter 1:19
Deliverer – Romans 11:26
Desire of Nations – Haggai 2:7
Emmanuel – Matthew 1:23
Everlasting Father – Isaiah 9:6
Faithful and True Witness – Revelation 3:14
First Fruits – 1 Corinthians 15:23
Foundation – Isaiah 28:16
Fountain – Zechariah 13:1
Friend of Sinners – Matthew 11:19
Gate for the Sheep – John 10:7
Gift of God – 2 Corinthians 9:15
God – John 1:1
Glory of God – Isaiah 60:1
Good Shepherd – John 10:11
Governor – Matthew 2:6
Great Shepherd – Hebrews 13:20
Guide – Psalm 48:14
Head of the Church – Colossians 1:18
High Priest – Hebrews 3:1
Holy One of Israel – Isaiah 41:14
Horn of Salvation – Luke 1:69
I Am – Exodus 3:14
Jehovah – Psalm 83:18
Jesus – Matthew 1:21
King of Israel – Matthew 27:42
King of Kings – 1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 19:16
Lamb of God – John 1:29
Last Adam – 1 Corinthians 15:45
Life – John 11:25
Light of the World – John 8:12; John 9:5
Lion of the Tribe of Judah – Revelation 5:5
Lord of Lords – 1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 19:16
Master – Matthew 23:8
Mediator – 1 Timothy 2:5
Messiah – John 1:41
Mighty God – Isaiah 9:6
Morning Star – Revelation 22:16
Nazarene – Matthew 2:23
Omega – Revelation 1:8
Passover Lamb – 1 Corinthians 5:7
Physician – Matthew 9:12
Potentate – 1 Timothy 6:15
Priest – Hebrews 4:15
Prince of Peace – Isaiah 9:6
Prophet – Acts 3:22
Propitiation – I John 2:2
Purifier – Malachi 3:3
Rabbi – John 1:49
Ransom – 1 Timothy 2:6
Redeemer – Isaiah 41:14
Refiner – Malachi 3:2
Refuge – Isaiah 25:4
Resurrection – John 11:25
Righteousness – Jeremiah 23:6
Rock – Deuteronomy 32:4
Root of David – Revelation 22:16
Rose of Sharon – Song of Solomon 2:1
Ruler of God’s Creation – Revelation 3:14
Sacrifice – Ephesians 5:2
Savior – 2 Samuel 22:47; Luke 1:47
Second Adam – 1 Corinthians 15:47
Seed of Abraham – Galatians 3:16
Seed of David – 2 Timothy 2:8
Seed of the Woman – Genesis 3:15
Servant – Isaiah 42:1
Shepherd – 1 Peter 2:25
Shiloh – Genesis 49:10
Son of David – Matthew 15:22
Son of God – Luke 1:35
Son of Man – Matthew 18:11
Son of Mary – Mark 6:3
Son of the Most High – Luke 1:32
Stone – Isaiah 28:16
Sun of Righteousness – Malachi 4:2
Teacher – Matthew 26:18
Truth – John 14:6
Way – John 14:6
Wonderful Counselor – Isaiah 9:6
Word – John 1:1
Vine – John 15:1

Why is it so important to realize that God has many names in the Bible? Because He is everything. There is no life without Him. There is no peace without Him. There is no Earth or universe with its trillions of stars and planets and galaxies without Him. There would be no human race without Him. He is All Sufficient and All powerful so in fact He doesn’t need us but He wants a relationship with us, each one of us. But relationships, like love itself, cannot be forced, they have to grow over time which is why we have to choose to follow Him and love Him because He loved us first.

Don’t turn away from Him when you feel His Presence touching your heart and soul. His touch on your life and your heart is special because He deems you worthy of His love.

The names of God that I find the most endearing are El Elyon meaning the Lord Most High and Adonai meaning Lord and Master. Adonai is also plural encompassing the Holy Trinity as One.

In the Middle East, names denote your true self, your character so when you use God’s name it should be used in a reverent way with love. Because He is the embodiment of love.

Too many…too few


Even after two thousand years there are still many places and people who still need to be reached for God’s Kingdom! In today’s world there seem to be more who don’t want to hear about the Savior Who gave His blood and His life for them. But we are still supposed to get the message out even if it is only a few who truly take it to heart. Why do we need to do this? Because it is our duty, it is our solemn duty because Jesus said it was our commission to take His message to ALL of the world. True, He was talking to His disciples but by extension it falls to us.

Even if all of the Christians in the world just told one person and that person told one or two people and each one accepted Jesus as their Savior, we could truly evangelize the world in a very short time. But not everyone is going to hear the message with their spiritual ears because it says in God’s Word, “many are called but few are chosen“. God does send His Spirit out into the world and some will accept His message and some will not. Why does the call of God’s Spirit touch some and not others? For the same reason that God said “Jacob I loved, Esau I hated” before they were born. He named them and He knew their futures before they were born.

I’ve heard people say that if God chooses who will be saved and who will not then there is no reason for us to tell them but it is still our job. Many people will never hear about Jesus or His message if we don’t take the message to them in some way. By preaching or in person and sometimes by our posts on this medium. Whichever way works to get the Lord’s message of grace and salvation out to those who are lost then that is the one we should use. Are we living in the last days? Yes! Some may be telling you that we aren’t, but if you read the prophecy books like Daniel, Isaiah, Ezekiel and Revelation, many of their prophecies have already come to pass. The only ones left are the taking up of the Bride of Christ (the church) and the seven years of tribulation.

Seek Him while there is time.