Category: when you feel His call in your heart

Do you believe in God?


Here is a simple explanation between believing or not: when asked if there is a God, a theist says “yes”, an atheist says “no”, and an agnostic says “I don’t know”.

You can choose to argue if you wish, but the answer is the same. Life and creation can prove that God exists, although most atheists choose to believe that evolution caused everything to form spontaneously. In my view, it takes far more faith to believe in evolution than it does to believe in God or the Bible itself. Where do most people seem to be in this description of beliefs?

Here is a breakdown of some beliefs or lack thereof:

When pollsters like the Pew Research Center survey people who are religiously unaffiliated (often called “nones”):

  • Nothing in particular: The majority of unaffiliated individuals (about 63% in the U.S. and similar majorities globally) describe their religion as “nothing in particular” rather than adopting the label of atheist or agnostic. Many of these individuals still hold spiritual or vague higher-power beliefs.
  • Agnostics: Make up about 20% of religious “nones” in the U.S. (or roughly 6% of the total U.S. adult population), identifying with the view that the existence of God or the ultimate truth is unknown or unknowable.
  • Atheists: Make up about 17% of religious “nones” in the U.S. (or roughly 4% to 5% of the total U.S. adult population), explicitly rejecting the belief in God or deities.

My blog has always been written by a Christian, so yes I do believe in God and His Word, the Bible. There is no reason to ask the question about whether there is a God or not because the heavens declare His handiwork. Yet, the most beautiful area of the United States, in my opinion, has the most non-religious people in it. I’m speaking of New England. I drove through there many years ago and the mountains and trees were so beautiful, I thought “God was having a good day when He designed this part of America”.

Belief in God is not a requirement for living but it should be. A baby is formed in the womb by cell division and multiplication and God places all of our characteristics inside each of us before we are born. He told Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you…” God knows each of us in such an intimate way that it cannot be denied but many people choose to do so.

What will be your destination?


Many of us just live our lives as if they are going to keep going. We don’t think about “end of life” until we have to. Even then, we don’t consider our eternal life. So…what will be your eternal destination? Will you just go puff and that is it after your mortal body dies? Do you believe in an eternal destination? It seems that many people do because most obituaries seem to point to a heavenly destination. But what if your soul doesn’t go to heaven? How do you get to Heaven?

How do you get to Heaven?

According to the Bible and the Christian definition, you can only get there by believing in Jesus as your Savior. There are no work requirements and no other “hoops” you have to jump through. Is this the right way? Again, according to Jesus Christ, belief in Him is the only way to come into the presence of God in heaven. Accepting Jesus as your Savior takes all of the punishment for your sins away and you are wiped clean.

There are other religious ways in the world and I won’t list them here. But, in the past 25+ years that I have been a follower of Jesus, no other religion offers you an eternal relationship except Christianity. God loves all of us, but He knows our weaknesses and our strengths and He knows who will accept Jesus as their Savior and who will not.

Remember the thief on the cross? He asked Jesus to remember me when you come into your kingdom. Jesus told him, “today you will be with Me in paradise”. He couldn’t even be baptized, but he was saved. Just believe in Jesus and ask Him to forgive you of your sins.

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High price conversation


I met a man in 1990 who I have prayed for ever since. Not every day, but I still pray for him. He may be deceased by now, I don’t know. I got into an elevator with him and I tried to strike up a conversation with him, just small talk while we were on the elevator. He interrupted me and said, “I’m going to stop you right there. I charge $800 an hour for my time.” I just said, “Okay”. The trip in the elevator wasn’t going to be very long, but according to his estimate, talking to me wasn’t worth his attention, even if it was just small talk.

I’m glad that God isn’t like that. He listens to every prayer, and every cry for help. Even if it is just one word spoken in anguish and pain. God loves us and cares for each of us more than we will ever know, until we are in Heaven.

I listened to a program a few minutes ago talking about the prayer shawl (Tallit) that every Jewish person knows about. The prayer shawl represents God and all of His attributes. His name YHWH is represented by the knots on the corners (Tzitzit) of the prayer shawl. All of the threads mean something, in particular the commandments of God. I apologize if I have gotten parts of it wrong. My point is this, in reference to the “corner of His garment” mentioned in the New Testament, the woman touched the name of God. She had faith enough to know that if she could only touch that, her medical problem would be cured.

God’s economy doesn’t work by how much money you have or what value you can bring to Him. God is the Creator of everything! You are worth the life of His Son, Jesus, so you are worth far more than any amount of money, including the entire wealth of the whole world! God could create a planet-sized diamond if He wanted to, so there is no amount of gold or silver that you could offer Him to gain His attention.

Your life and your soul are worth Jesus’ dying on the cross and coming out of the tomb on the third day. Jesus is God in human form, with all of our feelings and temptations and it was only because He had the nature of God in Him that He was able to live a sinless life to pay for our sins. If you can place your faith in Him and give your heart to Him, like the thief on the cross, you will be saved. No amount of work required. No giving away your wealth, although that would take a burden from you. Just give Him yourself as a living sacrifice each day and walk with Him until He returns. It is a daily walk, one step at a time.

Why do I have faith in Jesus?


Because God, Who is part of the Trinity, knew me before the beginning of the world. He knows you too, if you are destined to be a Christian. He knows every person on Earth and He knows whether you will believe in Jesus for your salvation, so don’t cry about whether you have been chosen by Him or not. Many are called to be saved by accepting Jesus Christ, but few actually accept Him as their Savior.

There is also another reason that I have faith in Jesus. It’s because He loved us, each of us, before the world or anything else was made. God’s love is deeper toward His creation than we can imagine. Our love for our children is one that can’t be explained or taken away. God’s love for us is deeper than that by a LOT! He knew us molecule by molecule as He formed us in the womb, so His love is that deep.

He loved us when we were not lovable. Long before we were born, He knew how our life would turn out and when we would “get it” and give our heart to Jesus. I lived through more than two decades of life before I really found Him and knew that I needed Him as my Savior. Read the Bible, whether you begin at Genesis or with Matthew, sit down and learn about Him and His love for us. Yes, He chose the Jewish people first but He still loved us (Gentiles) before the beginning of everything.

God loves those who are down on their luck. He loves those who have made mistakes in their life, big ones and small ones. He loves those who are prison and those who have been pardoned. Don’t believe the lie that you have been too bad to be useful to God. He used Moses and David, both murderers. He used Saul, who became Paul, and he had been a willing participant in the death of Stephen. He pardoned Peter after Peter denied that he knew Him. God can use your strengths and your weaknesses in His service.

Why does God care about us?


This is a question that, it seems, crosses many people’s minds today. It is a question that many have wondered about for many centuries. If you have read the Bible, especially the New Testament, Jesus showed God’s love for mankind all during His ministry. It is easy to see God’s love for us because He has waited twenty centuries to allow as many people to come to faith in Jesus. Your life and my life also show how much God loves us because we are alive today. Yes, I have pain in my legs and my back but that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love me. There are many people dealing with pain and suffering caused by cancer and arthritis and other diseases, but God provides the strength for them to weather them.

God loves us and cares about us because He stitched us together in the womb and for many of us, He does have a purpose. Some of us will not accept His gift of salvation and that’s their choice, but God knew their choice before they did. It is sad that people don’t like to hear that. Yes, God is like any Dad, He will let you make your mistakes and sometimes He lets you suffer because of your mistakes. The gift of grace and salvation is offered to all, but some will not accept His offer. God doesn’t force you to take His gift, it is your choice to accept it or not.

The Truth of Christianity


How do you know that Christianity is true?

Wow! I’ve been a Christian for many years and I’ve never actually thought about the truth of it. Not because I wonder about the truth of it, but because that question is silly. The word of God is what is recorded in the Bible and the story of Jesus begins in Genesis and comes to fulfillment at the end of Revelation. Since all of the Bible is made up of words that were given to people by God Himself, it cannot be untrue because God cannot lie.

God is the Creator and my belief in Him and all that He has done is bound up in the Bible and the words that are there. The Old Testament begins the journey toward Jesus Christ because God tells Adam and Eve that there will be one that will come in the future that will restore the relationship between mankind and God. He was speaking of Jesus. I may have embellished the words a bit about what it says in Genesis, but the idea is the same. Genesis 3:15 says: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” This is referred to as the first gospel, it is the first words of hope given to Adam and Eve. It shows that God had planned for Jesus to come in history and bring salvation to us.

God made this promise at the very beginning, before driving Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden. Jesus came at the right time to begin the salvation of mankind and a restoration of the relationship that we had with Him in the Garden. We cannot earn our way into God’s presence by our own works, it is a free gift of God by grace through faith in Jesus that we can be reconciled and forgiven of our sins. Any other “way” will not work.

What excites you about eternity?


Has anyone ever even asked you about your eternity? Many people have likely never been asked this question. But, have you thought about it? Eternity is a long, long time and since Jesus talked about it then it surely is your destination. Where will you spend it is the question that needs answering. Some people, even pastors, have questioned where we will be after our life here. If you have read the gospels or heard a sermon from them, you have heard about it. Jesus died for us to have a chance at being in Heaven with Him so there is a life after this one, the only question that needs to be answered is will you be with Jesus?

If you haven’t given your life to Him then your eternity looks very different. You will be outside the boundaries of Heaven and outside the presence of God. Have you ever thought how that would be? Life would not be here without God’s sustaining it, including each of us.

Your Jordan river…


All of us have a Jordan to cross or be baptized in or even to be cleansed in. Whatever your Jordan may be, don’t turn away from it because it looks dirty or muddy. Jesus stepped into the Jordan because He came to be our Savior. He didn’t need cleansing. He didn’t need forgiveness. He was being washed with the water because His ministry was just beginning. The Spirit sent Him into the wilderness to begin His testing. Not because He needed to be tested, but because His ministry needed to begin with the testing and His victory over the one testing Him.

Our Christian life is our testing ground after we come out of the baptismal water. Every day is a test that we have to pass by leaning on and depending on Jesus to get us through each day. One day at a time, one step at a time. Some of us try to do it on our own and God will let us try it that way but we are more likely to stumble and fall when we do it “our way”. Walk with Jesus every hour and every day, praying and being in a prayerful attitude each and every hour. Why? Because the devil doesn’t stop trying to trip you and me. Every step we take, he puts something in front of us or in our thoughts to cause us to trip and fall. But, we have been forgiven through the blood of Jesus. As long as we confess the stumble or the fall, asking for forgiveness we are forgiven fully and completely.

Life is a constant walk toward Heaven. God knows the date that you will arrive. He is in control and will give us the strength to finish that journey. Follow Jesus into the Jordan and out the other side and your life will have the meaning that God had always prepared for you.

He loves you


The Lord delivers you


In today’s climate, we should be depending on the Lord to deliver us from evil people and those who would bomb us into oblivion. Some might ask, “Why are we having all of these troubles?”. Jesus told His disciples that they would have troubles in this world but He also told them that He would not leave them nor forsake them. For believers, this is comforting in so many ways. So what can the rest of the world expect from Jesus?

His love and compassion in times of need, if you will seek Him out during those times and give your life to Him by believing in Him. Jesus died and rose again to pay the price for all of mankind’s sins but He waits for you to allow Him into your life every day. The only requirement for being His and obtaining true salvation is that you believe in Him and determine that with His help, you will live your new life as His disciple.

Yes, many people come to church and get baptized and they leave convinced they are saved. Some are but there are some that may never come back to church unless it is a holiday or some other event. Some people who have been “in the church” ever since they were born think they are saved just because of their presence in the church or because Mom or grandma was a Christian. Many of these are actually “cultural Christians”, they believe that their salvation is due to family or just getting baptized in the church or even being there every Sunday. But if you look at their lives, you can’t see a difference between what they did prior to accepting Jesus and their life after their baptism.

Jesus coming into your life is supposed to deliver you from your old life and habits and bring you into a new life with Him. All of the disciples’ lives changed after their time with Him, except for Judas. Their livelihood didn’t change, Peter and John were still fishermen but mostly they were “fishing” for men and women to come to belief in Jesus. Even Paul’s vocation as a tent maker didn’t change but he made the vocation that he followed hard was his preaching about Jesus’ crucifixion and his resurrection. This was his main focus until the end of his life.

I pray that all who read this will seek to know Jesus as your Savior.