Category: when you feel His call in your heart

Are you broken?


In the past year or so I think we have all felt a little broken in some way. Some, I think, more than others. Especially the doctors and nurses who are on the front lines of treating this disease that doesn’t seem to yield to a vaccine. It just keeps mutating and changing and no one knows whether the shots will work against this one or that one and if it does work…for how long? Then, after all of this, there are the everyday diseases that take our loved ones and the criminals and others who shoot people for no real reason. The brokenness of our world and our lives, to one extent or another, just seems to keep expanding from one day to the next with no ending in sight. 

Where do we find solace? Can we find help in our lives that will bring some closure to this broken feeling that we have? Yes! By giving your heart to Jesus and following Him for the rest of your time on Earth you can have hope and a future regardless of what may be going on around you or in your life right now.

The news and the media that we get our news from are no help these days. Sometimes we hear good news and sometimes it is not such good news. Our families are beset with cancers and other diseases. Our children are being rebellious at times and even our job is not helping much with prices going up at the grocery store and the gas station. We look around and even on Friday, we may feel better because the weekend is here but then Monday comes and we have to endure it again.

This time that we are living in has been prophesied in the Bible. If you go to church or if you are curious, check it out in Matthew 24 and Luke 21. Jesus tells us that all sorts of problems will be happening just before the end of the age (the church age). We are living in that period of time right now and whether we choose to believe it or not won’t change that fact. All of the prophecies in the Bible have come true except for the Tribulation and the Rapture (taking away) of the church. The Rapture will happen first and when that day comes many will be blessed but there will be many more that will be left to live through the Tribulation period of seven years.

I pray that anyone who reads this will seek to find a Bible-teaching church and make sure of your salvation. Read the books of John and Acts and Romans. Pray that God will touch your heart and draw you to become a follower of Jesus. The problems and the diseases that are being reported today are just the beginning. It will get much worse during the Tribulation so make sure that your soul and your heart belongs to Jesus Christ before that day comes.

Open the door to a new life in Jesus Christ


Do you know Him? Does He know you?


Many people worldwide wonder at the passage where Jesus says, “Depart from Me, I never knew you!” Some in the church even ask, “Will that apply to me?” It depends on your relationship to Jesus and with Him. Do you read His Word? Do you tell others about Him? If you were put on trial for being a Christian how much evidence would there be to convict you of it?

Lots of questions but all of the answers can be found in God’s Word. Jesus taught that “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Every person that the Holy Spirit convicts of their sins will be drawn to Jesus. Whether they accept Him as their Savior and Lord is their decision. Some will accept Him gladly. Some will get an iron grip on the church pew and stand there fighting with God until the invitation is passed. Some who do this may not get another chance to accept Jesus.

God loves the whole world, saints and sinners alike. But He will not save the whole world even though Jesus paid their price on the cross. Why? Because many will refuse to accept His offer of salvation. Many people have accepted Jesus as their Savior but there are many more that have rejected Him. Do you know Him?

Some people think that they have sinned too much for God to even want them. Do you think this? Moses was a murderer. Paul persecuted and approved of the stoning of Christians. The apostle Peter denied that he even knew Jesus on the night of His arrest. God used Moses to free the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. Saul, who became known as Paul, met the risen Christ on the road to Damascus and God used him to write most of the New Testament and be the apostle to the Gentiles. Jesus redeemed Peter three times after His resurrection to take care of those denials and Peter went to jail and was a preacher to the Gentiles too.

God used a donkey to show a false prophet his wrong decisions by causing the donkey to speak to him about why he had beaten the animal. Balaam would’ve been killed if the donkey had kept going like he wanted him to because the Angel of the Lord was standing there with His sword drawn. God can use a child or an old man or anyone, male or female, to be His voice to someone specific. He can use you to bring His message to someone that nobody else can talk to. Maybe they won’t even go to church but if you could show them by your life and by your testimony they will choose to give their life to Jesus.

Revelation 3:20 says this: 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me. 

Come to Jesus because He did pay the price for your soul and for your sins. All you have to do is believe that He did this for you and accept Him as your Savior, then repent of your “old life” and turn to Him, seek Him in the Bible and at a Bible-teaching church so you can be a witness for Him to anyone who asks you about your hope and your faith in Jesus.

God gives you strength


Amen

Does God hear us?


Even on the days when we don’t think that He does…He can and does hear everything. Your fears, your needs, your prayers from your heart even when you can’t speak them aloud. God doesn’t abandon His children. Those He has chosen as His own are His and will be His for eternity. The problem is this: many of us who have been chosen don’t realize it…yet. Sometimes we feel His touch in our heart when we hear a sermon at the church we attend. Sometimes we will hear it in a song on the radio or a sermon on TV. If you read your Bible but have not given your heart to Jesus yet, occasionally the words on a specific page or from a specific verse will stand out to you. You can’t explain the reason for it but something from one of these has caused you to seek Him earnestly.

Why do we feel these feelings or notice a verse or something from a sermon? It is because God loves you! He has cared for you since before the Earth was formed. He has a plan for your life. God cares for you more than anyone else can! Do you feel that you don’t matter to anyone? You matter to God. He knows you and what you can be and do in this life because He is our Creator. He wove your DNA together in the womb with specific traits and abilities and your own personality so that you can be a blessing to Him and for His Kingdom. There is something that He wants you to do because you are the only one who can do it.

God knows every thought that everyone thinks so you can be sure He knows what you say in your prayer or even when you are talking to someone else. Our words, good or bad, are what others hear and they make their opinion of you because of what you say. Words may not break bones, but they can cause more pain and more deep wounds between siblings or friends than any weapon you could use. Words can cause wounds which never heal completely and they can cause more problems because of the way they are interpreted by those who hear the tone of your voice even if you didn’t intend to hurt someone’s feelings.

Yes, God hears every word. Whether He answers your prayers in this life or by taking you to heaven to give you a life that you could not have here…it is His prerogative, after all He is God. He doesn’t owe you anything and His timetable of answering your prayer or mine is His, not our idea of when He should do it. He knows your problems and your pains and He hears your prayers for your own life and for those that you love. God loves you more than anyone in this world and He loves you more deeply than anyone else could.

God gives you strength!


Amen

Even in his sorrow…


25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me. Job 19:25‭-‬27 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/job.19.25-27.KJV

Do you care?


Something that an atheist said a few years ago has brought this to mind today. You’ve heard this possibly because it has been on YouTube since about 2009. I also noticed when I was looking it up this morning that the man, Penn Jillette, has become a Christian. Here is the video, which I think I have shared before, and as one of the comments on YouTube said “that is the best 5 minute sermon I’ve ever heard”:

He is speaking about a Gideon who came up after his show and talked with him and gave him a Gideon’s New Testament with the Psalms. I pray that you will watch this video and take to heart what he is saying, especially about heaven and hell. We are living in some fearful times and because we are living very close to the “end of the age”, be careful to search your life and your heart. If there is any doubt about whether you belong to Jesus and He belongs to you, please seek Him and ask Him into your heart.

I am sending you!


What do you truly believe?


When the Pharisee, Nicodemus, came to Jesus at night He told him that you must be born again. Nicodemus couldn’t believe at first what Jesus was saying. “I can’t go back into the womb and be born again!”, Jesus told him that He was speaking of a spiritual rebirth. “What does that mean?” he asked. Jesus told him that to be born of the spirit meant to believe in his heart that He was the Messiah, the Son of God. Not believe in your head through knowledge but to commit your heart and your life daily to following Him. This commitment cannot be made because of your knowledge of the Bible or even your knowledge of Jesus. You may have a degree in Bible studies from a seminary or a college but if you have never truly given your heart to Jesus, confessing your sins to Him…you are not saved. This is something that is totally between you and God. I don’t know your heart, only God knows for sure, but until you have felt your heart break and you know that you need Jesus as your Savior you will never truly give your heart to Him.

The Holy Spirit of God can touch your heart and your mind and you will know that you need Jesus as your Savior. Many people feel this touch and then decide that they will do it later. You are not guaranteed a “later”! You don’t know if you will even be alive tomorrow! I could die in a car accident today or you could yourself, no one knows for sure how much longer we have in this life. We make plans for a weekend outing or a vacation for a few months from now but we are only hoping that we will be able to go on that trip. We don’t have a guarantee that we will be alive next week or next month, but many of us make plans far in advance regardless.

I have heard while watching a TV program that some celebrities have read the Bible completely through from Genesis to the book of Revelation and that may be true. But…reading God’s Word doesn’t change your heart unless the Holy Spirit reaches down and touches your heart first. If that doesn’t happen or it hasn’t happened then reading the Bible is like reading any other book. It only gives you knowledge. The spiritual aspect of the Bible doesn’t come into your mind or your heart unless the Holy Spirit breaks your heart and you realize that you need Jesus Christ as your Savior right now! When the Holy Spirit touches your heart, God gives you enough faith to know that you need Jesus because without faith His Word doesn’t mean anything to you.

Without even a small amount of faith you can’t please God in any way! Your life as a Christian cannot begin without a small amount of faith, trying to do it on your own will fail every time. Your strength is not enough. Peter and John and all of the disciples could not have started the church that Jesus told them to do without the Holy Spirit’s anointing. They couldn’t do it with their own strength. Jesus even prayed the night before His crucifixion, “Father, let this cup pass from Me!”, His human mind and body were terrified of the punishment that He knew was coming in just a few hours. But…He said, “Nevertheless, let Thy will be done.”. He submitted to the will of God that His sacrifice for each of us was the only way to pay the penalty of sin for every person that would accept Him as their Savior.

If you have felt the touch of the Holy Spirit on your heart and you know that you need Jesus as your Savior, don’t turn away from Him until you have asked Him to come into your life and into your heart and save you. Ask Him for His forgiveness and to make you a new creation in His Kingdom. We may not live past the next hour or even the night tonight so make this decision today while you can. Please do this before it is too late. Jesus loves you enough that He gave His life for yours, don’t turn away from Him today.