Does God’s love mean much to you?

Many times I have been asked to pray in church, even when I was a pastor and the facts about our Savior just overwhelmed me and I would choke up. Some people may have thought I was weak or just a “cry-baby” by doing this although none of them would admit it. But when you consider the pain and suffering that Jesus had to go through on the day He was crucified to pay for all of our sins…it is overwhelming. God loves each of us who will give our hearts to Him and repent of our old ways and His love is so overpowering until we can’t understand it.

Why would God send His Son to go through all of the suffering and pain as a man in order to pay our penalty for our sins? It’s because of His love for us and nothing else. Every time He disciplined the Jewish people in the Old Testament He was trying to get them to turn to Him for their provision and for His love to be poured out on them as blessings. Sometimes they recognized this and sometimes they didn’t so for a while they would follow Him or the person that He sent to bring them back into a relationship with Him. But as soon as that person died, they would turn back to the idols that they had rather than continue to follow God’s leading.

God has always been close to our little world and He has protected us from many dangers that we never know about. Can I prove this? Not really…unless you look at the surface of our moon and see how many hundreds of asteroid impacts have ended on its surface rather than hitting Earth. I would guess that there have been a few extinction-level impacts that were intercepted by the moon instead of impacting and setting our world back a few thousand years or more.

The love that God has for us, each of us, is so magnificent and deep until we cannot possibly understand or even comprehend it and it was because of that love that He came in the guise of Jesus to pay our debt so we wouldn’t have to. Just consider His love for each of us because He even knows how many hairs are on your head and mine! He knows when a bird falls from the sky because in the Bible Jesus said that “not even a sparrow falls without the Father knowing it”. If He cares enough to watch a small bird and know when they die, don’t you think that each of us is worth a little more than a little bird?

When you or I consider the deep and abiding love that God has for each of us, how can you not shed a tear or get choked up a bit? Not one of us deserves His love but He thinks that we do and He does care for us more than we could imagine or hope for. Give your life to Jesus and ask Him to come into your life and help you clean out your heart because your future depends on this decision. He has already paid for your past mistakes (sins) and for any future ones too, all you have to do is repent of them and ask Him to come into your life and make it useful for His Kingdom.

Live a life approved…

We live each day as if nobody sees what we do or knows what we say, yet God knows all. He sees and hears every thought, word and deed that we do each and every day. We will be judged by those words and deeds even if we are saved through Jesus Christ because many times we do these things not considering that many of them are wrong in God’s eyes. If you are to live a life that shows others that you have given your heart and your life to Jesus and that you follow Him daily then your life must show it. If you don’t want to live a Christian life following Jesus and His teachings each day then don’t give your heart to Him. There are only two choices for your life…salvation through Jesus or life without Him. One you get to live here in accordance with His teachings so that others might see Him through your life. The other, life without Jesus, you can live without ever knowing Him or going to church or serving others but your life will end with your death.

A life approved by Jesus and through His Holy Spirit is a life that never ends. You will seek Him each day, living life here as a disciple and a follower of Him so that others will see the effect of Jesus Christ in your life. Hopefully they will see the peace that He gives you in times of trouble or the strength that you get through Him when you go through testing. The greatest gift that you have is the gift of eternity with Him because your life will go on after this body and this life is over. Our life will go on to be present with Him in Heaven and we will have an immortal body that will never know pain or disease ever again. The few years that we have here on Earth are the proving ground and the testing of our faith in Him and whether we will give our life to Him or not.

Does it matter if we live a life approved by Jesus Christ? Yes! If you would like your child or your children to know Him then you must live a life approved by Him. Children will follow in your footsteps whether you want them to or not and they will see the things that you do or say and learn from them whether you intended for them to or not. They will find out your past in one way or another so be careful to show them that you may have been a reprobate in the past but you have given your heart to Jesus and you have truly changed. You are no longer that person from your youth because you are a new creation in Jesus Christ!

Being a Christian in truth and in deed means living your faith everyday, not just on Sunday or on a particular holiday. It is not something that you can put on for weddings or funerals and on Sunday and then take it off when it isn’t convenient for you. When your heart is changed by Jesus, you are changed from the core of your being. Sometimes it takes a few years for the change to become visible to everyone because it is a process. Your heart is changed but the maturity comes from studying the Word of God and prayer to give you the strength each day to walk with Him. The Christian life is not an easy road to walk on. There will be trials and days when you do stumble and make mistakes. You will sin with your cuss words and thoughts but you will seek forgiveness and help in repenting from those mistakes. As I said, it takes time.

Do you believe?

Some people accept the truth of God’s Word. Some people only believe parts of it. Even today people who have heard God’s Word preached in churches for years and yet some people won’t believe that the Bible is true from beginning to end. Why? Because of the lies of Satan and even those in the church today who tell or preach partial truth with just enough Scripture mixed in until it sounds good. It sounds like it came from God’s Word. Some of it did and some was just the wisdom (foolishness) of the person bringing the message.

Many of the “sayings” that we hear today are attributed to a verse in the Bible but they didn’t come from the Bible at all. One, in particular, is this: God helps those who help themselves. This sounds like it’s giving the OK to stealing and being a thief. First, this “saying” is not in the Bible at all. Second, God would not condone breaking one of the Ten Commandments.

Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, not just of Israel but those who are lost in the whole world. He died to pay the penalty for our sins and He did but many people still don’t believe in Him for their salvation. Many of them can’t believe that it is that easy. “All I have to do is believe in Jesus’ sacrifice for me?” There has to be a catch.

No catch. That is why Jesus said that even children understand Him and His plan for salvation. It doesn’t take a degree in theology to get the message. When the Holy Spirit touches your heart and opens your eyes to the fact that you are lost and a sinner and that you NEED Jesus as your Savior, there is no question of “I can do it myself”. The thief on the cross couldn’t do anything except believe in Jesus and he went to heaven with Jesus that very day!

God has never made salvation or righteousness in His sight very hard. You either believe in Him and it is counted as righteousness or you believe in Jesus and you are saved from your sins. Belief and obedience go hand in hand in God’s economy and when you do both you are rewarded. God’s love is free to all if we will accept it and salvation is too when we feel the call of the Holy Spirit on our lives and in our hearts. He is always as close as a prayer, whether it is a prayer of repentance to become a believer or a prayer of need, He answers both.

Our God is in control!

Daniel wrote in chapter 3:16-18: I will begin in verse fourteen: . 14 Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?…but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. 17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament. Because it shows just how much our Lord loves each of us who serves Him and boldly proclaims it to those who deny Him. Even Nebuchadnezzar admitted that the “fourth man looked like a Son of the gods”, which it was the pre-incarnate Jesus Who had come to rescue them from his furnace. They came out with no evidence of smoke or hurt or burning on them or their clothes.

The world around us is in turmoil and we have to flow right along with it but God is in control and our faith in Him can carry us through the problems and the turmoil that is ahead of us regardless of how bad it may get. Keep your faith strong by reading God’s Word and praying to Him so that you may be counted worthy to be taken in the first coming back of Jesus in the clouds to take His Bride away!

His Message

When you consider all of the apostles and preachers and missionaries who have gone into the world since Jesus ascended to His Father nearly two thousand years ago, there is only one message.

God loves you and sent His Son, Jesus, to die for your sins to reconcile each of you to Himself. We can’t save ourselves and there is no amount of work or money or even time that will save us from the wrath of God if we haven’t accepted Jesus as our Savior. God has made it so simple even a small child can understand it, but most adults want to make it complicated and try to add some bit of work or help that we have to do to “help” God save them.

It isn’t needed! We can’t do anything that will get us clean and sanctified without the blood of Jesus and the acceptance of His atonement for us on the cross. Yes, we do want to help but our salvation has already been paid for through Christ. This is the message that has been saving people for two thousand years. It doesn’t take a degree from a seminary or a college to get this message across to people.

Just preach about Jesus Christ and His sacrifice and His resurrection. Tell others why He came to bring salvation to all who would believe. Either by teaching others, preaching, blogging, or just plain witnessing to those who may be curious. A bunch of fishermen did it with a tax collector in the bunch for good measure. Jesus had a larger group than just those twelve and each one brought a special ability to the group. All of them were called to be His representative in the world and all of them did exactly that, just as we are supposed to do.

Jesus paid the price for our sins, the entire world’s sins, it is still up to us whether we will accept His atonement for those sins and live our lives forgiven and free from the slavery of sin.

We do this too often

What are you talking about now? I’m talking about the way we take so much for granted these days. Men take their wives for granted and children take their parents for granted. It just goes on and on and on. We even go to bed expecting to wake up in the morning and go to work or go fishing…taking the Lord for granted that He will allow us to have another day for our pleasure.

All of this “taking for granted”is just too much! We have never been given nor guaranteed to have a certain number of years or days to live and work and play. God allows us today to serve Him and if we do well in that area then He may give us tomorrow and the next day…possibly. Why do I sound pessimistic? Because, the farmer who built bigger barns for his produce and wanted to sit back and take it easy didn’t have the time to take it easy. His soul was required that night so he didn’t enjoy his so-called “retirement” because God said it was time for his soul to be judged.

If we would wake in the morning and thank God for waking us on this day to serve Him and give us His blessing for the day then we may live past today or tomorrow or next month. But there are many who refuse to give Him thanks for waking them up for the day. They look at it as today is given to me and I’m going to make the most of it for my enjoyment. That is not what we are put here for and it is especially not what we are called for as Christians.

Living our daily life as Christians, honoring God with our life and our income and telling others about His blessings that come to us because of His love for us NOT because of anything that we have done. The only thing that we have done to be a Christian is to recognize that we are sinners and that we need Jesus Christ to come into our hearts and make us a new creation in Him. Once we recognize that we need Him then we repent of those sinful ways and turn to Him and follow Him for the rest of our lives.

We don’t become Christians by attending church and Sunday school every week. We don’t become a Christian because our parents and grandparents are Christians. Many people have claimed to be Christians but their life doesn’t show the fruits of the Holy Spirit which comes to those who truly are! God is the only One Who knows your heart and He is the judge of believers and non-believers alike. For believers He judges your actions after you become a Christian to see the kind of fruit you have produced. For non-believers He is your judge and He asks one question, “Why didn’t you believe in my Son?”

Taking your salvation for granted is the worst mistake that anyone who thinks they are a Christian can possibly make. It is an eternal mistake which will cost you your soul and your eternity. I pray that anyone who has even a small bit of doubt about their eternity or their salvation will seek Jesus and make sure of it soon.

When you pray…

Begin your day with prayer. As you wake up, thank God for the day and ask Him to give you strength for today and the trials that may come with it. Seek to find someone that you can tell about Jesus Christ because that is our purpose after giving our heart to Him. Ask Him to forgive you of your sinful thoughts and to help keep you from sinning today. God will answer these requests because they are in line with His will for your life in Christ.

Don’t pray in public. This prayer time is for you and God and nobody else. He loves you more than anyone else in the world so make sure you talk to Him through prayer as soon as possible when you wake up. You have another day to be His witness to those around you, so make it a good day by starting out with prayer.

This day is coming!

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:14‭-‬17 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/1th.4.14-17.KJV

Give of yourself

Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. Luke 6:38 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/luke 6.38.KJV

Many people interpret this verse as meaning we should give more to the church as a tithe and we will be rewarded with more money. That is not its true meaning. We are to give of ourselves. Our life, our time and our abilities and obedience to Jesus and His call on our life because of the atonement and the grace that we have been given. After you have given your heart to Him and have become a disciple following Him and His example daily, your life will be enriched with joy because of the awesome and wonderful gifts you have been given! Your sins have been forgiven and you will live in eternity with Jesus!

You will be walking with Him in eternity but what about now? That is what “take up your cross and follow Me” is referring to. Put your old life on the cross, whatever it may have been. An addiction or any other thing that you were holding onto before you came to know Him.

Enoch walked with God and he was taken up to Heaven one day. Elijah was also taken up to Heaven without seeing death. Jesus also said to “take up your cross and follow Me” meaning walk with Me daily. Many people are confused about the “take up your cross” part of that command because there is no real definition about what our cross is. It could be your addiction or a painful relationship that you need to either work on fixing or get help with overcoming the pain it caused. But there was another phrase that Jesus placed in front of taking up your cross and that was to “deny yourself”.

Both of them together could be interpreted to mean something that is getting in the way of your ability to follow Jesus that you need to put away or lay down. Again it could be an addiction or some other “thing” that is getting in your way, something that you haven’t let go of even after giving your heart to Jesus. Sometimes we keep parts of our “old” life in a virtual closet and we go back to it on occasion because we just can’t let it go, but in order to be fully committed to Jesus and following Him we have to.

It is at this time that we have to seek the help of the Holy Spirit because we haven’t let go of whatever it was on our own and it is likely that we can’t let it go in our own strength. We need to ask Him to give us the strength to let go of our old way of living and help us to learn how to follow Him. The Christian life was never promised to us as an easy road to walk on. We are tempted and tried almost every hour of every day. Especially if we are actively trying to follow closely our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As long as we are going back to our “old life” we aren’t a threat to Satan but when we are truly trying to live as a Christian and take His message with us everywhere then we become a threat.

The longer and more active your life in Christ is, then the “ruler of this world” sees you as a threat to his plans. So don’t think that life will be easier when you give your heart to Jesus and begin to learn more about Him from your Bible study. The demons and powers that Satan controls will be watching you even closer because of your faith in Jesus. You can hinder their work through prayer and telling others about Jesus and what He has done for you and that makes the words that you say to others very powerful.

Don’t let go of your faith even when bad things happen because they will happen. The devil loves to trip Christians up with temptations that are specific to each of us and he’s had many thousands of years of practice. He caused Adam and Eve to disobey God’s command in the Garden and he was doing it with the angels that he convinced to follow him in his rebellion against God. He isn’t some little demon with a pitchfork and a pointed tail dancing around for fun. Satan was an archangel before God kicked him out of heaven with those who followed him but God is the Creator. As long as you have Jesus in your heart and you are following His example every day you will be fine. Make sure of your salvation soon because we are not guaranteed tomorrow morning.