There are consequences…

Have you ever thought of what will happen if you decide to walk out on God? To go your own way or do things your way instead of God’s way is the worst decision that you can make. If you are a Christian and you have given your heart to Him you should work for God’s Kingdom even in your own vocation, no matter what it may be. God can work through you in so many ways and it doesn’t matter what your job is, He can use your life and witness to let someone know about Jesus.

Sampson didn’t live his life fully in God’s will until he was captured by the Philistines and blinded. While he was being humiliated, his hair began to grow back. When they wanted to make fun of God and Sampson in their celebration, he prayed and asked God to fill him with the strength to avenge Israel in his death and God did that.

Jonah did not want to take God’s message of forgiveness to Nineveh. He didn’t like them. He wanted the fire of God to fall on that city. You know the story but when he did go and preach to them they repented in sackcloth and ashes and God did not bring any fire or punishment on them. Then, Jonah went outside the city and pouted. He had run from the calling of God and he didn’t want his mission to work. He wanted God to destroy them. But…what a revival!

Sometimes the consequences of your walking away from God can be really bad, for you. Because if you have walked away from His calling on your life, leaving behind the option of salvation and doing what you want, the consequences may not be bad in this life. God may allow you to have the world’s riches but as Jesus said, “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? “. What does that mean? It means that you have enjoyed the riches of this life but you will be in hell in the next life. Please don’t turn away from His call on your life and ask Him to come into your heart and change you into His child.

Lost or found, which will it be?

How many people in our world seem to be lost in their ways and in their way of thinking? If you go by the uproar and tumult on the news it seems that there are more of those who are lost than those who are at least trying to do the will of God. Why do I bring this matter up in this writing? Because it seems necessary during this time that we are living in. Many need to know that there is a way to be useful and make a difference in this world without wars and guns and lots of money! Life is not supposed to be lived in the moment just for today and then seeking more satisfaction for tomorrow! If you are living in this manner then you are living only for yourself and not for the benefit of mankind. Although, today most people, it seems, are only in their respective professions or businesses for themselves and no one else. Selfishness or “looking out for number one” seems to be the very slogan by which the world lives and breathes today.

We are supposed to be different. Christians are supposed to live as Jesus did. Not living as a beggar with no money but living a life of service to our fellow man or woman. Although in the age in which we are living many people would look at someone doing this and wonder “What’s their problem?”. Christians who are trying to be “salt and light” to a world living in darkness and hopelessness tend to move against the grain because most people around them are moving in the other direction regardless of those that they are stepping on or over to get there. It is sad but it is true in our world. You’ve seen people on the news with their phones taking videos of someone after a wreck or a shooting. They aren’t trying to help them. They are trying to get more likes on Facebook or Instagram by posting their pictures or their videos of someone who has been injured or killed.

Are you one of those who would help someone in trouble or danger or would you take pictures and video their plight? Jesus said that we, as His followers, should make a difference in the world. But taking pictures and videos doesn’t really make a difference it just brings you notoriety and a little bit of fame. What good is that? Where is “make a difference in the world” in God’s Word? It isn’t there. But…He did tell His disciples to go into the world and take the gospel to the world! Did it make a difference? It still is making a difference today. God can and does change lives when we tell others about His Son and the salvation which comes through believing in Him! Don’t discount your importance in His Kingdom. Telling one or two people about your experience in Jesus and His love for you and for them and then they can tell five or ten. If you take that idea and make it go exponential, it wouldn’t take long to reach one hundred thousand or even one million.

This sounds hard doesn’t it? Not for God! God can use you in any place, anywhere so don’t discount your influence for God’s Kingdom because with the Holy Spirit impacting your life as a Christian and you following His leading go tell somebody!

Have you been foolish?

Actually most of us have been at one time in our life. Just as it says in Corinthians: ‘a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him.’ (1 Corinthians 2:14). People who don’t know the grace of God or the mercy of God through the sacrifice and acceptance of Jesus as their Savior are foolish until that time when God, by the Holy Spirit, touches their heart and breaks it so that they realize their sinfulness. Every Christian has gone through some foolish times before they realized that Jesus was their Salvation.

God can and does get His message out into the world even without our help, but He calls us to be His voice in places where we can make a difference. Even if it is only to touch one person or maybe two. Some of us can reach more people by doing things like this. Some of us can do evangelism on a scale above what we can reach here but not in the league of some ministers. Sometimes we may only reach one person but you don’t know how many people that person will reach before their time is finished.

All of us are useful to God in telling others about our Savior…so why don’t we do more? Being foolish and following the world around us rather than following Jesus is spiritual suicide, maybe not in this life but in eternity. Unless you change and learn that your only eternal Savior is Jesus you will end up in the same place that Satan and his demons will be. Think about that and consider Who has given you the opportunity to make an eternal choice which will benefit you and give God the glory!

Salvation is through Jesus alone

Jesus said “I AM the way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”. He is the Savior of the world, if you will accept Him as your Savior. I pray that you will not turn away from His call on your life because serving Jesus forever is better than life on this Earth. God has loved you since before the Light of Creation began to shine and He has known who you are and what you are destined to do. Obey His commandment and tell others what He has done for you because there are blessings which all of us receive each and every day because of His love for you. Amen

Growth with God’s blessing

Exponential growth works like this: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024.

So why does a garden or a farm never produce like this? Is it because of our lack of faith in the One Who created everything? Do we look at our pitiful little plot of ground that we have and think that it will never produce for me like it did for my grandfather? Sometimes, we create our own “self-fulfilling prophecies” when we think that way.

Do you ever wonder why some farmers aren’t very successful and some are? Consider that the very idea of farming is based on faith. Cattle are born, pigs are born, chickens are born (from an egg), vegetables grow from seeds. All of these processes are miracles in one way or another. The success of any farm depends upon the faith of the person or persons who are involved in it. If you don’t have faith in God and the processes which He put in the world for our good and for the good of others, how will your business actually be successful? This applies to any business but especially to the life of a farmer of whatever kind of produce because He ordained “seedtime and harvest” in His Word.

He ordained it very early in His Word but His Word does not fall to the ground without accomplishing what He intended for it to accomplish. Farmers have faith in their farming practice because they are following the procedures that other farmers have done and it worked in the past. They should also have faith in the Creator of all because He created all of the animals and the seeds which are farmed and planted all over the world. Do I believe that all farmers have faith in God? I would say that most of them do. Some may have more faith in Roundup than they do in God, but God is still in control of every seed and every patch of ground. If your garden or your ranch is small or if it covers many thousands of acres, your faith in the One Who controls every aspect of growth regardless of the type of growth should be in proportion to how much you are placing in His hands.

God can cause all things to work together for the good of those who belong to Him and are called according to His purposes. When we are called to become children of God through Jesus, we must have faith in the One Who has saved us and the One Who has called us.

If you are living according to His Ways, then your faith in Him will carry you through the problems and the blessings, whatever they may be, because He loves you and He will do that for you. Your farming will pay off and it will be successful in proportion to the amount of faith that you have in Him that He will do these things for you and for His glory. If we intentionally plant a garden to honor God with the produce of it and give Him the honor and the glory for its success then He has an interest in our garden and its success. But if we just throw some seed down and hope that He will bless us with enough rain and pray that the seed which we planted was good seed do you think it will be blessed? He might bless our efforts but He might not. We should seek to do His will in all of our endeavors whether it is farming, raising a family, or working in our business or for someone else. The only way to know His will for us is to read and study His Word and ask Him to show us His will for our life.

God brings the growth when we act on our faith in Him.

How foolish are we?

O God, You know my foolishness; and my sins are not hidden from You.
Psalm 69:5 Do you realize that all of the wisdom that we have is completely foolish in God’s sight? All of the learning and the degrees in the world are simply “man’s wisdom” and learning which we may believe is the best, but without God’s wisdom and His guidance, it means nothing. God’s Word is the best book to read in times of heartache and trouble and it is the best book to read for your healing when you are sick. There is so much wise advice in God’s Word until the best education that you could have would be to read it every day!

Our ideas and wisdom can carry us only so far but His Wisdom and advice can carry us all the way to eternity! Doesn’t that sound wonderful? God loves each of us and has loved each of us from before the Earth and everything else was created. Not just because we were a thought in His mind but because He lives outside of time. He can see the beginning and the ending of the universe and He knows when you were born and when you will die. He also knows everything that you can and will do in your life, and that applies to everyone! Not just Christians living now but those who will become Christians before the end of the world!

Remember in the Psalm where David wrote “I am fearfully and wonderfully made“? He was speaking of God’s involvement in stitching each of us together before we are born. But, even before God’s hand does this He could look down through time itself and see each of us and know what manner of person we would be and how useful we would be in His Kingdom. We serve God, our Creator and Redeemer, Who lives and has lived forever. We do not serve a man with his wisdom and his “sayings”! God’s Spirit moved the prophets and scribes of ages past and He still moves those who will listen to Him to write His words and remind people about His Love for them.

God has never failed to keep His promises to us and He won’t fail to do so in the years to come. I ask that anyone who reads this please seek out Jesus and His salvation for your life because we are not guaranteed tomorrow. Make sure of your eternity and your salvation today while you can.

How unique are you?

Consider that God knitted your DNA together in the womb, there is not another person on Earth like you. Even if they are your twin, there is something unique about each of you that the other does not have. Why does God make each of us in this way? Because, it gives each of us those special and unique talents and abilities which makes each of us so useful to Him. In ways that we may not realize until He shows us what they are.

God loves each of us, whether we have given our hearts to Jesus or not. He has loved us this deeply since before creation. So make sure that you seek Him in all that you do when you feel His call on your life. Living in this world today we can see the evil around us all of the time. On the news, on the Internet, in newspapers and magazines. When I say evil I mean anything which does not acknowledge God as King and Jesus as Savior. If you listen to the words of those who want a socialist state you can tell that they do not revere God in any way except for thinking that they are “god”.

You are unique because God made you that way. Mom and Dad contributed some genetic material to your creation but God is the designer and He put the traits which He wanted you to have inside you. We are made in and carry God’s image in us. We are not gods but we are children of His, if we have given our hearts to Jesus and have been adopted into His family. If you don’t have Jesus as your Savior then you are no better than any other lost person in this world. But…if God has a special job for you to do He will make a way for you to come to Him as a saved and sanctified child adopted into His family. There is no power on Earth that can stop Him if He has determined that you are His!

God sent Jesus to be the sacrifice which paid for all of your sins and mine so that you can be adopted as sons into His family.

Wisdom comes from God

It seems that many people place their “faith” in books and degrees and they seem to think that the wisdom that they have came from those achievements. Some of it did, at least the mankind of wisdom comes from books and degrees. But what about your common sense? What about the value and wisdom which comes from reading God’s Word?

I’ve heard that there are some who seem to be lacking in the “common sense” department but have you ever thought that their version of common sense may just be different from yours? It may not be the same or work in the same fashion as yours does but it is likely that they have a special case of common sense which fits their position and purpose in this life. Why do I say this? Because God is the One Who gives out “common sense” and I don’t think He makes mistakes.

There are too many physical properties of our universe which have to be so in tune for life to exist to say that God could make a mistake like not giving someone any common sense. He doesn’t make mistakes. But, we seem to want Him to be more like us instead of the other way around. I don’t want God to be like us at all! If He were like us, I’m sure we would not be here!

All of the wisdom in the world was given to us from God. I don’t think that He quit speaking through people just because it isn’t canonized and included in the Bible. What about all of the Christian literature which has His wisdom included in it? True, some of the inclusions are direct quotes from the Bible but there is other wisdom in those books which did not come from the Bible and it is just as wise and true as if Paul wrote it. Do we look down on it because it is “man’s” wisdom rather than from God? How do you know that the Holy Spirit didn’t inspire them to write it? He could be giving me these words too and frankly, I think He always has because I’ve never been a person who talks a lot.

Writing here is my witness to others who may never get to a Christian church and I stand by that conviction. I do believe that the Holy Spirit gives me the words to say here, so please take the time to read His wisdom in these words because I’m not trying to convince you of anything other than the fact that Jesus is the Christ and He is the only Savior Who can save you from your sins and pardon you so you can enter into eternity with Him.

Does Jesus know you?

In the South this is a question which might insult some people. It may insult many people. Why? Because, the South has always been known as “the Bible belt”. Nearly everyone goes to church at least once during the month. Most people have heard a sermon about Him and His offer of salvation but does He know you?

It is an intriguing question and one that makes you think about your eternity and if you are saved. Can you answer this question and feel confident about your answer? You can if you have never given your heart to Him because you can tell people that you don’t know Him, so it is a surety that He doesn’t know you as a child of God. I don’t mean that He doesn’t know you because He is the Creator! He knitted each of our DNA strands together and He knows who you are and your abilities because He gave them to you!

Jesus the Christ is the Second of the Godhead. He is the Living Word of God the Father and then there is the Holy Spirit which does the will of them all in the universe. Jesus was God Who came to live with us and be tempted just as we are so that He could understand our problems and our humanity. He put on humanity in order to pay the price for ALL of our sinful thoughts and words and deeds and He did exactly that on the cross!

The legion of demons that possessed the man in the tombs pleaded with Him that He would not send them into outer darkness. They knew Who He was. Jesus is our Savior but we act as if He doesn’t exist and those who do not believe in Him for their salvation are lost in their spiritual life already. Denying Jesus is the only real sin which sends you to hell. Your decision to deny Him or to push His offer of salvation away and tell Him that you don’t want His free gift is the decision which will send you to hell.

God loves you and He sent His Son to bring salvation to those who seek it. He has known those who would seek Him since before the foundation of the whole world. He could see you in the future and He knew what you are doing and what you can do for His Kingdom. He has given you your abilities and your intelligence and your experiences which shape you into the person that God needs to use as a disciple or apostle or just as a witness to those who haven’t heard about Him yet. Don’t turn this chance down. You may not get another chance to give your life to Jesus.

Only by giving your life and your heart to Jesus can you claim any of these promises. Please consider your eternity with Him and ask Him into your heart, repenting of your sins so that you can claim these promises and more in Christ.

We are destroying our minds

Scripture — in both the Old and New Testaments — warns us against investing in things which cannot give us anything in return, in pouring our affections and attentions toward the worthless and temporal. Much of that is what many people are doing today. Looking at their phones and at games and tablets. Liking this and texting that and commenting on the new dress that someone bought that you don’t even know. Sometimes praying for people who are hurting from the loss of a loved one but most of the time we spend useless hours looking at things which have no real value to us in this world or for the next one.

Can we get away from this destructive addiction to Snap chat or Facebook? Can we get away from any one of a number of “social media” platforms which are taking too much of our attention away from God and His purpose for our lives? Yes we can but for some it will be a very hard break from a platform which has consumed our attention morning and night for many years. It really is an addiction when you look at it that way and it is getting worse. How can we move back to our lives which we enjoyed before the Internet and Facebook came along? Truthfully, many young people won’t be able to. They have grown up from the time that they could hold a phone or tablet until they are nearing pre-teen years and TV and movies just don’t have the same impact on their lives as their social media does.

They don’t look at it as an addiction but that is exactly what it is. Anything that you begin your day with and go through your day with very little break from it and then you take it to bed with you…I would call that an addiction. It isn’t drugs or anything like that but the opinions and ideas that you are exposed to all day every day get into your mind and into your thought patterns. Eventually those ideas will become your ideas and your opinions.

Christians are supposed to meditate on God’s Word and read it daily so that we can protect our minds from the temptations of life and those from Satan as well. We are not immune from those and if we don’t have God’s Word in our mind, helping us to resist those temptations to say something or do something that we shouldn’t then he will be victorious over our witness. I would rather be addicted to reading God’s Word than to any social media that is available today. Follow Jesus and read His Word because there is at least one person that you will meet tomorrow who needs to hear about your Lord and Savior!