Do you seek God?

There are some hard times coming to our world and you had best be seeking the One Who can strengthen you to get through them. Why do people think that they are Christians and rarely darken the door of a church? Many would tell me that they can worship Him just as well on a deer stand or on the bank of a lake fishing. The problem with that

is that most of us don’t think of God when we are doing those things. We are thinking of something else entirely.

God loves each of us and has desired a personal relationship with us from before we were born. Jesus told His disciples to seek the Kingdom of God first and all of these things will be added unto you. What did He mean by that? Some people interpret that as meaning wealth and riches will come to you but that is not what He was speaking about. Jesus was telling His disciples that all of their needs would be met as long as they were putting God’s Kingdom first in their lives.

So how do we put God’s Kingdom first in our lives? First, you have to give your heart to Jesus and ask Him to come in and clean up your heart. Then read God’s Word so you will know His voice when He speaks to you. Also, by reading God’s Word, you will learn His will for your life. I had many people ask me about knowing God’s will while I was a preacher and that is the easiest way that I know how to find it. God reveals His will for our lives not specific to each of us but in reading and studying His Word, then praying about what you have read. Especially if you don’t understand what you are reading…and most of us don’t.

If you are saved and the Holy Spirit is living in your heart, He will guide you and pray with you for understanding. He is your teacher through God’s Word and will give you the knowledge that you seek when you ask for it and it is needed for your calling. You may be wondering, “What calling?”. When you are called to be saved, God always has a reason for it and that is your calling, although you may not find out the specifics until later. He will reveal them to you. Seek Him through prayer by reading His Word and by studying His Word because He will reveal the knowledge that you need.

Being a Christian is not an easy job but the reward is well worth the trials that you will face. Jesus said we would face trials but He has overcome the world and He will equip you to do so too.

God loves you!

If you have never thought about that before now…it is the most amazing realization that you can have! The Creator of the universe loves you! Not just the human race but each one of you! Consider that for a moment.

God wanted to spend time with Adam and Eve in person in the Garden and He did for a while. The most amazing part of this story is that He is going to do it again! He has redeemed us through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus, and the only part that we have to do to receive His grace and forgiveness is to accept Jesus as our Savior, believing that He did this for me and for you!

Isn’t that the most wonderful news that you could hear especially today with all of the doom and gloom in the media now? God loves you! He loves you whether you have accepted Jesus or not but He doesn’t care for the life that many of us lead every day. By giving your heart to Jesus and reading His Word and praying for strength to be His every day, you can be more like Him than you could possibly be on your own.

Living the life of a Christian is impossible without His strength and His Spirit inside you and you only get those when you come to Him in faith believing that He will do what He said He would do. By accepting Jesus as your Savior and confessing that you are a sinner in need of forgiveness, you can be adopted into God’s family. Give Him a chance to show you how much He loves you in this life so you can spend eternity with Him after this life is over.

Praying, you are talking to the Creator

Without excuse

I thought of you when I read this quote from “God is Like a Geyser: 30 Day Devotional For When You Are Waiting on God or Geysers” by Chris Stanley –

“For ever since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through His workmanship [all His creation, the wonderful things that He has made], so that they [who fail to believe and trust in Him] are without excuse and without defense. – Romans 1:20 (Amp)”

Start reading this book for free: https://a.co/iDSO92h

I’m not sharing this to make money, because I don’t. I’m sharing it because we are without excuse when it comes to the evidence of God in His Creation.

What did the cross do?

The tree that was used to make the cross that Jesus was crucified on has nothing to do with your salvation. The image of the cross that so many of us wear today doesn’t do anything except remind us of the One Who died on the cross for our sins. Some people have many crosses in their homes but not one of them helps us to know Jesus as our Savior. Crosses only remind us of the death of Jesus the Christ Who took the world’s sins on Himself to pay the penalty for ALL of our sins so that we can come to Him and be saved from an eternity of destruction in hell. Your eternal body will not be destroyed in this but it will feel the pain and suffering for eternity because your body in eternity cannot die physically. But being in hell you are completely separated from God and His love for you.

The ground at the foot of the cross is level. No person will have any special treatment at the cross or at the judgement seat when each of us stands before Him. It will not matter how much fame or money you have or even how much you have done for the poor or for others who deserved your help. What will matter is that you have accepted Jesus as your Savior and that you have followed Him daily. Some of us have tried to do this in our own strength and failed miserably at it. I did. But, when God’s Spirit finally showed me what I could not do on my own, then I gave my heart to Jesus completely. It didn’t happen on that one day of my decision. I had to read and pray and learn to be His because our hearts are attracted to the world around us. We don’t want to belong to Jesus. We want to do what makes us feel good.

By surrendering to Jesus you can become more like Him. It doesn’t happen immediately but it will happen when your heart is truly broken and you know deep down that you are doomed to hell if you don’t surrender to Him. Nobody wants to spend eternity away from God in hell, but that is where you will go if you don’t turn to Him and ask Him to take you in as an adopted child of God. He doesn’t want you to spend even one minute in hell but if you decide not to follow Jesus or you put your decision off for a while and something happens to you before you can make that decision, then you have sealed your eternity in hell.

God’s love for us is deeper than we can imagine because He is our Creator. He knows you more intimately than you know yourself but He still gives you the free will to choose to follow Jesus or not. Why would God do that? Because love and sacrifice cannot be forced they must be given freely. Forced sacrifice is not sacrifice. Forced “love” is not love at all. That is why the one verse in God’s Word that illustrates it so well is this:

John 3:16-17

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Don’t turn away from God’s call in your life and in your heart. When you feel it, act on it in faith and believe in the One Who saves completely.

He is still on His throne!

Where can I find the Truth?

You can’t find it in the disciplines of man or in any religion. The Truth is only found in God’s Word. God’s Word is the Truth and the Truth is found in Jesus Christ. He is the Truth, the Life, and the Way to get to Heaven. Without Him, you can’t get in the gate. Many people in the world today do not want to hear this truth and we don’t want to live by the Truth of Jesus Christ. If you are doing this don’t expect to be taken up when the trumpet sounds one day.

Seeking the Truth in God’s Word and living by that Truth every day, not just on the days that you worship. Every day! Thank Him for waking you up today. Ask Him to help you to walk in His ways today. Pray to Him for His blessing on your food and for your work. Seek Him during the day and on the way home from work. Being curious about Jesus and salvation does nothing to save your soul. But asking Jesus to come into your life and your heart will bring you into eternity with Him.

God knows your heart and your life. He knows exactly what you have done and when you did it. You cannot hide your sins from Him. If God has a plan for your life as a servant of His you will come to know Jesus soon. Don’t turn away from the call on your life when you feel it because you don’t know how much longer you will have to make this decision. I pray that you will soon make this choice.

God’s love never fails!

What do you mean?

I have lived in what is called the “Bible Belt” all of my life. When I was a lot younger I never understood what that meant. But when I began driving 18-wheelers about thirty-some years ago (which didn’t last very long), I noticed that in other parts of the country there weren’t many churches. Oh, they were there but not like they were in the South. Most small towns in the South have at least two or more churches in the city limits and some communities have them scattered up and down the back roads too. That is something that is not seen outside of Dixie.

Now, just because I called it Dixie doesn’t mean I’m racist. People who live in the South and the Southeastern United States know exactly what I’m talking about.

Life in the South moves at a different pace than it does anywhere else. Mostly due to the humidity and the heat that begins in May and stays with you all the way to Thanksgiving…sometimes. Occasionally, it might begin a little earlier than May and hopefully, it won’t last into November at all. It didn’t when I was a child, but this “global warming” has pushed the heat into places where it shouldn’t be.

I used to hear about the “dry” heat out West and I did live for a little while out there. They weren’t kidding about it being dry! Coming from Mississippi I was used to more humidity than they even have when it is raining! I had my first nosebleed while I was out there and it was due to the dry conditions.

I’m not complaining about the dryness or the humidity in this post but God’s world is very different than it was thirty years ago and it will be getting worse in some ways before things get better. Why do I say this? Because God’s Word says that our world is going to pay for all of their sinful ways during the Tribulation and we are living right on the edge of that time right now. I pray that everyone who reads this will pick up a Bible and read the book of Revelation and the book of Daniel. They complement each other and will give you something to think about.

Why?

Many days we ask this question of ourselves and of God too. But…why? If you look at your hands and your feet you can see that God created each of us as unique individuals. When you look at the stars at night or at the birds and the trees you are seeing His handiwork. When you hear a newborn cry or see a baby animal of any kind, you are seeing His creation and His ability to keep all things alive and fulfilling their purpose in His creation.

God is the Creator. There is no evolution process that is going on in the world. It is His design and His ability to create that brings all of the differences and varieties of life into our world. Many of the “evolutionary” differences in all of the wonderous environments are adaptations. The universe is as it was when He created it all about six thousand years ago. You can tell me or anyone else that “carbon dating” shows this age but don’t you think that God can give rocks and stars the appearance of age? I do.

I know I don’t usually write about “why?” but the point of this blog is to make you think. Think about your Creator and your Redeemer. God cares about our little planet because He wants to. He doesn’t have to have a reason. God chooses those who He wants to choose for salvation and for the work that He needs them to do. Sometimes He chooses people, like me, who didn’t really want to work for Him, to begin with, but after a number of things that got my attention…I finally came around.

God loves us, all of us, but He knows who is stubborn enough to resist or even to walk away from HIs call. He sent His Son to bring us the possibility of salvation and an eternity in heaven. The problem is that many people don’t like the simplicity of salvation. They think that God needs their help or assistance to finish the process but He doesn’t. Remember the thief on the cross? He had no way of being baptized or of doing any “good works”. All he did was believe that Jesus was the Messiah and Jesus told him that he would be with Him in Paradise that day.

Believe in Him and you shall be saved. It is that simple.