Category: Be useful to God

Can you tell the difference?


My dear children, you come from God and belong to God. You have already won a big victory over those false teachers, for the Spirit in you is far stronger than anything in the world. These people belong to the Christ-denying world. They talk the world’s language and the world eats it up. But we come from God and belong to God. Anyone who knows God understands us and listens. The person who has nothing to do with God will, of course, not listen to us. This is another test for telling the Spirit of Truth from the spirit of deception. 1 John 4:4 MSG https://bible.com/bible/97/1jn.4.4.MSG

Sometimes we can hear it when someone else talks about something that they have an opinion about. The truth is evident in the words that they speak about their beliefs. Then you come across someone else who is not speaking of what they know but what they want from you. Deception can take all kinds of shapes and change them to fit whatever the agenda may be, make sure you know the Bible well enough to spot the difference.

God blesses us even in our trials


When you are tested, seek the Lord ask Him for strength. He will bless you and take you through your trials no matter how much it may hurt. You will come through this stronger in your faith and even more able to stand when another trial comes.

What do you believe?


Some of us believe in a “god” that someone in the past or even in the recent past just made up and embellished to make it sound good. Some people during the time before Jesus was born listened to the people around them who were worshiping “gods” that were actually demons who followed Satan. In all of these scenarios can you pick one and show me a hospital or an orphanage or even a charity that any of these false religions created or started that has helped people?

I don’t know of any.

Believe in God and the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation and you will be saved. “Saved from what?” you may ask.

That is a long story but when Satan caused the fall in the Garden of Eden, he became the ruler of this world. Not like a king but he could influence humanity to follow his suggestions and be far more evil than they would be without his influence. God loves us and the angels enough that He gave all of us the freedom to choose. God doesn’t want mindless automatons but willing servants and the freedom to choose to follow Him and serve Him out of love.

Not one of the false religions can claim this. Oh, some do corrupt the Bible and change some words and therefore the meaning of the books in it. It is because of this that many people don’t want to hear from God’s Word because they believe if one version is corrupt then all of them are. This just is not so. There are many old copies of many books of the Bible that are accurate to the word. Many Hebrew scholars have copied the Torah over the years and even the most ancient copies are accurate to the word and the punctuation. God has made sure that His Word is true and accurate and is not corrupt.

Jesus came to bear the sins of the whole world and pay the debt for them on the cross, then three days later He rose from the grave and over the course of forty days He appeared to many people to prove that He had risen from the grave. He ascended to the Father and it was witnessed by His disciples. Angels told them that “this same Jesus will come again in like manner as you have seen Him go.”

We are waiting for His return very soon. Some do not believe it will happen. Some say that it won’t happen in our lifetime but Jesus said that after “the fig tree blooms”, referring to the rebirth of Israel, that generation would not pass before His return. Israel became a nation again in 1948 and 80 years from then is 2028. Possible? Yes. No dates or hours but possible. I pray that all who read or hear this will seek to know Jesus while there is still time.

Strange times we live in


Well, it seems that the groundhog was right. We are all getting a bit more winter weather even in the deep South. In reality, winter doesn’t actually end until around March 21st anyway but the temperatures that are being felt in the southern part of the United States don’t come to our neck of the woods very often.

Life has a way of throwing curve balls when you least expect them and this happens to be one of them. I pray that when this winter storm moves north it doesn’t carry so much of a punch with it as it has had here. In other ramblings, the time that we are living in was foretold long ago in the Bible. Even the changes in the weather and the unusual way that politics is working in these last few years of the church age. All of it is found in Matthew 24 and in the beginning chapters of the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

The truth is this: we aren’t living in the strangest of times, those are yet to come. I pray that most of you who read this have given your heart to Jesus and are reading His Word and learning of Him during these trying times. If you have not but you are curious about Christianity and the promises of His Word, please seek Him in the New Testament and do it soon. There are dangerous days ahead of us especially for those who have not made a commitment to Jesus and are following Him now. When He calls the believers home to be with Him the world for those who are left will be much worse in many ways than it is today.

Becoming a Christian today is not hard if you will answer the call on your heart when you feel it. Sometimes the touch of the Spirit is not very noticeable and sometimes He will call you in a dream so that you know exactly Who called you and that you can’t let it go until you are His. God knows the ones who will answer His call and the ones who will hear it but turn away so make sure that you are in the first group. Eternity is a very long time to live without God at all.

Right this moment we enjoy His blessings, although some people may not see their circumstances as blessings. We have air to breathe and usually a warm place to sleep at night. Food to sustain us and clothes to cover us. Some may not have these “luxuries” and to many people these simple things don’t sound like luxuries but to someone with no food to eat for a week or two just a small serving of fries from McDonald’s would be wonderful. Those of us who live in what is called the “developed” world who are poor in wealth would almost be considered rich in some countries.

God blesses us with far more than we deserve and yet there are so many without the necessities like clothing, shoes, water and shelter that many of us take for granted. Life is hard in many parts of the world that most of us in America will never see first hand. Even if we visited those places we wouldn’t want to stay and help because we cannot understand poverty of that magnitude. God knows each person on this Earth and He sees all of the conditions that they live in. Many of them cry out to Him even though they don’t know His name, their soul cries to the Maker of all there is and He hears their cry. He will repay those who could help but choose not to or are too greedy to help. When this age is over and the work that God is completing is finished they will have their reward or their punishment, whichever He gives to those who have done His will and to those who refused to follow Him and be the “light in the darkness” for this present age.

How powerful is your testimony?


Our witness to the world is found in our testimony. Your testimony and mine does not have to include every deed that you have done but it is supposed to show that God has saved you from your mistakes. All of us have them. Some are worse than others but even those who aren’t old enough to have done as much as others, God can save you from all of them.

Some people tell preachers that they have been too bad or even too evil to be considered as a convert to Christianity. There are no such people! God has accepted those who have been murderers, thieves, drug dealers and drug users, harlots and prostitutes and He will accept you as a child of His through Jesus Christ because you can reach someone that no one else can.

Your testimony is powerful enough to bring someone into the family of God and it is possible that you are the only person that can reach that person. They may belong to another church or they may not go to church but if you can talk to them, God will give you the words that can bring them into the family. It may even be someone who has known you for a long time. They know your past and what you did in years past before God changed your heart to serve Him. That person doesn’t exist if you have put away your sinful life and turned to follow Jesus. You cannot make them see the change, although they may see it but they don’t want that change. Sometimes they will reject your testimony because of pride or anger at you because of some slight or emotional hurt that you caused many years ago.

Ask the Lord to melt their hearts so that they can receive His message for their salvation because it may be that only He and His Word can do what your testimony and your changed life cannot do. Even Jesus could do few miracles in His home town because they looked on Him as the Son of Joseph and they had watched Him grow up with His brothers and sisters. They said “he’s the carpenter’s son, where did he learn these things?”

God has used so many people in the past and He still uses circumstances and problems and people today to get people who have rejected Him to turn back to Him. He used many of Israel’s enemies to chastise them when they were disobeying His commandments. He raised up a ruler in Egypt to oppress the people as slaves so that He could judge Egypt and their gods. God can use your life and your testimony to change people’s lives today as well. It may be something you say or something that you do that could cause them to seek God for their life’s troubles and their salvation. It may be something that you write or a sermon or an inspiring post or link on Facebook that gets their attention and turns them toward God.

Only God knows how you will accomplish His will in your life and it may not happen until your death or afterward but God can accomplish His will through you in some way to bring others to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Can God use me for His purposes?


Working for God and by extension Jesus as well is the most important job and, besides being a parent, is the most rewarding job that you can have. Does it pay well? Not in this life but when you repent of your sins and you’ve given your heart to Jesus, tell others about your Savior! God reward for His apostles and children is eternal life in heaven and being able to walk into a city where the streets are paved with pure gold.

He is the Creator and He knew you and me before we were born. Did He know that we would give our hearts to Him? Yes and He knows what you are capable of doing for Him and with Him in your life. When God knew you in the womb, He knew your capabilities. He knew then and now what you are capable of accomplishing for yourself and for His Kingdom. Just as He knew each and every person in the Old Testament and what they could do and would do if they would willingly follow His directions and do the things that He tells them to do.

God want us to obey His commands and directions and when we become His children by giving our lives to Him we should do this out of gratitude for His love. It was because of His love for us that Jesus came and paid the price for us on the cross. Jesus did this because of His love for each one of us and because He knew that we would be useful to Him and His Kingdom. Why? Because each of us has at least one person that we can reach for Jesus that nobody else can reach. Some of us may be able to tell many people about His love for us and what He did for our salvation.

The point is that in the past God has used a murderer and a pagan idol worshiper for His purposes. He used a prostitute and a gentile woman for his purposes. He used a donkey that spoke to his master for His purposes and He used a fish to carry Jonah to a city called Nineveh so that the people might be spared from the wrath of God. He is the Creator and He can use your talents even if you don’t think you have any.

Give your heart to Jesus and give your life and your talent to God’s Kingdom. He will show you what to do and where to go and it may just be down the street or across the hallway but He knows that you can reach that person and show them that He loves them too.

You can be blessed…


Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/mat.5.9.KJV

Today we see so much violence and hate, but we are supposed to be peacemakers. Show Jesus’ love to those around you so that they will want it too.

What is your destiny?


We are living in a time that is unprecedented in the history of the world. Hatred abounds. True love seems to be absent from most of the places where it was preeminent at one time. The church, the body of Christ has become weak and fewer in number than ever before. The churches that are left are teaching a doctrine that Jesus would not approve of because it is the doctrine and the “wisdom” of men.

What are we supposed to do during this time?

We who are the believers, the born-again believers of this age, are supposed to be taking the message of Jesus and His love to the world around us and to the world at large. We have more available technology to do this than any other generation before us and we must use it. We should be “about our Father’s business” every day…not just on Sunday or Wednesday night during Bible study. God called each of us to be a witness to His love and power and we are to take this message to those who need it the most…our friends and family and also to others who need to know Him.

If we don’t take it to them and tell them about His love for them, then their fate will be on our hands because we are responsible for those who God called us to touch with our lives and the words that God gives us. It is our witness that will bring them back from the edge of hell and back to the loving arms of God. Nobody else in the world can touch your sister or your brother like you can. Nobody can get your son’s attention or your daughter’s attention in the way that you can. If you touch other lives with His message and they change their ways so to become part of God’s family then God is pleased with your efforts.

Are these efforts required to enter into heaven? No they are not! When you feel the Spirit touch your Spirit during a song or a sermon and you know what you should do with your life, don’t turn away from Him. Run to Him, ask His forgiveness for taking so long and ask Him to change your life into the life that He needs you to be. Only at that point can you fulfill God’s purpose for your life.

We are special in God’s eyes. We are not gods and we are not prophets although we as preachers are prophets too. When you are born again, God doesn’t see you and your sinful life anymore. After you have asked Jesus to come in and clean your heart and soul up so that you are a new creation, you truly are a new creature in Christ. Your old ways and your old friends need to pass away from you and you should bring in new friends and new ways. God looks at us and sees the blood of Jesus covering our sins and He sees His Son in us working to do the will of the Father.

Your life and mine are not ours anymore. We belong to God and we are His workmen, His disciples to take His message to the world. Even if we only touch one person who comes to Jesus for salvation, the angels in heaven praise God and shout for joy because one more sinner has been saved. Don’t sit on the bench, get up and get into the game so that one more soul can be saved. As Private Doss said in “Hacksaw Ridge”, “Lord, help me get one more. Just one more”. In the night that he said these words over and over, he was the only medic on the ridge and he saved over seventy souls from certain death that night. But…he was not alone in his work as a medic. Jesus went with him every step of the way.

Just one more, Lord….

Do you disciple?


Many of us on this platform tend to write a bit. Some in short, quick reads and some a bit long. But…have you ever thought of yourself helping others along the road to be a disciple of Jesus? You know, He didn’t go out trying to bring out the BIG crowds but they came to Him because of His message and the miracles. They needed healing but many wanted the food which was provided so miraculously because of His thanksgiving. Some only came for the miracles but there were many who came to hear His message.

Then as His ministry was coming to an end, He taught a few lessons that were a bit hard for the crowds to understand and some that they didn’t like at all. The life of a follower of Jesus, a disciple, wasn’t easy in those days and it hasn’t really gotten easier today, although we have many more “things” to cling to than a money purse and a staff. Even when you make your life as simple as you can these days, we are still wealthy by most of the world’s standards.

So how do you make a disciple? Well, you have to get to know the people in your study group. You can’t lead a study group unless you do know them. In today’s culture that is hard to do because many people don’t want to know their pastor or their teacher in a close and personal way. Today with the disease that is running rampant all over the world most people don’t want to be in the same building with their pastor. Not because they think he is sick but just because of the possibility that he might be. We are allowing a virus, a messenger of Satan, to dictate whether we have fellowship in God’s house. The church, that is the people who are gathered, should be faithful enough in God’s power to come together and worship Him in Spirit and Truth!

Being a disciple of Jesus means much more than visiting a church on Sunday morning. It is reading and studying His Word every day of the week so you will know His voice when He speaks. Your life can be much healthier and more productive when you have His Word stored in your heart and when you read it every day it is like eating manna, it nourishes your soul because it is God’s spiritual food for your soul.

Don’t be anxious


Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad. Proverbs 12:25 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/pro.12.25.KJV

The song, Don’t worry, be happy! Is a good representation of this principal from God’s Word. During stressful times it is hard to feel happy and joyful, but by keeping your your focus on the blessings that are yours through Jesus Christ you can feel joyful. Because of the eternal life that is yours because of His sacrifice.