Category: Being His is a choice too

Love, where does it come from?


Many people wonder about love and today consider that this word is just…a word. It doesn’t mean anything, it has no depth for many people. It is just a simple, four letter word and nothing more. Where does this sort of thinking come from? Why is it so denigrated and down-played from the meaning that it is given in God’s Word?

Mainly because people don’t see love today as the same as what is talked about in the Bible. We have been using the word, LOVE, as a stand-in for lust for so long until it has lost its real meaning. Nobody sees it being acted upon or toward people in the same way that Jesus told us that we are supposed to do. We are supposed to love each other as we love ourselves, but very few people do this today.

Everyone is out to get what they can get and as much as they can get for themselves. Its like the world is populated by millions if not billions of spoiled brats!

I am not saying that stuff is bad but the constant search for and chasing after more toys is idiotic. Nothing that you gain in this life materially gives you much satisfaction except for a brief moment when you are using it for the first few times. Then, just like most children, it becomes old and it just doesn’t fill the void that you wanted filled. At which point you are off to find something else.

Our search for something to fill that void in our lives is not a pursuit which is limited to young or old, rich or poor or middle class. It is something which we feel when we get to a certain age and realize that there is something that is missing. At which point we begin to search for it and depending upon our resources (money), we look in all sorts of places and seek out fulfilment in more and better things.

We will look at new cars or homes or games or guns, then sometimes we seek out new friends or relationships or even new gadgets like an iPad or tablets or phones and computers. Today, the selection is nearly endless yet we still have trouble finding just the right combination or specific person or thing which will fill that void. We will never find it until we begin searching for the One which can fill that place of empty feeling.

That is Jesus Christ. In life, we only have a small amount of time. It could be twenty years or thirty, it might be sixty or even ninety or one hundred years, but when you compare that time with, say one hundred thousand years, isn’t it tiny? God created us all with an immortal spirit or soul and that part of us continues on when this life ends. Your acceptance of Jesus places you on the path into Heaven with Him and that life will never end.

If you choose to hear or listen to a message about being saved by belief in Jesus and then walk away, deciding that you will live the way you want to live because your idea of God would not do that to someone. Your idea of God would not punish you in hell for not accepting His Son as Savior. It won’t be your idea that judges you! It will be God Himself and it is not His decision which will place you in hell, it is yours!

Even a child can understand the Love of God that was given to all of us through Jesus and His death and resurrection, but if you choose to turn away from the offer of grace which God gives you by that love then it is your choice. It will be your choice which condemns you to hell, not God.

I am the Vine


Jesus told His disciples “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5″I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6″If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.… (John 15:4-6)

We are to be the branches depending on the Vine to give us strength and ability to go through our lives with Him so that others might see Him in us and through us. How many churches actually teach this today? There are some, but I would say that there aren’t many. Why? Because of the way that our country has gone, the people have moved away from Christ. We have allowed ourselves to become like the church in the book of Revelation that Jesus said He would spew them out of His mouth.

Why? Because they had light, they knew of Him but didn’t follow Him. They did what was right in their eyes, made the rules for themselves instead of following the wisdom contained within God’s Word. Truly, you can even know His Word, have studied His Word, even preach His Word and yet not have Him in your heart. How this is possible, I can’t say, but it has happened to many.

Seek Him, lean on His Strength and Wisdom, learn to Love the way He does, without compromise or fear and without expecting anything in return. Do things for them that can’t help themselves out of your love for Christ so that others may see Him through you and your actions.

Our Lord needs many workers who are willing to do these things in the world today because there seems to be a shortage of people who are following Him right now. Really following Him, not just saying so and going to church and singing…going through the motions to look like a Christian and be seen as a Christian but deep down they haven’t accepted Him into their hearts. Is it possible to fool people like this? Yes it is. I have read stories of pastors and bishops in churches that have held those positions for years and yet they came under the conviction that they were not saved and finally gave their lives to Jesus.

Your life and mine are just wisps of smoke compared to eternity. The things which we can do are insignificant until Jesus comes into our lives and changes our hearts and our souls. When that happens, the whole world opens up and you can have an impact and make a difference in the lives of people. Not just for their lives here, but for eternity as well. Please, seek Jesus and His story out in God’s Word and give your life to Him. Ask Him to change your life into one that can truly make a difference in this world, even if it is only one person that you influence to become a Christian. That person may become an evangelist which will touch thousands of people, maybe more!

What is going to happen?


That is a loaded question to which I really don’t have an answer. I can’t see the future except through the prophecies of God in the Bible and from that our future is getting darker. Why? Because of our own natural tendencies. I know, there are many people who really don’t believe in God or in anything that is contained in His Word. That’s okay. You are entitled and able to believe whatever you wish to that might give you some comfort.

We always wonder what is beyond the curve or over the hill and it is the same way we feel about the future. Most everyone wonders about what is going to happen in our life and many times we try to plan for it or make plans for those future days. The problem is that we aren’t given those days until they get here. The only day that you actually have is today, and even that is not guaranteed for the full twenty-four hours.

We are fragile and we do make mistakes, all of the time to some degree or another. Many of life’s problems come to light when we try to do something which is beyond our ability or we attempt something which our common sense is telling us not to do and we do it anyway.

I know, many people especially men think that they are invincible, particularly those in military service but the fact is that it is only modern protection which makes them able to come home. Mostly in one piece. During the wars before Vietnam, the injuries which many of our disabled Vets come home with would’ve killed them or they would’ve died en route to medical help. We look at our lives from two perspectives most of the time…right now and tomorrow.

We want gratification of our wants and desires immediately if not sooner. Sometimes we have the patience to wait until tomorrow for some things, but our country and its culture has become so focused on instant gratification until very few children know what it means to wait from Mom to cook a meal or to go to the library to read a real book.

The future isn’t fixed in stone but the outcome of the future is. God has already ordained what will happen at the end of this age and at the end of the one thousand-year reign of Christ. Those outcomes are not up for debate, whether you believe in God or not you will bow to Him one day and acknowledge that He is God and King. Wouldn’t you rather invite Him into your life and your heart now? So that your eternity will be so much better and enjoyable for you and those that you love?

I know that many will choose to go their own way and follow whatever suits them but in the end, when your life is over and you do find out the Truth, it is too late to change your mind at that point. We are only given this life as a sort of “practice run”, once this existence is over your decisions made here will have an effect on your eternal home. Your soul, that part of you that longs for purpose and meaning, is immortal and your future home depends upon the decisions which you make now, today while you have it. As I said, you aren’t guaranteed tomorrow. Seek Him while He can be found in this life, before your eternity begins.

Wolves in disguise


Many children’s tales tell of wolves in sheep’s skins and Jesus warned us in His teachings that many would come in the latter days seeking to draw people from the church or from faith by pretending to be something that they are not. Yes, it is happening today! Like it or not, we can’t ignore it and we can’t just brush it away because they are here and causing problems in the church and in society in general. Even if I knew their names, I wouldn’t tell you but the way that the “news” programs only report good “news” that looks and sounds good. They are doing exactly what the Bible says, yelling “peace and safety, all is well”, when the world around us is far from that these days.

Are people able to recognize these disguises? I don’t think so. Mainly because we have elected many of them into offices of importance in our country in the last seven years. We listen to their ideas of how the population should be receiving the wonderful news of “affordable health care”, yet very few of us can afford it or the insurance that we are required by law to get. America is not the wonderful land of opportunity that many of us grew up in anymore, it seems to be fuelled more by greed and power than doing what is right and being an example to others.

What happened?

Well, many won’t believe what I am about to say but we brought it on ourselves. Yes, many of you will believe that part but how we did it is not so easy. It was gradual at first and many of the changes started over fifty years ago, but the changes which sped up our country’s headlong fall came about after 9/11. The leaders of our government decided to use a phrase from the Bible to symbolize our resolve and our determination to rebuild. The problem with this was that the phrase and the verse that they used was a prophetic verse which predicted the type of fall that we would experience afterward, but many of them didn’t take the verse in context. They only used the portion which suited them, like many preachers do today.

Today, the “rapture” of the church is preached all over this land by many, yet one of the verses that is used is never used in context. It is only used partially, so that the effect is changed from that which was intended. 2 Thessalonians 2:2,3: “the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition:”

Your life and mine mean much more to God and His Kingdom than we will ever know until we see Him face to face. God has provided the forgiveness and the path to salvation for each of us, all that we have to do is believe in Jesus and His sacrifice and we are forgiven. For many people this is too simple and too easy, yet that is exactly what God has done for each of us…because He loves us.

Yes, the church will be “taken up in the twinkling of an eye”, but not before the man of sin is revealed and the falling away from the church happens first. Hold fast to your faith, watch and be ready therefore because the days are coming when family will be divided over religious differences and greed. Even if you have to keep a secret place for your Bible, do it. Read it, study it, pray over the words that you read and ask God for the strength to remain steadfast in your faith. He is coming back and the whole world will know it when it happens, not just a few.

 

Time is short


In many ways the news and the other media outlets want us to think that we have all of the time in the world. Everything is going to keep on getting better and life will go on just as it always has.

WRONG!!! WAKE UP!!!

Folks, this country and our world at large is headed for a big wake up call and it won’t be something which we will recover from in a few days or weeks. This will be a long time getting fixed. Sounds scary doesn’t it?

Guess what? It is going to happen! All of these shows which keep us watching so-called “reality”, are complete and total jobs to keep us blind to what is happening behind our backs and in front of us. We don’t notice it because we are too busy tweeting or whatever online or we are texting constantly and talking to our “friends”. When what we should be doing is paying attention to what is really happening in the world, not just the tidbits that we get on the “news” programs.

Nearly all of the events which are supposed to happen prior to the trying times foretold in the Bible have come about already. The birth pains which Jesus spoke about are already occurring in natural disasters and heat waves and sudden snow storms and all of the others that are going on around us. The wars and skirmishes that are happening everywhere over disputes about whose religion is the right one or which sect is going to be the best!

All of this was foretold over two thousand years ago, yet many people have ignored the signs or just never even read about it or heard it preached. The problem is that when the climax comes and the really bad stuff begins, then what will the world do? Celebrate? Be glad that there are no more Christians in the world to bother us about how wrong we have been doing things?

When that day comes, and it will come, anyone who has heard about it or maybe seen a movie about it will know that what they thought was wrong. Realization and the reality will truly set in and then the Wrath of God will truly be released on the Earth. The last seventy-two months will be far worse than the first seventy-two months were.

How soon do I think this will happen? I don’t know. I just feel in my spirit that we don’t have a decade or more to ponder and think about it. I could be wrong, but what if I am not? If there is a treaty signed between Israel and all of her neighbours in the next few years then that is the beginning of the first part of the last seven years of this age.

God doesn’t want anyone to die in sin, He wants all who will to come to repentance and believe in Jesus. When you do that your life will just be starting. It doesn’t matter how old in years you may be, your eternity begins when you accept Jesus as your Savior. Then, when you die you will just step away from this life and begin the next one in Heaven. No judgement or penalty for you because Jesus paid your way into God’s Presence. If you don’t accept Jesus then you will be judged by how many times you heard the message and walked away, as well as all of the sinful words and deeds that you did.

Do I have a time-table for when these things will happen? No, God is the only One Who knows the day and the hour of when Tribulation begins. He also knows when your day of Judgement will be. It could be tomorrow or next week or next year, but unless you have asked Jesus into your heart then the judgement will find you guilty of turning away from God’s call on your life. Then you will stand before Satan and he will determine your place in hell. The choice is yours, choose Life in Jesus.

What Child is this?


Immanuel, God with us. Those few words explain the “why” of the Babe in the manger and the “Who” as well, so why do so many people choose to turn away from the offer of grace and mercy of God? Well, it has to do with that six letter word that has been having such a great impact on the human race ever since the Garden…choose or a different version maybe, called choice. It is what God gave all of His creatures, angel and human alike.

Why did He give us a choice in our life, in our service to Him and in what we ultimately do with that choice? Because of love. You cannot love a Creator or a person that doesn’t give you a choice of returning that love. You cannot enjoy being a servant unless you are given the choice of being a servant or not. We can choose to obey the call on our lives when we feel and hear it or to turn away from it. We can choose to be the people that we are called to be or not. It is choice which distinguishes us from animals who live by instinct.

Instinct is natural for animals whether they are dogs or cats or apes or whales, that is their position in the Creation of God. We have a choice to be or not to be what we are called by God to become, and yet some people don’t allow God to change them into the people who He knows that they can be. They refuse to “conform” or to be called by God. They want to do it their way, in their time, and for some that is fine. It may give them a successful life that the world sees, but it may not lead to eternal life unless they finally accept the call of God in their life.

“But, what if I don’t ever fell or hear the call of God?” “Can’t I just read the Bible and try to do what it says and I’ll be saved?” Reading the Bible is good and God may speak to you through it, if He hasn’t already but you can’t force God to save you. Just as God chose Jacob and not Esau to make the nation of Israel through, He can choose those whom He wishes to be saved which will bring glory to Him and His Kingdom. Why? Because He is God. He doesn’t answer to you, He does as He pleases in all situations.

God sent His Son to be born of a woman of the lineage of David, so that through Him we would all have the chance to be saved. He paid the price for all of us, all that we have to do is listen to that voice in our hearts which calls to us. If and when you hear it, don’t turn away from it. God gives us all second and third chances but when we keep turning away, He will call on someone else that will answer and the most telling part about His call to us is that He knows which person will answer His call and which ones of us who won’t.