Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/2co.9.7.KJV
Category: Believe in the One Who saves
Affliction
Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men. (NIV)
I would like to welcome all of you to a world where all of us “little people” are trying to understand a Creator Who is infinite in His love and His grandeur. It is His world and you are His creation whether you choose to believe in Him for your salvation or not. The blessings that God gives to us every day in this life sometimes come with a problem or an affliction attached to them. But, God is allowing that because He wants to make you better than you were and to give you a witness to others so they will seek Him in their time of trouble.
“God permits what he hates to accomplish what he loves.” — Joni
Life brings many opportunities for us in the church or for those outside the church. Sometimes those opportunities are good and some are not good at all, at least from our point of view. As Christians, we should try to look at the bigger picture that God sees but for our finite minds, it is hard to do that in every situation. In the past year, many millions of people have lost loved ones to this health crisis regardless of the name given to the disease or which variant it may be that is causing it.
My point is that God knows exactly where each of us is in our lives and what His purpose for us is as well. Some of us will be teachers, some of us will be caregivers and some of us will be friends to those in need of one. Jesus told His disciples that this time would come and that many people would fall away from their faith. Many are doing that because they are blaming God for this “pandemic” and while God did allow this to happen, I don’t believe that He created it. He is allowing it to happen so that people will turn to Him during this crisis. Some will turn to Him for comfort and I hope for their salvation too.
What is my point in this post? It is that God is in control regardless of how you perceive Him from your perspective. If you think of Him as a tyrant that is trying to force you to believe in Jesus then you’ve got Him all wrong. God loves you and He is using this time in history to bring as many people to salvation as possible but salvation and love cannot be forced on anyone. God will use the death of a loved one to bring about His purposes. We can’t understand that in our finite minds but God can see how one person’s death in a family will affect the entire family and the community around them. It may not happen overnight but God’s purpose and His will for everyone in that community will be realized.
God gives joy to those who have lost loved ones because of the faith of the person who died. They may be gone from this life and we won’t see them again until we are in the next life but we will have an eternity to enjoy them and all of the good things that God has prepared for us as His adopted children through Jesus Christ.
The Lord is your fortress
1 Except the LORD build the house, They labour in vain that build it: Except the LORD keep the city, The watchman waketh but in vain. Psalm 127:1 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.127.1.KJV
Dead men walking…
I know that there are many people who like to watch “zombie” shows and movies. Why? Because it’s entertainment I suppose. The thing is…if you haven’t given your heart to Jesus and repented of your “normal” sinful life then you are walking around dead in your sins. We are dead toward God when we are still sinners and have not accepted Jesus as our Savior. So in reality we are dead men and women walking until the Holy Spirit revives our heart and brings us into a new Life in Christ!
You won’t accept Jesus as your Savior if the Holy Spirit doesn’t convict you of your NEED for salvation. We will continue to live as dead men without the conviction to make us see exactly what we are and Who we need in our hearts! Jesus loves you so much that He died on that cross two thousand years ago to pay the penalty for your sins. He didn’t have any sin of His own but He died for the whole world even though He knew that many of them would never accept His offer of Life through the grace of God because it is a gift from God to each of us. We cannot earn it nor can we pay for any part of our salvation. He paid it all!
Your soul is worth the life of the Son of God. Even if there had only been one person, such as the thief on the cross, that Jesus could die for and provide salvation for through His shed blood and resurrection, He would’ve done it anyway. That kind of love is hard for us to understand or comprehend. Our Creator loves each of you with that deep abiding love. I can’t explain it to you, I can’t even describe that love because as far as we are concerned that kind of love is impossible for us to know in our mortal life. The only time that we will know it and feel it truly is when we fall to our knees in front of the One Who died for us. Even then I don’t think we will understand it. It will be so overwhelming in its capacity that even in our glorified bodies we won’t be able to stand in the truth of it.
I pray that everyone who reads this blog might seek out God to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Don’t put it off because we are not guaranteed to even wake up in the morning.
Early in the morning…
During Jesus’ ministry, He almost always got up before anyone else and went out to pray and seek His Father’s guidance for the day to come. Sometimes when I am facing a decision or a problem, I will wake up early and seek God’s wisdom too. Sometimes, He wakes me up to write here or to study a certain book or passage. Not necessarily because I’m a pastor because that ended a few months ago. I think it is because I have a ministry here and He wants to keep me grounded and abiding in His wisdom so I can do the best that I can while there is still time to do so.
It is our responsibility as Christians to tell others of the gospel of Jesus and how He has worked in our lives since we came to know Him. Because, once you become a child of God, adopted into His family, you represent Him in every area of your life. Not just on Sunday or whichever day you go to church or synagogue but you should be in a worshipful attitude every day. Thanking Him for waking you up to live another day for Him because after you become a Christian…you are living your life in Christ and He is supposed to be showing up in your life and actions on a daily basis.
Seek Him while there is still time because one day a trumpet blast will go out over all of the Earth and the church and all who belong to Jesus will be caught up to meet Him in the sky. At this point and on that day, there will be many people who thought they were going with Him but didn’t and even if they decide to give their heart to Him then, they will have to live through the Tribulation if they can. I ask you to make your eternal home a priority while you can. Seek Him out today in the Bible or at a Bible teaching church or ask a friend who is a Christian to tell you how you can come to know Him.
It’s never too late…
12 Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: Joel 2:12 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/jol.2.12.KJV
We are forgiven
It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, the blood of Jesus has covered it with His righteousness. If you have felt His touch on your heart and in your life please don’t hesitate. The age of grace, the church age, is coming to an end. When? Nobody knows exactly, only God Himself. Jesus died and paid the price for our sins and it is a gift from God to each of us…if you accept it and Him as your Savior.
Read John 3 here:
You Must Be Born Again
1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born againb he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.c 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘Youd must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but youf do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.g 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.h
For God So Loved the World
16 “For God so loved the world,i that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
John the Baptist Exalts Christ
22 After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. 23 John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized 24 (for John had not yet been put in prison).
25 Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” 27 John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ 29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”j
31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 33 Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
Don’t give up!
16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/2co.4.16.KJV
Our lives are being challenged every day. Keep your focus on Jesus Christ and He will be with you through every trial that you have.
Knowledge comes from God
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:7 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/pro.1.7.KJV
Consider the dash…
On gravestones, there is something that seems out of place. Some have a favorite Bible verse plus the name and the birth date and the date of a person’s death. Some don’t have anything beyond the person’s name and the date of their birth and the date of death. The one thing that seems out of place and without much explanation is the dash. It is hardly noticed because it is placed between the years on the stone. It essentially represents our life. From birth to death this “dash” is where everything in this person’s life has happened.
They grew up as a child and went through school, got married, and had some children (maybe) and along the way, they worked at a job. They could’ve gone on a mission or to church most Sundays, but unless we knew them there is no reference to this.
The dash between the dates of your birth and your death is all that is left here on your grave to give evidence of your life. The real evidence of your life is your children and your spouse and possibly some friends that you made along the way. But what does the dash mean? It signifies your life. As Solomon said in the book of Ecclesiastes “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity”.
Anything and everything that we have done in this life is meaningless unless we have done most of our work during our life for God and His Kingdom. I don’t mean that you have to be a pastor but living your life daily as a Christian does count for something. Even if the dash doesn’t show it. So what happens on the dash? Your life! Every person’s life is different so only their family and friends would know what belongs in that space. God, of course, knows exactly what happened and why.
The dash of your life looks short and it is, just as your life is short in comparison to eternity. Even if you live to be over one hundred years old, eternity is unending. God’s Kingdom is in eternity and it had no beginning and it doesn’t have an end just as God had always been existing in that realm. That is why our lives are referred to as a wave on the sea or a puff of smoke because our life is like the snap of your fingers. Earthly life only lasts as long as God allows it to. The end of your life is known to God but thankfully not to us.
We are not guaranteed tomorrow so seek the Lord while He can be found on this side of life because once you pass into the next life, your eternity is determined by your choice. Follow Jesus and be useful to Him in this life and in the next.
The Living Message of Christ 