What are you worried about?

In our world today there seems to be a LOT to be worried about. When you look around the world and on all of the media outlets…there seems to be more and more to be worried about. The news and every “pundit” that is on any channel seems to be pushing us to be constantly worried about something. My problem with the news today is that there are no actual news stories. We get a few seconds of what I call “blurbs” and then minutes worth of drug advertisements. We used to get real, actual news from the nightly news but now I don’t know if there is any news outlet that can be trusted and that is a true shame.

I am showing my age here but I remember Walter Cronkite and the news then. What we have now is a bunch of advertisements and some snippets of content and occasionally a heart-wrenching story at the very end. Sometimes the ending story is heart-warming too but why can’t there be more actual news today?

I know, this blog has always been about salvation through Jesus Christ, but I have to vent sometimes. Why is there no notice of anything that has been foretold in God’s Word? I know that most news programs don’t want to focus on anything that is religious especially if it involves Christianity or Judaism but God is pushing His agenda forward whether you are noticing it or not. Worry? Why? God is still in control of everything even if the world around us can’t see it.

Looking at the news and everything that is happening in the Middle East with spiritual eyes and with the Bible as a lens to see what is really happening…it is easy to see His hand moving the pieces. I pray that everyone who reads these posts will seek your salvation through Jesus Christ.

Pain and suffering

These two words are descriptions of the Christian life in some parts of the world today. Those of u.s blessed to live in America are experiencing some persecution but it is mild compared to those in Asia, Africa, China, and most nations whose state religion is Islam regardless of which “branch” it is.

It was the same with the early church during the first century only the persecution was much worse than it is today. Why am I bringing this up? Because, the time is coming, sooner than later, that the whole world will feel the wrath of God. Because of the anti-Christ and the influence that he will have on the world and because those in the world will be the ones who rejected God’s grace and the offer of salvation through belief in Jesus as their savior.

Jesus came here to bring the gift of salvation through believing in Him. Although many people in the world do not believe in Jesus or God for that matter, the Tribulation will be a very difficult time for everyone who is left behind after the church is taken from the Earth. Mainly because the Holy Spirit that has restrained the demonic activity on Earth for the past two thousand years will be gone. The devil and his cohorts will have free reign over the whole Earth and the people living here at that time.

Don’t wait, seek Jesus as your Savior today because there are no second chances after death. You have to make this decision in this life to have an eternity in Heaven with Him. If you don’t decide to give your heart to Jesus and ask for His forgiveness today, you may not get another chance. The pain and suffering of this life is nothing compared to an eternity separated from God in hell.

Give to God’s work

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

Affliction

Lamentations 3:32–33:

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 again^b 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, ‘You^d 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 you^f 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