Category: Believe in the One Who saves

The Word…


On the morning of Creation when God’s Spirit hovered over the waters and He decided that it was time to act, The Word of God said “Let there be Light!”. John begins his gospel of our Lord’s ministry with these words: 

The Beginning

(Genesis 1:1-2)

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2The same was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made

Jesus was and is the Living Word of God. There is no debate on this and no discussion needs to be done. Those who believe in Jesus as God’s Son will believe it and those who reject Him will do that as well. So…which will you be? The person who wants to believe in Jesus but is afraid of what your friends may say? That person who knows that the Bible is true and that they need salvation but…not right now? Either one of these people might get away with NOT accepting Jesus as their Savior and Lord for a while but it could be bad for them in the long run. Following your friends or choosing to put it off for a while puts you in a very slippery situation.

You have no idea when you will die. It could happen in a car wreck tomorrow or you could get sick with this COVID-19 and be in the ICU for a while and then die…the outcome is the same. You are now standing before God as your Judge without Jesus as your Savior. Will your righteousness be enough to get you into heaven? Nope. There isn’t a single person on Earth who is righteous enough without Jesus to get into heaven. That one decision has caused your eternity to be very different than it could’ve been.

It’s something to think about. Especially in this time that we live in where people can get shot and killed in their car going down the street. Please seek out Jesus as your Savior before you stand before God without Him.

Seek and you shall find…Him


Some people wonder where they might find the Truth of Jesus…but will you believe in Him? Some may ask why should I believe in Him? You can choose not to if you wish but that choice will impact your eternity. Why not seek Jesus and the Truth of God’s plan for salvation? It takes faith and the will to believe even when others don’t want to. There are so many choices today, so which will you choose?

We believe in entertainers, professional athletes, money, position, power, money, but none of these can bring you salvation. Regardless of how much money or power or position you may have, when you die it means nothing. Not one penny of your fortune or any part of your fortune goes with you after you breathe your last breath. But if you have faith in Jesus and believe that He is the Son of God Who died for your sins then you will have eternal life with Him! What kind of price could you place on that promise? It is given to you freely and without cost. For the price of your faith and your belief in Him you get a prize which no one on Earth can give you at any cost!

But many people today are burning God’s Word, the Bible, which teaches about Him and how we might come to know Him. They don’t want the good news which is found in its pages. They are afraid of its Truth and all of the wisdom that is in its pages for anyone to read and believe.

Why are they afraid?

Because God’s Word is more powerful than anything that mankind has ever done and all you have to do is have faith and believe in Jesus to claim it. Consider for a moment…the most powerful bomb that we have created. I’m not speaking of the bombs dropped during World War 2. I am speaking of the hydrogen bombs which, thankfully no one in their right mind would drop. The ones dropped in Japan were rated in the kiloton range, meaning that they were equivalent to about ten thousand pounds of TNT each. The hydrogen bombs which we have today are equivalent to millions of pounds of TNT each.

God created stars which put out that much power in one second! Our own star puts out that kind of power in one second and it is considered a dwarf star! It is only approximately 900,000 miles across and there are stars out there that God created which make our Sun look like the Earth next to them in size. Yet with all of His power and majesty and wisdom creating everything that is in this VAST universe, God still knows how many hairs are on your head and mine and everyone else around you. He even notices when a sparrow dies and falls to the ground. Why?

Because He is God, Jesus is also God and the Holy Spirit is also God. Three distinct Persons of the Trinity but still God. The Spirit moves us to know that we are sinners in need of salvation and gives us faith to act on that to seek out our Savior which is Jesus the Son so that we can be reconciled to God the Father

We try to put God in a box of our own choosing so that we can relate to Him. That is why you hear some people say that “my god would not be so cruel” or “my god understands me and we have an arrangement”. Satan has convinced them that they can do this and god will understand when we go fishing or hunting or stay home to watch the ball game. Because they claim that “I can worship from my living room or from a boat or my tree stand”. Have you ever praised God from your boat or a tree stand? I’ve never heard songs of praise or prayers in the woods during deer season. Unless they were something like “Lord, let me get that BIG buck and I’ll be in church every Sunday”.

You can’t bargain with God like that! He knows your heart and He knows exactly where you will be next Sunday and it won’t likely be in His house.

Jesus said:

Ask, Seek, Knock

(Luke 11:5-13)

7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

What rules our world today?


Believe it or not it is death. Every day more than 100 million people die each day from diseases and other ailments as well as from accidents and preventable causes. From the World Economic Forum‘s website: Nearly 150,000 people die each day around the world, according to 2017 data. Of course this year’s data has the COVID-19 death toll included but it is safe to say that there are millions of people dying every year even without this pandemic. According to the data referenced above the number of people dying each year is nearly 5.5 million, regardless of their economic status or country of origin.

Yes, death comes to each of us at some point. Whether it is sooner or later is not up to us but God knows. Hope is only in your individual beliefs and if those beliefs don’t include belief in Jesus for your salvation then death will be an eye-opening experience for most people in the world. God’s Word says that we will all face Him for judgment of our souls after we die and none of us will escape death unless the Lord comes to take His church home before we die.

So…what is your idea about death? All of us have to face it one day. Some of us won’t be here next weekend. Some of us may not live through tomorrow. So have you made sure of your salvation yet? There is a judgment after you die so you can’t say that we “just go poof” because our spirit lives on into eternity. Whether that eternity includes family and friends in a life-giving setting is up to your choices in this life. Because it is up to your choice about accepting salvation or not, which will determine your eternal home.

Jesus’ death and resurrection paid the penalty for ALL of the sins in the world but your eternity is decided by your choice of whether you believe in Him for your salvation or not. It truly is a matter of belief or of unbelief for each of us which decides our future home in eternity. So which will you choose? Life with Jesus or eternal separation from Life? The choice is yours.

Who are you walking with?


In Genesis, the Bible speaks of a man who walked with God named Enoch and God took him to glory or heaven without him experiencing death. I don’t expect to be taken any time soon, unless it is time for it, but I do try to walk with God on a daily basis. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not bragging about my life. I know that I sin quite regularly even when I’m trying not to. But I do ask God to give me strength in my Spirit to at least be able to resist most temptations which come my way. Am I successful in resisting them? Not by a LONG shot! But…I do try.

Living with Jesus as your daily companion is the Christian lifestyle that we are supposed to be living. It is not easy to do although you might think that it is. Enoch did it so why can’t we? He didn’t have all of the distractions that we have today. Cell phones, the Internet, TV shows, movies, etc. can really get your attention away from the study of God’s Word and truly walking daily with Him.

Why do I bring this up today? Because you and I need to be closer to our Lord and Savior now more than ever. Not only is it a good idea but to have a real relationship with someone you have to get to know them. Attending church or a Bible study once or twice a month is not enough. Think about a relationship such as a marriage would work with getting together only once or twice a week and you get my point…it doesn’t work and it could be hazardous to your health.

It is the same with your relationship with Jesus. Being in a real relationship with Him is a learning experience because getting to know Him is only by studying His Word and prayer so that you will recognize His voice when He does speak to you. After giving your heart to Him and allowing the Holy Spirit to come in a truly change your heart is only the first step. Waking up daily and thanking Him for another day to learn about Him and actually following through with the learning part is the part which you have to work at day by day until it becomes a habit.

Many people get caught up in the hype of some “evangelists” who talk of the rewards of being a Christian. They try to sell you a deal and get you to partner with them to be more like Jesus. The truth is that there is no partnership other than being a born-again Child of God and you don’t have to pay a monthly fee for that except for giving your tithe to your local church. This tithe keeps the lights on and the other expenses of the church paid as well as giving the pastor a little bit of cash too. No one is getting rich by preaching and if they are then they are doing it wrong.

God takes care of us without the world’s trappings of wealth and the reward which will be ours in eternity far outweighs any retirement plan here on Earth. Walk with God and His Son, Jesus, and you will have all of the perks which come with knowing your Savior and your Creator as well.

Consider the heat…


In the South, we live in a very humid area of the country especially during the summer. High pressure “cells” come through our area of the country at least once or twice every month. They begin well at times but when we get behind the high pressure “cell” it pushes humidity and warm air from the Gulf of Mexico up into Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama and parts of Texas too. Many of us have heard the saying about the heat in the Southwest “but its a dry heat”. Going from our state to Arizona is a wake-up call for sure but 110 degrees is HOT whether it is dry or humid although humidity would make that temperature nearly unbearable.

Why am I speaking about heat and the heat of summer to be specific? Because…hell is HOT and it could be a “dry heat” but an eternity there is not what most people think of when they hear about hell. Dry or not, we don’t know what temperature hell is and the lake of fire brings up images of the inside of a volcano to me. So consider this…all unbelievers and Satan and his demons will be cast into the lake of fire. Most people think that it doesn’t sound bad but people in hell will have eternal bodies. The kind of body which doesn’t die regardless of your circumstances but it will be able to experience pain

Being cast into a volcano in our body that we have here on Earth will be painful for only a few seconds. An eternal body that is cast into the lake of fire will live in the fire and pain forever. An immortal body will heal if it is hurt, whether from a gunshot or from thousands of degrees of lava. This place was not created by God for humanity. It was created for Satan and his demons but when we rebel and decide to live our life without God or Jesus as our example for living we are siding with Satan whether we worship him or not. Even if you go to church and “act” like a Christian for most of your life, thinking that you will get into Heaven because of your “righteousness” you are wrong!

The heat that we feel in the Southeast is nothing compared to hell and the fact that we will go to hell because we have rejected the offer of eternity by rejecting Jesus as our Savior just makes the lie that we believed even worse. Living our short lives here in the humidity and heat of summer is child’s play compared to the eternity that you will live in hell because you rejected Jesus as your Savior.

Remember the man who asked Jesus to “remember me when you come into your Kingdom”? Jesus told him that he would be in Paradise that day for the simple act of believing in Jesus and Who He was. He is at the right hand of the Father now waiting for God to tell Him to bring the church up there.

Something is in the closet…


When I was a child, I didn’t have anyone to call for my fears at night. I have never thought about it much before today. I heard a song a little while ago about a child that was scared and didn’t want his Dad to leave.

The thing that we should realize is that when you have Jesus Christ as your Savior, He is always with you no matter where you are. Of course when you are young the dark can be scary. The closet looks scary with the lights off. The air conditioner can make things move and cause shadows to move and your imagination can go into overdrive and make these normal things seem to be much worse than they are.

As Christians, the “monsters” that we face are real but we can’t see them, thankfully. Satan and his demons and principalities can cause real problems in your life. Our only defense is to study God’s Word and have many scriptures memorized so we can use them to fend off their attacks. When you consider all of the wars and problems and everything that is going on in the world, take a look at where these things are happening. Notice that most of them are taking place where God or Jesus or both are not embraced by the culture or the country.

If you don’t believe in God or His Son, Jesus, as your Savior then what are your gods? Who or what do you ask for help in times of need and illness or trials? There is no name under Heaven that brings salvation except the name of Jesus! The previous sentence is a paraphrase of Acts 4:12 but it is the Truth. Believing in Jesus as your Savior and Lord is the only way to get to Heaven or to experience eternal Life! You can keep following other ways or other “prophets” or even other “gods” but none of them will give you life in eternity except Jesus. Others will lead you strait to hell for eternity and that is not Life.

What is in your closet? Is it an old, dusty Bible that you haven’t read in years? Then I suggest getting it out and dusting it off so you can read it and seek God and His Son in its pages. Eternal life is found in no other name except Jesus so make sure that you know Him and that He knows you too while there is still time in this life to make that choice.

God is always near


Psalm 46: 1 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

Many people think that the other phrase, “God helps those who help themselves”, is in the Bible but it isn’t. It sounds good but the phrase about God being a helper and being with you in troubled times is the one found in Psalm 46. This is not the only one which tells of His ability to help us when we are in need but it is very true that He is and He will if we will call on Him.

It doesn’t matter what sort of trouble you may be in or how you got into such trouble, if you are a child of God and have faith in Jesus as your Savior He is always with you.

Why do I bring this up now? Because of all of the problems and pain that our country and our world is going through right now. The pandemic of this “new” disease which is even less deadly than the flu and it seems to be the most important disease at the moment. Jesus told His disciples that when He went to be with His Father He would send the Helper (Holy Spirit) to teach them and testify of His message in their lives and their ministry. Every Christian has this Helper living on the inside of them and He is always present in every area of our life whether we are going through something good or bad.

Even when we can’t think of the words to pray with, He is praying directly to the Father for us in words which express exactly what the problem is and the urgency of it. The Holy Spirit is our Teacher, our Helper, and our Voice when we are too emotional or maybe too sick or hurt to pray for our problem. That is why Jesus asked the Father to send Him and when you become a Christian, He comes to live in your heart.

When Jesus was baptized by His cousin, John, all three Persons of the Godhead were there. Jesus was there in His humanity, God spoke to those who could hear and the Holy Spirit came and stayed on Jesus in the form of a dove. So truly we do have “God with us” every day that we live after we become a Christian. I pray that whoever reads this will seek to learn about Jesus and His message, seek Him as your Savior and then live every day as if you are walking by His side because once you have accepted Him as your Savior there is a part of Him living within you from that day forward.

How much and how far…


God has lots of patience with us because He has been waiting for nearly two thousand years. So how much more time do you think we have before His patience wears down or until the last person on His list is saved? How far will He allow us to go with our rebellion and the majority of people on Earth rejecting Jesus as their Savior?

These are questions which I can’t answer and neither can you. Jesus told His disciples that when that time comes the world will resemble the world just before the flood which Noah survived in the Ark. Are we there yet? Well, millions of children are killed each day in abortions all over the world, not just here in America. The number of children killed in America only amounts to maybe 850,000 or so every year. That is not an exact number but it is a number which should bother people but most will fight you for their right to kill their “fetus”.

Today we have so many terrorist groups, home-grown I might add, which are doing much the same as those on 9/11 did except not with airplanes. Abraham Lincoln said that our country would tear itself apart from the inside out one day because we wouldn’t be attacked from outside our borders. We have been attacked from outside our borders but it seems that the attacks which do the most harm are those from within.

None of this is outside of God’s notice because He sees and hears every word and every deed done on Earth. One day we will pay the price for our pride and arrogance. I just pray that many more who read this may find their way to a church or to a bookstore and pick up a copy of God’s Word. Read it and pray that you will be forgiven in Jesus’ name because when the time comes it will be sudden and without warning. Those who are ready to meet Him in the air will go and those who are not will be left here to endure the wrath of Satan and the wrath of Almighty God.

For Biblical proof of what is coming and some of what is happening today, read Matthew 24 and all of the book of Revelation. Then pray that you won’t have to endure those dangerous times.

God is…


Our Creator…the Creator of everything. The Savior of all who will believe. Our God Who sees us as we are and loved us even before we were born. The Father of Jesus the Christ and the Lamb of God Who gave His life as a ransom for ALL of our sins. The One Who named the stars and placed them in their places. He is All knowing and all powerful. The One Who was and is and is to come. He is the One Who defends the helpless and heals those who are blind or deaf or paralyzed. He can soften a heart grown cold from abuse and neglect and make it to hope in the future and see His great love for them. He loves each of us, whether we believe in Him or not, just because He is God. He doesn’t have to have a reason or an excuse to do everything that He does because He is Life, Love, Perfection, Time and everything that is good and holy in the universe.

Since God is all of these things and more and yet He is holy and pure…how could you believe that you or I could stand in His Presence one day and even consider that we are worthy to be allowed into Heaven? We were in His thoughts before the Earth was formed and the moon was hung in its place. He thought of each of us before He hung the stars or our Sun in its place. So how could we be holy and blameless before Him unless we give our lives to learning from His Word and living our daily lives by striving to be more like Jesus? The answer is simple…we can’t! There is nothing that any of us can offer to God or live by on our own that will qualify us to be granted access to Heaven.

Only by believing in Jesus as our Savior can we be in God’s Presence because we loved Jesus more than our own life. I pray that all who read this post will seek to be saved by belief in Jesus as your Savior because the day is coming soon. Don’t be left behind when the church, the Body of Christ, meaning all believers are taken up to be with Him.

Amen, come Lord Jesus!

Every life matters!


Life matters regardless of skin color or ethnicity

God created all life on our world and He created the different shades of color found in humanity as well as all of the variety of life and colors found in nature. So…why can’t we look beyond our skin color? It has been over fifty years since Dr. Martin Luther King was murdered by a white supremacist and yet those on both sides of this tragedy still haven’t moved beyond the same anger and frustration fifty years later.

Life does matter and it doesn’t matter if it is a black life or a white life or any other skin tone, in God’s eyes ALL of life matters. So why can’t we realize this and find something in common and work from there? I do realize that there are many things that the white “race” has done in the past and in many ways are still agreeing with even today. Even though today we don’t vocalize it for the most part. Our crime of being racist is shown in how we react to the situation that we may find ourselves in. We may think that we aren’t showing a racist attitude toward anyone but our body language and our eyes show something else entirely, even though we may not even realize that we do these things unconsciously.

Is there a way to end the violence and the hatred in this world which has been sparked into a raging fire? I don’t know that we can find one without Jesus coming back and ruling our world. I don’t really believe that we have the ability to place our emotions and our prejudices aside in order to bring lasting peace into our world and keep it that way. Now, I’m not pointing a finger at any government or any other movement in the world. Black lives do matter but so do the police and fire service men and women. The EMT’s lives matter, who try to help those who are injured or shot in any confrontation. The doctors and nurses lives matter because regardless of color or “race” they do their best to put people back together who have been hurt regardless of the circumstances.

Yes, in the past people have treated other people differently because of their skin color or their station in life even, but that doesn’t give you or me the right to go into the street and burn down small businesses and homes and threaten people with harm for no reason other than the color of their skin! When you are doing that you are no different than the ones who did this to your ancestors many years ago. We are living in the twenty-first century but many people are acting as if they are still in the 19th century. If things keep going in that direction and someone sets an EMP off one day we will be back in the 19th century in the area that it affected.

God never intended for us to live like this or act in this way toward each other but we are doing it. Satan is the one who hates us and it has nothing to do with your skin color at all. Satan hates us because we were created in God’s Image. It is Satan’s coaxing and prodding which is pushing this movement to be as violent as it is and he doesn’t care if we kill off a few thousand or more because that is fewer than he will have to deal with later. God loves each of us and all of our unique abilities and our outlook on life. Seek to please God and walk with Him in this world so that you can be victorious against Satan and his influence over a world that seems to be crumbling around us.

We are a part of God’s creation whether we like it or not, whether we believe in Him or not, but that doesn’t change the fact that murder is wrong in every instance and it doesn’t matter if the one murdered is old or young, a cop or one of the crowd. Even suicide is wrong in God’s eyes because you are killing yourself and you are also created in God’s Image. He loves each of us and we should try to reflect some of His love back into the world and make it better than it was before…not worse.