Category: Believe in the One Who saves

Do you have a direction?


Leading a church, a home, and a blog about Jesus should be pretty easy to do. Sometimes..it is, and sometimes these don’t mix very well. Mainly because the “mixer” is out of sync or not plugged into the Source of Wisdom like he should be. The “mixer” of course is me! There are days and nights where things are going along pretty well. Then there are others which are not, for one reason or the other. Sometimes it is because of depression or apathy, sometimes it is because of my own physical pains and other problems which crop up from time to time.

When money is tight or maybe one of us is sick or we have to take the “fur-baby” to the vet’s office, all of these can put a cork in productivity. Life just gets in the way sometimes. There are many other distractions which get in the way, but you get the picture.  This is the time where each one of us needs to seek God’s Wisdom and His provision for our lives. I know it sounds like one of those answers that a pastor would give, but it is the truth! Man’s wisdom doesn’t fit the situation at times and sometimes our way of dealing with a problem, whatever it might be, just isn’t going to cut it.

The only One Who can help in every situation is God. He has the wisdom and the knowledge to help us IF we will seek Him out and listen to the wisdom that He gives to us. Most of the churches today seem to focus on numbers, at least the ministries which you see on television. Big churches and auditoriums, a band and lights…but that is not what Jesus told His disciples to do (they couldn’t since there wasn’t electricity at the time). Jesus said, “Go and make disciples”. That is what a walk with Jesus is and it is what a life with Jesus is supposed to be.

Going to church a couple of times each week and listening to the pastor read a scripture or maybe a chapter, expounding on its meaning for each person there is not the way to make disciples. Leading them through the Bible into an understanding of it and the meaning of it is the function of the pastor and the disciples too. If the pastor is the only one reading and praying about what he reads in order to understand it, then the members of the church are being left behind. They hear what he says in the sermon, but do they really think about it, praying about its meaning for their lives?

I would think that many people don’t even remember which scripture was read by the time they get home from church. If you are to become a disciple of Jesus with the ability to take the scripture with you every day, then you need to read and study it every day. Just attending a service or two each week and then closing the Bible the rest of the time will not write the scripture in your heart. The reason for reading and studying the Bible should be that it is meaningful to your life! It has to be the guiding wisdom of your daily walk with Jesus, otherwise, it is just a book.

RomanRoad2Salvation

Simple salvation


Have you ever been to an evangelical service anywhere and heard that it was simple to become a child of God? In many churches, you will never hear such a thing, but that is exactly what Jesus came to bring to everyone! The Jewish leaders of His day had over six hundred laws which they encouraged the people to keep (even though they couldn’t or wouldn’t keep them).

They asked Jesus what was the greatest commandment and He told them this: “Love the Lord with all of your mind, soul, body and strength and the second is like it; love your neighbor as yourself.” The law and the prophets hang on these two commandments. Much simpler don’t you think?

Salvation comes only through faith and belief in Jesus and the atonement which He bought for us with His blood and His resurrection from the tomb. Faith comes from hearing the Word preached and your soul responding to it, then belief comes when the Holy Spirit touches your heart and breaks it, showing you where you have failed to be like Jesus in your life. Why does it happen this way?

Because until it is broken just a little, there is no opening in your heart for the Holy Spirit to gain entrance. Being broken doesn’t mean that you are beyond repair because with God all things are possible! I mean, He made the first man from the mud and breathed the breath of Life into him. God called up the cattle and other animals from the ground and caused the waters to teem with all kinds of living creatures, certainly, He can take a small crack in your heart and mend it to make you into a new creature in Christ!

Learning about Jesus and His love for you is not the end of your life but the beginning! How can I say this? Because this pitiful seventy or eighty years of life is nothing compared to eternity! Which is where you will spend the rest of Life with Him and with all of those who have given their lives and their hearts to Him! Don’t throw eternity away because of a small thing or some amount of money here on Earth! The streets of Heaven are paved with gold and the doors leading into the Temple in Heaven are made out of 12 ft. tall pearls! What can wealth here give you that you can’t have in eternity? Absolutely nothing!

Make sure of your salvation simply because, after your last breath in this life, you won’t have a chance to change your mind or destination in eternity.

The mind of the Creator


It’s a very broad and deep title, isn’t it? Although, I have wondered and marveled at God’s design of the universe for a long time. Just looking up at the night sky during any time of the year makes me feel…well, tiny and insignificant. When you realize that each of those stars out there is similar to our own Sun, yet so very far away, it is very humbling to know that God placed them there!

Even more amazing is all of the life which He created here on Earth! The complexity and yet the simplicity of the different cells and structures which are a part of all of the animals and down to the bacteria is just staggering! Yes, some scientists believe that evolution did all of that but when you look at the complexity of life and all of the different processes which go on in each cell of our bodies and almost every other creature…it is very difficult to believe that it all happened by trial and error.

I know, they call it “natural selection” but it is still trial and error. If one adaptation doesn’t work out, the next generation changes to fix it? Really? What if there was no next generation when the “adaptation” didn’t work out? God created all of life in its different kinds at the beginning. Those kinds adapted and changed as time and conditions warranted it to produce different colors and shapes of mouths or bills on birds and different colors of hair for camouflage for predators and prey.

Our God is awesome in the way that He gave each of us the ability to learn and adapt ways to work and live in any area of the world! He gave the animals the same abilities and that is why there are many different colors and adaptations in Africa and around the world. I know, scientists would argue with me on these things but looking at the world through the lens of Biblical Scripture gives us a different picture of life here.

Scientists of the 19th century and earlier tried to reconcile the findings that they were seeing with Scripture rather than beating religion down with their findings. I do believe that when Jesus returns to rule the Earth for a thousand years, most of those theories will be shown as the “ideas of man” rather than actual facts which can’t be disputed. In schools today you can’t question a theory even if it can’t be proven, regardless of how crazy it sounds.

As Jesus taught, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God“; because when you do, the knowledge will reveal itself in Scripture. Don’t try to fix God’s Word with the wisdom of man because it doesn’t work that way! Our wisdom and knowledge are given to us by Him and our ability to learn is a gift from Him to each of us to use as a testimony to Him and for Him in our world and our vocation.

The Christmas Storm


THE CHRISTMAS STORM: A Modern Parable by Paul Harvey

“This is about a modern man, one of us, he was not a Scrooge, he was a kind, decent, mostly good man, generous to his family, upright in his dealings with others. But he did not believe in all that incarnation stuff that the Churches proclaim at Christmas time. It just didn’t make sense to him and he was too honest to pretend otherwise. He just could not swallow the Jesus story of God coming to earth as a man. I’m truly sorry to distress you, he told his wife, but I’m not going with you to church this Christmas Eve. He said he’d feel like a hypocrite. That he would much rather stay home, but that he would wait up for them. He stayed, they went. Shortly after the family drove away in the car, snow began to fall. He went to the window to watch the flurries getting heavier and heavier, then went back to his fireside chair and began to read his newspaper. Minutes later he was startled by a thudding sound. Then another and another. At first, he thought someone must be throwing snowballs against his living room window. Well, when he went to the front door, he found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow. They had been caught in the storm and in a desperate search for shelter they had tried to fly through his large landscape window. Well, he couldn’t let the poor creatures lie there and freeze. He remembered the barn where his children stabled their pony. That would provide a warm shelter — if he could direct the birds to it. He quickly put on his coat and galoshes, trampled through the deepening snow to the barn, opened the door wide, and turned on a light. But the birds did not come in. He figured food would entice them in and he hurried back to the house, fetched bread crumbs, sprinkled them on the snow making a trail to the yellow-lighted wide open doorway of the stable, but to his dismay, the birds ignored the bread crumbs, and continued to flap around helplessly in the snow. He tried catching them, he tried shooing them into the barn by walking around them waving his arms — instead, they scattered in every direction except into the warm lighted barn. Then he realized they were afraid of him. To them, he reasoned, I am a strange and terrifying creature if only I could think of some way to let them know they can trust me. That I’m not trying to hurt them but to help them. How? Any move he made tended to frighten them, confuse them. They just would not follow. They would not be led or shooed because they feared him. If only be a bird myself he thought. If only I could be a bird and mingle with them and speak their language, and tell them not to be afraid, and show them the way to the safe, warm barn. But I’d have to be one of them so they could see and hear and understand.

BirdsInWinterAt that moment the church bells began to ring. The sound reached his ears above the sound of the wind. He stood there listening to the bells. Adeste Fideles. Listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of Christmas. And he sank to his knees in the snow.

The man in the story realized just why God came to Earth as Jesus, born into this world as a baby and lived here as a man. The birds wouldn’t follow him because he wasn’t a bird, in the same way, we wouldn’t follow God unless He became a man like us to know the feelings and the sorrows of being human.

So, after that story, I want to ask you about all of the shepherds that God has used in many wonderful ways. How many people in the Bible were shepherds that God used for His purposes?

In Genesis, Abel was a shepherd before Cain killed him. He gave the first of his flock to the Lord as a sacrifice. It may be worth noting that many biblical figures were shepherds, among them the patriarchs Abraham and Jacob, most of the twelve tribes were shepherds, the prophet Moses, King David, and the Old Testament prophet Amos, who was a shepherd in the rugged area around Tekoa.

All of these men were used by God as leaders and kings of Israel, just as Jesus came to be the Good Shepherd not only for Israel but for the whole world or at least those who will believe in Him for their salvation.

The angels visited the shepherds who were keeping the lambs for the Passover in order to tell them about the Savior being born in Bethlehem, lying in a manger. Why did God do that? Was it because Jesus was to be a leader, a King, the Savior of the world? Yes, it was because of all of these things and more!

God used His Son as our Savior and as the Lamb of the Passover, given as the one and only sacrifice for all of the world’s sins. He has also used other shepherds in the past, as well as other kings and armies to punish and do His will and purposes. Just as He does today. God can do anything He wishes, through anyone He pleases, whether they are saved or not, and He will make sure that whatever His purpose is, it will be done.

God raised up Pharaoh in order to show the world, at the time, that the gods in Egypt weren’t gods at all. He used Goliath to bring David into view of the whole army of Israel and show that if you fight with God on your side, you can’t be defeated!

God used shepherds because in society and regarding worship in the Temple, they were considered unclean. Yet, it was the shepherds who took care of the lambs which were sacrificed for the sins of the people. God can use anyone, in any situation or occupation, to accomplish His purposes. Since we are about to go into a new year in a few days, please be in prayer asking Him to show you what you can do for Him and His Kingdom this year. Some of us have an important job already as parents because we are teaching the next generation about their Savior. Seek Him out in prayer and in reading His Word this year to find your place, your part in His Kingdom because He does have a place for you.

Savior


The Birth of Jesus Foretold

26 And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. 29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom, there shall be no end. 34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? 35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

The Shepherds and the Angels

8 And there were shepherds residing in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night. 9 Just then, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: 11 Today in the City of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord! 12 And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”

13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a great multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying:

14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests!”

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 After they had seen the Child, they spread the message they had received about Him. 18 And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, which was just as the angel had told them.

All of this was researched by Luke, the physician so that we could have an accurate story of the prophecy and fulfillment of the birth of our Savior. God completes His intentions in His time and in the way that He deems fit to do so, bringing glory to Himself and also to make known His sovereignty in all things concerning His Creation.

We are loved by God far more deeply and completely than we can imagine or comprehend and yet we live as if He doesn’t exist and doesn’t care about us. We also live like we have no interest in His salvation and plans for our lives, mainly because many of us don’t! We only want to do or believe the things which give us pleasure or wealth or anything which makes us feel good.

Seeking pleasure and temporary things like money or fame is what the world believes makes us successful but what about when this life is over? God made mankind to be an eternal creature with an eternal soul which goes into eternity, the life that you have after that is up to you and your choices in this life. Make the right choice.

Merry Christmas!Jesusfitsinyourheart

The True Christmas Story


In days past the story of Christmas has been told many different ways. Sometimes it involves a man with a beard of white bringing presents and toys, but in this blog, I usually speak of the birth of Jesus, so here is His foretold story, before He was born.

Luke 1

Introduction

1 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

5 In the time of Herod king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.

8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. 22 When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.

23 When his time of service was completed, he returned home. 24 After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. 25“The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

The Birth of Jesus Foretold

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

34“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”

38“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice, she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

Mary’s Song

46 And Mary said:

“My soul glorifies the Lord

47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

48 for he has been mindful

of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed,

49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—

holy is his name.

50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,

from generation to generation.

51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;

he has scattered those who are proud of their inmost thoughts.

52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones

but has lifted up the humble.

53 He has filled the hungry with good things

but has sent the rich away empty.

54 He has helped his servant Israel,

remembering to be merciful

55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,

just as he promised our ancestors.”

56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

The Birth of John the Baptist

57 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

59 On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”

61 They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”

62 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment, he wrote, “His name is John.” 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.

Zechariah’s Song

67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

68“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,

because he has come to his people and redeemed them.

69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us

in the house of his servant David

70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),

71 salvation from our enemies

and from the hand of all who hate us—

72 to show mercy to our ancestors

and to remember his holy covenant,

73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham:

74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,

and to enable us to serve him without fear

75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

76 And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;

for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,

77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation

through the forgiveness of their sins,

78 because of the tender mercy of our God,

by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven

79 to shine on those living in darkness

and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.

I know that this post is long, but the story before the birth of Jesus is important. God sent His Son to us all and it is important for us to know Who sent Him in the first place. Please don’t miss this story because Santa and presents and debt are not the reason for this season, Jesus’ birth truly is the Reason.

Do you hear what I hear?


This is part of a wonderful song for Christmas which I have loved for years. These days, there isn’t much that you hear about Christ on a daily basis, sometimes even a weekly one. People don’t want to hear the Truth of God’s Word unless they are in need of God’s help. The problem with this is that God is not a genie! We are not supposed to treat our relationship with Jesus as one where we seek His help when we need it, but when things are going well we don’t want Him around!

God loves each one of us far more than we can even understand, and yet we don’t seem to give that love back to Him. Jesus came to Earth as a baby, born to a virgin long ago. He also came to pay the price for ALL of our sins and be our Savior if we will only believe in Him. So…what is the problem that many of us seem to have with Jesus? Is it that He was born Jewish? He preached long ago and we don’t think that His message is relevant today? Could it be that we don’t want to offend anyone with our faith so we don’t tell anyone about Him or our belief in Him?

The message and the lessons which Jesus taught have more to do with today than at any time before now! We are to love each other as we are loved! Why can’t we look past our perceived differences in skin color and culture and just see another person in need of Jesus? Why is it so hard to get past our genetic differences and just see the similarities?

I mean, we all have two arms and legs, most of us have hair (some more, some less), all of us have two ears, two eyes, and one mouth (even if that last one gets us into more trouble than it should)! That is why the Bible says that we should be quick to listen and slow to speak.

Quick2Listen

It doesn’t matter what you are speaking about or who you may be listening to, make sure to measure your words before you speak and listen to what is being said, carefully seeking the truth in what you are hearing. As one wise person said, “Taste your words before you spit them out”; in that way, you will know if they are good or not. People will think you are wise or smart depending on your speech. If your speech is full of big words but not much substance then you will seem to be smart but like a politician you aren’t saying much at all.

Consider your words and your speech because God hears every word, whether you are His or not.

Does God hear me?


I have wondered that in the past and I am sure that many others have as well. We pray asking for God to heal or help in some way in our lives, sometimes we ask for specific things and yet we rarely see the answer to this prayer. God does answer and He hears your prayers and mine, but He may not answer your prayer in the way that you expect Him to. Then again, your answer may come to you in the form of a friendship with someone and we aren’t sensitive enough to take notice of the offer.

To answer the question in my title: YES, God does hear you! Even if you aren’t a Christian, He hears your prayer. Especially if you are asking for His forgiveness and wanting Jesus to come in and straighten out your life! Does God hear the prayers of those who don’t believe in Jesus or refuse to believe? Yes, they are heard but until their heart is touched by the Holy Spirit to break it open enough to let Jesus inside, those prayers go unanswered. I mean, God is not a genie so He doesn’t give you millions of dollars or a jet or a really fancy car, especially if you aren’t a believer.

God loves each of us with such a deep love until we can’t understand it! Because we just can’t comprehend a love which is given and expressed so deeply even for those of us who are still on the fence in our belief in Him. Being “on the fence” in your decision to believe is a decision too because you are not a believer but you haven’t decided to give your life to Him either. That is a very dangerous place to be!

Consider it from this perspective: You are walking on the ridge of a hill and there is a fire raging on one side, completely out of control and heading your way. On the other side is a green valley with a river and trees that is very peaceful and cool. Which would you choose? Any sane person would choose the cool valley with the river in it, but in life, there are many more people who tend to walk on the ridge for years. Why? Because spiritually you can’t see the flames or the fire and that is the problem.

Both valleys look almost identical, except the one with the spiritual fire has thorns and cactus and snakes which you can’t see until you wander into it. This is how Satan fools people into thinking that his way is just as good until you get caught and feel like you can’t get away. If we all had eyes which could discern the spiritual dangers around us, then the world would be a much different place than what it is today.

The gift which God has given us is that we have access to eternity with Him IF we will believe in Jesus and His atonement for us! That’s it! Believe in Him and the work which He did on the cross so many years ago. Then, ask forgiveness for your sins and turn away from your old life and follow Him into eternity! Living in Heaven won’t be boring by any means, but it will be filled with awe at all of the wonders of God and His grace given to each of us!

Hell is eternal as well, so if you don’t make that choice of following Jesus and believing in Him for your salvation, then that is where your eternity will be. It will not be an eternal party as some have thought and expressed in front of friends and many others. Anyone who ends up there will find that God’s Presence doesn’t dwell with those in hell. There is no water, no grass, no real life at all. The only constant there is the pain, suffering of your immortal body which cannot die but it will feel the pain of separation and torment.

The choice for you is between the Life of Heaven or the separation and pain of hell…which will you choose?

Who came so long ago?


Nativity-29It was in fulfillment of prophecy that He came. God gave the Word to Isaiah many hundreds of years prior to His birth.

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)

Our Savior, the Lamb of God, came as a baby into this world to live as we do and to die as a sacrifice which we could not do. He gave His life to pay for all of our sins so that we could have an eternal relationship with God in eternity. Also, because giving our lives and our hearts to Him in believing that He did this for us, we can live for Him in this life and tell others about His sacrifice for our lives.

Jesus, the Son of God, came to place His life in the Father’s hands to pay for our sins and He did exactly that by being a sinless and spotless Lamb give as a willing sacrifice for all of our sins. Here is a link to learn more about the prophecies which He fulfilled in order to be the One prophesied in Scripture.

Salvation comes no other way than by belief in Jesus and the atonement which He provided for us. He did this willingly and not under compulsion so that the prophecy would be fulfilled in His death, burial, and resurrection! Please don’t ignore this gift which was given to each of us IF we will believe in Him and repent of our sins to follow His example in our lives until He returns.

Jesus loves….me!


I sang along with the children in my church this morning and we sang “Jesus loves me”. It is a very fitting song for Christmas because that is the reason He came to be our Savior! This season is known for excess spending and all sorts of commercial excesses in sales and marketing and all sorts of product placement, etc.

Why can’t we place our Savior at the center of this celebration? We have the freedom to worship Him, yet we change the names of trees that are bought for this time of year. We say “Happy Holidays” instead of Merry Christmas so we don’t offend a few people! The freedom to worship God was the reason which began the journey to this country for many people, so why should we have to give up or limit our freedoms now because of a minority of people who may be offended?

God’s love is so great for each of us that He sent Jesus to be born in Bethlehem and grow up under Jewish law to save His people. When they refused to see Him as their Messiah, the offer of salvation was expanded to the entire world! There have been many stumbles and mishaps along the way to bring Jesus’ gift of salvation to every nation. Some of them very tragic and costly in lives and property and those damages can’t be undone from a cultural standpoint.

Just as the results of wars cannot be undone and the effect of words on different parties can’t be unsaid to remove the hurt and the pain they have caused, Christian history cannot be changed either. But, there have been many good things which have come from the spreading of the gospel in the world. People have come to know Jesus as their Savior who wouldn’t have had that chance if we had not followed the Lord’s command to go into all the world and tell others about Him.

God loves you and every person on this planet and He wants you to come to know Jesus as your Savior. The extent of His love and compassion is unknowable because God is infinite in knowledge and power, but of all the people on Earth who can be effective in His Kingdom, one of you who reads this can do something which no other person in the world can do! You can reach your children or maybe your nephews and nieces when nobody else can. You may be able to reach your family in ways that nobody other than you can do. God knows all of these facts and He can use your talents because He gave them to you.

Don’t consider that your talent or gift is not useful to God or useful in His Kingdom because He wouldn’t have given it to you if you couldn’t use it. Seek Him out in all that you do, ask for the ability to use your gift to bring someone to Christ because that is the most wonderful gift of all and it doesn’t cost you anything.

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