Where are You?

I know that I’m not the only person to ever ask this of God. In prayer, out loud, and sometimes even yelling it when no one else could hear me except Him…I hope. Even when God’s Word says in many places that He will never leave you or me, we still feel that He’s silent or absent. The best thing that we can and should remember is that He is always near. If we feel that there is distance between us and God it is because we moved. We have placed the barrier or the wall of fear and uncertainty between us and Him. He has not moved.

God is always true to His Word and His promises because He is God. He doesn’t have our problems or our fears and anxieties although He knows how they affect us and our feelings toward Him. That is the reason He came to live among us so He would be able to truly identify with our weaknesses and our frailties. He is the Creator of everything and He loves you and me. Don’t think that He has the same fears and hangups that we do. He knows about us and our fears but God is above those things.

Seek Him out when you feel weak and afraid because He is close to you and He will strengthen you in all of your trials.

“God will strengthen you” is a phrase from Isaiah 41:10 in the Bible:

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”.

In the original Hebrew, the verb translated as “to strengthen” means “to grow and develop; to prevail; to have or show courage; to seize, grasp, and keep hold of”.

God has your back

English Standard Version

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and hope.

Even when it doesn’t seem like God is close to you, He is. You are never very far from Him regardless of where you are. In a penthouse or a slum somewhere, when you seek Him, He is by your side.

Our world has become very secular and evil in many ways. Not because of mankind’s influence but because of Satan’s influence. We have moved away from our collective belief in God and we have taken in the spirit of the Antichrist. I don’t mean to say that we are worshiping the devil but we are “living in his camp”. There are too many evil and disgusting things that are going on in our world today for them to be caused by mankind alone. Satan and his demons are behind all of it and we need to wake up and recognize it.

This world, and all who are in it, is coming to a point in history that has been foretold for over two thousand years. The end of the church age. When will it come to that? I don’t know, and no one does except God Himself when that day will come. The “taking away of the church” is also unknown because the hour or the day is not known, just as the “end of the age” falls into that unknown area.

The point I am trying to make about the “unknowns” is that God determines the timing of everything. Your birth and your death as well as anything that has been prophesied about this time in history are all under His control. Your eternity is at stake and if you are concerned about where you will spend it then you need to seek Jesus as your Savior and do it soon. We don’t know the day or the hour and it may be sooner than anyone thinks, so make sure of your eternal destination.

What would you like?

Most of us want many things in this life. A really nice house or a prestigious job. But… what will those give us? Bills? A headache? Ulcers from the stress?

The peace and joy that comes with life when you have given your heart to Jesus Christ is priceless and it doesn’t cost you anything. God has provided it through faith and grace when you believe in Him. All of this is worth far more than you can gain from your own efforts. Seek Him as soon as you can because we’re not guaranteed tomorrow.

The Incarnation

Have you ever considered or thought about the Incarnation of Jesus, the Son of God? From a medical perspective, it happened in the same way that each of us has come into the world except that His Father was God the Holy Spirit. It wasn’t brought about with “sperm” but the egg of the girl was implanted with the essence of the Son. No “sin-nature” from a man was involved at all. Thank goodness.

God the Son, Who had created stars and galaxies, was placed into the womb of a girl of about sixteen years of age, betrothed to Joseph and of the family line of David the king of Israel. Jesus became a human being not for the reason of ruling over us, although He will one day, but He came to experience our life and its troubles. God came because He said He would come so that the curse of sin would be lifted from all of humanity and creation itself. We could be freed from sin’s curse if we would believe in Him and His mission. That belief must be felt in your heart, not just in your head.

He lived in her womb just as we do before we are born. In amniotic fluid, listening to her voice and the voices of those around her but likely not comprehending at this point. If there was laughter or sadness, He felt it although as an embryo it wasn’t understood. Think of it…God was a baby being carried by a young girl who had no idea what raising a child would be like. Especially the Messiah, the Son of God! The concept is mind-blowing today! Just imagine how Mary felt if you can.

All of this was before she even realized that there was a life, the Life, in her womb. The proof came to her when she visited her cousin, Elizabeth, who was carrying the child that would be John the Baptist. John would be about six months older than Jesus but as the prophecies said he would be the “one crying in the wilderness to make the way straight for the Lord” (paraphrased). When the sound of Mary’s voice came to Elizabeth, the baby in her womb leaped for joy and she was filled with the Holy Spirit!

Their families were devout Jewish families and since Jesus was born about six centuries before the Muslim religion ever came to be, He was not a Muslim. At the time of His birth, Israel was not separated like it is today so even though Bethlehem, Galilee, and Nazareth would be in Gaza in the future, there was no separation into a “strip” like it is now.

Seek Him to know Him and make sure your heart belongs to Him because one day He is coming back for His followers and it won’t be long.

Why…?

I have noticed that all of my posts are pointing to and about the same thing. Why? Because God gives me the words to put on this site and He makes sure that my message is about Jesus and what He did for me and for all of us. You might want to ask me, “Why did Jesus die for us?”. God the Son came to Earth to live as one of us for a time so He would know our pains and our weaknesses and the sorrow that we feel in all areas of our lives. He did this because He wanted to do it and because it was the only way to pay the penalty for our sins completely. He also did it because He loves you and me and every person on Earth with a love that we can’t understand.

Just as God gave the words of His Word, the Bible, to the men who wrote it, He gives me the words to write here. No, these words are not in any way equal to His Word but I am writing here to point you to Jesus and the saving grace that God gives to you when you hear His call in your heart. I don’t claim any holiness except that which Jesus gave me when I accepted Him as my Savior and He is still working on me to make me more like Him. Sometimes His work in my life isn’t comfortable or enjoyable but I know that He will complete the work that He began in my life one day.

Your life can be so much more enjoyable than it is because of the joy you will have knowing that your eternity is sealed and you will be going to Heaven one day. Will it be an easy life? Not likely. I don’t say this because becoming a Christian will fix all of your problems. It won’t do that and you will gain a few new problems. Satan has not bothered you before you became a Christian but he will put a target on you now. He, the devil, may have helped you in life to do some things that made your life easier and more enjoyable but he was doing it to keep you from seeking God. I mean if you have enough money and your bills are paid and your family is healthy what do you need God for?

Seek to know God and His Son, Jesus, because it is only by knowing Jesus and Him knowing you that you will have a home in paradise. If you think about it and decide that being a Christian isn’t for you right now that’s okay but are you certain you will have a chance to become one later? Neither of us is guaranteed to be here tomorrow morning. So…what will you do if you die and are standing before God asking to be allowed into heaven? What could you or I possibly do or have done in the past to be good enough to walk into heaven? According to Isaiah “our righteousness is as filthy rags” in the eyes of God. You have to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and believe that HE alone can save you and make you clean enough to enter into heaven. I pray that you will do this soon before it is too late.

The Lord gives us strength!

Have faith!

Abraham had faith in God’s promises so he went to a place that he’d never been before. He even had faith enough to believe God would give him a child in his old age and God did that. So, why do people disregard what God’s Word says about sin and salvation today? Is it because they don’t love God or they just can’t handle the truth? Since the men who wrote the Bible did so by the prompting of the Holy Spirit the Bible is God’s Word not man’s. Yet many in the world hate it and won’t believe it as His Word or as the Truth. People will believe all kinds of stories about “aliens” or evolution but when the Creator, God, puts things in writing that have come true and will come true shortly, many will just ignore Him and anyone who believes His Word.

Why is the Bible disbelieved so vehemently in many parts of the world? Because it does tell us the Truth whether we like it or not. If you look at the historical records of many other people besides the Hebrews, you will notice that their history always has happy endings and good things in it. The Bible tells exactly what the Jewish people did, good or bad, in every situation. Yet it is reversed as their history and taken as completely factual. Yet, many churches don’t believe that it is completely factual in every sentence. Since God inspired the writers to write down His Word and their history shouldn’t we believe His Word as factual and truthful too?

God cannot lie so His Word is absolutely the Truth. But we don’t like to be told that there is a Truth besides our own which is why many people are so against the Bible. Jesus is the only Savior and the Way to be saved from our sins and the consequences of those sins. God’s Word says that “the wages of sin is death (eternal separation from God)”. Jesus is the only way to be free from the punishment brought on by sin. Accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior is the only way and I pray that you will…soon.

God is faithful!

Why are you so glum?

I was a pastor for nine years and I’ve been told that since I post here daily, I’m still a pastor but that’s beside the point. The faces I saw and those I see on TV at church services look like they just ate a sour apple. I understand that many people don’t want to smile all the time but as Christians, we have the best news that could ever be told! Jesus made it possible for us to be taken to Heaven!

If you are a born-again believer in Jesus Christ, your eternity is sealed and sure! Being sad about the day’s news is not going to change anything. Consider this: He could come back at any moment! Your problems will all be solved when you are taken to your eternal home! No more glasses to wear, no bills to pay, no doctor to visit, and no more pills to take so you can remember to take your pills!

God loves us and He is coming back to take the church, His Bride, to heaven! From that point on into time with no end, you and I will be alive! It is a hard concept to get your mind around but with God, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!!

The joy of being His should give you a smile to show to everyone. But many people want to look at the world around them and see the things that aren’t the way we want them to be. God sees the bigger picture that we can’t see and He knows which way everything will turn out…His way. Don’t discount His design in your life and in the world around you because His way is always the right way.