Category: Believe in the One Who saves

What will it take?


There have been hundreds of sermons preached in America and around the world, maybe even thousands since the time that Jesus Christ was here. How much more preaching will it take to get people to realize that God’s Word is true? God inspired the men of Israel to write the books that they wrote and yet we think that the Bible is just some old, dusty book and nothing more.

Consider the parable of the pearl. A merchant found a pearl. Perfect in all of its dimensions and without a flaw. He sold everything he had in order to purchase this pearl. This is exactly how God views each of us. Our soul is worth more to Him than all of the wealth in the entire world and in today’s economy that would be in the trillions of dollars. I’m not speaking of the human race, I’m talking about your soul or my soul. God values each of us that much. So much in fact that if I had been the only person to be saved by the death of Jesus on the cross…He would’ve still died just for me or you or any one of the billions of people on Earth.

Not only does God value us that much but He loves each of us that much. It doesn’t matter if you are Jewish or a Gentile, God still loves you that much. Just think about that for a moment. Is there anyone that you would give your life for like that? I can think of a couple of people but to do it for someone I don’t know…I don’t think so. The thing that we have to remember is that God knows each of us and He knew us long before we were born. He knows each person intimately enough that He doesn’t wonder what kind of person we will become because He already knew that long before we were born.

I pray that each person that reads this will think about this for a few minutes. Consider how much God cares for you and that He would’ve died for you even if you were the only one that could be saved by His death on the cross.

Love each other


The word “but…”


Many times you read it or hear it said, “but, they followed their own way”, and that is when things go wrong. There are also places in the Bible where the writer says “but God remembered” and it is usually those “but God” moments that really make a difference not only in the nation of Israel but in our lives too. It is those times when we decide not to follow Jesus and we create our own “but” moments. “But I want to do it this way or that way”; the problem with this is if you have been called to be a Christian, you are supposed to be following Jesus in your daily life. Yet, we look at our lives and, if we are honest, we can see that our lives work with Jesus as our Savior until we decide that we know better and we come to one of these “but, I want to…” moments.

It is unequivocally clear that it is at those times when we get off of the pathway that Jesus is leading us on simply because we see something off to the side that we want to pursue. It might be a shiny new car or this new job but it isn’t what God was leading you toward. So we follow our own desires in that “but” moment. It is usually at this point that we find that this new path or job or whatever it is that we wanted isn’t what we thought it was. Then…we have to come back into a right relationship with Jesus and begin again on His path.

That little three-letter word “but” can bring a lot of heartache and misery into our lives. Especially when we are just starting our walk with Jesus. We will get distracted by something or someone and walk off into the briar patch and then realize that we have gotten into something that we shouldn’t have gotten into. Sometimes we realize it right away but most often it is after we have been off of the “narrow way” following Jesus for a while. The best part of following Jesus is that He never walks away from us. He is always right next to us and when we decide that our way isn’t working, Jesus takes our hand and we begin again.

While it is true that life is a highway, it is the narrow path that leads toward your eternal home. The highway may be smooth and easy but the path that leads to eternity, even though it is narrow, it is more productive and it doesn’t have the same dangers that are on the “easy path”. That little word and thought, “but…”, can lead you into some wonderful places but it can also lead you down some dangerous roads. Seek out and follow Jesus while there is time.

Don’t hide your light


There’s no “Oops”in the Bible


It’s not strange to note that God doesn’t have anywhere in His Word where He says “Oops”. He knows what He’s doing and He knows how things will turn out so nothing is a surprise to Him.

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmaments sheweth his handiwork.” – Psalm 19:1

He is the Creator and our Savior and there is no other. He is in control even though the rest of the world says that He is not and they don’t care to know Him. Everything that He made in the first chapter of Genesis was good. God’s creation has more beauty in it because that is how He made it to be. Don’t turn away from the One Who loves you more than anyone else can.

Which way should I go?


We are given all kinds of choices in life. Do you eat cereal for breakfast or a bagel and fruit? Should you eat eggs and bacon or some fruit and a veggie “sausage”? Every day we make choices about what to eat and what to wear, so why do we have such a hard time making the decision of whether to follow Jesus or not? If you work for a company you usually plan for and save for retirement. You invest it and try to make sure that you don’t have to depend on just Social Security, which is what I’m living on right now. It isn’t impossible to live on that but you do have to watch your bills and your spending.

Anyway, why don’t we plan for eternity in the same way as we try to plan for retirement? Is it because we don’t care where we spend eternity or maybe it’s because we don’t really believe that there is eternity past death? Some of us may hang on to the idea that “I’ll get around to that later”. How do you know that you will have a “later”? No one is guaranteed even tomorrow. All of us think that we will live a long life when we are young, but today that is definitely not guaranteed. Other people not paying attention on the road are a hazard. Not getting enough sleep can determine how well you are paying attention. There are many hazards in our world today and they are not getting any easier to handle.

Just going downstairs could be hazardous to your health, especially if there are children in the house.

Eternity is a very long, long time and our tiny lifespans don’t even begin to help us to realize that. Consider how long Methuselah lived, 969 years. If he has been born in the last thousand years, he would’ve been born in 1053 AD. He might die this year but can you imagine how much change he would’ve witnessed in his lifetime? He would’ve been around before scientists even “discovered” that the Earth revolves around the Sun! The Catholic church would’ve burned you at the stake if you declared that the Earth wasn’t the center of the universe. Not to mention all of the advances from that point on to this year. His lifespan would only amount to a fraction of a second compared to eternity.

Seek out your salvation in Jesus Christ if you don’t already know Him as your Lord and Savior. He is the only doorway to gain entrance into His Father’s house. Today we hear of “many ways to be saved” but that is not what Jesus taught. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Light and no one comes to the Father except through belief in Him. Then you have to learn more about Him by reading God’s Word and praying for understanding. If you don’t do this, you might miss His voice speaking to you because you won’t know what He sounds like. Why am I saying that you need to seek Him now? Because we are living at the time of the end. He could come back to get His Bride at any time so if you aren’t ready you will be left here to go through the trouble that is coming to the Earth. Get ready, the King is coming!

Forgive others…


Is your crown bent?


I have fallen and gotten back up so many times in my life. Mostly because of alcohol and just plain stubbornness. The fact that I am writing here is a testament to God’s faithfulness that He will not let go of us even when we try to get away. Jonah found this out and I did too. God called me to become a preacher in 1983 but I didn’t want to. I knew who He was and I knew about the salvation that was offered through belief in Jesus but I didn’t want to proclaim it as a preacher.

I felt that I had done too many things wrong in my teenage years. Everyone in my school knew about the drunk that I was. I had wrecked two cars that my Mom had allowed me to use. I had spent many days recovering from those injuries in the hospital during different school years but still…the effect on my “reputation” was the same. I knew that I could not preach salvation in our community because my crown was bent in more than one way.

The thing that I didn’t realize about Jesus was this: He doesn’t require us to be perfect. He changes us so we can be His representative wherever we are. Even if the people in your community know how you were or what you did, He can change you so that your message is fresh and meaningful to those who hear it. God has used so many flawed people over the years and He can use your witness regardless of how deeply you stepped off of the path to Him. It doesn’t matter how far you got from Him, He can bring you back to the pathway that He needs you on.

Give Jesus a chance and He can make you into His disciple and His missionary to whoever He needs you to talk to. It may be only one person that you can have an influence on but He knows that you are the only person who can do it.

Our God is our Rock!


Be a disciple