Category: Believe like a child

What do I need to do?


This is a question which many people ask when they feel the need for salvation but they have never been introduced to their Savior. Truthfully, there is not much that you need to do to obtain salvation because most of the “work” has been taken care of by Jesus Himself. When you feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit and you realize that you need to repent and change your life, your only option is to believe that the atonement has been bought for you by Jesus. Believe and repent of your sins, turn away from your “old life” and follow Jesus into a new life which will never really end!

From the point of your repentance and your acceptance of Jesus as your Savior you have a new life and a new purpose and that is to tell others about your Savior so they can meet Him and get to know Him. Life for you and anyone who accepts Jesus as their Savior will never really end, you will just transition from this life into eternity. That is the best way to describe it because death just sounds too final and for someone who is serving Jesus and has accepted Him as their Savior, the end of this life is really the beginning of your real Life! This life is just a sort of “practice” for the next one so make sure to learn everything that you can about God and His Son while you are here.

When you pass through the door which leads to eternity you won’t need to learn more about Him because at that point you will “know and be known“. Life in eternity will be different and wonderful and beyond anything on Earth that we can imagine. I cannot imagine what it will be like to be in His Presence. It will likely be a feeling and an experience which doesn’t have an equal here and the grandeur and majesty of Heaven will be so far above anything that we know until any description of it would be futile in the attempt.

God has provided a way for you and I and anyone else who feels the conviction of His Spirit to know Jesus as our Savior if we will believe in Him and the atonement which He provided and paid for on the cross. Don’t turn the chance for eternity with Him down. Please accept His Presence in your heart and in your life while there is time. Because you can only make that decision in this life, so make the right one.

Communication is necessary


Even in the Garden in the beginning, God wanted to communicate with Adam. He would come down to walk with him in the evening. God likes to hear from you and me. What is communication in the Bible between God and mankind? Prayer. Now, I don’t mean that Adam prayed when God was visiting. They talked to each other just like we do. Wouldn’t that be great! It will be when we are with Him in Heaven. Actually, He will know what we need or want without our asking for it.

While we are here, however, prayer is necessary for us. He already knows what we need but we need to get in touch with Him about it. Our problem, most of the time, is that we don’t ask Him for an actual need. We ask for something that we want…a luxury or something like that. Why do we have a problem with communication with our Savior? Is it because we have the same problem communicating with each other? Probably.

God loves us and He intended for us to be able to talk to each other and to Him. But, in the last ten or fifteen years we have become isolated from each other. We text people who are in the same house or even at the same table. We “like” our “friend’s” status on Facebook or Instagram and sometimes we write that we will pray for them in their time of need. But…do we actually do it? Do we pray for each other and for our own problems or do we just say so and then go about our own routine and forget about the prayer that is needed?

If we are truly honest with our answer to that question, many of us would find that our prayer time is sorely lacking in depth and in frequency. When Paul wrote about “praying without ceasing”, he meant that we should treat prayer as an act which is like breathing. Not that you have to close your eyes and kneel in prayer all day and every day but be in a spirit of prayer all day. When a problem comes to mind, pray about it. When something is missing, like your keys, pray about it. When you think of a loved one or a friend who may need God provision in their life, pray about it. Right then, not later or when you get to it.

Jesus prayed many times during His ministry. Sometimes it was for strength or for blessing or for a healing but He never neglected to speak to the Father about what was going on. We shouldn’t neglect prayer either because it is our line of communication with our Creator, God, Elohim, our Father and our Savior.

This is not the only prayer that God will answer but it is the one that you should begin with if you haven’t prayed before.

Salvation


What is it and how do I get it?

For one thing, salvation is not something that you just go out and get. The only time that we even realize that we need salvation is when the Holy Spirit convicts your Spirit that it is necessary. Most of us tend to go through our teen years without a care in the world. Sometimes we even get through college without feeling the need for salvation. We live our days with sins which we may not recognize as such until we feel the need for Jesus in our lives

That conviction of our spirit usually comes from a sermon or a friend who witnesses to us about their salvation and how they have gained their freedom from sin.

So, where do you go from the point of learning that you need Jesus? To the Bible and to church. Learn more about your Savior. Seek Him and learn as much as you can about Him. Here are a few verses about salvation:

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

+ 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

+ Acts 16:30-31 “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Life in eternity is what these verses are speaking of and telling you that you are welcome in God’s house. He would rather have you in Heaven than to condemn you to an eternity of punishment in hell. But unless you believe in Jesus for your salvation and turn from your sinful lifestyle, whatever it may have been.

The direction in your life


What sort of direction does your life have? Where are you going? Do you know or have you been on this road so long until it is just a daily walk and you just do it regardless of the way it feels?

I felt that way for a long time myself. I took some different turns during my life into different vocations but most of those felt wrong or at least not quite right. Have you ever done something like this? Most of us have during our lifetime at one point or another. Why am I bringing up “directions” in this blog? Because we are given directions as Christians. We are supposed to go in the direction which Jesus points us in. Not the direction which we want to go in our own prideful ways.

Walking in the path which Jesus walked is not an easy path. It is not a wide and easy pathway like many people do walk through life but it is the pathway which leads to Heaven. Will your walk with Him be easy? No, it won’t because Satan doesn’t want people to help God establish His Kingdom. Your spiritual life, once you have given your heart to Jesus, is one which follows Jesus and tells others about Him and how they can have an eternity with Him too.

Why is that important?

It is important because Jesus said that His disciples should go into the world and tell people about the good news which came with Him. The good news, the gospel of salvation, was foretold all the way back in Genesis. It pointed the way to the One Who was to come to save mankind from their sins. If you are a Christian, that is your direction in life and your purpose. At least it is your ultimate purpose.

So, why do so many people seem to be stuck in their vocations? Sometimes they are in a job which they don’t even like nor enjoy doing but it pays the bills so they stay in it. It is because of economics mostly and because the jobs which are out there may not suit you as well as the one you have. Even if you don’t like it very well. Can we change our calling? Sometimes we can. But, if you are a Christian your calling is telling others about Jesus. Isn’t that different from your purpose or even your direction in life? Not really.

A janitor or a house painter can still tell others about Jesus. A nurse or lawyer can tell others about Jesus. It doesn’t matter which job or vocation you may have or which you are working in, you can use it as a platform to tell others about Jesus. In our politically correct world today it could get you in trouble or even get you fired, so find a way to be vocal about your faith without confronting people directly in your job. Like blogging for instance.

You can tell as many people as will be seeking Him by getting your message, His message, on the Internet. I pray that someone who may be searching for Jesus will find Him or maybe a reflection of Him here. Because I can’t get into the world and into all of the countries which can access this site but God can bring as many as He wants to see and read these messages. I pray that at least one of these will touch your heart and draw you to my Savior and yours, Jesus the Christ.

Who is Jesus the Christ?


Why did I write it that way? Because Christ is not His last name, it is a title! Christ, Christos, and Messiah all point to Him because He is the Messiah. He didn’t stay dead in that tomb. He was a prophet and a King and our Creator. He was a dark-skinned man but He was the Son of God, yet He came to save the entire world from their sins IF they, you and me, will believe in His work of atonement for your sins.

So why is there so much hatred in the world today? Is it because of their rejection of Jesus? Some of that hatred is because of Him and the Truth which He represents. The other instances of hatred in the world are due to the work of Satan and whether you believe it or not he is real and at work in the world. God sent Jesus into the world because of His love for us. God values even one person’s soul beyond all of the wealth of the whole world! That is why Jesus said, “you could gain the world but lose your soul“, by the “world” He meant the wealth of the world.

Could you even imagine the wealth of the world? I can’t. I have tried to research it and it is in the trillions of dollars, but what good will that do you in eternity? You can’t take one cent with you when you die and no amount of money will stop death from taking your life. God values just one of our souls being worth more than the wealth of the whole world. Imagine what value He places on all of the children that have been killed in abortions over the years?

Seek out Jesus as your Savior while there is still time. You don’t know when your life will end, none of us do, so make sure of your eternal destination before that day comes! Jesus came to open a door into eternity for you but only if you will believe in Him and repent of your sins and follow Him for the rest of your days.

Come…


Jesus sought out disciples with a simple request, “Come, follow Me”. Sometimes He chose to say it a bit differently depending upon which disciple He was seeking but essentially it was just “Come, follow Me”. Even today when He touches us and we feel His call in our heart and our lives the request is still “Come, follow Me”. Why is it so simple? Because, when you are speaking to a child, that is what you say and we are all His children.

So why are so many of His children, who claim to be Christians and followers of Jesus, NOT following Him or His teachings? There are so many who do know of Him because of things that they have been taught by parents or in Bible school or Sunday school but are they truly followers of Jesus? Do they know Him as their Savior and Lord? Even the demons in hell know Who He is but they don’t serve Him. Satan knows Who Jesus the Son of God is and can quote you every scripture which points to Him from either the Old or the New Testament but he doesn’t serve Him nor will he ever.

One day every knee will bow to Jesus as King and Lord but not all of them will do it willingly, especially Satan. God knows this to be true and there are many people in the world today who will not ask Him to be the Lord of their life, not because they don’t need Him but because they are too proud. They look at Christians and weak because we submit our lives to Him willingly. Do we fail at serving Him? All of the time! Many of us “lose our religion” on multiple occasions during one day but we are forgiven and all we have to do to claim it is confess and ask for His forgiveness.

Will we fail again tomorrow? At some point during the day, we will. We won’t do it willingly or on purpose but at some point, we will think a thought which we know we shouldn’t. God knows we are human and that our will and ability to serve HIm can only be accomplished through the strength which we get from Him! Because, trying to live the life of a Christian is impossible without faith and without Him in your heart and a mind which has been washed in the Word of Truth and by His saving grace.

Being a disciple of Jesus is an ongoing process because it is a life of surrender to our Risen Lord and Savior. Submitting our will to Him every day, reading His Word and studying it is something which we do because of His love for us. This is the love which sent Jesus to die on the cross and pay for our sin debt, every one of us, just for the privilege of being His. We don’t become Christians just by our decision or by anything which we do. We feel God’s touch in our heart giving us the faith which carries us from today until tomorrow and then the next day and the next until we know that we NEED Him in our lives. When we come to that point we will know and seek Him out!

I pray that you will seek Him out for your own salvation because one day soon I will be gone and this site will only have enough information to point you in His direction. Seek Him while you can because when the “world order” is taken in by the man who claims to be our Lord, many people will follow Him but they are on the wrong side. God wins.

Amen

Believe…


As it is written in God’s Word, “all you have to do is believe“. There are numerous instances of this specific word or one which has the word “believe” in it such as “Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness“. Why do I bring this word up again on this site? Because it is needed and necessary for all who are looking for and seeking Jesus to believe in Him, not that He existed but believe in Him for salvation!

Even the demons and Satan know about Jesus and that He is the Son of God. But knowing about Him and believing that He existed doesn’t bring salvation. Consider this: if someone told you that you had been given one million dollars and that it was available to you, would you believe them just by their word or would you have to see it and know that it was there? Take that a bit further. You know it is there and it is yours but you never claim it, is it doing you any good at all? Not even a little bit.

That is the same place that many people today are in concerning their salvation. They have heard a sermon telling them that it is available and that it is free to claim. All they have to do is believe that it is theirs and claim it by asking Jesus for their forgiveness and that He should come into their lives and make them whole. The problem is that even though many know that salvation is available to them just as easy as the million dollars in the previous paragraph, given a choice they would rather have the money.

Why?

Because, in the world that we live in, money is immediate and useful. Salvation only means something to you if you are looking toward eternity rather than just looking at tomorrow. The problem with this type of thinking is just like the prodigal son, once the money is gone you are worse off than you were before. Money is like your life. It is a puff of smoke and it is gone in an instant of time but salvation takes you to an eternal home where life never ends and it only gets better.

Consider that and seek out the One Who can provide you with salvation and an eternal home too.

Are you His?


I ask this type of question because people, in general, don’t believe in God or the prophecies in the Bible. While it is true that there are many in the world who claim to believe in God, the “God” which they believe in is just a generalized idea of the real God and Creator of the universe. Even Satan knows Who God is because it was God Who created him! My question is in reference to your salvation or lack of it. Are you His and do you truly know Him?

The most important part of this is does He know you? Your eternity depends on the answer to that question. Granted, your soul is eternal and if you do not choose to serve Jesus and accept Him as your Savior, you will be in eternity one day but your eternity will be in punishment. Why? Because you have refused the offer of grace and mercy when it was offered to you.

I truly pray that more of you who read this will seek Jesus as your Savior because that is the ministry which I was called to. I was called almost ten years ago to be a voice telling others about our Lord and Savior, hoping that the Holy Spirit would draw at least some of you to Him. This is not a light nor easy ministry because there are so many who truly need salvation. I am not able to go to those places which this medium can reach, but I do pray that He will reach you.

God does love each of us but it’s up to us to love Him enough to ask Him into our lives and our hearts. He doesn’t force us in any way to come to Him because love and devotion cannot be forced, they must be given willingly and humbly by those who know that they don’t deserve the grace that they have been offered. The most well-known verse from God’s Word says it all:

John 3:16

Amen!

I just want the real thing…


If someone asks you to not tell them about religion or the church, they just want the real thing… what do you say? First, tell them about Jesus and why He came in the first place. How should you tell them? Just tell them about your Savior and His message about forgiveness and love which He came to bring to all of us! This is the story of His purpose and the Good News of salvation!

1545620655183_image.jpgThat is the message that counts. Salvation through belief in Jesus and His atonement for your sins and mine on the cross. It doesn’t have to have doctrine or religion attached to it and it doesn’t have to be all flowery and noble. Like the thief on the cross, believe in Jesus as the Son of God, your Savior, and mine. That is all that is needed. It doesn’t require hours of service in His Name or certain amounts of money or other “works” like teaching or preaching. All of that may happen after you have accepted Him as your Savior but they will be done because you love Him and you know He loves you and died for you.

That is the true nature of knowing and loving your Savior. Just know that He loves you and He came to give you hope of eternity through Him. A child can understand it but many of us as “adults” try to dress it up or add things to our belief which are not needed. We try to make a simple belief in our Savior into a life-long project which we have to help Him bring us to salvation and none of that helps at all!

In fact, it hurts our own belief by adding things which we do or think we need to do in order to have salvation. When all that is necessary is our heartfelt need of Him and our belief in Him for our forgiveness and salvation. Because until we come to that place where we know deep down that we need Jesus…we will not seek Him out as our Savior and Lord.

God provided Him as The Atonement for our sins, but the Holy Spirit has to bring us to the point of knowing that we need Him before we will ever seek Him out. Those who are sinning and have never sought their Savior or heard that they need Him will never go looking for Him. It’s kind of like a man who walks by fountains of clear, cool water every day. Until that man is thirsty enough to notice them and seek one of those fountains for a drink, he will never know how refreshing their water is.

God knew that we needed a Lamb which could take the sins of the world away, but until each of us realizes this and that we need Jesus for our salvation, each of us will walk right by without ever seeking Him to be our Savior. God has placed a Fountain of Living Water for us to drink from and it’s within our grasp, all we have to do is realize that we need Him and ask Him to come in and quench our thirst for salvation and forgiveness.

A world without Jesus…


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A world where Jesus was not born in Bethlehem? Because the Bible is full of prophecies concerning His birth, He had to be born! There is no possible outcome or future in which He did not come! We would not have a world worth living in if He had not been born. Even the Bible itself would be completely in error if He had not been born. A world without Jesus would be one without hope and without the possibility of knowing God…ever!

God loves us and it is this love which determined before the world was formed, that humanity needed a Savior. Our entire world and any hope of eternity would be shattered or rather it would’ve never been if our Messiah, our Savior, Yeshua, had not been born in this world to a virgin named Mary. Why am I posting this question on the very day which most people celebrate the birth of Jesus? It is just an imaginary, theoretical test for those who may read this to see if you can even imagine a world without His influence in it.

I cannot even imagine it in the least!

I can imagine, at least in a small way, how a world might have been without Adolf Hitler or even the attack on Pearl Harbor. The reason that I say this is because both of these have had worldwide consequences, just as the birth of Jesus still has an impact on the world even today. So can anyone comprehend how our world would be if Jesus had not been born?

I am a preacher and a student of the Bible. As such, I know that the Bible itself would be worthless if He had not been born because His coming was foretold as far back as the Garden of Eden. God said the “seed of the woman would bruise the serpent’s head and the serpent would bruise His heel”.

Since taking Jesus’ birth out of the history of our world would make the entire Bible worthless, many of the laws which are in the world today would be non-existent. Many, if not all, of the laws and even some countries, would not be if that were the case. The hope of eternity would never be a part of our lives and the entire world would be under Satan’s control which God could not and would not allow!

A world without Jesus the Christ in it would be a chaotic and terrible place to live. The lack of the Promise of His coming would not have given the Patriarchs any hope for Israel or their future. We would have no hope for eternity or salvation. This world would be one in which many of us, if not most, would not want to live in at all! Without the Promise of His coming, there would’ve been no reason to dry up the waters of the Flood from the world and there would be no reason to give mankind hope even in the saving of Noah’s family.

To shorten this narrative, there would be no reason to even begin the story of mankind if Jesus was never to be born. Which is why God did decide to intervene in history Himself and come to be born of a virgin, clothed in humanity and to take the sins of the whole world on Himself in order to give ALL of mankind a True Hope to look for and believe in.