Category: Believe like a child

The time we have


eternityIn every person’s life, no matter who you are, there is a certain amount of time. Only God knows our length of days in regards to our life, but when you and I wake up each day, each of us has 24 hours in that day, 1440 minutes or 86,400 seconds. We have an allotment of time given to each of us by our Creator, whether you believe in Him or not when we are born. How we use that time and whether we use it selfishly or for Him is our choice.

What have you done with your 1,440 minutes today? A number of those were spent sleeping since our account resets itself at midnight, so depending upon how late you sleep or how early you get up determines how many of those minutes you have to do something with. There have been songs written about time and how it slips away from us or how we should be cherishing our time with those we love. What about the time which we have to serve God?

After you have given your heart to Jesus, your time becomes more useful in God’s economy and for His Kingdom. How many minutes have you given Him today? Did you thank Him for waking you up this morning? Did you thank Him for your breakfast and your other meals today? What about the safe trips that you have made around town or on the highway, did you thank Him for watching over you at those times? God loves you and He does watch over us each and every day, but do you think about Him or thank Him for the good things which happen in that day?

That is the part of life which I think is the most useful because when you live every day in a thankful mood toward God, you notice things which you really are thankful for. Getting up in the morning, getting around the house, going to the supermarket or to Walmart, and doing all of this in safety without incident, those are accomplishments which deserve thanks to the One Who gave you the ability to do them!

We all have time and the same amount of it each and every day that we live. There is no day which is too short nor a night too long because no matter where you live or the time zone that you live in, the day is still the same. Savings time or standard time, the day is still 24 hours long regardless of your feeling that you need more time to finish a task or not.

Give God the glory and the praise for the time that you have with family and friends because each minute which goes by is gone for good. You can’t get it back and you can’t add to your day tomorrow to make up for any time which you feel was lost today. Consider this when you think about how fast time goes by and the family which you have is growing up and will soon be off to college or a career. It goes by so fast and you can’t rewind time.

Christianity and religion


These two words are not the same thing. Religion covers many different types of worship, while Christianity is only one of the many. Why am I writing this piece? It seemed like a good idea at the time.

So, which are you following….Jesus the Christ or a religious observance of a lifelong habit?

We can make a religion about anything and we can be religious about anything and it doesn’t have to be a true religion at all. It can be a hobby or your family or your job, it can also be going to church because you have done it all of your life. Sunday morning comes and you do what you have always done, eat breakfast and get ready for Sunday school and church.

But, what will you do when that isn’t enough? What will happen on the morning or the night when Jesus comes for His Bride, the church, and you hear about the devastation on the news the next morning? What about your faith and belief in Jesus then? Will you be angry at Him or with yourself because you didn’t read the Bible and didn’t take the messages seriously?

These are questions which need answers and need them NOW!! Why? Because, He could come tomorrow or tonight or next week, we just don’t know the day but there are no other prophecies which need to be fulfilled before He comes to get the church! If you don’t want to believe me, that’s fine, but what will you do when you find that your habit of going to church wasn’t enough?

Being in church because your grandmother says you should go is not going to save you. Sitting in a pew and listening to a sermon, and maybe reading the verses which the preacher tells you to read is not enough. Going through the motions of being a Christian to please other people’s idea of who you are doesn’t cut it with God! HE can see your heart, your true self and He knows if you are REAL or not.

God sent His Son to live as we live, to teach His disciples the way to know God and to be saved by belief in Him and then die on a cross and rise again on the third day. After His resurrection, He taught them for another forty days and then told them to go into the world telling others of the gospel and baptizing them in His name. They did their part even when they were stoned, beaten, whipped or locked in prison and then most of them were killed while doing what Jesus had told them to do.

The only disciple which died of natural causes was John who wrote the book of Revelation. Will you read and believe in Jesus the Christ, your Messiah and Savior? Give your heart to Him and seek your salvation through belief in Him and follow Him every day until He does return!

IamtheWay

Which gift do you have?


When we become Christians and allow the Holy Spirit into our hearts to change us from the inside out, God grants us each at least one gift and possibly more. So, which gift do you have? In the Bible they are called the fruit of the Spirit but we all exhibit at least one of these nine gifts: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Paul said that “against these there is no law”, so which fruit do you have?

In truth, we should all exhibit each of these to a certain extent. If you have truly given your heart to Jesus and allowed the Spirit to come into your heart and change you into the child of God that you are supposed to be, then at some point in your life, whether it is daily or weekly, you should express at least one or two of these. Yes, the world around us does not like Christians today and many of them don’t want to hear about Jesus or see any expression of these gifts, but that shouldn’t keep you from using them.

These gifts are, many times, the evidence which separates believers from non believers. I don’t mean to imply that people of other faiths can’t be loving or joyful or kind because anyone can exhibit those traits in their life, they are not unique to Christians. The difference is that we can do so even in trials and heartache because we have hope in Jesus! He went through many heartaches in the time that He lived on Earth so our Savior knows what it feels like and He cares for you and me!

The spiritual gifts which Christians have is part of our salvation through Jesus, what we use them for and how we express them is part of our service to Him. Pray about your life in Jesus and ask Him what you are to do with your gifts.

Humor, it is a difficult concept.


It feels strange writing words which I heard first in a movie about the Federation of Planets and Star Trek. My blog has nothing to do with science or fiction, but I thought I would start off this way, if for no other reason than to get your attention.

joyHumor and laughter have been proven to be beneficial to our health, mostly in ways that doctors can’t really explain. It does release endorphins which ease pain and it has been shown to help in healing with some cancers and other injuries such as surgical and other breaks in the skin and bone. Here is a quote from one of many sites which give the benefits of laughter: “Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease. Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.”

In the stressful times that we live in, sometimes humor is not appropriate and it may cause hurt feelings and anger. Used wrongly, anything good can cause problems, even humor or religion. So, how do we live our lives daily in light of the effects of our beliefs or the effect of laughter? Some might say that you have to live circumspectly. What the heck is that? It is a big word meaning “cautious” living. The definition of it is this: Near synonyms are prudent and cautious, though circumspect implies a careful consideration of all circumstances and a desire to avoid mistakes and bad consequences.

Why should we be cautious in our living on a daily basis? Because today everyone that you meet has a small movie camera and a recording device called a cell phone. Anything that you say or do in front of people is very likely to be posted at some point whether you like it or not! But…Jesus told us to take His Message to the world! So, how can we do that?

One person at a time. I know that is limiting in our reach to those who don’t know Him, but in any town or city today there isn’t a huge crowd of people who will be receptive of His salvation message. Many of them will call it “hate speech” and try to have you arrested or maybe beat you up like they did Paul and Silas. Yes, in these days that we are living in now, life and living is getting to be a hard to understand prospect in light of our mission given to us by Jesus.

God loves each person, regardless of their belief or lack of belief in Jesus or even whether they believe that God exists. Yet, we are supposed to take His message to the world as best as we can. Whether we do it by means like this or by going in person and telling others about our Lord and Savior. One person at a time is the best way to go, maybe two if you can get them to listen. Jesus said to His disciples: Go into all the world; and that is what we should be doing, every day.

Do you enjoy life?


joySome of us do, but many don’t. Oh, we tolerate everyday ups and downs and we go to work and come home. Living or existing as the day permits and allows. So, what do you enjoy in your life? Your children or grandchildren likely give you some enjoyment and joy. But…what about your life with Jesus? Does being a Christian bring joy and fulfillment in your worship and study of God’s Word?

For some Christians it does exactly that, but for many who think they are Christians and are not, the worship service and study of the Bible is confusing and frustrating. It is that way for many that I call “casual Christians” as well. The biggest problem with this is that you can’t be a casual Christian, claiming Jesus on Sunday or when a loved one dies and then living as you please the rest of the time. Jesus is not a hero which you call on when you need Him and then send Him away until the next time!

He is our Savior and yes, He is our Hero and our Creator but He is not on-call some days and not on others. God and His Son are available at all times, not exactly for your convenience or at your time or on your schedule. God works according to His timing and His schedule. Don’t turn away from Him, especially when you need Him! Not just on bad days or at times when trouble is making your day feel like a week, but call to Him and lean on Him every day!

God loves each of us and wants the best for us, but His best and our idea of best are sometimes very different. His idea of a mansion and no debts may be your home in Heaven, not a beautiful home and no bills here. God’s ideas for us are not the same as our ideas of Who He is, thankfully. If our salvation was no better than our idea of what salvation is, then we would never see Heaven at all!

Don’t close the door on an opportunity in your life to get to know Jesus because the moment that you give your heart to Jesus your name is written down in the book of Life. After that, your life here and into eternity will never be the same!

Why?


It is a question which we hear, especially parents, when our child or children are young. They ask it…sometimes to the point of getting on our nerves with the number and frequency of the question!

Sometimes we can answer it with a realistic answer and sometimes it is “Because I said so!”! But, this week we have no answer for the shooting in Las Vegas. There is no note or reason or anything that even approaches rationality. Because there is nothing rational about this! Was the shooter insane? I don’t know and few other people have a real clue either. Had he been “radicalized” in some way? Who knows?

Why is a question which we as a nation will be asking about this for a long time. Will we ever find the answer to that question? I honestly don’t know. In my view, my opinion is that only the shooter knows and God and likely we will never find out the actual reason. Because, the behavior to do such a thing defies logic and any human decency.

On the news tonight, Steve Hartman said that there are no real words to describe or comfort this type of event and he is right. We can’t think of anything to say because there isn’t anything that makes any sense when you are talking about an act so dehumanizing and tragic.

Life is precious. Not just one person’s life or a particular skin color or religion, but to God ALL human life is precious because He made us in His image! At one time the rule of law was that “when man kills another man, then by man his life will be taken“; which we have toned down with political correctness so that even when convicted a killer can live out his natural life without ever being killed for his crime! Some even claim that it is inhuman to punish a man in that fashion. Really? If they killed your wife or son or daughter, would you feel that way?

God is already punishing the killer from Las Vegas since he took his own life as well, so at least he is getting his punishment. His soul and his eternal body will endure that forever and there is no appeal or stay that will come to get him out of hell.

Hell was not created to punish mankind, but when we act like demons and follow the leading of their suggestions in our minds then God has no recourse but to place us in the same place of punishment that they have waiting for them. Please give your heart and life to Jesus and follow Him while there is still time to do so. We don’t know when He is coming back, but it won’t likely be much longer. Will we all live to see it? I don’t know, but I do know that when He comes there will be no doubt about Who it is and what is happening…at least to those who have heard about it or read the book of Revelation.

Where is God in this?


This is the feeling I get when I watch the news or any coverage of the devastation left behind by these hurricanes this year. Yet, nobody seems to be asking or answering the question. Even in religious programming! I get emails for donations to help, but who is actually helping these people? Those in Puerto Rico have no electricity, no clean water and very little food; people in Florida nursing homes are dying because of lack of electricity and the heat, so where is the help that is supposed to be there?

You and I know that God is there in all of this, yet there is no one telling the news media about His Presence. Samaritan’s Purse is in Texas and in Florida and I imagine they have some people in the Caribbean helping out as much as they can. There are products like water and food that are being delivered as quickly as possible but there are many who are angry because they want everything back the way it was before! They want it right now!!

God is there! His grace and mercy is there, but people don’t recognize it for what it is. We are so accustomed to getting what we want right now! We as a society don’t know how to have patience enough to wait for Him to bring help and food and water or whatever you need! HE is always near, especially to those who believe in Him but He is also there with those who haven’t given their hearts to Him. He is waiting for you to decide that you need Him.

That is why He has given us free choice to use it in our life and our decisions. We have a choice of whether we will believe in Him, and live our lives according to His will as taught in the Bible. He also gives us the choice to NOT believe in Him or in Jesus and just live our lives according to our own desires and our beliefs or lack of belief!

Why does He give us a choice? If we didn’t have a choice, we wouldn’t be human beings! We would be more like robots or automatons and that is not the kind of relationship that God wants with us at all!

Would you want a relationship with someone who doesn’t have a choice? They do what you want, when you want, no questions and they always hear you when you speak. Sounds a lot like slavery or a robot or something doesn’t it?

When you love someone deeply, don’t you want them to love you as well? God wants that relationship with us. That doesn’t mean that He needs our love, but He desires it. Parents know this because they love their children and they feel love from their children when they get old enough to know what love really is. That is the kind of relationship of love that God wants with us!

He is always near to us no matter what situation is happening in our life, when we are believers in Him. If you don’t know Him or believe in Him, he is near but not in the same way until you call on Him to give your life to Him. Then He is immediately there and will be near from that point on if you give your heart to Him.IamtheWay

Laugh a little


As much as the news bombards us with things which bring us down, it is good to find something to laugh about. Just as David danced and praised the Lord as they brought the Ark into Jerusalem, we should laugh and find joy in our days. I know it isn’t easy to do at times, with all of the news being confusing and bad, in ways that make you want to give up. Find little joys in your day like seeing a child having fun or a bird flying and living its life the way God intended. Seek out joy and it will find you.

Proverbs 17:22 A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Life is too short to live with a sour face and a spirit which says to others “Leave me alone in my pain and sorrow!”. Children in happy homes find all sorts of imaginative things to do and be happy about. Unfortunately when we get older and have too many responsibilities, we lose that joy and wonder mostly because we don’t have time for it. Live…because you are designed for life and God gives you each day to enjoy every minute!

Lightning Storm Over City LightsLook at the stars, watch and sunrise or sunset and see the beauty of it, if you can watch a storm from a distance and see the dance of the electrical storm and the power in it. Above all…know that God loves you and has provided everything that you need in this life as a practice run for eternity! Run your race reaching for that goal of seeing your Savior and the reward of eternity after this life is finished!

What are we to do?


It seems that we have been warned in a couple of ways and in prophecy too. But…are we listening? I’m not so sure about that. A little over a decade ago, sixteen years to be exact, our country was warned in the form of an attack by terrorists and yet we decided to build again with “dressed stone” and defy God’s warning. We have had numerous hurricanes since then and we still aren’t getting the message. Two of which are very recent and very destructive but are we going to listen this time?

IamtheWayIt doesn’t seem so.

Why are we being so stubborn about turning back to God? I realize He isn’t politically correct, but God doesn’t have to be! He’s God our Creator after all!

So, what are we supposed to do? Have you ever heard the scripture “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

We need to turn back to God and repent of our sins so that He will heal our land and the problems which we have today. The problem with this is that we won’t repent. We have become a secular nation bent on following our own thoughts and desires rather than the wisdom found in the Bible.

God did not create us to be this way but we have turned away from Him and His wisdom, particularly in the past fifty years or so. What will happen to our world if we don’t repent? The end of the age of grace is closer than anyone knows, except for God of course. When that time is up, the church will be taken to Heaven and the Tribulation will begin.

For a while, there will be relative peace and things won’t look too bad. But when the first 1260 days or 3 1/2 years is done, then the desecration of the Temple (which will be rebuilt) will happen and the last 3 1/2 years will be hell on Earth. Some people don’t believe that the church will be taken first, but according to scripture the church isn’t mentioned after chapter four in Revelation. Which likely means that the church is not going to have to undergo God’s wrath.

If you have ever considered giving your life and heart to Jesus, I am suggesting that you get serious about it today. We are not guaranteed tomorrow and life is so short, particularly since we are living in the last days of the Last Days. Seek Him out while there is time to do it.

So much, yet…


It seems that in our culture today, we have so much and yet we still complain. Now, I am not saying that we are similar to the Israelites when they came out of Egypt, but they complained about a lot of things too. We have so much in the way of possessions and stuff but it is all disposable and we still want more! Why?

It just seems that we are never satisfied with what we have. God has given us a planet that is moderate in its temperature range, we have gravity to keep us firmly on the ground. There is air to breathe and our days are split between night and day so we have time to work and sleep too. So why do we complain about life and the stuff that we have or don’t have?

We should be thankful for our family and our health, if we are enjoying good health. If you have a job, be thankful for that. Life and living for Jesus is so much more than…stuff! Living for the Lord and with Jesus in your life is so much more than things that we see and have to deal with each day. But, it seems that we are never satisfied with life, particularly our life if we have given our hearts to Jesus.

We look around at all of the stuff that others have, some of whom we think are not followers of Jesus and some who are. We question God, like Job did in his time of testing, and we ask “Why can’t we have xxxx car or this huge house and a bank account to go with it?”.

The answer is the one which Jesus gave to His followers about the rich man. “It is harder for a rich man to enter heaven than it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.“; my quote is a paraphrase but you get the meaning of it. I qualify this by asking a couple of questions: Does a wealthy man need anything? He can have anything that he desires, so why would he want God in his life? Is a wealthy person ever hungry or thirsty? Not unless it is forced upon him I’d wager, so why would he or she ever hunger for Jesus and the freedom that being a Christian affords?

Wealth and so-called privilege can give a person much that the world has to offer. But, being a Christian and living your life as one who is a follower and a disciple of Jesus is not something that the world nor the wealthy would desire. Until, somehow, they are brought to a point of true and desperate need which their money cannot give them. Or if they grew up in poverty and became wealthy later in life and they knew that it was the blessing of God which brought their wealth, which they cheerfully gave to help others in need.

Because, until someone gets to the point of realization which shows them Who they truly need, it doesn’t matter if you have money or not, you will not seek out Jesus for your salvation. Until you know that there is nothing which you can do for salvation or healing or whatever you may feel that you need, not in this life but to bring you into God Presence, you will not seek out any knowledge of God nor will you look for salvation in Jesus.