Only one step away

It surprises me sometimes that I think of doing something completely out of character for me. It actually scares me when this happens because many times it is an action against someone I love and I don’t ever want to hurt my son or my wife or even my pets! But when this thought or feeling comes into my mind it is really scary. Why did it come into my mind? Would I actually do something like this?

When you read a book that has a group of people who are trying to do something fantastic, it seems there is always at least one character that just needs a little push or nudge in the wrong direction to cause a catastrophic failure that will take someone’s life. That is the problem with our “sin nature”. Each of us is only one nudge away from snapping and becoming some truly evil person.

Could a Christian do something like this? Satan will plant the thoughts in your mind but if you are mature in your faith you will recognize it and your Spirit will help you to resist it. On the other hand, people who are not saved or just think they are saved don’t have the Holy Spirit living inside to help us stop those thoughts. They may have a conscience that is telling them it is wrong but they don’t have a helper to give them the strength to truly resist that impulse.

I once thought that I could make it without the Holy Spirit and I tried, but it didn’t work because I could not control myself and my thoughts and actions without the Holy Spirit. Many people think that their conscience is the Holy Spirit and it isn’t because you can just push it away. Pride and covetousness will cause you to think that you are able to do things that you can’t do. You will want something or you crave more money to get something and this happens to Christians too.

You need to study about Jesus and seek Him to be your Savior and Lord. His ways and His teachings are the only way to become better than you were because of the Holy Spirit coming into your heart and changing your nature. The sin nature is still there but it is deactivated and the longer you study the Bible, the more strength you will get from God’s Word. I thought, before I truly gave my heart to Jesus, that I could never read the Bible because I couldn’t make sense of it. You have to have the Holy Spirit living inside you so you can make sense of it and get the wisdom you need from it.

Don’t push the prompting of the Holy Spirit away when you feel it. You might never feel it again and it would be sad that you missed becoming a Christian because you felt that you weren’t ready yet. You don’t get ready, Jesus knows when you are ready and He touches your heart to bring you to Himself.

Have faith in Him

God’s plan

From the beginning of Creation, God has had a plan in place to redeem mankind. Even before Adam and Eve decided to taste the fruit of a tree that was forbidden to them, God knew it was going to happen. We don’t know how long they enjoyed life in the Garden of Eden, it could’ve been a century or more. Since they were created perfect in God’s sight, they could’ve lived forever if they had not listened to the serpent.

God’s plan was set into motion when they did go against His directions. Nothing catches God by surprise and their rebellion didn’t either. We sometimes believe that we can hide things from God but in our hearts we know better. We don’t want to listen to that small voice telling us not to do whatever it may be that we are considering, but it is there.

During my lifetime and likely in yours as well, there have been times that we want to do something but we get a little “voice” inside that says “you shouldn’t do that”. Sometimes we listen to that voice and other times we don’t and we may pay a price for not listening. Then again, we may enjoy our sin for a time. But…in the long run it is going to bite you on the butt. Learning the hard way is not the best way to learn lessons in life but these lessons do tend to stick with you because you do remember the outcome and the consequences.

God has been with every person during their good days and their bad days and the people that He calls to be useful to Him know when they are being called. If you are like me, you may try to run from those calls, but like Jonah, God can move things so that you will get the call and answer it. He doesn’t force you to do His will but He will bring you to a point where you will agree to it either now or in the future. Many people don’t like hearing this because we are taught in the West that we are our own ruler. The problem with this thinking is that we place ourselves on a throne that should be occupied by God alone.

I’ve read that God doesn’t have a plan for our lives but I disagree. His plan is that all would come to know Jesus as their Savior and it is offered to us without cost. All we have to do is believe that Jesus died for our sins and give our life to Him as a daily sacrifice to do whatever He calls us to do. For some people that may mean that you may be a missionary somewhere. But your mission field could be in your hometown or your community. He can call you to be a witness for Him in your workplace or even to a family member. The point is that God will equip you to do whatever He is calling you to do, regardless of the circumstances.

We are living in the part of history that has been referred to as the “last days”. If one thousand years is like a day to God, then we are in the early morning hours of the third day. Many things have happened on the third day in the Bible so I encourage you to make sure of your salvation in Jesus Christ. When the Trumpet of God sounds and the dead in Christ rise to meet Him, those of us who know Him and are still alive will follow them “in the twinkling of an eye”. When that happens the entire world will know it but for those who see it on TV it will be too late. Don’t be one who finds out that the church is gone on the evening news, be with us on that day.

Be blessed every day!

He is able!

There are many witnesses in the Bible…

Finish the task

Your faith will help you to win!

Be on guard …

Suffering or complaining

Many people are going through some tough times. We have many on our prayer list who are going through treatments for cancers of different types. Some of those treatments are painful and debilitating in and of themselves even without the disease that is being treated. There are others in the world that we may not know about who are having to deal with pain from pinched nerves in their necks and their spine. The problem with the “treatment” for those is that it usually makes the problem worse in the long run. The same goes for the cancer treatments which usually make your quality of life worse from the first treatment.

As Christians we are supposed to “count it all joy” regardless of the pain that we experience. Many of us live with some kind of pain or other problem that causes us to dread getting up in the morning to go about another day. Our friends and relatives don’t understand what is bothering us so we don’t tell them how we feel on most days. We just go through the day with whatever it is and if you are like me you just pray that God will give you the strength to get through the day today. Then that prayer is repeated tomorrow and the next day. I don’t tell my wife how I feel because my pain is…well it’s my pain and she won’t get it. So I keep it between me and God.

Disability does hurt. It hurts because I can’t do many of the things that I would like to do like go hunting or fishing. My balance is gone and there have been many times I have nearly fallen in the shower or when I bend over to get something off the floor. Having your balance gone doesn’t sound like a disability and most people only lose their balance occasionally. I live with it every day, all day.

I am not writing this to complain, just venting a little. I have seen the looks that people give me because I don’t “look” disabled.

God does allow things to happen to us in order to bring about His purposes. He gives each of us a talent or an ability that He knows we will use and sometimes it takes an affliction of some kind to make us use what He has given to us. I have never written as much as I have since this came on me. I thank God that my affliction has allowed me to point some people to know my Savior, Jesus Christ.

I began this blog before I became disabled but my early writing was more world-weary or about some other things that were happening at the time. This site didn’t become a true witness about Jesus Christ until I became sick just before Thanksgiving in 2012. It has been twelve years now and God has seen me and my family through many trials since then. I pray that this site has blessed those who read it.