Category: By faith

Living in Christ


Have you considered giving your life to Jesus? During times like this with nearly every country affected by this virus, how can we not look to the One who can truly help? Some are blaming Him for this and some are looking to Him for their healing.

Living with Christ is actually something that is not hard to do. He’s near you all of the time, but you don’t get the full measure of Him until you trust Him for your salvation. He gives us strength and peace for each day and the words that we need in times of testing. Jesus has come to us as a Savior and it is our responsibility to accept Him as our Savior when we feel His call on our lives.

Have you felt that call of the Spirit in your heart and His conviction of your sins which calls you to repent and give your life to Jesus the Messiah? Many people have heard it but they have ignored it and walked away. You are doing this to your own hurt. Because we are not guaranteed tomorrow, your soul could be required of you even in the next hour. I have been accused of scaring people to seek their Savior by saying this but if that is what it takes, so be it. Your eternal destination and your eternal life is at stake here!

Your soul will live on after your death and according to God’s Word we will have a body like Jesus had after His resurrection. We won’t be floating about like ghosts or angels but we will have an actual body. The only question about your eternity is where will you spend it while you have this immortal body? Will you be in Heaven where God is or will you be in hell where Satan and his demons are? It really is your decision when you feel the touch or call of the Holy Spirit in your heart. Will you respond by giving your heart to Him or will you ignore the call and walk away. Occasionally, you may have some time to ponder your decision and you may get another nudge from the Holy Spirit.

Why do I point this out? Because we are not guaranteed to live through the night or into tomorrow. God knows our so-called “expiration date” but we don’t, thankfully. Just make sure of your eternal destination before it gets here because there are no “do-overs” and no “re-spawning” after this life is over.

Are you a visitor or a Christian?


In churches you sometimes see little cards to quantify if you are a visitor to the church. When you fill out one of these you admit that you are “just visiting” but what about the members of the church? Are you just visiting? Why do I ask this question? Because some people who come to church on Sunday morning don’t even darken the door at any other time. Some come to Sunday school and church on Sunday morning but you don’t see or hear from them until the next Sunday and this covers many people in the church today. To explain what I mean when I say that you are “just visiting” even when you attend every Sunday morning I want to ask a question of you: Does anyone at your place of business or your workplace know that you are a Christian? I am not speaking of those who may know that you attend church on Sunday. I am asking you if they can see the influence of Jesus in your work and in your speech when you are at work?

Or do you sound like everyone else at work and in public? Do you act like those around you when you are away from your church or can they see Jesus in your everyday life?

See, visitors who attend church only get a little bit of what is available to each of us. When you are committed to Jesus and your walk with Him goes out of the church and into the world then you are NOT visiting…you are being the church which Jesus wants us to be. Because, how are your co-workers going to know about Him if you don’t show Him to them in your life and your words? In many parts of America only twenty percent of people even attend church so if you aren’t taking Jesus with you then how will the other eighty percent find out about Him?

Many of us don’t even invite other people to come to our church so how will they ever find out about their Savior unless you show them how He has changed your life? God sent Jesus to the entire world and everyone in it. While it is true that He came to the Israelites first His message was intended for everyone. So how will it get to everyone if the church (people who are committed to Jesus) doesn’t carry the message outside the church building?

The world and those living in it have eternity ahead of them and you have a message to give them about Jesus Who can bring salvation to their lives and give them an eternity worth dying for. Because each of us has an eternal soul and whether you decide to follow Jesus and know Him as your Savior or not has an impact on your destination to live out your eternity. If you aren’t sure about your salvation or where you will spend eternity I would suggest that you take care of that as soon as possible. Not one person is guaranteed to see tomorrow and if you die tonight your eternity begins at that point. The question still remains: where will you spend eternity?

There is a chapter in the New Testament which the Apostle Paul wrote which gives a clear description of your life and mine as believers in Christ. Read chapter 8 in Romans and you will see. We are responsible for our lives and what we say and do here on Earth. We cannot be sinless because we sin every day. There are no sinless people on Earth, Christian or not because we cannot be sinless. Our life is given to us every day by God Himself and if you are a Christian we should be telling others about our Savior especially if we aren’t sure about their salvation and especially if they aren’t sure of it either.

Don’t be a visitor in church, be a disciple who takes God’s Word and your Salvation in Christ out into the world around you so others can see it and hear about Him. Be doers of the Word not just hearers only.

Today’s question is…


Why have people, young and old, left the church? Are they not satisfied with God? Are they bored with the sermons that they hear? Are they really listening with their heart…their soul even when they are at church or reading God’s Word? All of these questions need to be asked of the church, the people who make up the church. When you read these questions I want to ask you to do one thing for me and for Jesus: place “you” where the word “they” comes in the sentence. Then re-word the sentence to read: Am I…._______.

Most of us don’t think of this when we are in church. Especially when we have grown up going to church with our parents. We think because we’ve been in “the church” all of our lives that we are covered…that we are Christians like it says in the Bible. We don’t really break any of the Ten Commandments (at least in our minds) or do we? The answer to the last question is a resounding YES! We do break the commandments every day even if you’ve spent your entire life in the church. We cannot keep the commandments without Jesus or without His blood covering our sins. Do Christians wander from their faith sometimes? Yes, they do but eventually that spark in your chest, the Spirit in your soul will show you what you’re doing wrong and steer you back to the right path.

What if I’m not listening to the Spirit in my heart? What if I can’t feel His conviction of my sin or feel convicted by Him? Well….you might want to consider that your salvation may be counterfeit. You felt His Presence and you went down and talked to the preacher and came back and got baptized. Then you spent the next few years trying to do all of the things that you know that Christians do and don’t do, then you felt a temptation from something or someone and you began moving in that direction and away from “church people”. You felt a little guilty about it but eventually even that went away.

What now? Seek Him out in the Bible and find a true Christian friend or your pastor who can guide you back to Jesus. It isn’t a long trip because He never left you. Why do I say this so easily? Because I did it myself. I got wet a few times actually. I thought my conversion was real and I went through the baptism at least twice, maybe three times, but later I found that I was still feeling empty inside. We can fool ourselves into believing that we are saved even when we aren’t and that is a very dangerous place to be in. If you died, you would stand at the judgement seat and you might confess that you believed in Jesus but He would say “I don’t know you”. What a horrible way to start eternity.

Some of us have had family praying for us which has kept us fairly safe until the day we finally find our way to Jesus. If it weren’t for those people, a brother or a sister or your mother or your grandmother praying for your salvation your life would be stretched on a very thin string. If you could see what that string was keeping you from falling into….you would run to Jesus. God has provided a way for us to be reconciled to Him through Jesus’ blood. Believe in Jesus for your salvation because the time grows shorter every day. Seek Him for your eternity depends upon your position of belief in Jesus. Eternity is there without Jesus but it will be without life or love or joy because you will be in a place of torment. Make sure of your destination and that it will be with Him.

In hell there will be no light nor water for Life, only weeping and mourning because of your choices. Make the right choice now.

Are we living during the last days?


pestilence
1: a contagious or infectious epidemic disease that is virulent and devastating

Matthew 24: 4 …Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

False Christs 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

According to the predictions of Jesus and the book of Revelation, I believe we are at the point where Jesus says that “these are the beginning of sorrows”. The last days can last for a few years before any of the other signs begin to be fulfilled and there are no dates or indications in the Bible that point to a certain year or anything that we can use as a specific sign. We don’t know the day or the hour. It could happen tonight or next year or in six months. The timing is up to God and He knows the exact time that He will send His angels to gather the church from the Earth.

Will this happen in our lifetime? Yes, I do believe that it will because the signs that we can see and read from God’s Word all point toward a time when news videos can be transmitted all over the world as they happen. We are living in that time.

God has provided a way for every person who is seeking salvation to have it through belief in Jesus for their salvation. He is the only way and if you want to be a part of the church that He began with His disciples, I would ask you to seek Him out as your Savior soon. The clock is ticking closer to that time but once the church is taken away it will be even harder for anyone to accept Him as their Savior. Read the chapter that I have highlighted above in the link and also the book of Revelation and Daniel chapter 9 and following.

Don’t turn away from His call on your life and in your heart. If you have felt it please turn to Him even on your bed at night and ask Him to be your Savior and Lord. A child can do it and you can too.

Disciples should teach others


The word disciple conjures up ideas and ideals which most of us today really don’t think we can pull off. But today our country and the families in it has taken up the profession of teaching and teaching is part and parcel discipleship. What about looking at it in this way: apprenticeship. This concept has been a part of many shops and businesses ever since a father or an uncle in the past wanted someone to carry on the family business. Sometimes it may not be a family member, it could be a man who asks to become your apprentice. The teaching which we are having to practice now is a type of discipleship which parents are having to get into without any training at all.

If we practice discipleship in church and in our homes with our family, teaching is not so hard to do. Pray about how you can do it and what needs to be taught. The Word of God needs to be at the center of home-based schooling now and from this point on. God’s Wisdom and teaching should be the beginning of all of our schooling at home from this point on because when we are teaching our children at home, the home is the school not a government funded school. This is how God had intended for us, as parents, to do with our children and it is in the Old Testament. This is not some new idea, nor is it a “new age” type of teaching.

If the next generation is going to grow up to know anything about God it is up to the parents to teach them. They will learn some interesting facts from going to church and maybe Bible school in the summer but the most useful learning is actually done at home. Children young and old need to see that their parents are invested in their faith in God and most importantly in Jesus as their Savior. If children don’t see this at home then church or Bible school will not have much influence on them. They will know about God and Jesus Christ but they won’t have a solid foundation in their faith because the foundation has to start at home.

Disciple your family. Teach them about Jesus so that both you and they can learn that Jesus was part of the plan from the very beginning. He didn’t just show up in the New Testament, He has been part of the Trinity since before the universe was created. Read the Bible with your family and discuss what you have read because this “social distance” thing is keeping some churches from meeting. The church began in homes so make sure to do so now in order to make Jesus a part of your family and you will be part of His family too. Stay as safe as possible but don’t push Bible study and Jesus out just because you aren’t meeting in a church building…the people are the church.

Priorities during trouble


Do you wonder about our priorities or the priorities of someone you see at a store? I do. When tax time comes around or this “stimulus check” comes around, how many people take care of needs with that money? Then again how many do you see coming out of a store with big TV’s or brand new phones? Almost every year when a little so-called “extra money” comes into our hands we use it for things or stuff. What about giving God His tithe on the money that you get? Don’t you think that He deserves a portion of His money to keep His Kingdom priorities going? It is His money after all, He only gives us what we need because of our abilities which He gave to us.

Your abilities and talents were given to you by God before you were born. The job that you get and the salary that comes with it are from Him. Your raises and your promotions come from Him not from your own efforts. God is the provider of all good things but He also tests us when we need to be tested. The only necessity is Jesus.

Jesus is Life and our Creator and it is through Him alone that we move every day and have our life and our being. Eternity awaits but only if you believe in Him for your salvation.

I watched this and it caused me to think…


I think that many people who believe in Jesus truly need to stand up for their faith when it is questioned. Many believers don’t do this. Eight out of ten people who attend church seem to believe in Jesus but they don’t tell anyone else about it. The other two people do. They take their faith in Jesus and they told people about it. So twenty percent of of people who profess to know Him actually do because they show it to others. Take a look at this video and take it to heart. Then make sure that someone hears the message that you believe in your risen Savior because He died for your sins. He made way for you to be forgiven and changed so that you can take His message to everyone you meet.

Our God is able to give you the strength even when you think it is gone. Seek Him for your eternity and for your healing today.

Some people might think that what happened in this instance was just coincidence, but God is able to do anything even when there are people in the room who do not believe in Him. The foolish people of this world think that we are foolish because we believe God’s Word and they don’t. Even Satan and his demons know Who God is and they know that He is real! So if God’s adversaries know and believe in Him why do we who are created in His image tend to move in the opposite direction from belief?

Seek Jesus for your salvation so you can know for sure where your eternity is because this world is temporary but your salvation and your home is in Heaven. All you need to do is believe in Jesus to receive it and repent of your sinful ways. Ask Him to come into your heart and clean out all of the “old stuff” and place the Holy Spirit in there so that you will be a “new creation in Christ“.

Living Hope…


Why did the people of the early church believe so strongly in Jesus and the offer of forgiveness and eternity so deeply they were willing to be killed because of it? Because they had eye-witness accounts of His ministry and most of all their account of His resurrection from the grave! What He endured for our atonement was enough to kill any man within a few hours if not before He was nailed to the cross. He wasn’t finished yet so He stayed alive until it was finished and when it was, He said so, “It is finished!”, and He gave up His Spirit. No one took His life, no one killed Jesus, He died when He was finished and He gave it up willingly.

If someone today had the message which He brought so long ago and they were being filmed for TV and someone shot them three times in front of the country, killing them. Then before the autopsy could be finished, they got up and showed themselves to the doctors and nurses and the world…would you believe in them as the Messiah? This very scene will play out one day but it won’t be Jesus but a false savior when it does happen. If you haven’t given your heart to Jesus then you will possibly see this “false savior” who would claim to be the so-called “savior of the world”. This person is the anti-Christ, the false Messiah and he will deceive many who are alive on that day.

The resurrection of Jesus is such a powerful witness that many people would die for their faith in Him and His promise of eternity. Life was in Him, true eternal life not some promise made by “just a man”. If you have access to a copy of the Book of Martyrs I would encourage you to read it. It is not an easy read because some of the descriptions are very graphic. But the people that you read about beginning with Stephen and continuing on into our present day had their hope in Jesus and they believed in Jesus for their Savior so deeply that they were willing to go through being crucified or burned alive or trampled by animals or killed and eaten by wild animals. No one dies willingly for a lie. God loves each of us and we have a message to take to the world. That message is: He is risen and alive! His Word is true and He is coming back one day soon, Amen.

Have you heard His voice?


Like Mary at the tomb knew that it was her Lord and Savior when He spoke her name because no other person could express their love for her like Jesus. She felt it, she knew it was her Lord. Jesus calls us to become adopted into the family of God as His adopted brothers and sisters. God loves the world’s population regardless of country or ideology or skin color which is why Jesus came to pay the penalty for ALL of our sins and that penalty was not only His death but complete separation from His Father which He had never known before!

Jesus, our Savior, did this because of His love for humanity, for all of mankind, and yet He was rejected and still is in many countries. This begs the question, “Why is Jesus still rejected today?”. Is it because of the exclusive nature of His offer of salvation? My personal opinion is “Yes, that is the reason people of other faiths reject Him”.

Why? Because they don’t like being convicted of their sinful nature and their daily lives reflecting that. They live as if there is no tomorrow and mostly do whatever they feel like doing as long as they don’t hurt anyone. In some cultures, it doesn’t matter if they hurt someone because of their faith, especially if it is different or contrary to the dominant faith in that place. But, have you ever wondered how they would feel if they were the ones being ridiculed and spat upon because their faith was not the socially or politically acceptable faith?

God’s voice brought the cosmos into being at His command. Isn’t it a wonderful privilege and an honor to be able to study God’s Word in order to learn more about Him and His requirements for us? I do believe that having a written record of His statutes and laws and all of the poetry and wisdom that is contained in this Book is actually the best education that anyone can have. Reading it and studying it helps us to know His voice and how He sounds so that we will know for sure when He does speak to our spirit. We will know that it isn’t our ideas or our voice but His!

Coming to know Jesus as your Lord is one of the easiest and hardest decisions that a person can make. But it is also the best decision because it directly affects your eternity. Many people think that there are many rules and regulations to follow if you want to be a Christian but there is really only one requirement and that is to believe in Jesus for your salvation. Because unless you have been convicted of your need for a Savior, you won’t seek Him at all. But when you do feel that you need Him there are no hoops to jump through in order to be ready for it. Just believe that He died and rose again to pay for your sins and the penalty for them. Once you do that, your heart will change and you won’t be the same person that you were before.

You will do the same things which the apostles did or you will be able to do them and you will want to do them. Tell others how He changed your life and made you into a new creation with a heart that wants to do what He did and what Peter and John and Paul did. Tell others about this wonderful person that has saved you from the pit of hell and changed you so that you can say with confidence that “Jesus is my Lord and my Savior”. The thief which asked Him to remember him when He came into His Kingdom believed in his hour of need and he knew that he deserved the punishment that he got, but he asked Jesus for His forgiveness anyway…and he got it! Don’t turn away from the only Person who can save your soul.

What are we doing for Christ?


If you are a Christian, are you working for Him? I don’t mean that you have to be a pastor or a deacon but are you living your daily life as a Christian? Again, you don’t need to be a Gideon, although that ministry does many good things for God. Gideon in scripture was a man who thought he was not a significant man, but God doesn’t always use a strong warrior to accomplish His purposes.

Remember the movie, Captain America? He began as a man who could not be in the Army because of his medical problems and he was a bit too small and weak. God loves to use people who can’t do what He asks because the job requires more than they have. He wants people who will submit to His will and do what He asks of them in faith. In many ways, God wants us to listen and obey His leading but we have to be willing to listen and really hear Him in our Spirit. Then we should DO what we hear Him telling us. Because when we hear Him but then decide that we can’t do what He is asking in a way we are admitting the truth.

We can’t do all of the things that God requires without Him and His Spirit giving us strenght and the ability to acomplish His will. Working with Him, our purpose is true and it will accomplish that which God desires to be done. So many go through life thinking that they have to earn their salvation when it was paid for on the cross fully and completely. All that is required of us is that we believe in Jesus and that His work did this.

Today we celebrate His Resurrection and His victory over death and our eternity purchased by His blood which cleanses us from the stain of sin. Believe in Him for your salvation and you can be in heaven with Him for eternity.