Category: By faith

It is good news!!


When the angel announced the birth of Jesus this is what he said: “And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring good news to you of great joy, which will be to all the people”. Luke 2:10

Did you catch the last part of that statement? “Good news of great joy which will be to all the people“. This is saying that not only is this good news for you and for Israel and Rome and Palestine but it is good news of great joy to ALL people! Everyone on Earth can benefit from this if they will believe in the One Whom God has sent to be their Savior!

The announcement was given to the shepherds who were raising and caring for the sheep which would be used as the sacrifices for the people of the day. The One that the angel announced His birth was the Lamb which would take away the sins of the entire world! All that we have a responsibility for is accepting God’s grace and mercy through our Lord, Jesus. What better news can you get than being forgiven and welcomed into God’s family?

God told Abraham that the whole world would be blessed through his offspring and it has been. Many in the world don’t want to accept Jesus as their Savior and that’s okay because it is their choice. God loves each of us but He doesn’t try to force us to love Him because real love can’t be forced it has to be given. Just as He gave His Son to die on a cross for our sins to bring atonement for them, we should give our love to Him through our acceptance of Jesus as our Savior and our repentance from the life that we lived before we came to know Him.

When the angels announced the birth of our Savior they said that the whole world would have joy because of Him and we can! If we will accept Him as our Savior and truly try to live a life that is pleasing to God by walking in Jesus’ footsteps and according to His commandments. Joy and peace come through our relationship with Jesus and by our obedience to live a life pleasing Him. The things of this world do not bring joy or peace and if we feel that they do it is only temporary.

“Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” Luke 2:15

We have time….


This is the LIE that Satan wants everyone to believe! Even though Jesus may not come back for a few years, we don’t have time to waste. We are not guaranteed any time at all. Today could be your last day or mine. Tomorrow may be the day that you stand before God’s throne. Death comes to each of us when God determines that it is our time. So…we don’t have time to waste, especially if you haven’t given your heart to Jesus as your Savior and repented of your sins.

Have you arranged your eternal life with Jesus? If you haven’t then you need to be working on it. Read God’s Word, especially the books of John and Romans, then seek Jesus in earnest prayer and humility. Read those two books twice or three times if you have to but make sure that you have come to a point that you know you need Jesus as your Savior and then ask Him to come into your heart and save you from an eternity in Hell. God hears a humble and sincere prayer for salvation and I don’t believe that He would turn you away if you are truly sincere in your search and your request for forgiveness.

What does it take?


I’ve often wondered exactly what it would take for God to get your attention enough to move you toward giving your life and your heart to Him? Would it take a devastating illness or a death in the family? Would rewarding you with a lucrative career and wealth get you to turn to Him? What would it take?

Sometimes the illness “angle” would likely drive some people toward blaming God for their situation rather than thanking Him for giving them the strength to live through it. Wealth definitely wouldn’t work, unless they knew that it was a blessing from God which allowed them to become wealthy in the first place. Why do I say that wealth backfires as a way to bring people to a saving knowledge of God? Because the “rich young ruler” didn’t need Jesus, he just wanted to know what he could do to gain eternity.

Many times, in the Bible and in our lives, we hear of those who have come to the bottom of their situation and they realize that they truly need Jesus. If it weren’t for their circumstances they would’ve went on with their lives as if He had never been born or even acknowledged that they would need salvation from their sins. Wealth tends to be an impediment to salvation because a need is not present. People who are wealthy or those who have no real needs in their life to be filled by a Savior usually don’t seek Him.

Most of those who seek Jesus as their Savior are those who need Him in some way. Either to give them hope for an eternity with Him or just for the hope of salvation from a situation that they cannot fix themselves in any way. This is why the “love of money” is pointed out as the root of evil. Not the money itself but the love or the pursuit of it as the “god” which can take care of all things.

Consider this: your life and mine only last for a tiny amount of time compared to eternity. Prepare your life for the time beyond this Earthly life because eternity is ahead of you, so make sure of your destination and seek Him for your salvation while there is time in this life to do so.

My Hope is in God!


There is nothing more hopeful than a child and having a child is the purest form of faith that God will make a way where there seems to be no way. God gives us children because He wants to bless us with hope and the faith to see their life come to pass. Sometimes they aren’t with us for very long but we learn of God through their innocence and their outlook regardless of the circumstances they may live in.

No matter their living conditions, most children do try to make the best out of good or bad situations. They can teach us adults a thing or two about life and living it because they don’t have the baggage that most of us have. Adults have bills and car payments and house payments and medical bills and more bills, children don’t have any of that. I envy them sometimes.

Yet, God expects each of us to grow as people and as Christians. When you give your heart and your life to Jesus, you are very much like this little child. You are a brand new Christian and a babe in Christ. You don’t know much about the Bible or His Word but you know that your Savior is God’s Son and for now…that is enough. But when trouble comes along, what then? Prayer and getting into the Psalms is the best place for you and we should be telling others about this resource, the Bible. It is truly God’s love letter to humanity because it speaks of Jesus from the very beginning to the end.

What have you given to God lately?


Many of us seem to think it isn’t necessary to give God anything. We don’t want to give Him our time on Sunday and He doesn’t need our money. Many of us don’t even want Him in our life or our hearts. So why do so many people who feel this way claim to be Christians? Is it because they know Who He is but they don’t want to know Him really? Are they afraid of Him? Possibly. In years past, God was pictured and preached as a vengeful God and a jealous God and He is both of those…to an extent. He is vengeful because He loves us not because He is going to punish us for something that we said or didn’t say. His vengeance is toward those who have wronged and persecuted His people, Israel. He will also avenge the church which grew in the past two thousand years because of the disciples preaching and because of the persecution which Christians still endure.

God is jealous, not like a lover or a husband, but because the “other” gods which mankind has created for himself are not gods at all. They are just figments of our imagination and our idea of how “god” should be. Humanity tends to try to squish God down into a more relatable god that we can understand. God cannot be put in a box or be made smaller so that we can relate to Him and feel comfortable with Him.

But we still say things like, “My god wouldn’t send anyone to hell.”. God doesn’t send anyone to hell either, that is your choice. God has made it possible for everyone to be saved but there are those who just won’t accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord. When you reject Him and turn your back on His offer of grace to be saved, then you have condemned yourself to hell and unless you accept Him before you die…that will be your eternity. Our spirit is immortal and we will be given a new body for eternity, one which cannot die unless we refuse God’s offer of grace. That is why hell is called the “second death”. There is no Life outside of God and that is where you will be if that is your choice.

God loves every person but He doesn’t like some of the things that they are doing with their lives. Just like parents, He loves His children but sometimes He isn’t happy with their choices in life but He does allow us those choices even if He doesn’t agree with them. Jesus came and paid the price for your sins regardless of their “size”, even though there aren’t really BIG sins or little sins, although the killing of children or babies would likely rank a little worse than a lie any day.

What does God want from each of us? Our love and our heart. Be thankful for His grace which has given you all of your talents and the blessings in your life. Be useful to His Kingdom and for His Kingdom because each of us who have been called to know Him were called because of our influence in someone’s life that He knows that you can reach better than anyone else.

God’s Word is real in our time


What in the world do you mean by “God’s Word is real….”? According to the apostle John, Jesus was and is the embodiment of God’s Word. He was alive and He is alive today. But…do you believe that He is the Son of God? If you don’t then your faith is too weak or you don’t have any to begin with. God is the One Who gives us faith to believe in Jesus for our salvation. We don’t just decide to become Christians, He has to touch our heart and draw us to Himself. Some people think that they can help God save them but we can’t. Everything that is needed has been done through the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ, your Messiah if you will believe in Him when you feel His call in your Spirit.

Some people think that they don’t have a “spirit” but if you are alive and reading this you do! God placed His spirit inside you to remind you of Him and to lead you to Him one day when He touches your life and you realize that you truly do need Him as your Savior. Now some people get really good at ignoring that “small voice” which speaks to them in their time of temptation and need and that is not a good thing. Ignoring the Spirit of God is much worse than ignoring a teacher or your Mom or Dad. Why? Because His call on your life can mean the difference between a living eternity or one which is called “the second death” because you will be separated from God forever. He is the giver and sustainer of Life and when you are sent to Hell because you chose to refuse His call then that is where you will spend eternity.

You don’t get sent to Hell because of a sin that you committed although refusing to listen to God’s voice could be a sinful and disobedient act on your part. You are sent to hell because it was your decision to live your life the way that you wanted and not the way God had planned for you. That is what caused the Fall of man in the Garden and every other sinful act since then. The root of all of these sins is pride. Pride in what you think and how you feel and how you act. Pride has caused many kingdoms to fail and many people to fail until they realize where that “pride” will take them.

I’m not saying that pride is bad though. Being proud of an accomplishment or of your child’s accomplishment in school or work is a good thing as long as the pride doesn’t go too far. When pride is misplaced in a person or their accomplishment and it grows out of proportion to what they have done, it becomes the doorway to many sins. God’s Word says that “pride comes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall“, so listen to His Wisdom and not your own. Remember, He formed you in the womb and He knows what you are capable of doing, even better than you do or even better than your parents.

Tradition doesn’t save you!


It seems that there are so many people who love their church traditions, but they don’t want to give their hearts to Jesus. You either have Jesus in your heart or you don’t, and celebration of Communion without Him is a sin. Communion is not a bad thing but celebrating and taking part in it is only for those who are saved by His sacrifice for them.

God loves each of us but He looks at the traditions of men which are used as substitutions for Him and He is not pleased. No, tradition or the “good” things that you do in His name won’t save you from Hell. Only belief in Jesus and repenting of your sins can save you. So think about this during this holiday season and give thanks to the One Who truly deserves to be thanked for His sacrifice for your soul and mine.

How much more…


We are too comfortable in our plenty. When we wake up in the summer most of us have a cool house to live in. We go to jobs or other places where air conditioning keeps the temperature at a reasonable level regardless of the temp outside. The same goes for our winter homes. Most of us have heated, comfortable places where we can enjoy everyday life, even when we have to go to work. So…how much more should we expect from God?

In the news almost every day it seems that there are children and some adults who just won’t be satisfied with what they have. Every Presidential candidate that is running against our President wants to offer more free stuff to everyone. Free health care, free income whether you have a job or not, college education for free. That is not how a republic works! Who is going to pay for all of this “free” stuff? Someone has to.

Things like these and more stuff is not what we were put on this Earth to chase after. We are to be about the work of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. That is what the empty place is in your life and what was in mine too, many years ago. Every person is born with an empty place inside but we aren’t born with the knowledge of what fits in it. So most of us seek all kinds of things which will make us feel complete and whole. But the only thing which goes into that place is not a thing at all, it is Jesus Christ.

It is our spirit seeking Him which makes us long for something until we find our Who that is. That is why we are always looking for a way to be fulfilled in our lives. We are living with an empty place that cannot be filled unless we ask Jesus to come into our hearts and fill us with His Spirit and He makes us whole and complete. God loves us and He know who is looking and seeking Him and who is not. Those who are will have a chance to be complete and full of His Spirit. Those who think they already have Him may be deceived into thinking that they “have an arrangement with God” just like the Pharisees in Jesus’ day. Their “righteousness” was based on their own knowledge of God’s Word and His Law and they didn’t think they needed salvation or a Savior.

Unfortunately, there are many people today in that same place with respect to their salvation. Many of them don’t think they need Him…but they do. One day soon they will find out and on that day they will realize why they felt His call on their lives and regret their refusal of His Grace.

Give thanks to the Lord, always…


In Ephesians 5:20 Paul writes: “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

During this time of year when we give thanks for the blessings of God which we have received do we think about why God has given us those blessings? Do we think about all of our needs that have been met, at times without us even asking for them?

We go through some trying times and many of us actually blame God for those rather than thanking Him for the strength to get through them. Yet, we are supposed to give thanks to Him because it is a commandment…not a suggestion. God loves each of us and whether we realize it or not we should give Him the glory for all that He has given us. Although many of us look at what we have and we think that we are the ones who got this thing or that thing when it is really God Who has given us the ability and the knowledge needed to do our jobs and be able to provide for our family.

Being thankful for everything is not hard to do, but it is difficult to give thanks to the right One Who provided for us. We have grown up in a world that teaches independence and individuality so we look at what we have as our accomplishments and not as gifts from God. Living in the world as it is today we look around and see that the world is so focused upon what each person wants and their personal idea of the “truth” and what is right in their eyes until any idea of looking at the bigger picture is lost. To many people, it seems to make no sense. Why would they want to consider their actions having an impact on the lives of many people in the world?

If they aren’t hurting others with the way that they live then why should they care about someone in another country having air pollution problems or problems growing enough food? We have become so individualistic until we live selfish lives and look at the world around us and we just don’t care about anyone less fortunate than we are. 

Being thankful to God is actually the secret to a happy and productive life. So why can’t we live thankfully all the time rather than on just one holiday during the year? Paul wrote in Ephesians that we should be “thankful always” and that is why we seem to have trouble with this. Give thanks to God for your home and your family. Give thanks for your retirement or your job. Give thanks for your spouse and your children and your grandchildren and for their continued health. 

Thanksgiving is coming soon and we should truly give thanks to the One Who provides for us every day. Psalm 68:19 says: “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation”. Every day each of us gets a fresh basket of benefits such as the air we breathe, the food we have to eat, and the clothes we wear so we should never pray or do anything without thanking God for everything. 

Consider this: why should God give you anything else if you don’t even thank Him for what He’s already given to you? We should be leaving out some of our complaints in our prayers and be adding in more thanks for those good things which we enjoy! Like having food on the table and a warm place to sleep and clean linens and clothes to wear. We take many of these things for granted but in other parts of the world, not very far from where we live, there are many who would love to have even the things which we throw away.

In the Old Testament book of Exodus, Moses had to put up with all of the Israelite’s complaints and their whining about all sorts of things…but they weren’t slaves anymore. Many of them even wished to go back to being slaves because they didn’t like the conditions of their freedom. Moses had to plead with God many times to redeem the people from His wrath or they would’ve been wiped out by the God Who had saved them. They weren’t thankful for the manna which fed them every day. They weren’t thankful for being set free for very long. 

We should be thankful for our freedom which was given to us through the suffering of Jesus on the cross. We are free from the burden of sin and it’s consequences if we have given our lives and our heart to Him. Yet, many times we begin our Christian life with Him and we are thankful for the burden being lifted and for a time we are very thankful. Then when temptation comes back and we slip or we feel that we are being wrongfully tempted we blame God for it. He didn’t tempt us but we want to blame someone and it is either Him or the Devil.

Be thankful for your life and all of the good things and the bad days that you have since many of our bad days would be welcomed by other believers who are in countries where they are persecuted much more harshly than we are.

He came for you…


He loves us as the Father loves us…completely and more deeply. Why did I write this in the present tense? Because Jesus is ALIVE and He still loves us just as God the Father loves us today! He didn’t die. At least, He didn’t stay dead. He was placed in a tomb but three days later He came out in the power of God and the proof of Who He truly was and is. Jesus came to bring salvation to everyone who is drawn to Him by the Father. To everyone who will hear and listen and believe in Him because He paid the price for your soul. The message which Jesus brought to the world is simply “repent and believe in Him” for your salvation.