Category: By faith

You are invited…


Come unto me, all ye that labor and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28‭-‬30 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/mat.11.28-30.KJV

Much of the world does not accept this invitation. Why? It is the only way to paradise and eternal joy with God. The places in the world where Christianity takes root the best are in places where there is much resistance to the gospel. Places where many are threatened with death or with being thrust out of the family because of giving their heart to Jesus. The invitation has been open for a couple of thousand years now and many people have accepted it regardless of the danger to themselves. Some have even given their lives because of their love for Jesus and because they would not recant their belief in Him.

The invitation is an open invitation to everyone who may be seeking to fill that empty place in their heart. They’ve felt it for many years but they don’t know how to fill it. Money and power won’t fill it. Fame won’t fill it. Having a beautiful home and family won’t fill this void either. There is nothing in this world that will satisfy the longing for meaning in your heart except having Jesus as your Savior.

This was true when Jesus was teaching it to His disciples and it is still true today. Not one teaching in the Old Testament or the New is out of date. Every one of them is useful for our lives today…especially the gospel of Jesus Christ. Your life and mine will only last for a few years and there are so many who spend their lifetime trying to provide for their retirement. If people spent as much time and energy getting to know Who their Savior is and how to be saved by grace through faith in Him…there would be more Christians in this world today.

Most who have good jobs with retirement benefits spend lots of time trying to get as much as possible out of their 401K so they will have a comfortable retirement. Yet many of them will die not long after retirement because they are dissatisfied with it. There is no fulfillment in retirement, even though it is something they have been working toward for most of their lives. Some will even die soon after retirement because there seems to be no joy in retirement but joy can be found in Jesus and in Him you can have and enjoy eternity.

Wait for the Lord


One seed can make a difference


It doesn’t take a sermon. Just saying grace over your meal in a restaurant or even a fast-food place can plant a seed. You may never know if it took root until you get to eternity. Sometimes just helping someone with their groceries can plant a seed or even a kind word.

What does it mean to “be like God”?


In the garden of Eden, the serpent tempted Eve with those words to get her to eat of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. “You’ll be like God”. What does that mean exactly? Satan was tempting them with the idea that they would have God’s power and become as He is. The problem with thinking this way is that nobody is like God except God. Nobody outside of the Trinity can be or have His power. Satan knew this but he still used these words to entice them to go against God’s commandment about this tree. Because he knew if he could cause a rift or a split in their relationship with their Creator then Adam’s claim of being the steward of Earth would be null and void.

You know the rest of the story if you’ve been in Sunday school at some point in your life. Adam and Eve did fall for it and they were put out of the garden to live and populate the Earth along with having to work for everything that they needed.

Can we become “like God” to do His will on Earth?

YES, we can if we have given our hearts to Jesus and we are striving toward that goal every day! We will not be like Him in ways of being healers or creators in supernatural ways but becoming more like Jesus is the progression that we are seeking. Becoming mature in our faith brings us toward His likeness each day but we still have to work at it. We have to become more like Him just as the disciples did. With the Holy Spirit living in us, we can become more like Jesus Christ. Using our gifts and the wisdom that we gain from His Word we can spread His message around the world even if we only touch one person each day. That is at least 365 people in a year’s time. Then if they touch only one person each that gives their life to Jesus…the church is growing exponentially from that point on. Imagine how many that could be!

365+365 = 730

That’s just the first year! You get the idea. If God used each of us to touch only one person that gave their heart to Jesus and this kept going…there would be a worldwide revival of Christians before too long. God’s math is fantastic and He knows exactly how much and how many it will take to bring about revival in this world. The problem today is that the church is outnumbered by those who oppose our message…His message.

God loves you!


A powerful statement for us today


And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also if aught but death part thee and me. Ruth 1:16‭-‬17 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/rut.1.16-17.KJV

This statement should be part of every wedding ceremony. If those who are being joined in marriage are willing to abide by this covenant, it is likely the relationship will last. Many people don’t take commitment seriously today but your marriage is not just between you and your spouse. This is a covenant between you, your spouse, and God. If you are not going to be serious about it then you might as well not go through with it.

The family has suffered greatly for many years. Due to some outdated ideas of marriage and the relationship between husband and wife. Some have used the scripture to demean the relationship between spouses and cause violence in their homes. Scripture has been used to justify the slavery that America allowed for so long. It was used wrongfully to make slavery seem accepted between man and God but that is not what God’s Word said. I don’t want to get into this debate but the church has caused a lot of harm over the last two thousand years and I pray that soon that will change.

The book of Ruth shows that redemption and love come from God and redemption is shown in this book is the type that exists between God and His people and the church today. God redeemed us through Jesus and His sacrifice as the perfect Lamb of God. God has always intended that the relationship between a man and a woman be a reflection of His relationship with us. This is shown in many books and stories told in His Word.

God loves us unconditionally just as the love in marriage becomes over time. While it begins as romantic and erotic love, the marriage relationship should become one that is unconditional and deeper in meaning. Some think that the love they see in their parent’s and grandparent’s relationships should be the way it is after the wedding but it takes time. Seeing the beauty of someone on the inside and loving that person is the way that God looks at us. He loves the person that we will be after Jesus comes into our life.

Being this kind of person is not intuitive or natural for us but when the Holy Spirit changes our hearts, we can be this way. It isn’t easy and it doesn’t happen instantly but with prayer and study of God’s Word, “washing our mind in the living water of His Word“, we can become more like Him. We will become the type of Christian that we should be.

Work for the Lord, whatever you do


Love and the wedding feast


Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 1 Corinthians 13:4‭-‬10 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/1co.13.4-10.ESV

This is a description of love in human terms but it is also the way that God loves us except that His love is truly unconditional. In the parable of the wedding feast where this king has prepared a wedding feast for his son’s wedding, Jesus said that all of those who were invited refused to come. So, the king sent his servants out and found people who would come to the wedding feast. Now, the king had told them to go out into the streets and the highways and find people who were willing to come to the feast. But…in order for them to attend the wedding feast, they had to put on wedding clothes.

Many of them, in fact, most of them did put on the wedding clothes that they were given. Garments of pure white. All of them except one. When he was noticed, the king said to bind him and cast him out. Why? Because he didn’t put on the garments that were offered to him to be there. Some use this parable to say that God doesn’t want us to come as we are but He does. His servants in this parable brought the people into the feast just as they were but they had to put on their wedding clothes. The wedding clothes symbolize the righteousness of Jesus Christ that we accept when we accept Him as our Savior. Without His righteousness covering our sinfulness and all of our sins, we wouldn’t be allowed into Heaven.

We are called and chosen just as we are, warts and blemishes and scars included but when we accept Jesus as our Savior we are clothed in His righteousness. So when God looks at us, He sees His Son’s righteousness covering us so we are allowed into the banquet. Jesus does call those who are flawed and sinful to be His servants and His followers in this world because those who believe that their “righteousness” is good enough don’t believe that they need Him. Like the man who didn’t put on the wedding clothes, they believe that their “righteous” clothes are good enough.

Make sure you have your wedding clothes on.

Put your faith in the Lord


What have you sown?


It is in prophecy that there will be many false teachers during the last days. Whether many believe it or not, we are living in the last days before the Tribulation. The Truth of God’s Word is that which should be preached in these days, not teachings of men or “ideas” or “visions” that someone claims to have. God’s Word is the Truth and it is that which saves you from the punishment for sins. Not just reading it or hearing it but seeking the Savior in it and becoming a follower of His and not just a hearer but a person who does what God’s Words asks of him.

Go and tell others of the salvation brought to you and bought for you by the blood of Jesus. This life of ours is fleeting and very short compared to eternity. Make sure of your place in eternity because once this life is over you don’t get a “pass” or a “do-over”. The choice that you make in this life, even up to the day of your death, are what determines your eternal place. It will either be in torment because you rejected Jesus or it will be in Heaven because you accepted His call to be one of His disciples and followers.

Some even preach that you can claim your rewards now in this life. To a certain extent that may be true, if you are asking according to God’s will for your life and for an actual “need” in your life. God doesn’t grant wishes like some genie. He only gives to us those things which will enable us to be useful to Him and His Kingdom and bring Him glory. Those who claim to have millions and fame for themselves from God I would question their true relationship with Him. God does not share the throne with us. The only One Who sits next to the Father is His Son.

We who are saved by His grace and His call on us have the third Person of the Trinity living with us, the Holy Spirit of God. He agrees with our Spirit to ask for those needs that we have whether they are for healing or for our ability to do God’s will in this life. God knows the ones that He has called to be His own and He knows who has accepted that calling. Make sure of your calling and what you are doing for Him by prayer and fasting and by reading His Word. This is the only way to know for sure what you are sowing into eternity.