So much to do…

How can I put this? The number of people who need to be reached seems to be growing beyond the ability of the workers that are available. Why? Because there are fewer believers willing to get the message to them regardless of the method used. Yes, there are plenty of “ministries” that are working around the world to reach the lost with His Message but there are still more at home who need to hear it too! Jesus came as a child…a baby in a manger and grew up as a Jewish kid learning the carpentry trade from His Earthly father, Joseph. Many sermons don’t tell this because after the time that His parents found Him in the Temple we rarely hear about His childhood or the vocation of Joseph. It seems to belittle or make a light thing out of His early life that He learned from Joseph.

While it is true that Jesus came as the Son of God, He was raised and taught the Torah by His Earthly father. Joseph also taught Him about being a Jew and living by the Laws of Moses and all of the Ten Commandments. I’ve heard some preachers and others say that Jesus was the Living Word, He didn’t need to be taught like other children. Why not? Just because He was the Living Word doesn’t mean that He was born with all of the knowledge of the Old Testament packed inside His brain. Jesus had to learn just like all the other Jewish boys His age although He did have the Holy Spirit to guide Him and give Him deeper insight into the Word that He was learning.

The Christian church needs to seek God’s Wisdom in our daily lives so that we can take His Wisdom with us everywhere we go. People need to see it in our lives and hear it in our speech so they will know that we belong to Jesus. Your life as a Christian is one that begins when you give your life to Jesus and ask Him to forgive you for all of your sins. Then you have to learn as much as you can every day from that point forward in God’s Word so you will know His voice when He speaks to you. Learn about Him and then tell others about Him too!

Listen to Jesus

17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/rom.10.17.KJV

The Bread of Life

God sustained His people in the wilderness with manna that was the bread of life for them. The Bread of Life for us today is Jesus Christ! Do you know Him? The Savior and Redeemer of the world and yet Christianity is one of the most hated religions of the world. The fact is that our “religion” isn’t a religion at all. Christianity is a relationship!

This is what God created humanity for! He wanted a relationship with us from the very beginning yet many people still don’t know Him. Why? Because of the “rules”? The New Testament church is bound by His blood and our belief in Him for our salvation, we obey His “rules” because of what He did for us not because of requirements or “rules”.

Jesus gave His life for us and He paid the debt for our sins and not just for the Christian church but for the whole world if they will accept Him as their Savior. We are called to be the light for the world to see. The Light of Jesus should shine forth from the church and draw those who are searching for His Truth to Him. If we aren’t being that Light then how will those who are searching know where to go or Who to seek out for their salvation?

The early church was a community of believers and we should be the same. I see a very different church today. One where couples and families come together as a church during worship services then they separate until the next time. This is fine…up to a point, but we should check on each other between church meetings. There are times when little problems come up for each of us that can grow into bigger problems before we can discuss them with our church family. Sometimes we feel so isolated from our church family until we will push “our problem” into a corner of our mind and suffer with it until it gets so cumbersome that we have to seek out our friends to help us handle it.

It is this community of believers that has come apart in the last fifty or so years and it is something that our church, every church, needs to get back to. Not exactly in a commune way but close enough to each other that we can be there for each other no matter what the need is, big or small or in between. This is the relationship that we should have in the Body of Christ and with Him too. If we aren’t doing this and haven’t been doing this then we need to start…NOW! I’m praying that the church will realize this and seek Him and His influence in this before the possibility of a revival is lost.

Show Christ’s love…

35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Luke 6:35 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/luk.6.35.KJV

Have faith…

6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:6 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/heb.11.6.KJV

Place your hope in God!

13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. Romans 15:13 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/rom.15.13.KJV

One day…

God brings us to each day with a fresh outlook so we can enjoy it by following Him. Some of us do and some don’t, but we muddle through our day making mistakes and asking Him to give us the wisdom to get through another day. As the song says, “one day at a time, sweet Jesus” and that is what we should be thankful for.

Each day that we have is a day to be His disciple and maybe someone will see or hear something from us that may point them toward a relationship with Him. We may never find out about it until one day in heaven, but I suppose we could find out while we are here too. It just depends on how Jesus wants it to work out. Today could be your “one day” to tell someone about your Savior and what He has done for you. Tomorrow may be the day or it could happen next week.

What’s the point of this?

The point is that you never know when your opportunity will come so you need to be ready. It could happen tonight or tomorrow or next week or some day during next month. Each of us has a day to enjoy life then if God wants us to have another day we will. If you have given your life and your heart to Jesus then you are His disciple and you are supposed to be telling other people about Him. After all, He gave His life to pay for your sins and mine, so telling others about Him and His love for them is the least we can do.

Don’t be discouraged…

5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. Psalm 42:5 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.42.5.KJV

Be still…

In our busy world today it seems almost like a joke when someone asks or tells you to “Be still!”. We want to say, “I don’t have time to be still, I have too much to do!”. Many of us think it, some of us may blurt it out but this is very true today. Our world, whether it is in a developed country or a third-world country or a war-torn country, is very busy, constantly moving in some direction regardless of whether it is the right one or not. When God says, “Be still and know that I AM God“, He is speaking of being still in your Spirit. Sometimes it does involve being still physically because many of us can’t focus on Him if we aren’t being still.

Can you be still? Many people are so busy running here and there trying to get things done yet most aren’t successful at getting the most important things accomplished. We do many little things during our day but many times we don’t get around to the really important decisions. “What is a really important decision?”; how about the decision to make Jesus your Savior so that your eternity is sealed with Him?

We live our lives and our careers so focused on “getting ahead” and “making sure our retirement is comfortable” but many people don’t consider their eternity. We live seventy or eighty years and spend maybe fifteen or so “enjoying” our retirement years by going to doctor after doctor. It doesn’t sound very enjoyable to me. Some do go on vacations and trips, then spend a month or more recovering from them. Consider eternity for a moment though. Even a life that lasts for a century is but a puff of smoke in comparison to ten thousand years and ten thousand years is only one tick toward one million years. Eternity is beyond our comprehension, so why not get prepared for spending it with the One Who loves you the most in all of the universe?

God sent Jesus to pay our penalty for every sin for every person from the beginning of Creation to the end. All that we need to do is believe it, repent of those sins and accept Jesus as our Savior and our eternity will be sealed with Him. Don’t believe the lie that you have plenty of time to make that decision because not one of us is guaranteed tomorrow. Just as the rich fool who built more barns to enjoy his wealth but God said “your soul is required of you tonight“, you or I don’t know when our time will be up! So, prepare for your eternity and make the decision to follow Jesus because not making that decision will send you to a place where you will regret your lack of decision for eternity.

We carry His Spirit

16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/1co.3.16.KJV