Category: Choose Christ

Ministering to…


Do you have a specific ministry? Do you pastor a church or are you a lay speaker or maybe a deacon at your church? What is your calling?

Over the past few years, I have wondered these things concerning my place in God’s Kingdom. I have also wondered how other people have answered these questions. Not being nosy but just curious.

You may wonder exactly why I am asking these questions and the reason is simple: I need to know if my calling is actually doing anyone any good at all?

God called me into this ministry in late 2008 so blogging and writing these thoughts and small sermons are my real calling rather than just being a pastor. God calls us in ways which we can’t really understand especially at the time of our calling. So…what are we to do with the specific talents and other gifts which He has given each of us?

For one thing, don’t ignore God’s calling on your life! Get up and use your gifts for His Kingdom. The reward of your writing and telling others about Jesus is being kept for you in Heaven so you can’t lose it ever! In today’s world, most of us are too timid to get out in public or in front of an audience with His message but we should. He called His disciples to do so and if you have given your heart to Jesus then it is your calling as well.

Don’t listen to those voices in your head which tell you to turn this into a business and make as much money as possible with it. Money and possessions are temporary because when you die that money and those possessions are given to someone else. You will stand before God’s judgment seat in the same condition that you were when you were born.

If you have truly and sincerely given your heart to Jesus then you will be clothed in His righteousness and your sins will not be held against you as evidence. God loves each of us, saint or saved or sinner alike, but those who haven’t taken Jesus as their Savior will be sent to a very different place other than heaven and that is hell.

Even if your self-righteousness equals that of the Pharisees who put Jesus to death, it won’t be enough unless you have given your heart to Jesus and have lived by His teachings and not by the sins which abound in this world today. You have been given a gift which is God’s grace through Jesus our Lord. It is a gift which will take you into eternity with Him but if you don’t give your life and your heart totally to Him then your eternity will be much different in hell.

Why do I say that you will be in hell? Because a sinful life is a life of rebellion and it is in that rebellion which you are in the same “camp” which is occupied by Satan and his demons. They rebelled and you refused to live your life by following Jesus every day, so you are the same in the eyes of God.

Make your goal one which looks for Jesus and for salvation through Him because by following Him is the only way to gain entry into heaven and a life with your Lord and Savior.

Do you doubt?


Where does doubt come from?

This is a question which most people ask at some point in their lives. Christians ask it of themselves more often, than other people do. The answer will likely surprise you. Remember when Jesus asked Peter to come to Him on the water? Would you have stepped out in faith onto the surface of a turbulent ocean? I would guess that very few people would do it. But…it was Jesus asking him to do it and since Peter usually acted or said something before he thought about it, he stepped out of the boat and began walking.

What many people don’t read into the story is that Peter was a fisherman, he knew the water shouldn’t be able to hold him like solid ground. But it was Jesus that made the request of him. Peter had seen Him heal a blind man and feed five thousand men and their families from a child’s lunch basket. So, of course, he jumped out of the boat and landed on the water, not in the water. And, as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus and walking toward Him he was able to keep walking on top of the water. But…when he took his eyes off of Jesus then he began to sink into the water.

As Christians, we do this all the time! We feel His touch in our lives and we may even hear or get the feeling that there is something which He is calling us to do. As long as we keep our eyes on Jesus and keep our faith focused on the task which He is asking us to do, then we will be fine. But in the world which we live in it isn’t so easy. Peter had the luxury of being able to see Jesus, so keeping his eyes focused on Him shouldn’t have been a problem. We don’t have that luxury and we can and do get side-tracked and distracted from the One Who called us in the first place.

The account of this miracle is found in this text:

Matthew 14: 25-33

25 Shortly before dawn, Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29“Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” 32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

We doubt in our faith because we cannot see Jesus or the possibilities that are all around us. We look at the bills to be paid and the oil which needs changing or how much food we have left until our next paycheck. We live and move on the physical plane of the Earth and much of what we read about in the Bible happened on the spiritual plane which God lives in and inhabits. We can’t feel it with our hands or touch it physically but according to God’s Word, it is there.

And it is just as real or even more real than the world in which we live. Consider how Jesus could move and live after His resurrection. He could enter a locked room and speak with the disciples there and then just as easily vanish from their sight. Then at His ascension to Heaven He just rose from the ground and went up into the sky, no airplane or fiery chariot required or needed! Can you imagine having a body which will be able to do those things? When we are “caught up to be with Him in the air” we will be in bodies like His forever! No more aching and creaky knees and stiff joints. Praise God that is going to feel wonderful!

Our God is an AWESOME God!

Who is Jesus?


Over the last few hundred years, people have asked this question and truly wondered at the answer.  Why did they wonder about Who He was? It was evident in the gospels and in the prophecies about Him and yet they still didn’t seem to want to believe in Him or Who He was!

God sent Him to the world, to Israel, to bring the gospel to His people. He was foretold and so was His birth to a virgin in Bethlehem. But, the reality of His Person and Who He has eluded them because they didn’t want to believe in a prophet who came from Nazareth and was a carpenter’s son. How could the Savior, the Messiah come from such humble beginnings?

Why was it so hard to believe in Him or His Message? Why is it so difficult to believe that He was and is the Messiah?

It was difficult then and it is still difficult for many today because they don’t feel that they need a Savior. Many believe that their righteousness is enough and that it is good enough to get them into Heaven. When the Bible tells us that our “righteousness is as filthy rags“, how can it possibly be good enough to allow us to enter into God’s Presence? Jesus told His disciples that “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees, you will not enter into heaven“.

Many people don’t want to give up their sins simply because they enjoy them. Even though they feel the touch of the Holy Spirit in their lives they just don’t want to give up those sins regardless. It could be smoking or drinking or looking at pornography and they think that since they do these at home (mostly), their sins aren’t hurting anyone. But they are hurting their relationship with Jesus or the possibility of a relationship with Him.

We cannot be good enough to gain entrance without His righteousness covering our sins and us. There is no possibility for any of us to gain entrance into eternity in Heaven without Jesus!

Bridge2Salvation

God never forgets us


As much as the world would like us to believe that God doesn’t care about us, the fact is that He does care and He never leaves us alone in our suffering. He restored the world from sin’s embrace when He called on Noah to build an ark for the animals and his family. So if God will do that, He will also be near us in our suffering and our pain in this life as well.

Your family may be going through some sickness or other painful tribulation these days but God doesn’t stray from your side. He is nearby even if you haven’t given your heart to Him yet. Although many in our world see all of the suffering and pain in the world and they think that He doesn’t care for us at all!

Not a Sparrow Falls Verse_thumb[1]That is not true in the least! Jesus told His disciples that, “Even a sparrow doesn’t fall to the ground without my Father’s notice of it“. I paraphrased that Scripture but you get my meaning. Since God notices when a small bird falls to the ground how much more does He take notice of you who are made in His image? We are all made in the image of God so He is always watching over us, whether we belong to Him or not. The prayers of an unredeemed person are not heard until the Spirit moves their heart to yearn for Jesus. Then their prayer for salvation is heard and they are changed when that repentance is real and genuine.

Yet, many people claim to pray to Him daily and sometimes their prayers are answered, whether they are Christians or not. How can this be? Satan can answer your requests as well, up to a point, and he will make you think or believe that God answered your prayer when it was him all along. Why would he do this? Because of his deceptive nature. He wants to steer as many people away from belief in God and His Son, Jesus, as he possibly can. So if he can make you believe that God answered your prayer when you don’t belong to Jesus in the first place, then he will do it!

Remember, he can appear as an angel of light because he was one before he was kicked out of Heaven. Some people believe that Satan can only do things which God allows him to do. But that is against a person who already belongs to God. If you are not a redeemed Christian then you are already in Satan’s camp whether you know it or not. Until you are convicted of your need for Christ by the Holy Spirit, you are “at war with God”.

Life on Earth has been in a state of spiritual war ever since the Garden of Eden and it will be that way until Jesus comes back and sets up His Kingdom on Earth. Make sure of your place in His Kingdom before He calls the believers home one day.

What are you thankful for?


Psalm 107

1Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

2Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,

3those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. a

4Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle.

5They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away.

6Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.

7He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle.

8Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind,

9for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

10Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains,

11because they rebelled against God’s commands and despised the plans of the Most High.

12So he subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help.

13Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.

14He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains.

15Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind,

16for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron.

17Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.

18They loathed all food and drew near the gates of death.

19Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.

20He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.

21Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.

22Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.

23Some went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters.

24They saw the works of the Lord, his wonderful deeds in the deep.

25For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves.

26They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril, their courage melted away.

27They reeled and staggered like drunkards; they were at their wits’ end.

28Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.

29He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea b were hushed.

30They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven.

31Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.

32Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the council of the elders.

33He turned rivers into a desert, flowing springs into thirsty ground,

34and fruitful land into a salt waste, because of the wickedness of those who lived there.

35He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs;

36there he brought the hungry to live, and they founded a city where they could settle.

37They sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest;

38he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased, and he did not let their herds diminish.

39Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled by oppression, calamity, and sorrow;

40he who pours contempt on nobles made them wander in a trackless waste.

41But he lifted the needy out of their affliction and increased their families like flocks.

42The upright see and rejoice, but all the wicked shut their mouths.

43Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord.

ThankfulLivingThis Psalm is all about being thankful in all circumstances. This is what we should do every day and yet many of us don’t. We grumble and complain and gripe about one little thing or another when we should be thankful to have another day to live and serve our Creator and Redeemer! Seek Him in His Word and get to know your Redeemer and your Savior because it doesn’t matter what kind of car you drive or how big your house is…on the day that you die those possessions will belong to someone else. Make sure of your salvation in Jesus Christ so that your mansion in Heaven is assured and where you will spend eternity with Him!

Where are you, God?


GodwhereareYouHow many times have you or someone you know thought this or heard it in a hospital waiting area outside of ICU? All of us have said it or thought it at some point in our lives. Something doesn’t go quite the way we hoped it would or something goes terribly wrong and we do wonder about God’s involvement in our lives. Sometimes we even blame Him for what has happened. Especially if we have lost a loved one or maybe our financial blessings have been taken from us. We tend to look to God and ask Him “What went wrong?”; “Why did this happen to me?”.

We get angry at God during these times but if you seek your answers in God’s Word where another man who had served God went through all of this and then some, you will realize that the ruler of this world is the one who tries to make us blame God and lose our faith in Him! It isn’t God!

The book of Job is said to be even older than the books of Moses but God didn’t do all of those things to Job. He allowed them to happen so He could prove to Satan that Job would NOT lose or give up on God and his faith in God. Yes, God allowed it to happen but He told Satan that you can only go this far and no more. Here is an excerpt from the first chapter of Job to show that God did not take from him but He allowed Satan to do it to prove a point:

Job 1

Job’s Character and Wealth

1There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. 2There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 3He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yokes of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. 4His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.

Satan Allowed to Test Job

6Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. 7The LORD said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 8And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” 9Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? 10Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” 12And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

Blaming God for your losses in life does nothing about your situation, but praying to God and reading God’s Word will help a great deal. Learning about God and how He works in different situations in the Bible will give you a foundation to stand on which makes your faith stronger, not weaker. Follow Him in all areas of your life and your life will work out in the end so that others will see that God has been with you through the worst parts and the best parts too.

God’s names


El-Shaddai: My supply. My nourishment, Almighty God. Genesis 17:1.

Jehovah-Jireh: Provider and my vision. Genesis 22:14.

Did you know that many people do not believe that the history which is portrayed in Genesis ever happened? Also in the schools today much of our history is being played down or not taught as it was forty or fifty years ago. 

So, why did I name this writing, this article as “God’s names”? Because in the book of Genesis God’s names are shown to us and they show different aspects of Who God really is. Jehovah is the covenant name of God so with the -Jireh added onto it then it literally means “God my Provider”. As you can see from the two examples above, God supplies our needs and He is our Provider.

So…why do people in America and around the world see religion and specifically Christianity as a religion which marginalizes and excludes others? The only reason that they think this is because they don’t like the Book that we use as our Bible, it is God’s Word and the Truth. They don’t like an absolute Truth which can’t be changed because it is absolute!

The Bible is God’s Word and His instruction book to the whole world and it was inspired by the Holy Spirit and given to the men who wrote it down. It is immutable and it cannot be changed nor is it a document which gives us His wisdom for living. Although some have changed the words in the Bible for their own purposes, God has said that this will bring punishment to those who add to or take away from His Word.

This promise is in the book of Revelation, but I believe that the punishment will not be applied to only that book but to the entirety of God’s Word. I pray that all of those who read these words or those from God’s Word will seek Him out as their Savior because He is the only way to eternity in Heaven.kid_reading_bible

Read His Word as a child because His Word is good for instruction and for teaching and for your growth in faith and in the knowledge of Him. Don’t neglect the reading and studying of His Word because it is food for your soul and for the cleansing of your mind.

 

 

 

 

The great equalizer


In life, we are unequal in most respects no matter how much we like to think that we have equality. Only a few have money and are wealthy enough to live without much fear, yet even they worry about losing it in some way. Some others have “rights” to be equal in most respects to others who have seemed to have “rights” which others wanted. These rights extend to women as well as men, those who are of dark skin or some other “race” rather than Caucasian. The great equalizer in our world extends his reach to every person, whether of great wealth or poor, to those of dark skin pigment or light. His name is Death.

All of us die at some point or another and there is no one who will escape this appointment. Some of us may die at a young age and some may live a long life even past their one-hundredth birthday. But eventually, Death will find you. We don’t like to think about death and yet it will come to each of us at some point because it is the way of things and it is part of life. We are born, we grow, we live and we die. In this, there is no argument.

So why do we try to cheat death when we reach a certain point in our lives? We run and exercise and eat healthy (but bland) foods, we go to doctors who can tighten our skin so we don’t look as old as we are. All of this is foolishness. Why? Because your body is the age which it is and there is no changing that. Regardless of how you look on the outside, your cells and the rest of your body are the age which you are and there is no turning back the clock.

Death still comes.

Unless you have the hope of eternity with Jesus as your Savior. This physical life will end unless Jesus takes you home before you die. Which could happen sooner than most people realize. When will it happen? I don’t know but according to the Bible, it will happen. In 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-17 Paul writes these words:

13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this, we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

This is the only “escape” from death that will come one day. If you are a believer in Jesus as your Savior. If you haven’t accepted Him as your Savior and repented of your sinful ways then you will have no part in being taken up to be with Him. I pray that all who read this have given their hearts to Him and if you haven’t, please don’t wait. Death doesn’t notify you ahead of time when your time is up, so make sure of your destination before he comes to call on you.

What is most important to you?


There are many, many answers to this question and they are not the same for everyone. Some of these would include our family or our children. Other answers may be more generic like world peace or just to live a good life. But when you get right down to the “brass tacks” of what is actually most important to you…in today’s politically charged world and in our culture, most people really wouldn’t know the true answer to that question.

If you were held at gunpoint and your life was threatened could you come up with an answer which makes sense and is the actual truth of your life? I honestly don’t know if any of us are that certain about what or who is the most important in your life. I have been thinking about it since beginning to write this and I just don’t know for certain. Isn’t that a little weird?

I have been married to my wife for twenty-six years and a few months but is she the most important person in my life? What about my son? Is he the most important person in my life right now? Even if I changed the wording a bit and asked: Who is the most important person in your life? Would that clear the water a bit? For some of us it might help but for others, I’m not so sure.

What is my point with this question? For one thing, it is to get us to think about it because we rarely do in today’s world. We are so busy running around doing things, going places, getting things done or going to the doctor’s office until we seem to be in a continual spin cycle. We never really settle down long enough to think about who or even what is most important to us or to our family while we have the time to think about it.

And really, if you sit down for about ten or fifteen minutes you will realize exactly what I am talking about. We don’t sit and talk much anymore. We are texting each other or liking a post or a picture or something funny which we share with our “friends” on Facebook. What did all of that accomplish? What does our electronic “friends list” actually mean in our lives? Do you really know these people or did you accept their request because you both have a friend in common?

What about taking one day every week and spending it with actual friends while learning more about our Savior at church. No pushing to make a change in your life. No asking for money that you don’t think you have to give for the work of the church. Just friends meeting at church and listening to a study of God’s Word for about an hour or so. God loves you and me and everyone else in this world but He also knows which ones will spend time with Him whether it is daily or weekly or just occasionally.

How would your friends feel if you only spent time with them on special occasions? How about once or twice in a month? How would your family feel if you did this? God loves each of us more deeply than our family members do and yet many of us don’t give Him or His Word much time at all in our lives. Many of us don’t spend as much time reading the Bible as we do liking pictures on Facebook each day or even in a week’s time!

There would be a massive revival in America if we could get off of Twitter or Facebook and pay attention to God’s Word at least as much as we did to those social media pages!

If we read God’s Word as much as we read social media in our country, the world around us would be impacted in ways that we cannot imagine right now.

God should be more important to each of us than our “friends” or even our family because He made it possible for us to have eternal life with Him. Eternity without Him is a pointless existence but it will happen if you leave Him out of your life until you die and then its too late to change that outcome.

Think about it while you can today…right now in fact because you don’t know when your time is up.

Too much


Have you ever thought that God asks too much of us? I haven’t. God gave His only Son up to be killed on the cross so that all of us have the chance to be saved from our sins. Sometimes we do too much like I did today because it was cool outside, but God always does exactly what is necessary. He knows what is needed in every situation and for every need in our lives. So why don’t we trust Him for our salvation and for those needs in our lives more than we do?

Is it because we have too many needs? Is it because we don’t trust God enough to depend on Him for those needs?

Why do we think that our needs are too much for God? He is the Creator after all. He can create a star that is large enough that it would swallow almost all of our solar system, so what makes you think that a car payment or a disease in your family is too much for Him?Sun;_VY_Canis_Majoris_and_UY_Scuti_size

Our problems are easy for God to take care of IF we will give them to Him so He can. Many of us give our problems to Him and take them back as soon as we say “Amen”. Why? Because we don’t think He will do what we are asking of Him. So we take them back and essentially tell God, “I can do it myself”.

Have you ever thought that the reason for your prayer for Him to take care of whatever it is was because you couldn’t take care of it? Most of the time with disease or accidents we can’t take care of it on our own so why do we choose not to give it to God?

In most cases, it is because we are either not totally committed to Him or we really don’t have a relationship with Him (Jesus) in the first place. We have been to church or Bible school and we have heard the messages and even read the Bible a little so we think we are Christians…but we aren’t. Those are motions which we have gone through in our past but we have not given our heart to Jesus and we aren’t following Him in our daily lives.

Yet, we think that our prayers are being heard because we have had His blessings in our lives at some point. Those blessings may be because of someone else’s prayers for our blessing. They have a relationship with Jesus and it is their prayers which are being answered, not ours.

Prayers work when there is faith involved in them and in the person praying. God listens to the request and the faith of the one who is praying as well as the focus of the prayer. A child in a hospital or their parent’s treatment for cancer or some other disease may be the focus of the prayer but it doesn’t have to be. Sometimes it is a prayer to give traveling mercies to someone on a plane or driving somewhere. Occasionally it is a prayer for a passing grade on a test for someone.

Does God care about these things? Yes, He does. If He cares for the food provided to birds don’t you think that grades or healing or your car keys mean just as much to Him?

Give your heart to Jesus and keep Him in your life every day, no matter what you may be doing because He does care for you.