Category: Choose Christ

Faith is powerful!


Acts 3

1 Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. 2 And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; 3 Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. 4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. 5And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. 6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. 7 And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8 And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God: 10 And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.

Peter had preached the sermon on the day of Pentecost just before this healing event occurred but what made this healing special? The lame man had faith. He didn’t know Jesus, but he was expecting something from Peter and John. It is that expectant faith which brings the miracles of God into our lives! Some of us who have given our hearts to Jesus and asked Him into our lives and our hearts have faith because without it we wouldn’t have felt the pull on our hearts to come to Jesus.

But many times our faith is tested in ways that we don’t recognize as a test and we don’t expect anything from that experience. We go through it and we may pray for God to give us the strength to get through whatever it may be, but we don’t expect a miracle from it. But…we should!

While the lame man was actually expecting money from Peter, it was that attitude of expectancy which brought his miracle into his body. He expected something, anything from Peter and when Peter said “in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk”, he did! He expected something and he got more than he expected from the encounter.

So, why don’t we get miracles today? Some say it is because miracles only happened at the beginning of the church age. I think it is because of our stubborn hearts and minds which have been “programmed” to discount things which science can’t explain. But miracles do happen today. Some of them are part of a medical treatment or surgery which God uses to bring a miracle into that person’s life. Which allows doctors to see that their treatment works in concert with prayer and faith.

Some of the doctors may not see the recovery as a miracle but there are times when a healing happens and the doctor can’t explain it because it happened through his treatment but not because of the treatment. In other words, the doctor wasn’t expecting a healing in this instance but the patient and their family were and God honored that. I imagine that many of these miracles happen more often than we realize. They just happen in the background and unless there is faith involved the healing might not have happened at all.

Are you one of the called?


In today’s society, we get calls all of the time. From telemarketers and scams and bill collectors and salespeople and from friends and family. All during the day and into the evening these calls come. Thank goodness for caller ID!

Have you been called by the Holy Spirit recently? Has He touched your heart and caused you to feel that Someone is missing in your life? If you have felt His touch or His call in your spirit, then you need to answer that call, that touch, that knock on your heart’s door so to speak. Because God uses His Spirit to call those who are needed in His service. Each of us has a place and a purpose for which only God knows that we can perform it and nobody else can. That is why Jesus called Saul to be His apostle to the Gentiles, That is why each of the Christians in the past two thousand years was called into their ministry.

Some of them were called to be witnesses or even preachers but many of them were called as Christian leaders in their home or community. Nothing world-shaking, no fantastic ministry spanning the globe. Just people who God knew could make an impact on those around them and cause some to come to know Jesus as their Savior. That is the ministry that some of us have been called to do.

Why would God use flawed, sinful human beings like us? Because we can relate to other flawed, sinful human beings! In the past, God has used different ways of getting His message heard or understood and today He uses us because the message is for humanity! God can get the message to us in a number of ways, but the easiest way to speak to people is through other people.

Will your words be heard by hundreds or thousands of people? It depends on whether you are called to be an evangelist who speaks to many people at a time or if you are a Christian father or mother who teaches their children and grandchildren about Jesus. God used a burning bush to speak to Moses and He used a donkey to speak to Balaam so He can use us in many different ways to get His message to those who need to hear it.

Even when those we are speaking to don’t want to hear it.

God can get their hearts to hear whether their ears are tuned into the message or not. Since God is in control of all things, the human soul is the spiritual heart and ear of each of us and He can use it to bring us to conviction and salvation. The thing that many of us don’t realize is that our salvation is based on our belief and our response to the conviction of our heart.

If someone told you that you had a fortune in gold available to you and all you had to do was to believe that it was real and take possession of it, wouldn’t you? But, when someone tells you that you can have your sins forgiven and also have eternal life with Jesus in Heaven if you will believe in Him and walk with Him daily by studying His Word and being a disciple of His…will you take that step of faith?

Seek your salvation by the name of Jesus and believe in Him for your salvation and serve Him in your daily living.

Are you certain?


Do you know for sure, without a doubt, that you are saved and sanctified by the blood of Jesus? Have you read through the gospels and wondered if any of this was real? When I was younger, I wondered if the Bible itself was real or was it just some fantastic book put together a long time ago. The more I studied it and read it and then read it again, I came to realize that, especially when I read about the martyrs and how they died for their faith in Jesus, this book and the stories in it had to be real! Because people would not die for a lie!

God loves each of you so much that He sent His Son to the Earth clothed in humanity’s flesh to be the sacrifice for ALL of our sins! It doesn’t matter if you are black or white or Asian or Turkish or from Kenya or Norway or Australia…God loves you!

There is no secret formula to become a Christian, other than believing in Jesus’ sacrifice for your sins and giving your heart to Him in repentance of those sins. That’s it! Then, walk with Him daily for the rest of your life so that others might get a chance to see Him in you! Christ died for you and for every other person in the world. He paid the price for your sins so that you could have eternal life through Him.

Why did He do this? Because of God’s LOVE for you, that’s why! God did not pick and choose who was going to be saved and who wasn’t, the choice is up to you! When you feel that conviction in your heart and know that if you died today or tomorrow without Jesus, you would go to hell. Make a commitment to Jesus as His disciple from this moment on so your life will have a true meaning and a purpose now and into eternity!

God loves you and wants the best for you in His Kingdom so make sure that you are serving Him in your lifetime.

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How do we know?


How can we know that we have been saved? Can we know for certain? The Bible says that “our spirit communes with God“, even when we can’t pray our Spirit is constantly speaking to the Father in utterances which we can’t say. God knows about all of your needs and pains and trials and is there with you in all of them. When you read and study God’s Word and ask Him to show you His grace through the reading of it, He will.

God desires fellowship with us, just as He had with Adam and Eve in the garden. The only way that He can have that fellowship is when we have repented of our sins and asked Jesus to cleanse us of our old ways and make us into a new creation in Christ! God wants this relationship with His creation, particularly those of us made in His image. But, it seems that many of us have turned away from Him and His Word.

We have gone after strange gods and strange religions which are not of any real god at all. Many of them are religions which are “man-made” which is to say they are the imaginings of mankind. God is patient and loving enough that He hasn’t punished us for this, but He is keeping His anger in check until the time of Tribulation, which is yet to come. The world will know that there is a God, the Creator, Who is in control and Who is going to show the whole world Who He is!

How can you escape the punishment coming during that time? By giving your heart to Jesus and living as a disciple of His until He calls us up to Heaven one day soon. The church is the bride of Christ and will be taken up from Earth before the trials which will come on the whole world.

Although, at that time most of those who are here during those trials will not know that it is God Who is bringing the punishment on the world because they have refused to accept Jesus as their Savior. The few who realize why they are left behind may be turning their lives over to Jesus, but life will be very dangerous for them at that time. The world will be against most, if not all, religions in the world but especially Judaism and Christianity.

The best defense against Satan and the world that will be against your faith is to give your heart to Jesus now and serve Him until He does return for His bride. He is coming back soon, just as He said before He returned to take His seat next to the Father. Don’t discount the length of time that has elapsed since the day of Pentecost, we have been living in the age of grace, the church age, and when He calls His faithful followers home the rest of the world will know it.

If you truly are sincere about getting to know Jesus and to make sure of your salvation, follow this link and begin reading your Bible and serving Him today.

How can you be sure of your salvation?

A thought for today and every day


FaithisKnowing

Be mindful


In the movies, particularly in “Star Wars” movies, you hear this phrase in reference to some evil deed being done or something which might happen if you are not mindful. In the writing which I am placing here, being mindful is being careful as well. Not so much in watching what you are doing, although that has a part in it, but also taking care about what you think or say around people.

Your thoughts and your speech betray your true convictions and words cannot be unsaid once they are out. We are always careful with our speech in church settings or in mixed company, sometimes at least, but why don’t we pay attention to our thoughts and words in other places? I have heard many things in public which shouldn’t have been said, especially by someone claiming to be a Christian. Many times I would think that “I wouldn’t have said that”, but in their situation or as the saying goes “in their shoes” I might.

We cannot judge a person based on the words they use or even what they say, although many people do just that. We are judged by our actions and our words in many ways, sometimes rightly and other times not so much. The problem with being judged by what we say, whether it is posted on a social media site or on a blog or said in public, is our responsibility.

So…we should be very mindful of our thoughts and actions but especially our words because they never really go away on the Internet. In public places, the damage that spoken words can cause is much worse than a bullet or a knife and it runs deeper and lasts longer as well. Life is too short to dwell on what has already been said or the damage that was caused in the past by misspoken words. All that you can do about those is to ask forgiveness and give the problem to God and let Him take care of it.

Watch other people and what they do and say, keep your mouth shut and think carefully before proving to someone that you weren’t taught any differently. Seek God’s Wisdom in the Psalms and Proverbs on all sorts of subjects and learn from His teaching so that you can be better prepared for life because His Word is our guidebook and we should pay attention (be mindful) to it in everything that we do.

 

The soul which sins will die


Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.  https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/18-20.htm
This law has not changed and will not change. God is sinless and perfect and so is Heaven and everything in it. Therefore, a sinner cannot enter into Heaven…period. You can’t set one foot into Heaven if you are a sinner. But, preacher, we are all sinners! Yes, we are BUT Jesus paid for our sins and His blood covers those sins IF you and I have accepted Him as our Savior.

SinSeparatesUsIf our sins are not covered by His blood because we have NOT asked Him to forgive us and we have not repented of those sins, then we will die. That doesn’t mean that we will die when we sin or maybe we will just a little at a time.

The point is this: sin separates us from God and keeps us separated until we realize that we need Jesus and confess that we are sinners and ask Jesus for His forgiveness and REPENT of those sins.

Recall that even when Adam and Eve disobeyed God (they sinned), He had to kill an animal and clothe them in skins, so a death had to occur to pay for their sins. God had told them that they would surely die if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He didn’t say that they would die immediately, just that they would surely die. Adam lived until he was 930 and I would think that Eve may have lived the same, but the Bible doesn’t record the age of the women in the Bible.

The point is this: God had never intended for them to die but since they disobeyed His command and sinned, they would die. Just as we do today. Death for those who don’t know God is a terrible thing. I don’t mean that they don’t know about Him, many people do know about God. Satan knows about Him and knew Him since he was created by Him, but in his pride, Satan determined not to obey God.

We do the same thing when we think we are smarter than God..when we think we know more than God or when we make plans without God in them. Sin gets into our lives in subtle ways. Sometimes it is through greed or pride or by us thinking that we are doing better than others. Problems arise when we are doing well in life because it is usually then that we think we don’t need God. But…that is when we need Him the most!

The rich man who thought he had everything he needed and built all those barns to hold his goods so he could take life easy…didn’t know that he was about to die. Just as we don’t know when we are going to take our last breath. God said that the rich man was a fool because his soul would be required that night. The rich man had allowed pride to become his god.

Any sin can separate you from God unless you have given your heart to Jesus and live your life following Him and not your own ideas and ways. It is the separation from God which is the “second death” because God is Life and eternity away from Him would be eternal death.

God doesn’t intend for us to be in eternity like this but if we choose not to give our lives to Jesus and follow Him and be changed by Him, then our eternity will be without God or the Life which only He can give. Will it be an eternity in fire and in the lake of fire? Yes, eventually it will be. That place was intended only for Satan and the fallen angels who followed him, but when we decide that we don’t need Jesus or we don’t want to live our lives in service to Him then we are no different from him. Which is why many will be cast into the lake of fire one day.

God has made a way for you to be saved from this and it is through the belief in Jesus and His atonement for your sins. Admit that you are a sinner in need of Jesus and His forgiveness. Ask Him to come into your life and your heart and make you clean and then live your life in service to Him and not indulging in your old life again. A changed life and heart cannot go back to living the sinful way they did before, but one who thinks they are changed and isn’t can go back with no regret at all.

Consider that your life, no matter how long it might be, is but a drop in an ocean. The ocean represents eternity. Which eternity would you rather be a part of? One that is full of Life and purpose serving God or one which is apart from God and in torment because of your decision NOT to accept Jesus as your Savior? It is your choice.

God thinks fondly of you!


Jeremiah 29: 10-13

10 For thus saith, the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek me, and find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

God loves you deeply and He proved this when He sent His Son to die and rise again in order to pay for your sins and mine! Some people think that God chooses a certain number of people or just certain people to be Christians and some to be sent to hell. That is wrong! The Book of Life which our names are written in when we come to faith in Jesus is not already written!

God writes our names into it when we come to know Jesus as our Savior. John wrote this:  “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” John 3:17

Your story as a believer and your life in Jesus is NOT written in stone. You can come to know Him as your Savior and all you have to do is seek Him diligently and ask Him into your heart. God loves each of us, He just doesn’t love the sinful lives that we lead when we aren’t Christians and our heart is still a slave to sin! I pray that anyone and everyone who reads this will come to the knowledge of Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

Don’t put off the most important decision in your life! Our lives are extremely short compared to eternity. It’s like a drop of water in the Pacific ocean, your lifetime is the drop and eternity is the ocean. Make sure of your destination in eternity before your life ends because this is the rehearsal for that eternal home which is promised in God’s Word. So make sure of it before you get in your car or get on an airplane or walk down the street because you don’t know if you will arrive at your destination.

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In Romans 1:16 Paul wrote this:  “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek”, and neither should anyone else who believes.

How much longer, Lord?


It has been nearly 2,000 years since the crucifixion of Jesus, yet God is still giving the world more time. Time to turn to Jesus and be saved, time to realize Who He was and Who He is and time for more to come to know Him as their Savior. When you look at all of the prophecies in the Bible you will notice that there are no more which are necessary to be fulfilled before the Trumpet calls those who have died in Christ and those who are living for Him now. We are living at the edge of history and its ending and yet more are still to come to know Him, so we wait for God’s timing.

the-great-tribulation-beginsWe don’t know what else needs doing nor do we know how many more haven’t been written down in the Book of Life but are destined to. But God knows who and when and it is very likely that it will be soon. We won’t know it until it happens and when that happens the rest of the world will know it too. For many, it will be too late, if they cared about it at all.  So what are we supposed to do in the meantime?

Why do I ask this question now? Because there are many on the Earth who are asking it as well. God is not short in His time and He knows when the Tribulation will take place. It is our job as Christians to live in obedience to His command and tell others about the gift that we have been given by grace through faith in Him. This cannot be worked for or bought and it cannot be bargained for because it is the gift of God to each of us who will accept it and believe.

Many wonder about this today if or when Jesus is coming back. You can be assured that He is because God doesn’t lie and it is told and foretold in the Bible that there will come a time of retribution and trials and that Jesus will come back to the Earth and reign for a thousand years from the throne of David. I pray that all who read this or who have heard a sermon about the return of Jesus the Christ will seek Him out and give your life and your heart to Him now before these things begin.

Some teachers are saying that the antichrist will come before we are taken up to be in Heaven. I don’t believe this. It seems that the book of Revelation is set up in order for us to discern His coming and the timing of His coming. The end of the age is near and we shouldn’t discount any prophecy in God’s Word. There is no exact date but with all of the upheaval going on in the world and all of the distress which is happening because of wars and drought and fires and natural disasters like hurricanes and volcanic eruptions…I don’t believe that the time is very far off at all.

Tell others about Jesus and His love for them. Seek Him out if you haven’t done so already because when the church leaves, the Holy Spirit will likely be gone from the Earth as well. Then the end will begin and that time is supposed to be so horrendous that all of life would end if this time is not cut short by the return of Jesus. Tell others and make sure that you are teaching from God’s Word during this time because that is the purpose of the church until God calls us home.

Be strong in your faith


There are so many things going on in our world today and every day. So much hatred and bitterness, some of it toward Christians and those who believe in Jesus even in America. In other countries, our faith is persecuted terribly in much worse ways than here. Life for Christians, even in the twenty-first century, is not easy because our faith and the One that we place our faith in is not very popular in the world today.

Many people cannot handle the Truth contained within our Scriptures or rather they don’t want to hear about its Truth, specifically because of its absoluteness. But…we must be strong in our faith and put your faith in Jesus. We cannot lose our faith, not now. Life is going to become harder and we cannot just give up. We must persevere and stay the course until our Savior comes.

God loves you and your life is in Him and in His Son, Jesus. Make sure your faith is in Jesus and is strong in Him. Follow Him, learn of Him, read His Word and pray for the strength to continue to follow Him until that day when the Trumpet sounds and the dead in Christ come out of their graves and head to the skies to meet Him!

Amen