Category: Choose Christ

Feeding your faith and starving your fear!


This is needed in our world today because there is much fear in the world and it seems that our faith in God is dying. Why is that? Maybe because of the wars and all sorts of other troubles going on around us. These things can make us lose heart and lose sight of our Savior. Why not try reading the Bible? Not just as a book of Jewish history or so-called “fairy tales” as some people refer to it but as a Book of Wisdom and one which God inspired his prophets to write! Fear keeps us from living our lives to the fullest and it keeps us from knowing our purpose in life as well.

How does fear have such a powerful hold in our lives? Because we haven’t embraced our life, regardless of how hectic you life is or how miserable it may be. Life is what it is and there is no getting around that, but we do have Someone to give us hope and that is our Savior, Jesus the Messiah! He is always there and available to us to give us strength and hope every day. You can deny it if you wish or even try to argue about this but God is available to you all of the time. Learn this Truth through His Word and find His peace in your life. It isn’t hard to understand, but you have to read and study the Bible to get the wisdom out of it. Just as you do in school when studying for a test, cramming doesn’t work and glancing at it occasionally doesn’t do you any good either.

The Bible is a book full of wisdom which changes because of your needs. That is why it is referred to as the Living Word of God. You can read one scripture verse this month and next month it will have a different meaning for you through faith and believing in the Creator. Without faith in God and His Word, the Bible is just a book with words in it and nothing more. That is why many people have told me that they have read it many times and they get nothing from it. The reason is a lack of faith in what you are reading. If you don’t believe it or won’t believe it, then no book in the world will make sense to you whether it is the Bible or biology 101!

God loves each of us and we should believe in Him, yet we want to believe that every living cell, whether in a bacteria or a whale, came from a pond of amino acids and a few proteins which got struck by a bolt of lightning billions of years ago. Really?!! The amount of faith that it would take to believe that would enable a person to walk on water or point to a mountain and it would fly into the ocean!

Fear of the unknown, and the future is certainly that, is what keeps us up at night and that is the very type of fear that God says we shouldn’t have. Why? Because, the future is something that only He knows about. There is nothing that you or I can do to affect it because the future is out of our reach. Tomorrow is not here yet, today is, so let’s make sure that we take care of the time that we have in front of us. The only “tomorrow” that we can have an impact on is that which comes after our death and that only by accepting Jesus as our Savior. If you choose not to accept Him, then your future is also affected, but you won’t enjoy the eternity that you get if that is your choice.

Where do we go from here?


In the past few years there have been many books and movies about life after death and where we go afterward. It is a touchy subject because some people think that we don’t go anywhere and some think that we do and sometimes it can cause a heated exchange online and in person. Do you ever wonder about this? I used to but since becoming a Christian, I don’t worry about it any more but I do think about what the rest of the world may be looking forward to. Are you looking forward to eternity or do you even think there is an eternity waiting for you?

Some people even think that they will be having a party in hell with Satan, but according to God’s Word there will be no party. In fact, Satan HATES you and me! Specifically because we are made in the image of God but also because God placed us above him and above angels. We will judge angels one day, if we have accepted Jesus as our Savior and believe in our hearts that He died for us and our sins! Satan is not a god, although he wanted to be above God. He is not omnipotent nor omniscient, but he was a powerful angel at one time and he continues to use the power that he was created with.

Where do we go in our beliefs from where we are? Many claim not to have a religious belief in any being, whether God or Satan, supreme being of any kind. Why? If there is one which some people claim to believe in and follow then there must be the other. Evil and hatred can’t exist without love, they are two sides of an eternal coin, just as light and dark or heat and cold.

God loves us, all of us and has since the beginning of Creation. Satan has been in opposition to God and His plans, whatever they were, ever since the rebellion which got him thrown out of Heaven. Satan is opposing God right now through wars, murders, diseases, and all sorts of acts which mankind is inflicting upon each other through his influence over them. He targets those of us who are serving God by tempting us and causing problems in our lives, some of which God allows to test us and our faith to make us stronger. I know that and am comfortable with it because God will see me through it all.

What about your future? Your eternal future? Not just tomorrow or next month, but after your life on Earth is finished, have you even considered it? If you haven’t, you should because it is by God’s grace that we have our being, our lives, even our next breath. If you were to stand in front of God before the dawn tomorrow, would you be able to give Him an answer to “What did you do with my Son?” Could you truthfully say that you accepted Him as your Savior? Would your Christianity hold up in a court of law today? Is there enough evidence in your life to prove to a judge on Earth that you are a Christian? Because, if there isn’t enough evidence beyond “he was a good man or a good father”, then how will God receive you?

It is something that all of us need to examine in our lives because eternity is a very LONG time and you enter it as soon as you draw your last breath in this life. Whether that is today or ten years from now or even fifty years from now, your eternity will begin that quick. Make sure that you know and are at peace with your choice because you will be stuck with that choice, and it will be because of your choice not because God sent you there.

What do you want someone to remember?


It is an easy question and it is a hard one to answer. So, what do you want someone to remember about you or about something that you did?

Many people today seem to want to be as anonymous as possible so that nobody remembers them or what they have done. Then, of course, there are some who truly want people to know who they are and what they have done in their lives. Then…there are the rest of us. Those who want to be remembered for their life or maybe something that they said or did during their life. Hopefully, you will have met them during a good time in their life, when things are going really well and their lives are just clicking along like they should.

Unfortunately, most of us don’t have days or weeks like this. At least, not enough for someone to notice and they usually don’t until your life changes and something happens to you or someone in your family. Even then many people today don’t really care for their fellow-man, woman or children. We have become so de-sensitized to violence and accustomed to the distance between us, whether it is a few feet or miles, until we text and tweet to each other even in the same household or at the table.

Is that what you want people to remember about you? That you always had your head buried in the screen of your phone and you rarely looked up to notice life around you? I have seen many people in videos doing exactly that on streets and in the city but it also seems to happen in family gatherings and at church. Being distracted to the point of not seeing or hearing what is going on around you is dangerous. Not only to you but for your future as well.

What will people remember about me? Not much, I’m afraid. Growing up I was angry most of the time and a loner because of my parent’s divorce, but that was over forty years ago and I am over it now. My parents are dead and the memories that I have are just the good ones now. Today is the only time that we have that is available to us, so we should make it a good one. Tell those that you love how you feel and make sure they know it. Help someone if you are able to, get involved in a volunteer effort for someone.

Your life here will be remembered for only a little while by those who don’t know you well. Sometimes, even then you won’t be remembered for long unless you did something that got people to notice. In our society today you get noticed by the bad things that you do, but people rarely see or hear about the good that gets done behind the scenes.

God loves you and He wants the best for you. You may not get the best in this life, but if you follow Him and do the best that you can at being a follower of Jesus then your reward will be far above anything you could have here! Confess your sin to Jesus and ask Him to come into your life and cleanse you of the mess that you made. Ask Him to guide you into a new life that will be worthy of His Love so that you can reflect Him into other people’s lives so they will want to know Him.

Here is the basis for a sinner to receive Jesus into their heart:

Romans 10:9-10: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Simply it could be summed up in a prayer like this:

Dear Lord, I have been messed up in my life. Please forgive me and help me to bring You and your story to others. Come into my heart, Lord, and make me a student and a teacher for your Kingdom. Thank you for your sacrifice for me and my sins. Amen.

Think about it.

Lucifer…bored?


Lucifer…Bored!?

How in the world could anyone conceive of such a thing? He is in charge of Hades or Hell, whichever you want to call it, and the torment of all of the souls who are there. He has at least two-thirds of the world worshiping him in one form or another and is tormenting others, through disease and war, rape and murder. Why in the world would anyone think that he is bored? Contrary to the belief that many have today, he is not in hell yet. He is roaming around on Earth with us!

Granted, there are millions of demons and spirits to do the tormenting for him in most cases, but someone has to oversee them. He has been busy at this since that moment in the Garden almost six thousand years ago and he was starting a war in Heaven long before that. Bored? He is probably laughing at the idea, but I am sure he is encouraging those in Hollywood and Washington, DC in all of their endeavors.

Lucifer or Satan, as he is known now, has plenty to do. He keeps many preachers and churches going in the world. He likely attends services more regularly than many people who claim to be Christians. Our world is messed up and it is due to his influence and our gullibility in following his lead. Life, every day life, is his playground because he has so many people in the world fooled or so sick until they can’t see straight. How could he possibly be bored! He has all of humanity in his grasp and he tries to deceive the churches and Christians in those churches into believing that either he doesn’t exist or that he can’t harm me because I belong to Christ. What foolish nonsense!

Christians are his targets of choice because if he can make you stumble or fall into a sin, no matter what it may be, then he can destroy your witness. If he can do it so that your child or a friend sees it, and decides that your “belief” is not real then he can stop them from becoming a Christian. Which is exactly what he wants. Satan will lead as many CINO (Christians In Name Only) into hell as he can and he will lead their families too. You can claim the name of Christ, get all emotional and even be baptized but if it isn’t real all the way down to your heart and soul, then you are NOT a Christian!

That is Satan’s job right now but deception has always been his job and he has had thousands of years to perfect his craft. His demons have also had many years to perfect their form of deception and thievery. Why do I call it thievery? Because they steal your health, your children, your job, your home and everything that means anything to you…especially your marriage. These things happen all the time and it is not just because of man’s gullibility it is because of these spiritual forces, demons, powers, they are called by many names in the Bible. Suffice it to say that we are subject to their ways and to their temptations.

How can we defeat them? Through the power of Jesus Christ in your life! That’s how. Not an emotional feeling at a revival but a true broken heart knowing that you are a sinner and the only way to salvation is through confession of that sin and by giving your life and your heart to Jesus. You don’t have to confess every lie, every stolen pen or pencil because we have all done that. The sin that needs confession is that you have lived your life without Jesus in it and now you know that you need Him. You have come to realize that there is no way that you are good enough to be allowed into Heaven without Him! This is the only way…the only path which leads you to an eternity with Him.

If you cannot believe this or will not believe it, then you tell God why you refused His Son’s sacrifice on the cross, why you believe that you are worthy without His Blood covering your life. I have given you what can save you and Who, Jesus Christ. All that you have to do is ask Him to save you and cleanse your heart and your life because you believe in His sacrifice for your sins. That is all that the thief on the cross could do and Jesus said that he would be with Him in Paradise. No baptism, no works, no church service…just belief in Jesus and Who He is.

What are you waiting for?


Many people seem to want to wait until their last breath to make a decision about their eternity. Some, even at this point, don’t believe in eternity or God yet when they are faced with an incurable disease or a child that is sick they begin to pray. For what, mercy? To whom? If you don’t believe that He exists why should He answer your prayers? God really does love each of us more than we can imagine, and thankfully He doesn’t react the way we would if we were ignored or shoved away like our country and almost every person living here is doing today! If He was as cold and cruel as some think that He is, this world would’ve been remade thousands of times since the time of Noah! But, He made a promise then and in the other prophetic books of His Word He says that the world will be tested by fire the next time. Many people have speculated that He means a nuclear war, but God doesn’t need nuclear weapons to destroy with fire. He could cause a comet of a size that would cause a fire storm to ravage the planet to hit in a desert area or in a rain forest. He could cause ALL of the volcanoes in the world to erupt at once, even the ancient ones like the one in Yellowstone which would take out most of the United States.

It is true that, if you truly believe that He doesn’t exist, scientists would say all of this was happening due to “global warming/cooling” depending upon which direction you want to go. Consider, just for once, that God is the Creator and that He does exist. Also consider that with Him being the Creator that nothing is outside of His power to create since He created all of the known universe. Our planet is a very insignificant speck of dirt in comparison, BUT He decided to make us special. He created man in His image, regardless of color of skin or hair or ethnic origin. Then, after Satan corrupted our ancestors to go against God’s commands, we were influenced by him to worship things, both animal and inanimate as well as the sun and the moon and the stars. Mankind did all of this by Satan’s influence on our minds, because of our fallen nature we came under his influence to such a point that God regretted making man at all. If God didn’t exist and doesn’t care about us or this world, why would He care what we do here or how we behave? If Satan exists then God exists because Satan was known as Lucifer the Covering Cherub, one of the most powerful angels in Heaven and God created him that way.

But, Satan became proud of his strength and of the power that God had given him and he coveted the place of God. He wanted to be God, and he got one-third of the angels in Heaven to follow him in a rebellion to usurp the throne of God. He should’ve known that his rebellion wouldn’t work, but he was blinded by pride and his own ego, thinking himself above the Creator that created him. At times we think this way too, but we can learn from our mistakes if we will listen to our hearts and to the Spirit of God within us.

We are loved by God because of His image in us but also because He took special care to create us the way we are, not to be servants or slaves but to be His children. Any parent can understand the closeness and the feelings that their relationship with their child gives them, how much more would God feel for those living here? That is why bad things happen to people today….Satan hates us because of who we are in God’s plan and what we represent…a relationship that he could never have with the Creator, even if he had not rebelled!

It is for this reason that the world suffers so much. It isn’t because God can’t control Satan, He doesn’t allow him to have completely free reign of his anger and hatred or we wouldn’t exist! God holds him in check enough that there will be more people who will turn to God for His help and for salvation. Just as God used other nations to judge Israel in times past, He is doing that today not only with Israel but with the world at large. He is trying to bring as many people into the Kingdom as He knows who will respond to Him.

Losing our sanity!


Political correctness has gone so far in our country that it is getting ridiculous! We are getting rid of symbols and statues of the Ten Commandments, which many of our nation’s laws are based upon, and keeping a symbol of Satan in Oklahoma. They are considering taking down monuments all over the South and getting rid of all references to the Civil War, just because some nut sat behind a Confederate flag before he killed some people. I suppose we will have to clear off Mt. Rushmore soon since those aren’t PC enough either. Maybe we should bulldoze the monuments in Washington, DC since many of them were built with slave labor and while we are at it, get rid of the White House since it was built with slave labor.

Yes, I am venting a bit today. The past few weeks since the shooting in South Carolina have been crazy in some ways and encouraging in others. The love of God was shown to the boy who committed the crime because of the forgiveness that the families offered to him. There was no violence or looting because of it, but the fallout has been against anything which has to do with the Civil War. There were African-American soldiers fighting in that war too, I haven’t heard anything about that. Some of the slave holders were African-American, you never hear about that on the news either. I invite you to check the real history of slavery in the South, not the redacted version being taught in schools.

You know, God did not condone slavery in any form. Most of the Biblical writings which have anything to do with it say that any slave should be freed in the seventh year and not kept beyond that point unless they want it that way. God loves us, white, black, yellow, or red skinned because it is just a pigmentation in our skin that makes us different. Our cultures make us very different from each other, but inside we are the image of God, our DNA is nearly identical, our blood is no different other than the blood type that each of us has. There is no blood for whites and blood for “others”, God made us special in that regard. If you have blood that is A+ then we can share or give each other blood if needed. Your body won’t know the difference and mine won’t either.

The time that we are living in is so close to the end of the age until things are really getting crazy and it isn’t going to get much better in the coming years. It doesn’t matter who gets elected to office next year, the problems will still be there. God is in control regardless of who is sitting in the Oval office or whether they are believers or not. He will work things out to conform to His plans in His time. We need to be learning about Him, trusting in Him and expecting Him on any given day because it could happen soon.

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16-17)

The Sinner’s Prayer


sinnersprayerI can’t add much to this, except that I pray that those of you who have had questions about following Christ will earnestly pray this prayer and mean it in your hearts. Our world is not going to get better until He comes again!

Freedom of choice


It is what God gave to all of us who have it, angels and mankind, and we must use it for the right reasons. Not to choose to be evil or sinful or a killer, but to make a choice to be a follower of Christ! It is by God’s grace that we have our being in this world and to reject His gift of life and the atonement of His Son’s death on the cross is the truly unforgivable sin.

Why many people choose to do this and think that they can live their lives without Him in a world full of sin and death and corruption is something that I will never understand. Yes, I was a sinner once and I still consider myself a sinner saved by His grace. I remember going out and partying and getting drunk as a teenager, I also remember that the results of that behavior usually weren’t very enjoyable the next day either.

Even after I thought that I had become a Christian, I still fell in with the wrong crowd and went down the wrong path for a long time. It wasn’t until I became a father that I realized that if I wanted my son to grow up to know Jesus, then I was going to have to be a true follower of Jesus so that he could see me doing it. I began to seek Him out in the Bible and learn of Him more and when I did that I finally “got it” and realized that the voice which had been there all along, was His.

I had ignored it for a long time, but I remembered it being there telling me things weren’t right. I had just thought that it was my own conscience or my own thoughts, I didn’t recognize it as the Spirit speaking to me until I got to know Him better. We have the freedom to choose, even after we become Christians, but we should choose to follow Christ every day. That is the part about “pick up your cross and follow me” that Jesus was talking about.

It’s your decision, so make it a good one


This question or rather this statement was made by Jesus two thousand years ago, He said: “What will it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet lose his soul.” Our world is on the verge of doing just that, losing our collective souls because of our tendency to reject the Truth. Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to be forgiven of your sins and to gain access to Heaven itself!

Just as in John 3:16-17 it states: 16“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17“For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him

Yet, many people today reject this teaching, this prophecy, and some even reject the entirety of the Bible itself. That is, of course, your choice even if it is a bad choice. We are allowed to choose our own way and our own destiny, but what good will it do you if you come to the end of your life and find that God does exist and you didn’t believe in Him?

It may not seem to be important now, while you still live, but just a few seconds after your death it really won’t matter. This life is the only chance that you get to make that decision and once it is done, you will face your judgment by God. That is how it is told all through the Bible, when a man dies he faces the judgment of God. What you did throughout your life, good or bad, is taken as evidence and shown to you. It is your decision about Jesus and His atonement for your sins that will cast you into hell or not.

If you have accepted Him as your Savior, then your sins are covered and you are assured of eternity in Heaven. If you rejected Him as your Savior, then your soul will live on into eternity but it will be in hell, separated from God, forever. There is no gray area, no waiting for someone to pray you out of. The Bible is clear on this, and there are only two sides just as with a coin, heads or tails, right or left, black or white.

God loves all of us, no matter what color you are or where you are from, but the choice that we make about Jesus Christ will determine the direction of your life for eternity, Heaven or hell. Many people say that “My God would not send anyone to hell”, God doesn’t but He won’t force you to choose one way over the other. So, it is your choice which condemns you to an eternity in hell, not God. It is your decision only and you have your entire life to make up your mind about it.

But, when your life is over then your choice for going to Heaven or hell and your ability to choose which direction you will go is over. There was an old commercial that said something like this: You only go around once in life, so grab all the gusto you can! This was a commercial about a beer that you should buy, but the message is true. You only have one life in this body, when you die your soul and your spiritual body will stand in front of God to be judged for your life and what you did with it. Did you grab all of the gusto or were you scared? By gusto, I am speaking of Jesus because if you took hold of Him in this life, eternity is assured for you in Heaven! If you were scared of asking Him into your life or you just didn’t want to accept Him, that is okay but your eternity will be much different. Satan’s lies that many people believe say that God wouldn’t send you to hell for not accepting His Son. Maybe you’ve also heard this one: You will have plenty of time, don’t worry about that until you get old.

What about the drive home today? What if you don’t make it home? Your time may be up this afternoon and when you stand to be judged all that you can say is “I thought I had more time”. You will be welcomed into hell but it won’t be a loving welcome.

Seek Jesus in His Word, the Bible and pray that you can come to know Him before you life here is over. God loves you and wants to bring you to Himself, but if you keep pushing Him away then one day He will give you over to your life the way you want it to be and He won’t bother you anymore.

Think about it.

So many things happening


It seems that every day there is something new happening. It could be a new disease or some decision by our government that is going to change things or it may be something happening in the Middle East. It seems that much of the news every day has something to do with that area and it gets more and more intense each day. Every day more people die from diseases which were eradicated years ago, but now they have come back and are more resistant to treatment. Some of the diseases are not old ones but new ones or even some that are familiar but different in a bad way. Life just seems to be getting worse in some ways for everyone. Of course if you have the money to pay for the treatment, then your problems don’t seem to be so bad.

The problem with the money is that many people tend to use it as their “god” and depend upon it and what it can do for them more than they depend upon God. That is why Jesus spoke these words: “23And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24“Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”…. (Matthew 19:23,24) Rich people rely on their riches, their money, more than they rely and depend on God. They don’t think that they need Him because with their money they believe that they can do anything. The problem is that money can’t and won’t take care of you like that. It is just paper and that is all that it is!

We have been trying hard and succeeding at getting the Bible and its teachings watered down and taken out of educational settings, particularly in the past fifty years or so. It’s really not a stretch to see why our world is so crazy today because of the influence of the world and the culture which pervades our everyday life. Can it be fixed? Not by us!

We need to pray and get God and the Bible back into our culture and our country! Our laws were based on the Ten Commandments in the Bible, but our judges and our government have watered them down and changed words around so much, that most of our laws bear little resemblance to the ones that were put into the constitution in the past. God’s Truth and His laws are the only way to get our world back on the right path. I am not saying that we need to be a theocracy, but our world needs Christ not just America! I know, I am offending some by saying this but it is the truth!

One day in the not too distant future, people will wake up to a world where all of the Christians have gone missing. They are no longer working or flying planes or driving their cars, and their disappearance will happen while people are asleep in some parts of the world, but in others there will be wrecks of all kinds. Planes falling from the sky because there are no pilots, people missing from buses and trains, cars crashing because their drivers just vanished. I don’t know the date, no one does except for God. The world is going to be a very messed up place at that time, because many who have been in church but have never given their hearts to Jesus are going to know what is going on. It will frighten many people to the point of suicide, many will be going to churches and trying to find the answer.

It isn’t too late at that point, to come to Christ, but you will have missed the rapture of the Church. Life will not be easy for Christians because they will be blamed for all of the deaths in the world. Persecution will increase everywhere. If you become a Christian after the rapture, then you may need to go into hiding, but never give up on your faith in God. He will strengthen you and carry you through this time, even if it means that you have to give your life or have it taken from you, you will live in eternity with Him. Our redemption draws near. Seek Him in Scripture, pray and attend a Bible teaching church, ask Jesus to become your Savior before this time comes upon the world.