Category: Choose Christ

Life…..


What does it mean to you? Liberty? Happiness? Freedom? Your pursuit of these things maybe? Life is more than just these feelings, it is more than we have been told to believe. So, how can we live it fully without knowing what it really is? This life that we live here and now is one that has been given to us by our Lord and Creator, God, who loves us unconditionally but this is something that we have to acknowledge about ourselves and about Him! We are here for a purpose and that purpose has nothing to do with stuff that we accumulate during our time here. I am talking about money, cars, houses, tablets and cell phones and any number of other “toys” that so many people chase after.

Your life and mine are short and since we are not guaranteed tomorrow by anyone, then what truly good thing will come out of all of the things that you have? Debt, bills, gas to be bought to run some, electricity to run others, cell phone plans and Internet connections to keep up with everything and everyone…all of this is like chains and shackles which confine and keep you from your real life. So, what kind of life am I talking about? I am not talking about living like a hermit and giving up all of today’s “wonderful gadgets” that we have come to depend on like some sort of drug but I am talking about getting your priorities turned around and going in the right direction.

God did put you here for a reason and if you are a child of His, then you owe it to Him and to yourself to find your purpose in Him. “What could that be?” you might ask? Well, the first step is to read the letters that He wrote to us and find out! The Bible is a collection of historical truths and poems which reveal God’s character to us and His purpose for us because it speaks to each of us in a way that nobody else hears. That is why it is called the Living Word, no one who reads it gets the same message as another person, and the next time you read a scripture it may say something different to you than it did the first time. Many people in the world that don’t know God can’t understand this and they won’t until they become Christians, if God calls them to Himself.

Yes, He knows who will accept the call and who will not yet He calls each of us. Whether we choose to accept that call or not is our own choice. He doesn’t shout or clout you upside your head to get your attention, but it is usually a whisper or a nudge and if you don’t recognize Him in it then you may not get another chance. Even if you do get another chance, you may not recognize His call on your life if you brushed Him off the first time. Life means more than many people realize, not only to you or your family but to God as well. Each life, each person is special to Him because no other person can do or say the things which you say like you can. Your ministry, wherever it may be, is special because only you can touch the people around you in the way that you can.

Your life here is a training ground for the eternity that is to come and the continuing work in eternity will depend on the answer that you give to God now. Believe in Jesus and the saving work that He did on the cross to redeem you. Accept Him into your heart and repent of the life that you had before, the words, the habits that you had need to be gone so that your life will point to a changed heart and one of purpose and meaning for all of eternity! The next person that you meet might take the message that spoke to them to hundreds or thousands of people! That is a life of true purpose and not just one that involves technology and stuff which has no good purpose in it except to enslave you to the world in which you live.

Give your life to Jesus and follow His example. Repent of the old person that lived in your body and their ways and determine to follow Jesus’ example. Learn His ways and His words, study the Bible and pray about the things which your heart and God brings to mind. He will give you the strength and the knowledge to carry out any task that He draws you to and He will bring you through the trials that come from this point on if you will walk with Him daily and allow Him to teach you the way that you need to go.

What would you think if I told you…


that I know what the secret to life is? You would think that I was completely out of my mind, and you would be right! I don’t know the secret but I do know the Person who does! Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Holy Spirit that we have as Christians living in us! Usually I start off a missive with a story or some other bit of information before getting into the “meat” of the message, but time is growing short and you need to hear this.

That’s what the Holy Spirit does for you. The Holy Spirit gave you the secret not only to life here, but to eternal life! He convicted you of your sin. He drew you to Christ (John 6:44). Don’t get the idea that anybody, you or I, can simply come of his own will and his own volition to Jesus Christ. No one could come. No one would come, except by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has given you the secret of life. And He has drawn you there Himself! That’s some best friend, wouldn’t you say? If you don’t want to know Him as your best friend, that is OK, but it is the biggest mistake of your life.

The mistake of living your life on your own, by your own rules will cost you your eternity. It is true that living without Jesus can be fun and there is no Spirit to convict you of any act or sin that you may commit, but our lives are short in comparison to eternity. I know that many don’t really believe that the Bible is the Word of God and some don’t even believe that it is true! My contribution to the world is small, but the One that is the focus of the entire Bible has changed the lives of millions of people around the world. His name is Jesus, the Son of God.

He is my Savior and I am bringing these words to you because I have to. It is my duty to tell others about my wonderful Savior so that you might want to know Him too. He has changed my life from one of sorrow and heartache, depression and fear to a life lived with the promise of eternal life with Him! I was a shy, introverted person most of my life. I was also angry because of my parent’s divorce when I was very young and I took that anger out on many people, but mostly on myself. I thought that I was the cause of their break-up and for a while I thought that if I wasn’t around they might get back together.

Foolish teen-age thinking is what all of that was and if God had not had something in mind for me and had been keeping me from really bad decisions, then I would not be writing this. I did a lot of stupid things like most do while in their teen years like drink alcohol and smoke pot. Granted, those are tame by today’s drug scene, but the drinking alone could have been deadly both to me and to others. My angels had a lot to do to keep me alive and well enough to get to a point where God could use me.

That is part of the reason that many people don’t like “church” I think. It is the serving part that seems to bother people the most, but consider this: Jesus gave up Heaven, immortality,  and eternal life to come as our Savior in human form with all of its limitations and pains so that we might be reconciled to God through Him! And, He did it before we were born!

God saw down through the ages of time and noticed each of us that would believe and come to know Him, and loved us enough to send His Son to die a human, agonizing death on a Roman cross so that we might be able to have a chance at eternity! How can you decide not to serve One Who loves you so completely? Ask Jesus to come into your life, and confess your sins to Him. Ask His forgiveness so that you can be made into a new creation in Christ. You will never regret it and you will have an eternity to enjoy it with all of your brothers and sisters who accepted Him too.

Time off


It is something which we don’t take unless we really need it and that is why I have been absent for a while. I have been having to deal with an auto-immune disease for a while and with the prayers of many people and God’s grace, I will conquer this at some point. It may just go into remission, but if it stays that way for a while then I will be grateful. I have used my time to rest and be the pastor that I need to be and to find ways to cope with this in a natural way rather than taking all the chemicals that the pharmaceutical companies want our doctors to prescribe for us. I don’t need all of the so-called “side effects” that are likely to be worse than the disease itself!

Anyway, enough about my problems.

Time off…is it something that we do or is it necessary at all? It actually is both. We have to decide to really take time off from our vocation and get away for a while. Do people really do this? In today’s society with all of the cell phones and tablets and laptops, it really isn’t very likely that many people get completely out of touch. I can do it, somewhat, because I live in a rural area where there is little or no cell coverage and I have to get my Internet access through a satellite. Granted, I am not out of touch because I still use my cell phone to check in with my Facebook friends and some other friends that I send text messages to over the wifi in my home but that is just my life.

Real time off should be a complete getaway from technology, although I don’t know if that is really possible in our society today. But, twenty years ago we didn’t have such a pervasive invasion of our time and our lives. Cell phones were present but the networks that supported them were sparse and there were no smart phones and no Internet to speak of yet. We and our parents and grandparents lived just fine without all of the technology that we have today and we made it alright. What happened? This technology was supposed to give us twenty hour work weeks and a better quality of life. It seems that life is more complicated and hurried and harried because of the technology that is so prevalent today!

Where can we find a peaceful alternative to all of the technology and the intrusion that it has brought into our families and our lives every day, almost twenty-four hours of every day? Can we possibly find a way or a place that we can have real peace and joy in our lives? Actually, it is not a place or even something that we can do to have peace and joy…it is a person, the Person of Jesus Christ.

Giving your life and your all to Him because He gave His life and His all to redeem you from the penalty of sin is the way to a joyful life and one that can be filled with peace. Contrary to what many believe, the sin which He saved us from is living outside of obedience to God’s grace and the belief in Jesus’ sacrifice for each of us is what saves us. The acceptance of His sacrifice and the repentance that you experience because of it will give you the joy that you seek.

The drug dealers and killers, serial and otherwise, along with those who persecuted and killed hundreds in the past as well as today will pay for what they have done. So will those who have swindled money from unsuspecting victims in the stock and bond market, the war criminals which killed millions during wartime, whether it was during the second World War or during a country’s “modification” of its citizens to a “new way of living” will pay for what they did.

Hell was created to punish only one creature and his followers and that is Satan, but if you have not given your life to Jesus and truly become a follower of Him, then you are on the same side as all the legions of fallen angels who followed Lucifer and were cast out of Heaven with him. You will suffer the same fate in hell because of your rejection of Jesus and the Grace extended to all of us by God the Father. It doesn’t matter what sins you have or have not committed in your life, the unpardonable sin is the rejection of God’s favor and grace through Jesus and the acceptance of your pardon through Jesus’ sacrifice. If you will not accept it, believe it and repent to be a new creation in Christ then your punishment will be no different from Satan’s.

Your life, your joy can be complete through Jesus. But, if you reject Him, your destruction will be complete and eternal as well.

Have you ever hit rock bottom?


Who do you turn to when you are down? What happened to bring you to this place? Is it your fault or someone else’s fault that you are down and out or depressed?

These are legitimate questions about depression and feeling as if you are in a deep well with nowhere to go but up. So, how would you answer them? Many are the answers that go with the last two of the questions and they are as different as we are from each other. The first question, however, is the one that I will concentrate on here because the One that you turn to is the most important decision that you may make in your life.

That includes the decision which you make concerning your spouse or the house that you choose to buy. How can the person that you choose to turn to in an emotional crisis have more to do with your life than your spouse or your home? Because He is your Savior and if the One that you turn to is not Jesus, then you need to examine your life and your heart because if He is not your Savior then you truly do need Him.

In our world today, there are many cares and worries that take up our time and our brain power each and every day and into the night. We are constantly bombarded with advertisements and ads on the Internet as well as from the radio and on television. I don’t know the exact number of advertisements that we see or hear each day, but I am sure it must be in the hundreds.

All of that information, welcome or not, is not good for you and the stress that it causes is even worse. Then, when you get past the stress, there are the bills and the other troubles of daily living. I don’t have to go into the details here but we are all exposed to far more information than we were designed to handle on a day to day basis. It was predicted in the book of Revelation that knowledge would increase at this point in time but the overload is staggering and the more age your mind has on it just makes it worse.

The problems that we have in this life, the ones that affect us individually as well as culturally, are the same ones that have been prophesied and yet many people do not believe this. We will see, in a very short while, that God is always right and that His prophecies are true. Believe in Him and His Son, Jesus. Believe in the saving grace that has been given to each of us without cost.

We don’t have to pay anything for this, Jesus paid the price for us, all that we have to do is accept it and believe. Because, your life doesn’t end here, we all have a soul which will live on with an immortal body. We will live somewhere, whether it is in Paradise with God or in torment with Satan, and we will be there for eternity. Billions of years from now, what decision will you be glad that you made here and now? The only decision which will matter at that time will be whether you decide to give your heart and life to Jesus and believe that He did all that was required for you to be saved….or to decide that you don’t need Him, which will condemn you to hell. Which will it be?

Salvation, what is it?


“Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” 1 John 5:1

What is salvation? I will tell you that it is not a creed. You might say, “Well, I believe in the plan of salvation.” You can believe the plan of salvation and go straight to hell. You’re not saved by the plan of salvation, you’re saved by the man of salvation, the person Who purchased your salvation with His blood.

Salvation is not a creed. It’s not a code. You say, “Well, I believe if you live right you’ll go to heaven.” If you could be saved by living right, then Calvary was a blunder and a colossal mistake! It’s not a cause or your church. You say, “I’m a member of a good, fundamental, Bible believing church.” It’s not any of these things. It’s Christ Jesus, the Holy One of God, our Savior and Redeemer, our Creator and Shepherd, our Protector and our Lord and King! Belief in Him, and giving your heart and life, including your money, your family, your job and your home to Him is the only way to Heaven.

I don’t mean , like the rich young ruler, that you have to sell everything to be saved, but you do have to at least acknowledge that your blessings came from Him and that you thank Him for them. Jesus did not mean that he would be saved because he sold all that he had, but that he had to turn his heart toward the Savior and turn his back on the things of this world. But, he couldn’t let go of his “stuff”, so he walked away sadly because the things of this world had such a hold on him that even when the Messiah asked him to give them up, he couldn’t.

Salvation is not believing in something, it is receiving Someone. The true gospel is one that centers in Jesus Christ. If you won’t put Christ at the center of your life and put everything and everyone in your life and family under Him, then what good are you to Jesus? We have been bought with the precious blood of Christ, our salvation was purchased by Him through suffering on the cross and giving His life as a ransom for all!

What have you given up for Jesus today? Did you decide not to eat that candy bar or maybe put down those cigarettes because your body, is the Temple of the Holy Spirit if you have accepted Jesus, and should be treated as a Holy Temple. It shouldn’t smell like the joint down the road, nor should it have garbage in it because that is what you want to eat! Change your ways, your eating habits so that it will be good for your body, your health so that you can be more useful to Jesus!
God loves us, and He created us to be the Temple not made with hands for the

Spirit to dwell in. What right do you have to mess up the living area of the Spirit of God? Would you smoke and leave garbage inside your church along with magazines and other things which you wouldn’t want anyone to know about, especially Jesus? He already knows what you are doing anyway, so why not admit it and allow Him to change you! Then, treat your body the same way. If Jesus is the Lord of your life and you worship Him with your body, mind, soul and your strength then show it…act like it!

The love of God is expressed through Jesus and the Holy Spirit and it is the true manifestation of God and we, as Christians, need to learn to notice it and accept it. Allow God to come into your heart and your life in a way that you have never experienced before. Many Christians have not even allowed Him to come deeply into their lives, every part of their lives, and that is what He wants of us. Because if He isn’t part of your life at home, at school, at work and at church then you may believe in Jesus but you may not have asked Him to come to live in your heart!

There are many people who can do a great job of acting like a Christian all the way to the pulpit even, but acting like one and being one is totally different. We can go through the motions and say all of the right things, but when it comes down to what or rather Who is in your heart, it is still you and not Jesus. Many people have died in this condition thinking that they were saved, when they had just been playing the role of “looking like a Christian”! Examine your own heart, ask God to examine it and convict you of anything that you may not be doing or of the fact that you have left Him out. Because, when your life is over there are no second chances to make it right.

Think about it.

A new beginning in the new year!


In the new year, we will all have wonderful days and some which are not so great. So, what are we to do about those days which are not so great? In many ways, we really can’t do much about those days which don’t go the way that we think it is supposed to.

Your daily life can be great but only if you are following the author of life Who is Jesus! Why does He have to be in your life for it to be great? Because you need Him! I know, there are many of you who are so independent and able to do anything that you don’t think that you need Jesus in your life, but…you do. Oh, we can make it through some tough times and taking our child to the doctor’s office is no big deal, we can even take ourselves to see the doctor once in a while. But, what happens when you or your spouse or your child gets really sick and the doctor gives you the “Sit down” look or speech?

What happens when you hear words like “There’s nothing that I can do” or “It has progressed too far”? Your independence from belief in God is going to go into hyper-space mode trying to get back to Him! Why? Because, at this point He is the only One Who can help! He can help and He will, but it may not be in the way that you are expecting. Sometimes God’s help seems to come too late or not at all and people wonder why.

Have you ever considered that your blessings in this life, including your family and your finances, may have been given to you temporarily so that the life you have after it is taken will be better and greater than before? Like Job, whom no Christian ever wants to emulate, people in this situation have two choices, curse God for taking your “stuff” which He gave you or to bless Him for being in control in the first place.

Our lives are supposed to be living testimonies to the world regardless of our situation in life and yet many don’t see it that way. Most of us seem to think that we were born to try to get as much as we can before we reach our expiration date, whenever that may be but…that is not why God put us here. It is very likely that is why this site doesn’t have many visitors on a daily or monthly basis, because I don’t “fluff up the truth”, I don’t cover things with flowery words and phrases. I give you the total, unvarnished message as it is given to me period.

I don’t mean to offend anyone with that statement but it is the truth. I have written some poems on this site and no one seems to notice. I have told a few stories and it seems that they aren’t good enough. I am ranting right now because that seems to be what gets people’s attention. The truth is that ….. Jesus is the only answer that you will ever need for your depression or your finances or your life! He is the only One that can help and make sure that you are a child of God.

He is not going to make your life rosy and rich, unless you were on the road to that already. Don’t give up on His blessings in your life but also don’t think for a minute that you and you alone were responsible for what you have because it is not true!

God gave you your talents and abilities and He gave them to you for a reason. That reason is to be a servant of His, not a slave as one who is dragged against his will and sold, but as one who has been bought with the precious blood of Jesus! Your sins were paid for with His blood and He wishes for you to tell others of the bondage that you were released from not a bondage that you were put into. I am a bond-slave of Christ, one who is willing to live for and serve my Master until the day when He comes back or He calls me home.

Give your life to Jesus and He will give His life, strength and purpose for living to you so that you can show it to others and bring them into the family too. 🙂

What is on your mind?


In the times that we live in today, many of us have so much on our minds until we can’t isolate exactly what is on our mind at any one time. Isn’t that strange? I have days like that even though I don’t work at a regular job anymore. How about you? Do you have days that have many things running into each other trying to get them done? You probably feel like you will run into yourself one day trying to finish everything, don’t you?

It is a day like that that this is dedicated to. For one thing, we all need to s–l–o–w d-o-w-n. Not only in our working lives, but at home as well. We tend to have so much for our family to do until we seem to forget that we are really, first and foremost, a family! If your workday ends on Friday, but you hardly have any time to spend with each other over the weekend, then it doesn’t really qualify as a “week-end” does it?

Even Jesus spent time with His friends and His disciples when all of the healings were finished and the bread was broken. He didn’t just walk away and not tell people that He didn’t have time for them. He created time so He could have as much as He needed. The problem was that He took the time to take the time with them, regardless of the amount of time that He had. Now, we can’t create time and He didn’t either while He was on Earth, but the point is that we need to control our time.

I know that time management is a course that is taught in college and it is usually found to be useless once you finish it, but your most important relationship here is your family and they should come first, behind God, but our jobs and obligations usually get in the way. But they don’t get in the way unless we allow it to happen, do they? I know, there are some obligations which come with our jobs, whatever they may be, that can’t be put on hold or put off until after the game or other family get together, but we should at least try to put family and Jesus first in our everyday lives.

Ask God to help because believe me, He can and will do it! Many of the reasons for people not seeing God at work in their lives is because they didn’t ask for His help in the first place! Then, after we do ask for His help we don’t or can’t wait for God to act! I have said it before and I am going to say it again because I have heard this advice from other Christians and other pastors as well: don’t ever ask God for patience! You will learn it, not get it, but you won’t enjoy the wait at all!

That being said, don’t hesitate to ask God for help in any area of your life. He is always there and always ready to help in His way and His time. Jesus is always there, waiting for people to call on Him to come into their lives and change them for the better, because when you become a Christian you are not the same as you were, you are forgiven and whole in Christ. You are not better than the person beside you, but you are forgiven which makes a difference! You are not sinless, yet you are forgiven through His blood and His sacrifice for you and everyone that you know! God sent Jesus to do this so that we could all come to Him through the atonement found only in Jesus. Come to Him and let Him show you how to order your life on a daily basis toward Him and His Word, to learn from Him one book at a time so that you can take it with you wherever you go.

Think about it during the next few weeks and give your life to Jesus. It is the most important and life changing decision that you will ever make!

Christmas, what is it to you?


This time of year is many things to many people. It is a time of hope, a time of joy and giving to others, a time of renewing friendships and relationships with people who are close to us. To some it is a time of worry and anxiety and being unsure of what to do or what to get someone special, it is a time of loss for some and a time of grief as well. Many people experience a very depressing time during this holiday season. In consideration of that, I have to ask “Why?”

I went through many years of depression and anger during this part of the year because of a divorce between my parents which seemed to coincide with this time of year. Then, about 18 years ago, my mother died on Christmas Eve. It wasn’t exactly unexpected because she had been sick for a long time, but it took me many years to get past the feelings which came during the holidays because of it. I am telling all of this to those of you who read here in order to ratify my ability to sympathize with the feelings which come during this time of year.

Yes, there are problems which we all have during this time of year. Bills, frustration, grief, heartache, anxiety, but there is also joy, happiness, kindness, love and acceptance between us and those that are around us. We can choose to be better human beings and be a blessing to those around us or we can act in such a way as to be labeled a “scrooge”, but it is our choice!

Can we choose to be better in our daily lives so that the holidays are more enjoyable? Yes, we can! It has to be a conscious choice though, not just a temporary or superficial show which is not real. Choose to be a better person and decide to work toward that goal, though many of us can’t accomplish this on our own. We have to be prepared to be changed from the inside out and that change is something which we cannot do on our own!

You can struggle all you want, trying to get free of sin, but all you’re going to do is sink deeper. Stop the struggle. Surrender to Christ, because you do not have what it takes to get out of sin unless someone gives you a way out. And that way out is Jesus. His name is wonderful. He is the mighty God, the everlasting Father, our Prince of peace. He is your salvation and the path to salvation, the only path that is available to each of us, yet it is our decision to accept this offer. Whether we accept it or not, Jesus is the only way to salvation and being free of the burden and bondage of sin.

Have you ever been down?


By that, I mean depressed, angry, upset with almost everyone about something that you can’t put your finger on? This is the kind of “down” that I have lived with most of my life. I never really talked about it with many people, not even my immediate family, but it has always been there. Like the monster in the closet or under the bed, never seen by anyone except the person that is scared of it, it haunts us in our minds and in our dreams when we are asleep.

That feeling of being down and not worthy of anything that the world might give you except despair is constant and it doesn’t go away. Christians get this way too. I feel it at least once a week, sometimes more, usually after a good sermon in which I delivered the words and tried to bring some feeling with those words. Yet, it was not received with any feeling by the congregation. I have no feedback as to the effectiveness of the sermon and it makes me feel hollow and empty, similar to someone talking to a wall.

The only solace that I have is to bring my voice here, that I might be heard by someone that will listen and give me some feedback. Then there is my prayer life and my study of God‘s Word which gives me hope because His prophets were hated, killed and despised by the very people that they were sent to, so I am thankful that I haven’t had any fruits thrown at me or anything that might cause bodily injury.

Many people think that, as Christians, we are immune to these sorts of problems when the very opposite is true. We see the world as no other group of people see it…through the eyes of prophecy and the Word of God. The news that we hear each day, is written in God’s Word. Maybe not word for word, but there are places in the history of God’s people that sound as if they were taken from today’s headlines. But, few people think that what we base our belief on is the truth. Today, many people call this book a work of fiction and fantasy. One day, when the sky’s roll up like a scroll and Jesus comes in the clouds, they will know that it is the Truth. I pray that it will not be too much longer.

It is true that being happy is a choice, but in today’s world it is hard to make the decision to be happy with so much happening in the world and so many people hurting in our world today. I hope that you can find some hope and encouragement in my posts here and in Jesus, because He is the answer to the questions that people are asking, many of them just don’t know it yet.

Many people try to mold their version of Jesus. To change Him into the savior that they want, and not accept the Savior that He is. This is something which our recent, within the past fifty years or so, Christian preaching has caused. We are responsible for making people think that He is only a personal Jesus. He is in truth, but He is so much more than that.  I think that is what causes us to feel down many times. We don’t give Him the credit and the position that He deserves in our life and in our ministry, whatever it may be.

Only through Him can we accomplish the calling that has been placed on us. He and the Holy Spirit are the Ones which accomplish the conviction and the transformation of souls into Christians, we only bring messages that point people in their direction. It is usually our own pride which causes us to make Jesus in our image instead of being transformed by Him. When we can get out of His way and let Him do His work through us and through the words which He gives us, then we will see the changes and the results that come from being “little Christs” like Christians are supposed to be.

What kind of message have you heard?


Many churches teach a gospel that doesn’t conform to the one preached in the early years of the church. In fact, their message is so different that you would think that it is an entirely different gospel altogether. One that doesn’t even teach that you must be convicted before you can be set free. How can you be set free from something that you don’t even realize that you are guilty of? When the clergy began teaching and preaching “positive thinking” and prosperity gospels, the church began to slide down a slope that it wasn’t meant to be on at all.

Jesus did not teach or preach about prosperity or positive thinking, He taught that we are all sinners saved by the grace of God, period. There is no way of thinking your way into Heaven, your own opinion of yourself or of others should be the same as God’s but your opinion and the work that you do here don’t get you into Heaven! Belief in and an intimate walk with Christ daily are the paths that will take you to Heaven’s gate. The first is a strict requirement, belief in Christ and His death which paid the debt for your sins. The second, an intimate walk with Jesus daily, is essential to your growth and maturity in your faith. Your walk and intimacy with Jesus is not necessary for you to get into Heaven, but it may have an effect on those around you that may need what you have, a relationship with Jesus.

The message being taught and preached in many churches has changed over the centuries, some changes were good some, not so much. The best that we can do today is to bring the gospel to those who are hurting, even if they don’t think that they need it. We may have to get in their faces with the fact that God loves them, but He doesn’t like what they are doing. Whether it is their lifestyle or the drugs or alcohol or whatever it may be that they are using, if their heart doesn’t belong to Him then they are on the wrong path and may not even know it!

It is our job, whether you may be a pastor or a member of a church or a believer who hasn’t found a church, to tell others of the grace and goodness of Jesus. He is the only One who can heal the hurt, the pain, the agony of their lives. He is the cure for their heartaches when life throws them a curve ball, He can strengthen you in ways that you can’t and He will! All that you have to do is accept Him as your Savior and believe in His grace for you, all of the other things will come in time.

In our instant society mindset, we have a problem with the idea of waiting for God to get around to taking care of things, but in order to be an effective follower of Jesus we have to learn to be more patient because He can see things which we can’t. We have “microwave mentalities” because of the stuff that most of us grew up with or grew into as we got older. If something isn’t done now, or at the latest by tomorrow, we don’t want to wait. So, we take the problem back from God and tell Him that we can do it better and faster. The problem is that He lets us do it and He knows what will happen because we didn’t let Him take care of it. We will grow through it, but we may not like it! This is something which I am struggling with now, because I want my problems, financial and otherwise, fixed today not next week or next month or even next year. I struggle with patience or the lack of it, waiting for Him and learning His ways is not easy but it is necessary to your Christian life and mine.