Category: Choose to follow Jesus Christ

Why are people leaving?


In Luke 2 the angels tell the shepherds that the Person who was born in Bethlehem is the Savior, the Messiah. The first four books in the New Testament are called the Gospels. What is the gospel? Its definition is this: the teaching or revelation of Christ.: “it is the Church’s mission to preach the gospel”. synonyms: Christian teaching, Christ’s teaching, the life of Christ, the word of God, the good news, Christian doctrine, the New Testament

People are leaving the church in droves. Some are young and some are even preachers. Some are older, parents and grandparents even. What has happened? What is happening?

Is it because of how the church has treated people over the centuries? Are people today looking at the history of the “church” and not really seeing the message of Jesus reflected in the people who belong to the church? Actually…I think that both of these are true and it’s unfortunate for the church and for the people who see the church this way. But it’s not because of their view of the church it is because of the way that the church is seen in the world and in the media today. All of the bad parts are showing and they are being highlighted more and more. So much so that people can’t see the good which the church has done.

It’s kind of like a beautiful white shirt or a pair of pants that have been stained with blood and mud and dirt and oil and it seems that it will never really be clean again. The outline of the stains will still be there even if you use bleach on it. People have used the Bible to justify horrible things like slavery and subjugation and that has nothing to do with the message which Jesus taught. Just like the life of a man, it doesn’t matter how many good things he did in this life. If he slipped just once and did something bad, it will be that one mistake that will be remembered.

It is the same with governments or politicians and the church. One slip up or word, even if it was unintentional and not meant in the way it was received, will cloud the perception of those who hear it or have seen it. No amount of apologies or restitution will ever make things right again. This is the reason, in my opinion, that people in the past twenty years or so have turned away from the church and Christianity.

In Philippians 2, Paul begins with this: If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, consider others as more important than yourselves. 4 Everyone should look out not only for his own interests but also for the interests of others.

The church, meaning the people in the church, should exemplify this teaching in the world today. Not showing the hate which has been associated with some in the church but exemplifying the love which Jesus taught about God.

Is it pity or praise?


Many people in the church look at their lives and say “woe is me”. They are having a pity party and they want more people to join them. Their actions and how they live show that they don’t believe that God has always taken care of their needs, even though He has. They look at their old car or their drafty old house and think that God doesn’t love them because they don’t have the nice things that other people have.

God doesn’t have to reward you for pitying yourself and your life and He won’t. God doesn’t have to give you wealth and prosperity because He doesn’t have to do anything. There are no magic words or phrases which will grab God by His money-belt and make Him respond to your request…because God doesn’t respond to us in that way at all! Living in a pity party doesn’t help your situation at all, in fact it may make it worse.

Remember this and commit it to your memory: God is NOT a genie! He is God and the Creator of everything in the universe. He has trillions of tons of gold and silver in the cosmos and He doesn’t need your money. Our pitiful trinkets of gold and silver are used for paving streets in Heaven, especially the gold, so our money doesn’t truly mean much to God. Our intentions and our willingness to follow Him touch God far more than any amount of gold or silver. Because God knows the heart and soul of all men and He can discern exactly what your intent is.

He knows if you are giving your tithes with a cheerful heart or if you are putting it in the offering plate wanting change back for your twenty dollar bill. So why would He give us money and riches as His blessing for us when we are going to spend it on “stuff” which doesn’t edify the church or bring glory to Him? Truly, God loves each of us but He will not reward us with wealth unless He can see that your heart is in sync with His. I’m not saying that He will give you wealth if you do have your heart in sync with Him but He is more likely to reward you in some way if you are walking along the same pathway with Him.

Your reward may be a long life to tell others about His goodness and His mercy. It may be a life filled with many blessings which many of us don’t recognize as being given to us by God. The miracles of God and His blessings come our way because of His love for us and our willingness to be useful to His Kingdom. Sometimes they are tangible but sometimes those rewards and blessings are laid up for us in Heaven not here on Earth where people can see them.

Live a life of praise toward God and give Him thanks for your life today. Walk with Him and seek His wisdom in your walk so that you might pass some on to someone else. Be attentive to the Holy Spirit and His voice by reading God’s Word and praying about all of those promises that you have seen fulfilled by Him in its pages. Thank Him for your life and your family and the health that you are enjoying, even if you get up with a pain in your neck or your back. Thank Him for giving you the strength to get out of bed anyway. Thank God for allowing you to be saved by the power and the majesty of Jesus and His atonement for you on the cross. God loves you and He has a purpose for you so seek Him out and ask Him what it is and how can you be closer to Him so you can fulfill His purpose while you are here.

The baby in the manger…


The angels told of a child born in Bethlehem, the city of David, Who was the Savior of all the world. They even made sure that they told the shepherds about His birth first. So why don’t we follow Him and try our best to walk in the way that He did so many years ago? Why are there many in the world today who claim that He didn’t exist or that He wasn’t Who He said He was?

Those who claim that He wasn’t the Savior or the Messiah are the ones in our world today who want all kinds of social programs and an easy life. This is not the way which Jesus taught His disciples. He told them that the world would reject their teaching about Him and that they would have troubles and trials in the world. Particularly when they were doing what He had told them to do. Why does our walk with Him bring trouble into our lives? Because Satan doesn’t like it when we are doing God’s will and working for Him in this life.

God loves each of us and we can choose to follow Him and do His will or not but the end of the story is this: what did you do when you felt His touch in your life? Did you answer His touch and give up your old ways and follow Him and learn what His will is or did you tell Him to go to hell and leave you alone?

Unfortunately, many people do exactly what the second part of that question point out. The problem with that answer to God is that you may end up in the lake of fire with Satan…for eternity. No party, no 70 virgins, no having fun with the devil in hell because he doesn’t rule there, God is still in charge regardless.

Make sure of your destination after this life BEFORE this life is over because there are no second chances once you have taken your last breath here.

Father, I am sorry.


There are days when I don’t live spiritually close to my Savior. There are days when I don’t feel His closeness and His love for me. Why do these days keep coming at me during this time of year? This attack comes from our adversary. The adversary which stirred up those who were jealous of Jesus and His teachings. Satan is his name and his followers go out and try to tear down our faith and wear us down to the point of not being effective in our witness and our life of being a Christian. Do many of you have days like this? I imagine there are more people who have days of feeling defeated and useless to God than there are those who are serving Him joyfully and with gladness in their spirit. Why?

Because Satan knows if he can cause more Christians to either doubt their salvation or feel useless in their walk with Jesus then their witness will be dimmed to the point of being non-existent. When that happens they can’t reflect God’s love toward others and nobody will see Jesus in anything that they do. So how can we live in our calling and in our spiritual walk with Jesus day by day?

We have to get up that day and determine that we will walk with Jesus today. Then do it again tomorrow and the next day and the next day until it becomes as natural to us as breathing. The problem will return though. Because when Satan sees you walking in the Spirit and with Jesus every day his attacks on you will increase because you are a problem to him. We need to pray every morning that Jesus would put a hedge around us with angels guarding our moves every day so the enemy can’t sabotage what your life and your witness can accomplish.

God loves each person and especially those whom He has called into His service. Sometimes we don’t feel that we are worthy of His call, like Moses, but He is our Creator and He will give each of us the knowledge and ability to accomplish those tasks which He has given each of us to do. God doesn’t call those who have degrees and lots of letters behind their name although He does use them at times. God qualifies those who can do that which He requires them to do after He calls them. Give your life to Him and see what He can qualify you to do in His Kingdom.

It is good news!!


When the angel announced the birth of Jesus this is what he said: “And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring good news to you of great joy, which will be to all the people”. Luke 2:10

Did you catch the last part of that statement? “Good news of great joy which will be to all the people“. This is saying that not only is this good news for you and for Israel and Rome and Palestine but it is good news of great joy to ALL people! Everyone on Earth can benefit from this if they will believe in the One Whom God has sent to be their Savior!

The announcement was given to the shepherds who were raising and caring for the sheep which would be used as the sacrifices for the people of the day. The One that the angel announced His birth was the Lamb which would take away the sins of the entire world! All that we have a responsibility for is accepting God’s grace and mercy through our Lord, Jesus. What better news can you get than being forgiven and welcomed into God’s family?

God told Abraham that the whole world would be blessed through his offspring and it has been. Many in the world don’t want to accept Jesus as their Savior and that’s okay because it is their choice. God loves each of us but He doesn’t try to force us to love Him because real love can’t be forced it has to be given. Just as He gave His Son to die on a cross for our sins to bring atonement for them, we should give our love to Him through our acceptance of Jesus as our Savior and our repentance from the life that we lived before we came to know Him.

When the angels announced the birth of our Savior they said that the whole world would have joy because of Him and we can! If we will accept Him as our Savior and truly try to live a life that is pleasing to God by walking in Jesus’ footsteps and according to His commandments. Joy and peace come through our relationship with Jesus and by our obedience to live a life pleasing Him. The things of this world do not bring joy or peace and if we feel that they do it is only temporary.

“Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” Luke 2:15

We have time….


This is the LIE that Satan wants everyone to believe! Even though Jesus may not come back for a few years, we don’t have time to waste. We are not guaranteed any time at all. Today could be your last day or mine. Tomorrow may be the day that you stand before God’s throne. Death comes to each of us when God determines that it is our time. So…we don’t have time to waste, especially if you haven’t given your heart to Jesus as your Savior and repented of your sins.

Have you arranged your eternal life with Jesus? If you haven’t then you need to be working on it. Read God’s Word, especially the books of John and Romans, then seek Jesus in earnest prayer and humility. Read those two books twice or three times if you have to but make sure that you have come to a point that you know you need Jesus as your Savior and then ask Him to come into your heart and save you from an eternity in Hell. God hears a humble and sincere prayer for salvation and I don’t believe that He would turn you away if you are truly sincere in your search and your request for forgiveness.

What does it take?


I’ve often wondered exactly what it would take for God to get your attention enough to move you toward giving your life and your heart to Him? Would it take a devastating illness or a death in the family? Would rewarding you with a lucrative career and wealth get you to turn to Him? What would it take?

Sometimes the illness “angle” would likely drive some people toward blaming God for their situation rather than thanking Him for giving them the strength to live through it. Wealth definitely wouldn’t work, unless they knew that it was a blessing from God which allowed them to become wealthy in the first place. Why do I say that wealth backfires as a way to bring people to a saving knowledge of God? Because the “rich young ruler” didn’t need Jesus, he just wanted to know what he could do to gain eternity.

Many times, in the Bible and in our lives, we hear of those who have come to the bottom of their situation and they realize that they truly need Jesus. If it weren’t for their circumstances they would’ve went on with their lives as if He had never been born or even acknowledged that they would need salvation from their sins. Wealth tends to be an impediment to salvation because a need is not present. People who are wealthy or those who have no real needs in their life to be filled by a Savior usually don’t seek Him.

Most of those who seek Jesus as their Savior are those who need Him in some way. Either to give them hope for an eternity with Him or just for the hope of salvation from a situation that they cannot fix themselves in any way. This is why the “love of money” is pointed out as the root of evil. Not the money itself but the love or the pursuit of it as the “god” which can take care of all things.

Consider this: your life and mine only last for a tiny amount of time compared to eternity. Prepare your life for the time beyond this Earthly life because eternity is ahead of you, so make sure of your destination and seek Him for your salvation while there is time in this life to do so.

How much more…


We are too comfortable in our plenty. When we wake up in the summer most of us have a cool house to live in. We go to jobs or other places where air conditioning keeps the temperature at a reasonable level regardless of the temp outside. The same goes for our winter homes. Most of us have heated, comfortable places where we can enjoy everyday life, even when we have to go to work. So…how much more should we expect from God?

In the news almost every day it seems that there are children and some adults who just won’t be satisfied with what they have. Every Presidential candidate that is running against our President wants to offer more free stuff to everyone. Free health care, free income whether you have a job or not, college education for free. That is not how a republic works! Who is going to pay for all of this “free” stuff? Someone has to.

Things like these and more stuff is not what we were put on this Earth to chase after. We are to be about the work of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. That is what the empty place is in your life and what was in mine too, many years ago. Every person is born with an empty place inside but we aren’t born with the knowledge of what fits in it. So most of us seek all kinds of things which will make us feel complete and whole. But the only thing which goes into that place is not a thing at all, it is Jesus Christ.

It is our spirit seeking Him which makes us long for something until we find our Who that is. That is why we are always looking for a way to be fulfilled in our lives. We are living with an empty place that cannot be filled unless we ask Jesus to come into our hearts and fill us with His Spirit and He makes us whole and complete. God loves us and He know who is looking and seeking Him and who is not. Those who are will have a chance to be complete and full of His Spirit. Those who think they already have Him may be deceived into thinking that they “have an arrangement with God” just like the Pharisees in Jesus’ day. Their “righteousness” was based on their own knowledge of God’s Word and His Law and they didn’t think they needed salvation or a Savior.

Unfortunately, there are many people today in that same place with respect to their salvation. Many of them don’t think they need Him…but they do. One day soon they will find out and on that day they will realize why they felt His call on their lives and regret their refusal of His Grace.

Give thanks to the Lord, always…


In Ephesians 5:20 Paul writes: “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

During this time of year when we give thanks for the blessings of God which we have received do we think about why God has given us those blessings? Do we think about all of our needs that have been met, at times without us even asking for them?

We go through some trying times and many of us actually blame God for those rather than thanking Him for the strength to get through them. Yet, we are supposed to give thanks to Him because it is a commandment…not a suggestion. God loves each of us and whether we realize it or not we should give Him the glory for all that He has given us. Although many of us look at what we have and we think that we are the ones who got this thing or that thing when it is really God Who has given us the ability and the knowledge needed to do our jobs and be able to provide for our family.

Being thankful for everything is not hard to do, but it is difficult to give thanks to the right One Who provided for us. We have grown up in a world that teaches independence and individuality so we look at what we have as our accomplishments and not as gifts from God. Living in the world as it is today we look around and see that the world is so focused upon what each person wants and their personal idea of the “truth” and what is right in their eyes until any idea of looking at the bigger picture is lost. To many people, it seems to make no sense. Why would they want to consider their actions having an impact on the lives of many people in the world?

If they aren’t hurting others with the way that they live then why should they care about someone in another country having air pollution problems or problems growing enough food? We have become so individualistic until we live selfish lives and look at the world around us and we just don’t care about anyone less fortunate than we are. 

Being thankful to God is actually the secret to a happy and productive life. So why can’t we live thankfully all the time rather than on just one holiday during the year? Paul wrote in Ephesians that we should be “thankful always” and that is why we seem to have trouble with this. Give thanks to God for your home and your family. Give thanks for your retirement or your job. Give thanks for your spouse and your children and your grandchildren and for their continued health. 

Thanksgiving is coming soon and we should truly give thanks to the One Who provides for us every day. Psalm 68:19 says: “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation”. Every day each of us gets a fresh basket of benefits such as the air we breathe, the food we have to eat, and the clothes we wear so we should never pray or do anything without thanking God for everything. 

Consider this: why should God give you anything else if you don’t even thank Him for what He’s already given to you? We should be leaving out some of our complaints in our prayers and be adding in more thanks for those good things which we enjoy! Like having food on the table and a warm place to sleep and clean linens and clothes to wear. We take many of these things for granted but in other parts of the world, not very far from where we live, there are many who would love to have even the things which we throw away.

In the Old Testament book of Exodus, Moses had to put up with all of the Israelite’s complaints and their whining about all sorts of things…but they weren’t slaves anymore. Many of them even wished to go back to being slaves because they didn’t like the conditions of their freedom. Moses had to plead with God many times to redeem the people from His wrath or they would’ve been wiped out by the God Who had saved them. They weren’t thankful for the manna which fed them every day. They weren’t thankful for being set free for very long. 

We should be thankful for our freedom which was given to us through the suffering of Jesus on the cross. We are free from the burden of sin and it’s consequences if we have given our lives and our heart to Him. Yet, many times we begin our Christian life with Him and we are thankful for the burden being lifted and for a time we are very thankful. Then when temptation comes back and we slip or we feel that we are being wrongfully tempted we blame God for it. He didn’t tempt us but we want to blame someone and it is either Him or the Devil.

Be thankful for your life and all of the good things and the bad days that you have since many of our bad days would be welcomed by other believers who are in countries where they are persecuted much more harshly than we are.

Do you know Jesus as your Savior?


God loves you so much that He sent Jesus as the perfect Lamb of God to take your sins and mine so that we can be reconciled to Him. We don’t have very long, because we aren’t given a certain number of years to live. I may die in a few minutes, you might die in a few minutes but you can become a child of God through confession and repentance and accepting Jesus as your Savior.

This is the only reason that I am writing here. I can’t make a trip around the world, but with God’s blessings and His Spirit working through these words, I can get His message out to the world. I pray that God will t touch your life and your heart and draw you into His family.

Thank you for reading and please tell someone else about my messages here. If they don’t know Jesus, maybe they will be drawn to Him when they visit.