Category: Choose to follow Jesus Christ

Are you searching?


I’ve noticed that many people do seem to be searching for the Reason for Life. Who is the Author of Life? Jesus Christ! He is the Creator and a part of the Triune Godhead along with the Holy Spirit and God the Father. How can I say that many people are searching for something or Someone? Because of the number of people who have visited my little website which God led me to write years ago. Also, because of a search for Bibles on Amazon or any other retail location on the web. Many editions, regardless of translation, are in short supply.

The Holy Spirit is moving in our world today drawing as many people as He can to come to know Jesus as their Savior. The only real way to do this is from reading God’s Word or by attending a Bible teaching church or website. Learn about Jesus and seek to know Him as your personal Savior because He will be that and more. Don’t turn away from Him, especially if you are at the end of your life and you feel God touching your heart. If it is because of age or by reason of some disease which is bringing you to this point, don’t let your life end without Jesus being your Savior. Asking Him to forgive you and make you a child of God is the easiest decision you can make and it is the one which will impact your life far more than you will know on this side of heaven.

We truly are living on the edge of Revelation and if you have ever read this book, the problems which are described in the first few chapters sound exactly like the news broadcasts today. Life is not going to get easier from this point forward, in fact its going to get worse. Because the intolerance of the rest of the world against Christians and their so-called “intolerant” religion is ramping up in intensity and approaching dangerous levels of persecution. In some countries Christians are being hunted down and killed just because of their beliefs and for no other reason. We are being targeted in America because of our “intolerance” but the same thing could be said of their opinion and intolerance too. We are preaching the truth of God from His Word but nobody wants to hear it.

I pray that anyone who reads this post, regardless of the country you live in, seek out a Christian if you can. Ask them about their Savior and pray that your heart will be changed by Him so that your eternity will be with Him in Heaven. The alternative for eternity is unthinkable. Because, whether you believe the Bible and its Word about Heaven and Hell or not. now is the time to make the decision which will impact your eternity and that is a lot longer than your life here.

What do you believe?


From Acts chapter 16 starting at verse 29:

29 Calling for lights, the jailer rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then Paul and Silas spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house. 33 At that hour of the night, the jailer took them and washed their wounds. And without delay, he and all his household were baptized. 34 Then he brought them into his home and set a meal before them. So he and all his household rejoiced that they had come to believe in God.

It is our belief in Jesus and what He did for us, all of us, that brings salvation to us. It has nothing to do with our gifts or our abilities or even the church that we may belong to. Your salvation and mine depend only on the work which Jesus did on the cross and by His resurrection from the grave! Anything which we attempt to add to His complete work for our salvation is covered in pride and it does nothing to elevate us in the eyes of God.

Believe in Jesus the Christ, the Son of God and you will be saved. Repent of your sinful life and its ways and follow Him until that day when you go to be with Him. Because He was raised from death to Life then we have the Hope of eternity as well through Him.

Amen

My God is able!


Have you ever doubted that He would do something, anything for you when you pray? If you did doubt Him or His ability to accomplish what you were asking Him for…why should He do it? Doubt is the seed which Satan sows in your mind toward God’s power so that when we are in need and we ask for God’s help, we still doubt if He will do the thing which we asked for. Do you understand what that looks and sounds like from God’s perspective? It goes something like this: “I know that you will supply all of my needs but…”; “I know that you said that you would heal me by His stripes but…”.

Do you see a pattern forming here? There is a “but” getting in the way and it is caused by your doubt towards God and His power. You really don’t believe that He will give you this or heal you of that or even provide for you in your time of need. You say it with your mouth and you may believe it with your head but it isn’t deep down in your soul belief! It isn’t unwavering belief which is shaken but not torn down by the winds of doubt and fear. God is able to do ALL things which we can ask or imagine, if it is His will for us and our ministry to give Him glory!

There is no power on Earth which can stop God from giving you that which will accomplish His work in you and through you but you have to believe in Him and in His ability to do what He said and that He will answer your prayer. Will it be the answer you want? Maybe, but if it isn’t then God may have something better planned for you, He just hasn’t showed it to you yet. God loves each of us and He is able to do all of the things which the Bible says that He can do, the promises and healings and the blessings. But, when you doubt Him you are telling Him that you don’t think or believe that He will do those things. Maybe not in words but God knows your thoughts and your heart so there is nothing hidden from Him.

Trust Him and believe that He can and will do the things which you ask IF it lines up with His purpose and His will for your life. Trust in God and His purposes for your life and put that faith to work for Him and through Him you will be blessed. Amen

Use the gifts given so that more will be added to your life.

What we hear isn’t true all of the time


On the news and on Facebook and other media outlets there are many so-called “news” stories which are true but there are also many which are fabricated to inflame emotions and add to the fear in our world. God is still in control regardless of what you hear on television. He allows things to happen not so much to punish people but to try to get them to open their eyes and see with their Spirit. Each of us has a spiritual person inside of us but they are not fully realized until we accept Jesus as our Savior. It is only at this point that our Spirit begins to grow and mature. God’s Word, the Bible, is the only nourishment which can give us the strength to get through our life with any certainty.

Yet, in many countries and in our own nation, schools can’t teach from the Bible. In some schools it isn’t even allowed in or on the school grounds. Why do people fear this book so much? Because it is the absolute Truth and it came from God Himself, the Creator of all things! Those who hate this Book know it and where it came from, even Satan himself knows Scripture and he fears it as well. He will quote it to you, but he will twist it into something that isn’t exactly like God said it just as he did in the Garden of Eden.

Some people are asking why preachers don’t preach on hell and the consequences of sin any more. The real reason is fear. They don’t want people to be scared away from their church. It looks bad when people begin to leave. The actual problem is that people don’t really want to hear that there are consequences for their sins. They want to hear that they will go to heaven anyway. The Holy Spirit told Timothy through the apostle Paul that people would be this way close to the end of the age. “They will seek out teachers who will tickle their ears“; the people don’t want to listen to the sound doctrine which was given to us by the Holy Spirit through those who wrote down His Word.

In our world, people prepare (at least some do) for their retirement but there are very few who are preparing for their eternity. Most don’t even seem to think that there is an eternity waiting for them on the other side of death. There is and you need to prepare for it now because there are no second chances. If you choose not to believe in Jesus and not to believe in God and His Word then you have chosen to be in eternity with Satan because no choice is a choice. Seek out Jesus and His doctrine and His Wisdom through the books of John and Romans because it is in these two books that all of the gospel is contained and explained. God doesn’t want anyone to perish in hell because it was created to punish Satan and his followers but if you choose to not believe in Jesus for your salvation then you have chosen to be with the demons in hell. Consider an eternity with once angelic beings who hate you because you were created with the image of God.

Are any of us really OK?


There are so many things wrong with our world today. The stock market is up and down, the debts which our country owes are coming down but not fast enough, the debt which many of us owe to credit companies is out of this world. Are we really doing OK? In many ways, we really aren’t doing very well at all! The debts that we owe on money we don’t really have are only the beginning of our trouble. Then there are the sin debts which many of us still carry around with us, even though they have been forgiven or at least paid for through the blood of Jesus. Whether you or I have accepted His gift of forgiveness or not is up to us and many people still refuse it.

We go through life as if we are guaranteed a certain number of years and even though the Bible does say that we are allotted three score and ten (70 years) or possibly four score (80 years, by our strength), these are not guaranteed! We come within two feet of dying every time we get on the highway, regardless of which city or state you live in! We pass each other going at least seventy-five miles per hour and we are usually as close as 24 inches when we do pass each other. That doesn’t even count for early morning and late day rush hours! At those times, we are usually so close to each other until we could hand a cup of coffee off to one person and it wouldn’t hit the ground for two miles or more. We are truly blessed just to get home without any scrapes or paint missing from our cars or trucks!

Most of the time we don’t even think about these close calls we have that we somehow survived. We just look at it as if it were ordained that we would get home each and every time we go out on the road. The only real guarantees in this world are death and taxes. So why do we live as if nothing can ever or will ever go wrong? We do it when we are young, in our teens and twenties, and we continue to do it until we finally wise up and look around and some of your friends are dying before you. Some of them because of cancer or a heart attack, some of them because of a car wreck or even being robbed or shot while being robbed for something that someone else wants that you have. Are we OK?

It is a good question which really doesn’t have a great answer. Some of us are cruising along and doing pretty well, some of us are dealing with pains and other ailments and some of us are just waiting to die. Then there are some who just don’t care one way or the other, as long as they are doing pretty well they don’t really care what is happening to the rest of the world. There are even a few who can’t forget wrongs which were done, intentionally or not, many years ago. So, how do we get to a point of seeking the One Who can bring us out of this place where we find ourselves?

First, by listening to your conscience and the leading that you get from the Holy Spirit, whether we call it that or not. When you feel led to seek out God and truly find the answer to the problems which plagues mankind, then you will find His Peace through Jesus the Christ, your Savior. There are many times when we feel Him leading us toward a better idea or to search for Something or Someone that we don’t know or don’t have a relationship with but until we find that One, there is an empty place which can’t be filled with anything that we try on our own. That is the place where Jesus belongs and that is why anything other than Him just doesn’t satisfy and it doesn’t feel right until we surrender to His calling and ask Him to come in and fill that space.

Being just “OK” is not what we were made for and God never intended for us to be satisfied with that. God calls to your heart through the Holy Spirit and it is up to you to answer His call for your life. It is your decision to give your heart to Jesus and allow Him to change your life into the life which you were meant to live! If you feel that pull, that call on your life and you ignore it and keep ignoring it then one day you may never feel that pull on your life again. You will wonder what happened for a little while but you will continue on with your life as if nothing happened and in fact, that is what happened. Nothing. Don’t live your life for nothing, live it for Jesus and tell others what He has done and is doing in your life because nothing is scary when it is all that there is for eternity.

Why worry?


Is there anything that you can do to fix whatever the problem is? If so, then fix it and move on. If you can’t fix it then find someone who can and give the problem to them. If the problem happens to be something which no person can fix, then give it to God and leave it in His hands. He can take care of all of your problems whether they are lost keys, a test at school tomorrow, an illness which can’t be cured by human efforts or just a soul that is hurting in some way that can’t be fixed by any human hand…but God can. Worry is something that we do when we can’t find a fix for something but we don’t trust God enough to let Him have it long enough to fix it His way.

God can always find a way to fix our problems because He knew the way to fix it before you ever asked Him to help you with it. Sometimes we don’t like the way He does it or maybe even the time that He takes to fix it, but His way is always the best way. So, give your problems, whatever they may be, to Him and move on to tomorrow and the next day. He’s got it handled no matter what it may be.

Matthew 6: 25-34 is where Jesus tells His disciples this:

Do Not Worry
(Luke 12:22-34)

25 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns—and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?c

28 And why do you worry about clothes? Consider how the lilies of the field grow: They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles strive after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.

34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.

Are you tired?


Many people seem to be tired of waiting for the Lord to return, like He said He would. But we have no control over His timing of His return, so why do many in the church feel this way? Because Satan has been telling the whole world, including the church, that God has forgotten about you and He doesn’t care about you. He’s not coming back, you are on your own. Satan has been a liar since the very beginning and those who don’t read the Bible for their salvation through Jesus Christ or who have never felt His touch in their lives will miss this. Because Satan already has you fooled into thinking that you are capable of saving yourself and that there is nothing wrong with your life or your lifestyle.

Serving God and being obedient to Him and His calling in your life is not about impressing people or the crowd or building a “brand”. Being the person that God called you to be has more to do with the message that your life sends to those around you. Those who see you every day or on the weekend should be able to look at your life and your character and tell that you are born-again. If your life hasn’t changed enough so that others can see it and know that you are a Christian then you had better check with God through prayer and see if you really meant what you said or did or were you just “going through the motions” to join the church?

From what many polls say about those who claim to be Christians, there are more who claim it than those who own it! Out of the seventy or so percent who claim to be Christians, only about twenty-eight percent actually attend church and read their Bible at least twice per month. What I’d like to ask in these polls is whether they study their Bible between the church meetings or do they leave their Bible at the church so they won’t have to carry it around? Living the life of a follower of Jesus is more than just attending church once or twice a week or per month!

God knows who belongs to Him and who does not and there will likely be quite a few who are surprised on that day when He does come for His Bride.

God knows when the time is right for Him to send out the Spirit to take the church, the true believers, out of harms way. We don’t know and will never understand His timing because only God knows how or when will be the right time. Believers should work for God’s Kingdom based on their belief in Him and His Word and not on any degree of human talent or ambition. You were called to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and with that calling you should be faithful in carrying out His mission while there is time to do so. God loved us enough to give His Son’s life on the cross just to pay for your sins and mine and every person on the Earth who will accept His gift of grace.

That knowledge of Him and His Love for us is enough to keep me going until that day. Won’t you join the family of God by believing in Jesus and His atonement for you?

Who is this Jesus?


Jesus is everywhere in the Bible, if you will look for Him.

In Genesis he’s the Seed of the Woman. In Exodus he’s the Passover Lamb.

In Leviticus he’s the Scapegoat. In Numbers he’s the Serpent lifted up in the Wilderness.

In Deuteronomy he’s the Cities of Refuge.

In Joshua he’s the Scarlet thread on Rahab’s house. In Judges he’s the Perfect Judge.

In Ruth he’s the Kinsman Redeemer. In I Samuel he’s the Trusted Prophet.

In 2 Samuel he’s the True Son of David. In 1 Kings he’s the Promise Keeper.

In 2 Kings he’s the Jealous God. In 1 Chronicles he’s our Reigning King.

In 2 Chronicles he’s our Deliverer. In Ezra he’s the Faithful Scribe.

In Nehemiah he’s the Rebuilder of Broken Walls. In Esther he’s Mordecai at the Gate.

In Job he’s My Redeemer Who Lives Today. In Psalms he’s the Lord who is my Shepherd.

In Proverbs he’s our Wisdom. In Ecclesiastes he’s our True Satisfaction.

In Song of Solomon he’s the Beautiful Bridegroom. In Isaiah he’s the Suffering Servant.

In Jeremiah he’s the Righteous Branch. In Lamentations he’s the Weeping Prophet.

In Ezekiel he’s the Son of Man. In Daniel he’s the Fourth Man in the Furnace.

In Hosea he’s the Faithful Husband. In Joel he’s the One Who Restores.

In Amos he’s the Burden Bearer. In Obadiah he’s the Mighty Judge.

In Jonah he’s the Foreign Missionary. In Micah he’s our Peace.

In Nahum he’s the Avenger. In Habakkuk he’s the Lord in His Holy Temple.

In Zephaniah he’s the Lord Mighty to Save. In Haggai he’s the Lord of Hosts.

In Zechariah he’s the Fountain of Cleansing. In Malachi he’s the Sun of Righteousness.

In Matthew he’s the Promised Messiah. In Mark he’s the Faithful Servant.

In Luke he’s Friend of Sinners. In John he’s the Son of God.

In Acts he’s the Ascended Lord. In Romans he’s the Justifier.

In 1 Corinthians he’s our Righteousness. In 2 Corinthians he’s the God of All Comfort.

In Galatians he’s the Redeemer from the Curse of the Law. In Ephesians he’s the Head of the Church.

In Philippians he’s the All-Sufficient Christ. In Colossians he’s the Fullness of God.

In 1 Thessalonians he’s the Lord Coming Down from Heaven. In 2 Thessalonians he’s the Judge coming with Blazing Fire.

In 1 Timothy he’s our Mediator. In 2 Timothy he’s our Master.

In Titus he’s the Blessed Hope. In Philemon he’s the One Who Paid Our Debt.

In Hebrews he’s Our Great High Priest. In James he’s the Judge Standing at the Door.

In 1 Peter he’s the Chief Shepherd. In 2 Peter he’s the Morning Star.

In 1 John he’s the Word of Life. In 2 John he’s the Son of the Father. In 3 John he’s the Truth.

In Jude he’s the Lord Coming with countless thousands of his saints.

In Revelation he’s the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Live through the Author of Life


We wake up each day with His blessing because He has something for us to do. We may not realize it or even think that we know how to do it, but He will give us the strength and ability to do that which He has called us to do. God knows your strengths and your weaknesses and He can equip you to overcome those weaknesses and do His will in this life through His Life in Jesus. Don’t ever think that you aren’t important to God because we would not be here if we were not.

I realize that God can do things without us, but He can and will use us to do His will for His Kingdom. God loves us and He wants us to tell others about Jesus and the salvation which is available through belief in Him. Are you going to believe in Jesus for your salvation? God wants you to if you have felt His touch in your heart and know that you need Him in your life. So don’t turn the call of the Lord down because it is an eternal reward in the balance and your eternal destination as well.

Kingdom come…


What do you think this means? It is the Kingdom of our Lord which is coming soon to this Earth. Are you ready to live there and help Him govern the world?

What do you mean, help Him? The Bible says that we will be helping Him to govern the whole world during the one thousand years that He will govern the whole Earth and all of the countries which survive the Tribulation times. Have you ever thought about being useful to Jesus in this way? I never did but it seems that we will be doing exactly that. We will be in our glorified bodies too, so no harm can come to us during this time as well!

Why do I sound like I’m looking forward to this? Because, there will be peace all over the world for one thousand years, and we will get to see how much mankind can actually do when we aren’t trying to kill each other! It will be a glorious time to be alive.

I pray that all who read this will seek Jesus as their Savior while there is still time and safety to do so, because when the church is taken away this world is going to be much worse than it is today. Especially against those who choose to believe in Jesus during this time. Please, don’t wait! Give your heart to Him today!