Category: doubts and fears

Is The Covid-19 Vaccine The Mark Of The Beast? This Answer Should Give You Closure And Peace.


Good Evening ⠠⠎⠁⠔⠞⠎⠖

I hope you and your family are having a wonderful weekend. As the nation scrambles to reopen and get back to a sense of normalcy, I would like to clarify some recent concerns regarding the vaccine being “the mark of the beast.” In the beginning of my summer vacation last year, I got both doses of the Pfizer vaccine, and was boosted in January 2022. While some of these vaccines were not FDA approved at the time, I felt that this was the right decision, not only for my own safety, but for the safety of my family, my friends, and my country. While there have been many side effects that have been linked to some of these shots, I believe that it would help produce antibodies that would protect us from the severe strains that have been spreading across the world. I myself understand the concern that is being expressed due to the fact that scientists managed to find three vaccinations at such a fast rate. I applaud their diligence and their determination to come to us with an effective treatment that would save lives, and lead us on the path to herd immunity. After being in quarantine for a whole year, I feel like this is a wonderful opportunity for each and every one of us to return to the days where we could spend time with the people we truly love face-to-face! While there are many pros and cons to taking these shots, I don’t believe that this is the mark of the beast that is referenced in Revelations 13:15:18, although many prophets claim ⠕⠮⠗⠺⠊⠎⠑⠲

In this presentation, I will aim to share with you some Scripture to back up my claim, and to encourage you to seek truth for yourself. When I shared this evidence with other Christians online, I have received a lot of controversary from others. One time, someone had the audacity to call me “faithless” for “fearing the virus more than God”, when I am going the extra mile to protect families from Covid. Just because we have faith in Jesus deos not mean we are immune from getting sick or suffering affliction. To the people who continue to spew these mark of the beast claims about the Covid vaccine, you are endangering lives. It is time that these prophecies finally be EXPOSED for what they are: A big fat lie wrapped with the sweet package of Christianese! Satan has been spreading this lie for far too long, and I cannot stand by and let this destructive trend go unchecked any longer!

Scripture tells us that the “mark” would be engraved in the right hand and the forehead, and no one will be able to buy or sell anything without it. This mark would be implanted by a false prophet (the second beast), and would be required by the Antichrist, who is believed to be the son of Satan, performing deceitful and wicked works. He would then rule during the seven year Tribulation. While many Christians and Bible scholars interpret the mysteries of this mark differently, we must not take the book of Revelations in a literal way, nor base our interpretations solely on Hebrew translations, and many attempt to do. The book is rather symbolic in nature, therefore we must interpret this as a metaphor to a spiritual phenomenon. Take for instance, the synagugue of Satan. In Revelations 2:9, the “synagogue of Satan” is not a literal synagogue built by Satan, but rather a symbolic representation of the true nature of false prophets, and the heart of those who believe they are Christian, when in fact, they are deceived by Satan. The metaphor was specifically addressed to the Seven Churches which were incredibly divided as a result of discord and false prophecy. Now, going back to Revelations 13. When I think of the function of the mark of the beast, I picture an ID that is scanned through a barcode. The ID reveals who you are, and is often associated with certain numbers. In the same way, the mark of the beast is a seal which identifies one’s allegiance to the Antichrist and the kingdom of Satan as a whole. It includes the name (or the image) of the beast, and his number, which is 666. This cannot be taken accidentally, but rather, it will be a willful decision to reject Christ, and to worship the beast (and Satan.) Think of this like an inverted version of salvation.

Let me ask a question to the prophets who proclaim that this vaccine is the mark of the beast. What in the world does a shot in the arm have to do with 666? Do you think a nurse will come up to you to force you to sign a contract pledging your allegiance to Satan just for a medication that could save your life, let alone the life of your mother recovering from a heart attack who is at high risk? I even hear of Christian nurses and medical experts taking the shot themselves, and it has had ZERO effect on their spiritual life. Yet, you are going to condemn them to Hell, as if our salvation depends on a vaccine!?

Given this information, the real Antichrist has not yet been revealed, although many antichrists have come to this world already. But, let me encourage you, and give you some closure here. I believe that this vaccine is a blessing from God, and we should be grateful that He has opened the gateway to a brighter future, both for the advancement of medicine and scientific treatment, and for many families who want to finally hug and celebrate the wonderful gift of life together. By taking ⠹ vaccine, you are not swearing an oath to follow Satan, or deny your faith. God wants each and every one of us to live a healthy and prosperous life, and I believe that this treatment would not only reduce the spread of the virus, but it would give our front line workers relief knowing that they do not have to have restless nights, wondering if that 65-year-old mother will be placed in a coma for several weeks. However, I do believe that we, as humans, are given free will. We have the freedom to make decisions that we feel would benefit our needs. So, whether or not you choose to get the shot, I respect your decision, and do not pass judgement on you. But, I believe that we are living in  an era where conspiracy theories are very rampant and active throughout social media and news outlets. This is why we need to “test the spirits” to discern whether these revelations are truly from God. As followers of Christ, we were not given a spirit of fear! If love can cast out fear, then fear casts out truth, which is found in love. Fear separates us from the peace that God desires for us. If we love our neighbor as ourselves, wouldn’t we be willing to take this great sacrifice to not only save ourselves from contracting the virus, but to save that child with cancer, or to save that grandmother who has a compromised immune system?

Based on the evidence presented through Scripture, and the revelations presented through the Holy Spirit, I would like to reassure you that this claim that this vaccine is the mark of the beast is a lie based on fear, straight out of the mouth of Satan! How dare we claim to trust God, and become a force that spreads fear-mongering lies that sow division, anger, and hatred within the same “temple” we believe is being destroyed by changing our DNA!? The temple of the Spirit is not just within the physical body, but is within the body of Christ (the church)! If you haven’t already, I strongly encourage you to get vaccinated, and trust God to give you the best results that would protect your health. Let us all work together to trust that God will continue to protect our families from this virus, and from anything that may harm us. Trust God, and not the claims of men! Whatever happens to us after the pandemic, God will still be with us. God will fight for us, and all we need to do is be still, and rest on His promises for us.

I hope you will take this into consideration as you continue to make a difference during this dark, evil season.

Dear Lord, I come before the throne to thank you for giving me this revelation last summer. I pray that many who are fearful and confused would be comforted by this truth, and that you would give them the wisdom that prevails over the proclamations of men. Lord, free your children from Satan’s lies, and continue to teach us the things you have written in that sacred book. In Jesus name, amen!

Cling to Jesus!


I’ve heard this most of my life but until I read about how it should be done it truly never occurred to me. African-Americans have been wronged in so many ways, not just in America but even in their mother country as well. Many times it was one tribe who had conquered another tribe for their land or some other resource and then they would sell those to men who were willing to pay for them to be slaves in another country far away from their homes. Many of them didn’t even survive the trip in the ship because of such cramped conditions. Of those who did their life, if you can call it that, was miserable, hard and filled with pain and suffering.

My own ancestor came from either Ireland or Scotland, I’m not sure which, as an indentured slave to someone who could afford the trip to the New World as America was called at the time. I don’t know my ancestor’s name but since his skin was white he or she may not have had such a terrible time of it after arriving here. But I have read that some were just as cruelly treated as any other slave, regardless of skin color. Sometimes they might get a nominal education in order to do the job that their master needed them to do and sometimes they didn’t. Either way, regardless of their skin color, life was hard…much harder than it is today.

The one common thread that weaves through the Word of God is that faith and belief in God and the salvation that He offers grows tremendously when there is persecution involved. The Israelites held on to their faith when they were in bondage to Egypt. The early church was persecuted in horrible ways during the first few hundred years and in some countries today they still are, but the church itself grew in number even then. Faith seems to seek out the Savior when there is uncertainty and hardship regardless of nationality or skin color.

This is exactly what America NEEDS today…right NOW!! We need a solid anchor in the Truth of God’s Word. One that will not move and is always true in every instance that we need it for. Salvation, security, peace, hope, love, mercy and grace are all found in God’s Word and today the whole world needs these to be active and ALIVE in the church even if the church is located in someone’s home or basement.

Is slavery wrong? YES!! In every sense of the word. Child slavery, sex trafficking, and a host of other types of slavery that I didn’t mention…these are all wrong! Should we search out and destroy the places where this is practiced? That would be wonderful but I’m afraid that many in America would be surprised by how close to home this really is. We would be shocked and horrified by the realization that it involved someone we know or maybe even someone that we attend church with. I don’t know this for a fact, so don’t quote me here. But…it is possible.

The only person that could fix this is our Savior and our King, Jesus Christ. Many of these rings which conduct business in the middle of our cities and towns are only known as legitimate businesses. Even people that we do business with at least once or twice every month. It may not happen in small towns but it is possible

Every member of the church should dig deep into God’s Word and learn how He does things and then let your voice be heard. Make sure your voice is heard because if we don’t then the other side will and the country that will rise from their influence will be worse than the one we have now. If we aren’t going to make our voice, as the church, heard then we aren’t helping anyone. God sent His Son to pay the price for our sins and the least we can do is follow in His footsteps. Letting others know about our wonderful Savior and His love for them. If we don’t do that then we aren’t really His followers at all.

Rejection, fear, and uncertainty


As human’s we do not like even ONE of these. From our family or our friends and certainly not from God. But why would we worry about feeling these emotions from God? The main reason that we feel these emotions in our relationship with God is actually because of Satan himself. God has never rejected us. Why should we be afraid of God? He isn’t going to strike us dead if we don’t do something, right? Feeling uncertain about your relationship with Him is also a tactic of Satan. Jesus said that all we had to so was to believe in Him and in the Father Who sent Him to save us from our sins…that’s it! Believe in Jesus and God the Father for your salvation. No hoops to jump through. No certain number of people that you have to tell about Jesus. He did all of the work on the cross in order to pay for your sins and nothing that we try to do can add value to our salvation.

Satan is the instigator and has been since before Adam or the Earth was created. He was a consummate liar then and he has gotten better at it over the thousands of years since then. Satan can make us believe a lie about God or Jesus or any part of the salvation which is freely given by God’s grace through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.

We don’t have to listen to those suggestions which Satan places in our head and in our mind, but many times we do listen to them. If you look it up and read about God in the Bible, you will see that He may make some people afraid of Him but He only did it because of their hard hearts. They wouldn’t listen to His instructions, His commandments, so He had to get their attention just as He gets our attention at times. He knows that we are hard-headed and stubborn and sometimes it takes more than reading a few scriptures to make us know that He is serious.

For some of us it will take a bit more than reading a scripture to realize what is being said to us. Many times it may take a sickness or a death in the family to really get our attention, but God will use that to His advantage. God loves each of us but He also knows exactly how much it will take to get our attention and to keep it focused on Him. Some people will blame Him and they will move away from Him but that isn’t a surprise to God. He knows exactly who will hear Him and follow Him and who will not. Regardless of our intention to follow Him or not, God still loves us. That is just His nature.

Amen

Do you doubt?


Where does doubt come from?

This is a question which most people ask at some point in their lives. Christians ask it of themselves more often, than other people do. The answer will likely surprise you. Remember when Jesus asked Peter to come to Him on the water? Would you have stepped out in faith onto the surface of a turbulent ocean? I would guess that very few people would do it. But…it was Jesus asking him to do it and since Peter usually acted or said something before he thought about it, he stepped out of the boat and began walking.

What many people don’t read into the story is that Peter was a fisherman, he knew the water shouldn’t be able to hold him like solid ground. But it was Jesus that made the request of him. Peter had seen Him heal a blind man and feed five thousand men and their families from a child’s lunch basket. So, of course, he jumped out of the boat and landed on the water, not in the water. And, as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus and walking toward Him he was able to keep walking on top of the water. But…when he took his eyes off of Jesus then he began to sink into the water.

As Christians, we do this all the time! We feel His touch in our lives and we may even hear or get the feeling that there is something which He is calling us to do. As long as we keep our eyes on Jesus and keep our faith focused on the task which He is asking us to do, then we will be fine. But in the world which we live in it isn’t so easy. Peter had the luxury of being able to see Jesus, so keeping his eyes focused on Him shouldn’t have been a problem. We don’t have that luxury and we can and do get side-tracked and distracted from the One Who called us in the first place.

The account of this miracle is found in this text:

Matthew 14: 25-33

25 Shortly before dawn, Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29“Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” 32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

We doubt in our faith because we cannot see Jesus or the possibilities that are all around us. We look at the bills to be paid and the oil which needs changing or how much food we have left until our next paycheck. We live and move on the physical plane of the Earth and much of what we read about in the Bible happened on the spiritual plane which God lives in and inhabits. We can’t feel it with our hands or touch it physically but according to God’s Word, it is there.

And it is just as real or even more real than the world in which we live. Consider how Jesus could move and live after His resurrection. He could enter a locked room and speak with the disciples there and then just as easily vanish from their sight. Then at His ascension to Heaven He just rose from the ground and went up into the sky, no airplane or fiery chariot required or needed! Can you imagine having a body which will be able to do those things? When we are “caught up to be with Him in the air” we will be in bodies like His forever! No more aching and creaky knees and stiff joints. Praise God that is going to feel wonderful!

Our God is an AWESOME God!

The shed blood of Jesus Christ


1 Peter 1:13-21
13 Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

17 And if you address as Father, the One who impartially judges according to each man’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay upon earth; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. 20 For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you 21 who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

john_3_16_17_scripture_memory_card-raf7013e639264b87b918bea9971565b3_vgbaq_8byvr_540Sin deceives you because its roots are from the deceiver, Satan. Sinful actions can and will destroy your life in many ways and in the end of this life, it will bring eternal death which is eternal banishment from the presence of God.

The only way to save yourself from sin and the consequences of it is to believe in Jesus and the blood which He shed for us, each of us, on the cross. The Son of God gave His life for you and for me…He didn’t have to but He wanted to do it. Because He loved each of us far more and deeper than we can know or comprehend.

He redeemed us from sin through His blood shed on the cross for you! The only action needed on your part is belief in Him and the atonement bought by His blood.

Colossians 1:19-22 King James Version (KJV)

19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; 20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. 21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled, 22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

Do you understand what God has done for us? For you and for me? Each person who has ever lived in this world, before the Flood and up until now, is born with a natural bent toward sin! I mean you don’t have to teach anyone to lie and you know it as well as I do.

Tell a toddler not to do something or eat something and you can see their wheels turning trying to figure out how they can get away with doing exactly that! If you are able to catch them right after doing it, whatever it may be, ask them if they did what you told them not to do. Even with crumbs from those cookies on their clothes they will tell you no, they didn’t do that.

In life you see many people behaving exactly the same way, even if they are supposed to be grown-ups. Why is that? It is because until you have a changed heart through the Spirit of God living within you, you are a sinner from the day you are able to decide to do something which you were told not to do! God’s will for your life is to glorify Him in all that you do and the only way for us to do that is to believe in Jesus and the atonement that He bought for us and ask God’s forgiveness based upon that belief.

Now, many religions teach that you can work out your salvation by yourself but that is not true. If that were possible, Jesus died for nothing! No amount of gold or silver or any amount of good works that you or I do in this world can bring salvation to your soul, only belief in Jesus can do that and accepting His atonement for your sins. If you can’t or won’t do that, then you have condemned yourself to hell.

Please, don’t go there, because hell was not made for humanity at all. It was made to punish angels who rebelled against God’s rule and authority including Satan or Lucifer if you know him by that name. Because of deception and our own stubbornness, many people are going to hell and it won’t be a party or a friendly place to be for eternity at all.

Make sure of your salvation in Jesus soon before the church is taken from this Earth, because it is going to happen soon. Plan on being part of that company.

 

Reflections


Are you reflecting Jesus or are you reflecting your idea of Jesus? Many people today seem to create their own version of Jesus or God. Not so much as an idol outright, but they don’t like the way that either is portrayed in the Bible or the obedience that is required of them that is also part of God’s Word. These people want to pick and choose which verses in the Bible that they will believe.

are-you-a-reflectionIf you wish to do that, its fine with me, but…what about your eternity? You can choose to believe or not believe that there is a hell even though Jesus says that people will got there. God doesn’t lie, it is not in His nature. So when the Bible says that there is a place where people will be punished for not believing in Jesus and giving their lives to Him, I would take that as the Truth.

When you are the first-born son, genetics usually plays a role in which of your parent’s you look most like. Sometimes you will look like your Dad but have your Mother’s temperament or complexion. Sometimes genetics will skip a generation and you will look like your Dad but have some characteristics of your grandfather, like hair and eye color. God’s Son has His Character in that He can’t lie about anything and He is part of the Trinity so He has the same ability as God the Father, in all things.

Your life and mine, whether you are talking about this life or eternity, are in God’s Hands. He is in control but He allows us the freedom to choose our own fate. You can refuse to give your life to Him and follow Him in your daily life, but your eternity would be most unpleasant. Or you could give your heart to Him, learn everything there is to know about Him from His Word and live daily in His Presence and your eternity is assured to be in Heaven with other believers and with Jesus Himself.

God loves you enough to give you that choice because you can’t force someone to love you, no matter if you are the richest man in the world or if you are God! Love cannot be forced it can only be given freely. Seek out the One Who loves you and Who is Love, perfectly and completely, then you will know real freedom.

An experience


trinity2Worship in a church setting is an experience. In some churches it may be more of an experience than in others, but an experience nonetheless. Some churches are very laid back and, for lack of better words, they are bland and dull. Some are downright giddy with the worship of God and His Spirit. Then there are some who fall a bit in the middle. A little more alive than dull but not running around shouting “Praise God!!”

How we experience God and Jesus and the Holy Ghost (Spirit), regardless of the church we attend, should be a personal and intimate relationship. It doesn’t have to be shouting unintelligible babble-talk and it doesn’t have to be sitting there looking like you died last week but haven’t had the good grace to get yourself buried yet either!

Living daily with Jesus as your Savior is enough for me, yet there are times when I would like more. Then there are those days or nights where His Spirit fills me to the point that I weep because I can’t take anymore. The joy and the blessedness that I feel at those times are even more than when my son was born. I can’t describe it to you unless you have felt it too, then I know that you know what I am talking about.

Life with God in Three Persons is part of the experience when you believe in Him and ask Him to come into your life and change you. It isn’t about how much you shout and dance in church or if you sit quietly and meditate on His promises and His love for you. He is nearer to you than your skin because if you have given your life and heart to Him, then He lives within you and through you and to experience His Life, we need to live our daily lives knowing that and living that way!

For some people a “Holy Ghost church”, whether it is Pentecostal or Church of God, is just too much. When you have been raised in a church like a Methodist or Baptist one, it can be an experience to say the least. The point that I am making here is that when we are open and free to experience our life and His Life through us and inside us, it doesn’t matter what other people think. If you sit and soak in His Love, that is fine. If you can’t sit still and you have to get up and shout and dance, that’s fine too.

God loves you no matter which way that you choose to worship, as long as you don’t turn the worship experience into something which represents God but isn’t really Him or His Spirit. If your performance or speaking in tongues or shouting is not from Him but is emotionally bringing out your own personality just to bring attention to yourself, then you are acting like those Pharisees which Jesus condemned.

If it really is from the Spirit, it will be known and real, not just babbling incoherently. God knows the language of your Spirit and it is between you and Him. If you feel inclined to let it be known to others, then by all means do it. But make sure that it is not for your benefit only but for the whole congregation and their enjoyment of the moment and the worship itself.

Consumption


This word is what our entire economy is based upon these days. We do not produce anything which is exported to other countries, except for printing money. So, what is our country good for? Even the value of our money is suspect and dropping in the eyes of the world, so why do we live this way?

Mostly because of the culture that we live in today, but it started about fifty years ago and it has only gotten worse. When fast food became popular in the fifties, actually that was the start of “instant gratification”, so my estimate is off by about ten or more years. My point is this…when we got to the point of getting something fast or for free, things really started going downhill from there.

Our world was not designed by God to be based on consumption in this manner. We are supposed to produce our food, eat it and work to produce more. In today’s society, this has been replaced with our governments providing for us without even the need to work at all! The Bible says that “if you don’t work, you shouldn’t eat”, but we ignore that and go right along with all of the consumer driven economies and businesses that are available. The chart below shows that the number of structures (buildings) in each area have crossed over, so that now we have more retail structures than production facilities.

My ideas don’t really go along with our economy because we have more electronic consumer abilities today than we have ever had before. I use them as well, so I am not trying to get rid of it entirely. But, when I was growing up, my grandparents grew their own vegetables and we had a herd of cattle which we could choose to have at least one butchered each year for our own use. So our trips to the grocery store usually had to do with getting things which we did not grow or produce like coffee, flour, corn meal, cooking oil, and bacon (although we did have a few hogs which we could use at times too).

Our country and the people in it would be more healthy in every way if we went back to at least a partial agrarian economy where there were more local farmers who produced wholesome, organic foods. The problem is that we don’t have anyone to teach us how to do this anymore! Big farms and the regulations from the FDA have pushed small farms like this out of business.

We were meant to live this way, but we have allowed so much regulation and rules to interfere with our daily lives until the freedoms which our grandfathers and great grandfathers fought for don’t really exist like they once did. It is nobody’s fault but our own, so we can’t blame anyone but ourselves.

God’s Word says that we should live on and work the land that we have and eat the produce of it. Are we doing this? No, we are not and have not been for quite a while. We need to learn God’s way of living and working so that we can be more productive for Him and for us. His advice for this is in His Word, all we need to do and should do is to read it and learn from it.

 

How much more?


We are thankful and we were thankful yesterday, so how much more thankful will we be today? I have seen shoppers at stores who are waiting all night to get in when the door opens and some of them are pushing and shoving so they can be first in getting what they want and getting out of the store.

What happened between being thankful for God’s blessings and bounty and getting more stuff? How much more will we choose to get so we can be fashionable or in step with our neighbors? Do we really HAVE to have that new doodad that came out a few weeks ago? What about paying off your credit cards as a gift to yourself or your spouse? What about giving to your church or to the homeless shelter in town instead of spending over five hundred dollars on something that will be gathering dust in a couple of months? Does 4K resolution really matter that much when you are watching the Super Bowl in February? Does the price you pay for that resolution really bring you more satisfaction while watching any TV show?

All of these questions are the kinds of questions we should be asking ourselves long before we wake up at three am in order to be close to the front of the line this morning! What really is more important to you and your family? That is an even better question. Have you considered your relationship to Jesus in all of this too? I am a pastor and these questions do go through my mind about myself and about those who attend my church. I pray for all of the people out there who are traveling today and for those who are working today because they need God’s protection and His blessing, whether they realize it or not.

During the holiday season, which seems to have gotten off to a running start yesterday afternoon. Yes, many stores opened early, around four or five yesterday, just to get people out of the house and into the stores shopping. I don’t think I will ever get out there and into the thick of the lines and the crowds. It’s just too much!

God needs your energy and your presence in His family too and if more people would spend even ten percent of their time and money for His work, out world would be so much better than it is now! How is that possible? Because ten percent of the billions spent on gifts during this weekend could go a LONG way toward helping the homeless, both Veterans and non-veterans alike! It would also go a long way toward helping the hungry in the world too.

God can use your blessings in any number of different ways, but if you spend all of your cash on “stuff” and not on helping others, then what are you really doing? You are showing others that “stuff” is more important to you than serving God. During the holidays it seems that many people do just that and it makes me wonder what is keeping them from helping the church? What is keeping them from coming to church when they can get up before sunrise to get to a store and be one of the first through the doors?

Something to ponder during this Christmas season when we are supposed to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus! He didn’t tell us to go and spend, Jesus said go and TELL others about Him!

When life gets too hard….


Kneel and pray to your Father in Heaven. Some might say that this is a cop-out or just a crutch that we Christians use to get through the tough times. It is NOT a cop out or a crutch but God does give us the strength from His Spirit for our struggles and our hard times. It doesn’t make them any easier nor does it make them go away, but His Strength and His Spirit give us a boost…a little more ooomph to get through those tough patches.

When the burdens of life get so frustrating and demoralizing that we just feel like it is too much to bear, that is when we should cry out to God and ask for His Wisdom and His Strength to carry us through. He will give those things to each of us to get through these times and these problems, no matter how big they may seem to us…He is BIGGER!

There is no problem too small or too great for God to help you with if you will give it to Him. Don’t take it back after an hour or two, let God have it and then you need to rest in His provision and grace that it will be taken care of, by Him and in His way and time. In the political climate that we have today, we can’t turn away from prayer. Because it is necessary!

I urge all of you, not to vote because I am sure you have likely done that already if possible, to pray and to do so earnestly for the remainder of the day today. Why? Because, our country needs God influence in this election. Many times we live and work without God’s influence or His wisdom leading us and guiding us and we are using our own wisdom in all of our life’s problems. Why is that bad? Because, God knows the outcome before we could possibly see it come to pass.

Is He in control? Yes! We may get the person that we want in office or we may not. The office of our President is not the One that will save our country or this world from chaos, only Jesus as our Lord and our King will do that. God is on His throne and He will decide who sits in the Oval office, whether we like it and the outcome or not.