Category: God’s Love for us

Life, healing, comfort, hope


The title says most of what our lives in Christ are supposed to be. We have eternal life through Jesus Christ Who has saved us from an eternity away from God and His Love. We have healing by His power and by His grace toward us through Christ, not because we deserve it but, again, because He loves us. We have comfort in His love and His grace because of the promise of eternity, not because of a promise of riches or an easy life on Earth. The comfort that we have is in knowing that eternity is sure through the sacrifice which Jesus made to cover our sins and to give us His righteousness. We have hope because of all of these because of the Life, death and resurrection of Jesus! No other name, given among men is worthy to be praised than His name, Jesus! Why? Because of the things that He has done for us because of His love for us, each one of us. Not because we deserved it or earned it because you and I can’t earn salvation and we certainly don’t deserve it on our own!

Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father but through Me.” John 14:6 He is the Author of life, our Creator and Redeemer and since He is also part of the Trinity and God, then He can’t lie! No part of the Bible is a lie, many don’t believe it or they believe parts of it, but the truth is that even Satan believes all of it! He knows that it is true, because he has been here testing, tempting, trying the servants of God from the beginning.

Give your heart and life to Jesus because life without a point or a purpose is meaningless and empty. Hell won’t be empty throughout eternity because of unbelief and rebellion from the followers of Satan and all of those who have decided to do things their way instead of listening to the Word of God and giving their lives to Him.

Hope, comfort, healing, restoration, and life are gifts given to us by God at some point in our lives, specifically when we determine that He is truthful and that He is the One that He says that He is.

Think on this. Pray about it if you have questions. Seek Him in the Bible and learn of His ways because He loves you!

So much to do, so little time


Yes, I know, I am trying to scare you. I’ve heard it before…Boo!

Life goes on, it always has, even in the midst of riots and wars and natural disasters like the earthquake in Nepal or the volcano in Chile. I get it, nothing new has ever happened because it has all happened before at some point in our past. These are the same musings which the Preacher, Solomon, wrote when he wrote the book of Ecclesiastes, and yet it is true.

The only new stuff that is happening now is that technology is exploding! So is the population of the world. Can we stop or take a breath in this rush to oblivion? Not really. It was bound to happen sooner or later, but it has been prophesied for many thousands of years that all of this would happen when the “end of the age” drew closer.

Well, like it or not we are getting closer. How much closer? I don’t know. Nobody on Earth can answer that question. Although, each one of us has a date that is immovable and irrevocable and that is the day that we die. It is different for us all of course. My death may come tomorrow or twenty years from now, just the same as yours. Thankfully we don’t know our “expiration date”, although there are times that I wish that I did.

I am not going to be arrogant enough to take that date into my own hands and force the end to come sooner rather than later. Some seem to be destined to do this and I suppose that is fine, but it isn’t for me. I don’t know that I could take another human being’s life, let alone taking my own. I am just not made that way and never have been.

God gives each of us a job to do. Whether we choose to accept that job and follow through with it or not is our choice, individually. He doesn’t force the issue on us nor does He punish us for taking a bit longer to get around to it. Why? Because, if He has something specific for you to do that only you can do then He will make sure that eventually you will come around to being the “right person for the job”.

God loves us, regardless of how small our planet may be in the grand design because He is God. He can love and care for whoever He wishes to and since He lives above time, He knows exactly when or if you will choose to come to Him and give your life to Him. From that point on, your life will never be the same…it will be awesome!

I don’t mean that you will have fame and fortune like the people in some places do. I do mean that just thinking about being a servant to the King of Kings and the Creator is…well, enough. If you aren’t a believer and don’t have spiritual faith in God and Jesus, then this concept is a little beyond your pay grade. I am not saying that Christians are better than you, but we are forgiven.

The best part about this is that God loves you and has made His grace available to you without cost. All that you need to do is to acknowledge that you are a sinner and come to Him like a child and ask Him to come into your life and fix it. Help you straighten things out…get your heart right with Him by allowing Him to do the work. If you try to get things right first, you are just in the way. Let Him do it because He is the only One that can!

Look for it and expect it


There are so many blessings that we seek and need sometimes, yet we tend toward either ignoring what is around us or we just take most of them for granted. Something that I am just as guilty of doing as anyone else is. Yes, there are days…different times where I take the blessings that I have for granted, such as waking up in the morning or breathing during the night. These things are the very blessings that most don’t truly realize or acknowledge that our breath and our very life itself comes from God!

It is a revelation which is hard for many people to understand. God is our Creator! He cares about us, even though many may think that He doesn’t because of the problems in the world today. Those problems, even though He knows about them, are not brought on by Him. Many of them are because of mankind and our intent toward being hateful toward our fellow human beings. Other problems, such as natural disasters, happen because they were just going to happen.

There are many who will not believe this and that’s OK, but God knows the suffering that is going on in the world. He knows about all of the suffering and He is there with you in it and through it. Our world and everyone in it is being targeted by Satan because God loves us and he knows that the best way to hurt God is to hurt us, whether the ones being hurt are Christians or not. Christians are his primary target and will continue to be until he is put in his place at the final judgement. Until then, everyone will either benefit from his influence in the world or be targeted by it, there is no grey area, no middle ground where things are safe.

This is the beginning of a new month and our time on this Earth is, in many people’s eyes, never going to end. That is not true at all. Yes, it has been two millennia since Jesus ascended into the sky. The church in some form has been around for about that length of time too and has caused much suffering and hardship rather than helped with it. All of this is true and there isn’t any denying it. There is also our penchant for taking the long road in terms of getting things done, and taking most everyday things for granted as well.

As long as God is in control, and He will always be, the Sun will rise in the East and we will have four seasons during our year. Children will be born and die, at times, people will die of age related problems and other means too. These things are the very things that we see and hear every day and we become hardened to them, we don’t notice them much until there is some horrific crime or disaster which yanks our attention around so that we can’t ignore it. Those are the events which sometimes cause people to truly wonder “Where is God?” and “Doesn’t He care about us?”.

The answer to both of these questions is that “He is right here” and “He has always cared for us, no matter what is happening.” Can you see Him? No, but if you are a Christian then you can get strength from knowing that He is with you. You can also get hope in situations which people who don’t have a relationship with Him can’t seem to find! Be thankful for the little things and thank Him for all of them, not just the healing or some other big miracle that you attribute to God. Thank Him for help in getting across town for a job interview, for the car starting in the morning, for the wind blowing when you are hot and sweaty outside, even for your home and your family and their good health if you are so blessed.

He is part of all of these and it is His hand that guides us toward the better outcomes in our daily living, not our own selfish ways or abilities.

Faith, how much do you need?


mustardseedFaithThis is what Jesus said, “with faith as much as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain “Be thou removed into the sea and it will move”. Matthew 17:20

Our lives, spiritual and daily, would be so much better if we used our faith and cultured our faith through prayer and reading of God’s Word. Much of our country would be in better shape if people of faith used their faith in God in the way that He intended for us to. Truly, it doesn’t take much faith but it has to be unwavering faith. The kind where you don’t doubt what you believe in, which seems to be hard for many people.

I admit, unwavering faith is not easy to achieve, especially for people who have not been in church much or at all, but with prayer and learning about God from reading the Bible it can be done. We have faith in our football teams and in lotteries, why not have faith in the Creator Who can actually DO something about your problem.

Many will question me about this because God doesn’t answer prayer in the way that you or I expect Him to all of the time. It has to do with His will in the matter. What He sees as being the best outcome, may not be your idea of the best outcome but He is God and it is His prerogative. After all, He is God.

WAKE UP, PEOPLE!!


Does it occur to you why we are going through so much right now in the world and at home? Many are saying on TV and other media that it is because of global warming or some other nonsense science. The world is changing because of us and because of all the damage that we have done to it over the past 150 years or so. Really?

Why in the world would the climate change around the entire world because of a few tons of carbon dioxide? Yes, I know it is a greenhouse gas, so is methane, but these have been in our atmosphere since it became an atmosphere. The world is changing more because of overuse of resources, such as fish, than because of fossil fuel use. This is a more plausible reason for the “warming” effect than our one hundred years of burning gasoline and diesel.

The thing is, there is a lot more happening in and around our world than just “climate change”. Except, most of the news outlets are not reporting on that part of the news because it doesn’t pique enough interest in viewers. What is being reported on is that people are giving up on their belief in God, that they have walked away from their faith (if they ever really had any).

Yes, there are questions that need to be answered, not so much about climate change but about the difference in religion, religious beliefs, and Christianity. Religion and being religious can be about almost anything that you want to put in the sentence. You can be a religious fanatic about fishing or hunting or even making money, although what will that get you? Broke in more ways than one.

A religion is defined as: the belief in a god or in a group of gods;an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods; an interest, a belief, or an activity that is very important to a person or group

You can make anything, activity or a god or interest into a religion and follow it religiously, even fanatically, but what is the eternal answer that it gives you? Does it have an answer for eternity at all? Many religions actually don’t have an answer and those who follow them will get angry with you if you ask them this question. Especially if you are trying to find out if they believe in Jesus as their Savior or not. It seems that His prophecy that “you will be hated because of Me” is spot-on for the time that we are living in for today.

Although many don’t believe that we are living in the “last days”, I do. We are not living in the “Tribulation” as spoken of in Revelation, but I don’t believe that we are far from it. Many people, believers and non-believers, need to truly wake up and read the Bible. Compare the prophecies of Daniel and Ezekiel and the book of Revelation. Yes, they are hard to understand but with prayer and asking for God to reveal those hard parts to you, you can understand it enough to know the signs that are happening all around us. We cannot know specifics like dates or times, God alone has that information, but we can learn enough to be watchful of the events that are happening in the world. Even if the media won’t tell people the implications of what is happening, we can see it from a Biblical perspective which is what was meant by the Bible when it says “watch and pray” during this time.

Keep looking up, because our Redeemer and our redemption draws ever nearer every day!

You are a good work…


“Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
Philippians 1:6

Being loved by the Creator is a wonderful feeling, if you know what I mean. If you don’t, then you likely think that I am delusional. God is our Creator, belief in this is possible because of faith and today our world is condemning people who have faith, especially if it is faith in Jesus! He is still in control, whether you believe it or not and your lack of belief doesn’t change this!

God loves you. Radical, huh? The Creator loves you because you are part of His Creation and He knows your life from the time the first cells came together to form you in the womb. He knows when and to whom you will be married, if ever, He knows what you are capable of doing for His Kingdom even if you don’t! You are created in His image! We are made specifically to be priests and prophets for Him, in our workplace and in our homes! This doesn’t mean that you have to preach on the street corner, it just means that you are supposed to let others SEE Jesus in your everyday life!

Tell your children about Jesus, if you haven’t already. Tell your family about Jesus, if you know that they don’t know Him (this is the hardest witnessing that you will need to do). Why? Because they know you! They knew you before you became a Christian and the type of person that you have been, so they need to see the person that you have become! The work that God has begun in your life when you came to Him, may have started years ago. You may have walked away for some reason and you have been away from church for years, but He hasn’t stopped. He doesn’t let go. There is still a voice, the Voice of the Spirit within you that has not been completely quieted. Listen to Him, trust in Him, learn more about Him and follow Him because by doing that you can make the demons surrounding your home flee!

The time is nearly here that we truly NEED men and women of God to rise up and be counted in our homes, in our churches, in our states and in our nation because God has been reviled in the news media and in many countries and it is getting worse. This is just the beginning of troubles for the church of Jesus, the body of believers in the world that claim Him as their Savior. Stand firm in your faith, read and study God’s Word, pray about what you read and think on it (meditate) because the time that we are in now is very close to the trouble times. I don’t know when the treaty with Israel will be signed or when the ruler of the world will be brought out into the open, but I don’t believe that it is far off.

Yes, very possibly in our lifetime, it will happen and it will happen because God said so in His Word! Give our God the credit for being our Creator and our Redeemer because that is Who He is!

What is there to say?


So many are against Christians today. Dredging up slights from the distant past, like the Crusades. Yes, it is sad that it happened but the “church” at the time also oppressed and killed many believers too. Just because they had obtained a Bible which was in English and not Latin and they had learned to read it and what it REALLY said. They had put their trust in Jesus as their Savior and they did not have to come to the church to be forgiven anymore! Many were burned at the stake for this belief and for the possession of an English Bible, and they were Christians being killed by the “church”! How sad and horrible!

The world is full of atrocities by different people and religions or by countries which have no religion or conscience it seems. Some are even speaking out about how Christians persecuted people in the past. Many are still doing it, just a bit more subtle than others. So, what can we say about all of this bickering and persecution? Really, not much. It was prophesied to happen toward the end of the age and in my opinion that is where we are right now. No, we are not exactly in the seven years of tribulation foretold in Daniel and Revelation, but we are getting close.

There really isn’t much that can be said except to do what Paul told his protégé to do:  “2 Timothy 2:15 “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly handling the word of truth.” See that these things are foretold to happen in God’s Word and accept it in faith. He has history, past, present and future in His hands and we don’t need to worry.

Yes, many of us are the worrying type, but don’t do it to extreme. There is nothing that you can do to change yourself or your hair color (without chemicals), your height or anything about yourself which matters. We are not gods, we are the creation of God. We also have no control over our situations in life, good, bad or otherwise. I know, I am stating the obvious but it seems that these topics are part of the conversation on social media sites.

What changes in your life from day-to-day? You may feel out of control in some things, some have lost loved ones due to disease or other mechanisms but, these are part of life and until Jesus comes again it will be this way. Seek Him out in your daily life, through scripture and study of God’s Word. Learn to know Him and love Him every day. He went through many things for our sakes to redeem us to Himself and to God, it seems that we could at least attempt to return the love that He showed toward us!

If you see these things which are foretold in Scripture happening on the news media, then you should realize that we are getting closer to the “end of the age”. Please, seek Him out in your life. Read and study God’s Word so that you can know the One that loves you beyond your own understanding. I will be praying for all of those who come here, even if I don’t know your name or nationality and I thank God for you all.

The healing power of God


Anger, resentment, fear, impulsive rage are all emotions which Satan uses to begin a rip or a split in a community or a church. All of these can be overcome by God’s Awesome power to heal, but NONE of them can be overcome by our own strength or our own will. Consider these verses in His Word and think about what they are saying to all of us:

  1. “… But You are God, ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness …” (Nehemiah 9:17)
  2. “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.” (Psalm 103:8)
  3. “But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in mercy and truth.” (Psalm 86:15)
  4. “Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness …” (Joel 2:13)
  5. “The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.” (Psalm 145:8)
  6. “The Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting …” (Psalm 100:5)
  7. “For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him … But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him.” (Psalm 103:11,17)

God loves each of us as I have said before in a post or a sermon as some call these words here. One of the main attributes in all of the verses above is His patience with us and His kindness toward us. His mercy and the fact of His character being “slow to anger” are also mentioned. The Lord is merciful and His mercy and His love for us is everlasting, meaning that no matter what we do or how we act or feel toward Him or His actions, His love and mercy will endure for eternity.

Satan is always quick to use any tool that he can to break a church or a community apart, especially if he thinks there might be a revival coming soon, or even if there is one coming at all! Our community and our nation NEEDS a revival of faith in God and in the power of Him Who has called us out as Christians. We are supposed to be different from the world around us! Not the same nor are we to be melded into the world enough that we can’t be seen as different because of the One that we have in our hearts!

God loves each of us, no matter what we have done or said to each other or about each other or even about Him! His love is not fickle like ours. One little word or even the tone of your voice can set off a chain reaction between friends or church members that can tear a church and a friendship apart. Come back to God in prayer and fasting, repent of your thoughts and ways which you know are against Him. This world needs Christians to stand up for Jesus and what the cross means to each of us and what it should mean to all who need hope and healing.

An urgent word from God


“In Satan, the individual follows their own destiny and choices. Satan only asks that the individual uses intelligent action based upon reason, but never faith, and thus the individual will prosper in this life and the next.” —-satanicviews

This was a comment that I got on a post which I had put up about Jesus coming to us and for us. It seems that this is a feeling or sentiment which many people have. It is one which we, as Christians, cannot understand or even comprehend. Satan is not a benevolent being as some seem to think that he is. He and his demons and powers and principalities HATE us with a hatred which even goes beyond any Nazi or communist or even Islamic hatred!

There is no love for us because, to Satan, we represent the image of God which we were created in. Another assumption that people like this make is that the next life, especially if they have rejected Jesus, is going to be an eternal party, when the sad fact is that it will be torment and punishment. Satan may help you in some ways to prosper in this life in order to draw you away from and keep you away from any faith or belief in God or Jesus. As long as you are not interested in becoming a Christian, then Satan has no problem with you because you essentially belong to him by default, whether you worship him or not.

In many ways, we are very much like Adam in the book of Genesis. We go about our lives doing this and that, thinking that everything is fine until one day something goes wrong. It may be a disease or a diagnosis or a wreck. Then what do we do? Many people blame God or fate for what has happened to them. If it is bad enough, they may even curse God and yell at Someone they may not believe in thinking that will make them feel better. But, it doesn’t.

Your lot in life, just like mine, is to sit here and take whatever life throws at you right? NO! It really depends upon your beliefs or your un-belief, whichever it may be. Consider the person or power that you believe in. Which one actually cares about you and your condition? Satan HATES all of humanity, because they are created in God’s image. It doesn’t matter if you are the high priest of a satanic coven or not, he will happily watch you float around in the lake of fire just as he will anyone else. Satan will allow you to claim all of the worldly success that you can stand and then some, as long as you are not trying to find God. So, in a sense, he will “provide” you with all that the world cares about including money, cars, a nice home, a four-wheeler and horses, land, all the guns that you want. Then what?

One the other side of the spiritual coin, there is God. He DOES CARE about all of His creation. Plants, animals and especially humanity since we are created for a purpose and in His image. God has given us life to live abundantly for Him and He gave each of us a talent in some area whether it is training horses, being a teacher or preacher, a policeman or woman, a mayor or any other type of politician, a truck driver or a farmer. He gives talents to all of us freely, whether we use them to gather wealth to ourselves or not is our choice. So, what is our purpose within this life that we are freely given?

To choose.

Choose Whom You Will Serve
14 “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:14-15

We have the right and privilege to choose. Not by flipping a “spiritual coin”, but by making an intelligent choice. One that makes sense spiritually and eternally, not one from a point of reason. Why do I put it like that? Because from a reasoning point of view…a scientific point of view, God and belief in Him doesn’t make sense. You can’t touch or taste Him, you can’t put your finger in the wounds of Jesus like Thomas did. Belief and faith go together like PB&J, and you can’t really have one without the other.

It doesn’t matter what the color of your skin or the shape of your eyes or even the type of hair that you have, if you truly believe the Word of God is True and did come from Him then our ancestors were created in Eden by God Himself. We are all children of Eden, of Adam and Eve. We are all of one race, the human race. Culturally we are different, as different as six thousand years give or take will make us, but God can trace all of us back to Noah who is a grandson of Adam. I say is because his faith in God’s promise and his belief that God would save humanity placed him in God’s hands.

Understand that you and I are God’s children and His creation, but you have to choose whether you will serve Him in this life, in order to have true Life in eternity to come. This is not all that there is, working, living, loving your family, smoking, drinking…these are all enjoyable to us now, some more than others. What will you do if you died tonight, if you knew that you would not see tomorrow morning? Would you ask Jesus into your heart?

Would you decide that you would rather take your chances? On what? Have you fed thousands or healed the sick? Can you walk on water? None of us can do those things! We are not righteous in God’s eyes! The only way that you get into Heaven is by accepting Jesus as your Savior, repent of your life’s sinful ways meaning that you will turn from them! Could you do all of this if you were to have a heart attack right now or even on the way home? The time to decide about your eternity is now, not tomorrow, not next week. Make sure that you truly know where your eternity is because this life doesn’t last very long and it seems that the years go by faster every year. Don’t turn Jesus away when you know that you need Him in your life. Another chance may not present itself. Think about it.

Live your life …


image

An image of your DNA from the end. As intricate and complex as it is, God created each of us with His image as the template and your purpose as the outcome. But, I have seen some people speaking about the life of Jesus or rather that His life never was. Your belief or lack thereof is your own and I respect that, but it is my right to believe what I believe.

I am not sure if any of you have read Foxes Book of Martyrs but if you get the chance to do so, you will see through the descriptions from history how Christians have suffered for their beliefs. Truly, these people wouldn’t have suffered through this torture and persecution if their faith was in a lie. True, their faith may have been misplaced if He didn’t live BUT the Word of God is the absolute Truth so He did live and He still does.

The intricate and complex composition of our DNA is not something which came about by accident as some believe. God is the Architect of the Universe as well as our Creator. He is the Artist which placed the stars in their places and He put the nucleotides together which make up each one of us. He knows you and me much better than we know ourselves and better than our parents too.

God knew you and me before He set the foundation of our world and what our life would be too. Since He lives in an area which is outside of Time itself, He can see the beginning and the end of Time at the same instant and He knows what is happening and why. Regardless of your belief in Him or not, He is God just as gravity or light exist without your input or belief so does He.

The part that I think which gives people a hard time is belief in something or someone who they cannot see or touch. The problem that I have with that is that Satan, Buddha and Muhammad are all dead (with the exception of Satan) and you can’t see or touch any of them, yet people believe in their religions and never get offended by them it seems. But, when you mention that you are a Christian and believe in Jesus and His resurrection and forgiveness for all it seems that everyone gets offended before you say anything else!

God gives each of us a choice, just as He did for the angels in Heaven. They are created beings just as we are and they have a choice to serve Him or not. Thousands of years ago, some of them chose not to and were kicked out of Heaven during the rebellion of Satan against God.

It is our choice of whether we will be servants of Christ or choose to serve our own selfish wants and needs which condemns us to separation from God. It doesn’t matter what sins that you have done in your lifetime, how many people who you have hurt or killed or any other sin which comes to mind, the act of turning away from the gift of grace through Jesus and choosing not to accept Him as your Savior is the ONE sin which places you in the company of demons.