Category: God’s Love for us

Consider the names of God


He is El Shaddai (The Almighty)
He is El Olam (The Everlasting God)
He is El Ohiym (The Strong One)
He is Adonai (Master)
He is Yahweh Shalom (The Lord is Peace)
He is Jehovah-Rapha (The Lord Who Heals)
He is Jehovah-Hoseenu (The Lord our Maker)

God is all of these. He has been for eternity and will be for eternity. We do not have to wonder if He is because…He is. God is able. God is the Holy Spirit. God is Adonai…our Master and Lord. All of these are true, but do we accept them when we become Christians? Do we truly realize exactly Who we are dealing with or even praying to?

In our daily lives, whether we are Christians or not, do we ever come to grasp that it is this Presence, this Person Who came and died for each of our sins and then rose from the grave to conquer death and prove that we will also? If we allow Him into our lives and into our hearts so that He can cleanse us from our previous Earthly selves and change us…each one of us into a new Creature in Christ. This is the message that Jesus wants us to take to the world. This is the testimony that we have to let others know about by telling them in some way, because if we don’t tell them…who will?

Sure, there are books and Bibles and tapes. There are DVD’s and CD’s that people can listen to, but did you listen to them? Did you hear or see those messages before your heart was broken into thousands of pieces? Did you want to know God prior to His touch…His call on your life? I doubt it. You did just like the rest of us hypocrites, you went about your life doing the same things day in and day out with no more thought about eternity than your thoughts about the economy or even what you would eat for lunch!

But, you know, when your heart got a crack in it….when something got your attention to come around to see that there was more to life than hunting and football, then you began to look for a meaning, for a purpose. You felt that things wouldn’t be enough, stuff wasn’t important any more just because you had more expensive stuff than someone else! This life…this time that we have only has meaning and purpose when you give it to the One that Created it, so that He can make you into what you were…what you ARE supposed to be. You can’t do it alone. You can’t be “the one” in your life or anyone else’s life until you allow the One into yours!

Yes, today is today and tomorrow is still yet to come but if you give your heart, your life to God and ask Him to make you into His idea of what or who you should be then your tomorrows will never end. Even if your life here does, the effect that your words, your actions, your character had on even one person may go farther than you ever could to make an impact on more people than you will ever know on this side of Heaven. Consider that and think about His Names.

What has been your “test”?


Have you been blessed with a “test” in your life? Many people don’t think of these as tests but as trials. In reality, it is a learning time or a teachable moment, even if the so-called moment lasts longer than you wish or want it to. Think of Job, in the Bible, his teachable “moment” took away everything that he had including his health. So much so that his wife advised him: “His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!“. ( Job 2:9)  What kind of nonsense it that!?

Giving up on life or cursing God…neither option is a good one and could actually make things much worse! God loves each of us far more than we can understand and He is always near us, especially if you are a Christian. Although many who are going through times that are hard, especially now, may not be Christians. So, what can they do? If things seem to be too hard to bear, cry out to God! He is the Great Physician and is able to do above and beyond what we can know or think to ask for!

Jesus died for us so that we can come to the Father at any time and if your heart feels that there is no hope, there really is! Through Jesus’ sacrifice for us, He gave us the access to God directly. We no longer have to go to a priest or a rabbi to know that our prayers are being heard. There is nothing that we can do that will aid our prayers about whatever it might be that is tasking us and trying our faith. God hears what you need, especially when we are seeking Him for His ever-present help and understanding!

We are not to test God with irrational things like jumping from a building or handling snakes or drinking poison. Our faith may save us in some of those situations, but God will allow gravity to have its way. The other so-called “tests” are just against common sense, period!

The point that I am trying to make is that God loves us and will save our souls if we come to Him, seeking Him for our salvation. When we add suicide into the mix of “issues”, God will allow your soul to be saved if you have given your heart to Him prior to this, even though some might argue this point. My actual point is that if you have given your heart to Jesus and truly asked Him into your life, I don’t believe that He will allow you to get so far down that you take your life. During my month of feeling this way, I have thought of suicide but that is as far as it went…just thoughts and nothing more.

I love my wife and son too much to leave them like that and even though I love Jesus more, I don’t believe that He wants me to do something that stupid with my life. If for no other reason than it doesn’t honour Him at all if I kill myself! Writing this out seems to be helping in many ways because it is almost like talking to a therapist without the bill. Besides, they have no interest in you anyway. All that they want is their fee. I may be wrong about that, but consider that they don’t really know you at all, you are just a patient to them.

Anyway, God created you and knows you far more intimately than anyone. He knew that this was coming and why. He also knows when it will end and will enable you to get through it, and you will by depending upon Him, trusting Him and having faith in His provisions for you.

 

It really doesn’t matter


In our world…in our culture today, your faith in something, your belief in something or some One really doesn’t matter much. Most people who you meet don’t care what you think and especially what you believe in.

It is a cynical way of looking at life in general and especially regarding your personal salvation, but it is true! Some don’t believe that we have an existence beyond this life at all. Some people think that we do and that it matters what you believe and Who you believe in. So what is it that separates us on religious issues as well as cultural issues?

Mainly our beliefs. Our God or our unbelief in one is what truly separates us from each other as well as our cultures. We all have different cultures that we have grown up in with their own beliefs and customs and traditions. Those have separated us for many years and in many ways, because of that we have a hard time understanding each other’s culture or the belief systems that each of us follows. But, that doesn’t mean that we can’t understand each other…if we will suspend our cultural prejudices and attempt to find common ground.

Many times, the beliefs that we have built up over time are truly what separates us. Sometimes we blame it on our skin color or the texture of our hair, but in reality it is our cultures which divide us. The divisions fall along lines which have built up over centuries and then get blamed on small details, which don’t really separate us at all. The norms which we grow up with, whether they are religious or not, are the lines which come between many countries today.

We tend to look at skin color more often than we should, but in reality it actually boils down to culture, which is something that can’t be changed because if you did then you would be in a different culture altogether one which is different. Those differences are what defines each of us in the world that we live in, whether it is in Israel or Argentina or Turkey or even Siberia. The culture that is there in each of those places, along with the languages, separates us into respective people, even though we are still part of the human race.

Does it matter whether you came from Argentina or Siberia? No, if you were taken as an orphan and raised in South Chicago or even Brooklyn, then your racial features would be there but you would develop the mannerisms of the area where you grow up. We take on the mantle of the culture in which we are brought up, no matter where we may come from originally. The point that I am trying to make is that our differences are not genetic nor are our appetites. We are the product of nurturing in the culture where we develop as children, and we carry that with us through our lives.

Just as God commanded the Israelites not to mingle with the cultures in the land where He was leading them to, we must stay separate too. This is what causes separation and racism….separateness in culture, religion, art, music! The point of this post is not to emphasize our differences but our similarities! Yes, we are different in all of these areas, but we are, at the most basic cellular level, the same. Beliefs, religions, and culture all conspire to change us, to mold us into the individuals that we are…that we can be.

Do you believe in God? So do the demons and Satan, and they tremble at His presence. God is not a punisher of those who don’t do His will, He is the Creator and nurturing Spirit behind all that is good in this world. All that we should do is to seek Him, to acknowledge Him as Who He is, to get to know Him and to love Him. Regardless of the culture that you were brought up in or your own beliefs, seek out the knowledge of Jesus and God. Learn from them and learn why you are loved by them. Then the culture and racial differences will not be so apparent and glaring, but they will be lower than your love for God and when you put Him first in your life, everything else falls into place as it should.

Are you the prodigal son or the one serving at home?


The parable of the prodigal son is a moving one which teaches us about God’s love and His willingness to forgive us no matter what we have done. The word “prodigal” is a word not used much in God’s Word. It’s basic meaning is wasteful, wanton, especially regarding money. It indicates the type of person who wastes their money on things that aren’t worth much, just plain reckless spending.

In Luke chapter fifteen, Jesus is teaching and there were tax collectors and sinners listening. There were also scribes and teachers of the Law in the crowd too. They were judging Jesus by the company that He was keeping: “This man eats with sinners and tax collectors!” It was for them that He told this parable.

Luke 15: 11-32:

11 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. 14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to[a] one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’[b] 22 But the father said to his servants,[c] ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

25 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”

In these passages and in this parable we see the son who essentially has declared his father dead. He wanted what was to come to him even before his father had died. Kind of sounds like our society today, “I want it NOW!” Not many days pass before he takes off into the world (the far country) where he spent his inheritance on women and drink and parties. While doing this, he had many “friends”.  Running away from God’s authority to do whatever we wish to do, like many of us have done or maybe are doing now?

But when the money ran out and it was gone, those “friends” disappeared and a famine came to the land where he was. He had no money left and couldn’t afford to eat and began to feel in want, so he hired himself to a citizen there in order to be able to survive. He was sent into the field to feed pigs, which to a Jew is at the very bottom of the barrel. Pigs are not even given a name in the Hebrew language, they are just called “the other thing or animal”.

At this point he was so hungry, that even the pods that he was feeding the pigs with were looking very appetizing  because no one gave him anything to eat. When he came to his senses, he decided that he would go home and ask his father if he could just be a servant, because even his father’s servants had enough to eat. His father was looking, hoping that his son would come home and when he saw him, he ran to greet him.

In the Middle East, this was a very undignified way for a father to act because a man over thirty years of age doesn’t “run” anywhere. This one did. He listened to his son’s repentance and the question of being a slave or a servant and said “Nonsense, bring a robe and put shoes on his feet and a ring on his finger”. His father did not take him back as a servant, he was fully restored to his previous place. Of course the older brother was offended and the sibling rivalry came roaring back, as you can read in the story.

The point of the story is this, God will forgive you regardless of the insult or the sin, no matter how bad you may think that you have been. God’s grace covers every sin, no matter the size. He loves us with a love that we can’t comprehend, all that we have to do is repent and ask Him to forgive us. Turn away from what you were doing, and follow Jesus from that point on. Even if you only have a few days or hours to live, God will take you just as you are.

God has not forgotten you!


The question is truly yours, not God’s. Are you interested in Him? He cares because you are alive, but do you care about what He wants in your life?GodisInterestedinYou Have you ever been close to God in your life and then walked away? Many people have done this and then wonder what happened to their relationship with God. Facebook and Twitter are some wonderful social networking sites to keep in touch with family and friends who may be scattered all over the country and I am thankful for my friends there. Have you ever considered that going to church on Sunday morning is a way to re-connect with God if you don’t feel particularly close to Him right now? It doesn’t matter if some of the people at the church don’t like you or if you think that they are hypocrites, God never stopped loving you and He will meet you wherever you wish.

But, He would like for you to come to His house, where the church meets. The church is not a building or a tabernacle or a shrine, it is the people who gather together to worship God in the same spirit that the early church did. You can have a personal meeting with God and Jesus regardless of who may be there or what they think about you. Who cares what they think, it is Jesus that you came to worship and it is Him and the Father that you need in your life!

The trouble with all of the divisions in our church congregations is that we tend to split over things which shouldn’t be issues at all. At least to believers, IMO. We have been placed in the places where we are for a purpose and until we accomplish that purpose, there will always be a part of our lives which feels uneasy and empty. You might ask, “How can I find the purpose for my life?”. I know that the answer to this question is going to upset some, but your purpose in life can be found in the Bible.

God’s Kingdom is going to manifest itself in this world soon. Everyone will see it and it will split the world in ways that nobody ever considered. The prophecies in the book of Revelation will come to pass whether we like it or not. It will not be a good time to be a believer but it won’t be a time when those who follow the side that has food and a place to stay will enjoy either. Oh, they will for a short time, but those who refuse to give their lives to Jesus and face persecution because of it will be the victors in the end.

How can you or I know this? Because it is in God’s Word! God cannot lie and the prophecies contained in it have all come true up to the point of the eventual “ruler” of the world being revealed and the other seals being broken. Is God interested in you? Yes, He knows the number of hairs on your head and what you are doing during every minute of the day. He knows this about every person on Earth, not just Christians. Because He could be calling you to be His child, His disciple so that you can have a purpose in His Kingdom now and in the future.

Don’t you realize that God is always near you, whether you feel that closeness or not. He is there. He shows His love to us, all of us, because of the life that you have. We have this planet to live on, we have air to breathe and a place to call home. Many of us have families and jobs, those are blessings from God. We are loved by the Creator of everything, isn’t that awesome!! He created the entire universe, worlds and galaxies that we can’t see with our natural eyes and that are far bigger and so vast that the limits of it we can’t comprehend, yet He pays attention to every bird that falls to the ground on Earth. If He cares that much about them, don’t you think that He cares much more about each of us that are created in His Image?

If you are loved that much by the Creator and you are, then don’t you think that you should return His love by giving your life to Him? Think about it.

Independence or dependence, it’s your choice


We celebrate Independence Day tomorrow in America and for us it is usually a big day, but I wonder what is happening elsewhere? I know, watch the news to find out or get on the ‘net and look it up. But, what else is going on besides that which I can find out from those sources? Have we finally achieved peace all over the world? No. Is it possible that I can go to sleep and not lock my doors? No, not yet. When will lasting peace and living without fear be achieved on our world and in the places where we live? Can we, as our flawed human selves, achieve this by mutual cooperation?

Only in television shows and in Utopian novels about a future like that envisioned by Gene Roddenberry does this come about. Humanity can’t agree on which team to bet on or even which type of coffee that we like or if we could get along with those people who live in another country with a different culture than our own! We live in compartmentalized worlds, some of which are so separate we can’t even trust the people on the next street, let alone those living in a different country!

On top of this, we have forgotten the One Who brought all of this about in the first place. We have pushed Him and the morality that past generations relied upon completely out of our schools, our government and in many cases even our families. We have declared our independence from God!

Consider this….what if He was to take His hand off of our lives and our world entirely? Let nature and all of the processes of weather and earthquakes and other natural phenomena happen without His control and protection! I know that many people would think that He doesn’t care about us anyway so what would be the difference? When it happens, you will know.

That sounds as if I am saying that God will take His hand and His influence off of our world doesn’t it? Not exactly. During the time that is prophesied in the book of Revelation, God will allow Satan free rein to vent his wrath for a time, then the wrath of God will fall on those who still refuse to acknowledge Him. It is during this period that many people will think that God has truly abandoned them, but He has not and will not completely abandon anyone. God’s love still is expressed today toward each of us, whether we exercise our independence from Him or not. If you have decided that your life is better spent while in service to Him as a teacher or preacher or in some other way, then you are dependent upon Him for the words that you have or those that you speak as well as your life and livelihood.

If you have declared in some way that you can live your life without God’s influence and that you will do exactly what you want regardless of His influence, felt in your heart or not, then you are working in the way of the world and Satan’s rebellion as well. You may not worship Satan, you might not claim to be religious at all, but when you are at enmity with God then you are in the same camp as Satan is and in rebellion against everything that God represents.

Life itself is a miracle brought about by God. Whether you believe it or not doesn’t make it any less true. The world around us is special in that it is just as perfect as it could be to support all of the forms of life which exist here. Nowhere else, that we know of, has all of the combinations of gases to make the correct atmosphere or the water which abounds on our Earth. The minerals and salts which are present in all living things here in the correct proportion so that pH and viscosity and all other requirements for life are met and are present here because God made it that way. None of this was a cosmic accident!

Consider this small excerpt from a document at the Institute for Creation Research: “Elementary statistical theory shows that the probability of 200 successive mutations being successful is then (1⁄2) 200 , or one chance out of 10 60 . The number 10 60 , if written out, would be “one” followed by sixty “zeros.” In other words, the chance that a 200-component organism could be formed by mutation and natural selection is less than one chance out of a trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion! Lest anyone think that a 200-part system is unreasonably complex, it should be noted that even a one-celled plant or animal may have millions of molecular “parts.” “

The very idea that a molecule of an amino acid might organize itself, on its own, into a single-celled organism and then proceed to grow ever more complex into all manner of plant and animal life until you have all of the life on planet Earth is patently absurd! Without God, this is impossible and every reasonable scientist knows it they are just too full of pride in their “theory” to admit it to themselves or to anyone else. Life is not and cannot be completely independent from God. Think about it.

Fear….how can we overcome it?


Many people today have fears of all kinds. Some are afraid of flying, some are afraid of enclosed spaces, some are afraid of bugs or snakes or anything which crawls on the ground. These are natural fears, the kind that we learn while growing up and some are just fears which are genetic. Now, that is not to say that there is anything wrong with fear. A little fear can keep you from getting killed in certain situations, fear can give you a bit more speed at times when you really need it (Feet, don’t fail me now!!) 🙂

The point that I came here to make is that fear of things that we, as humans, can’t do anything about is not healthy. Fear of dying for example. Death and dying come to every person on this planet and there are none who can escape it…it is a fact and inevitable so get over it. The manner in which you die is what many people actually fear, such as drowning or having an automobile accident. Nobody wants to experience either of those because we fear the  pain which will likely come as a result.

In the book of Judges, Gideon is getting ready to fight with thirty thousand men and God tells him that he has too many men, let those who are fearful go home, and he lost twenty-two thousand men right off the bat! There was a lot of fear in that group don’ t you think? God’s reason for thinning out the number was not to get rid of those who were afraid, but to show His glory and His ability to fight for Israel. Gideon did not need that many men to fight the Amalekites, and even after the first bunch left he still had over ten thousand and God told him that there were still too many.

God knew that with such a large force, Israel would think that it was their power that had defeated their enemies and He wanted to show them that He would fight for them if they would let Him. To continue the story, God tells Gideon to watch them as they drink from the stream. Those who lapped the water like a dog would be the ones that he would use as his army, so Gideon was left with only three hundred out of ten thousand.

Why am I telling you this story from the Bible? Simply to point out that God can overcome any obstacle, no matter how big it seems to us but only if we let Him do it. He won’t take over your life, you still have a choice to make every day. If you ask Him to come into your day and help you with your everyday problems, He will, but He won’t fix them for you. You have to learn to listen to Him and then use what He has told you to fix them yourself. It is the obedience that we have always had a problem with. Adam couldn’t do it and many others in the course of time had problems with obeying the words and the prophecies given by God and we do too.

You can call it “being stubborn or hard-headed” if you wish, but the point is that humanity is that way and Satan uses it against us. We think that we are doing it, that it is our idea or our solution when the solution has come from Satan if it goes against God’s will for your life. “But, how can I know what God’s will is for my life?” you may ask. The answer to this is easy and hard too. You have to sit down and read a book….the Bible, God’s Word and wisdom for us. Pray about His will for you while you read it and you will find it, He will reveal it to you, but you have to put some effort into it. Reading a few verses here and some over there won’t help and in fact will confuse you even more. Begin at the beginning and read through, then pray about it and read it again. The fear of God will leave and the love of God will show up in your life and in your heart. Learn about Him because He already knows everything about you!

Gloom, despair and depression…why do we have them?


“Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.” Psalm 42:11

The words above were written for us today. Because they speak to the depression and the solitude which Satan uses to take over our life and make it one which is filled with despair and gloom and darkness. Why does he do this? Because he doesn’t want you to tell anyone about Jesus and he knows that if you are “down in the dumps”, you won’t feel like spreading the Good News of Jesus to anyone! If he can stop you from telling one person, he has done his duty. Because, that one that you miss because of your depression just might be the next great evangelist and he doesn’t want that.

If it was your business to do the things that make people miserable, like Satan’s purpose is today, you wouldn’t want some on-fire evangelist out there spreading the Gospel to everyone that he meets! It doesn’t matter to Satan how he accomplishes his goal, if he has to kill thousands to do away with the one that could bring a message of hope and love to even a few people, he will do it! But…God’s plans will always win out. Satan may think he has won, but God knows the outcome and He knows where the next follower of Christ is and what they can do.

Satan hates us as human beings because God loved us more than He loved the angels, of which Satan was a principle cherub, the guardians of God. Not only does he hate humanity because of God’s love for us but because of the special position that God gave to us, the relationship that we can have with God through His Son. So, you see it isn’t personal, he just hates us with such a deep and abiding hatred that no human could ever understand it. Satan will make people think that he will reward them with power and wealth and he might for a time, but the day will come when your “contract” will be up. No amount of money or power will save you from the eternal punishment that will fall on you because you chose to align yourself with the consummate liar and deceiver that is Satan.

Some religions teach that there is no eternal punishment for us because Jesus paid that price and we are all saved through Him. Well, technically that is true but if you have not repented of your sins and asked Jesus into your heart and your life, you don’t have Him as Lord and Savior to keep you from being thrown into the lake of fire with Satan and his followers. Just as if I told you that I have one hundred dollars that I will give you, if you don’t come to my home and claim it then you still don’t have it. The offer of salvation is there, the price has been paid and once you take hold of it then your salvation cannot be un-done, but if you don’t grasp it and repent of your sinful ways and follow Jesus when you ask Him into your heart, then they were just words and nothing more. You can even get baptised in front of a church or in a stream, but without repentance and a commitment to follow Jesus, you just got wet in front of an audience and nothing more.

The Church which was started on the day of Pentecost was not a specific denomination. It wasn’t called the Church of God or the Church of Christ or the Pentecostal church. At the time, the Jews in Israel called them believers of the Way, a sect that they wanted to crush and destroy. Which is why they sent Saul to imprison and beat the believers in this “Way”. The persecution of believers began then and it has not stopped since. It may be subtle here in America, in other countries it is more pronounced and vigorous. Elsewhere, Christians are imprisoned, beaten, and sometimes killed because of their belief in Jesus.

Satan has used this jealousy and animosity against the Church to destroy and persecute it for centuries simply because he wants to undo the plans of God as much as he can. That is why there is so much suffering in the world and so much pain and death. God allows this because He gives each of us a choice, whether to follow Him or not. Without a choice, there is no real love. Think about this, if someone tried to force you to follow them or love them….would you? I wouldn’t.

Adult to child or child to adult, which way is it?


When we are young, we can’t wait to get older. When we get older, we want to feel young and act that way. It is so hard to get away from being a child it seems. So, why is it hard to imagine people being childish regardless of their age or their occupation?

We all want to grow up or at least we are supposed to, but looking at the way our culture is today it seems to be taking a long time for many people to do so. If they ever do. Yes, the correct direction is supposed to be from child to adult but it seems that we have gotten confused in the past few decades, not just in America but all over the world. People enjoy things in their middle age that they enjoyed when they were children, even into their later decades of life people tend toward being childish at times concerning some things.

Why is it this way? Because when we get older, we want to have things our way, just as we did when we were toddlers. We may not throw a tantrum about it, but sometimes we do. We are being given things today in our everyday lives that we would’ve had to work for a few decades ago and we get them almost instantly. Games give us instant gratification in winning, you can order anything online now and you would’ve had to travel to get those things years ago, especially books. We can get them instantly delivered over the Internet without having to go anywhere or pay shipping. We can get online and talk with our friends that we haven’t seen in more than twenty years, yet we both are in our own homes hundreds of miles away in some instances and we aren’t even paying for long distance charges to do so!

Our culture and the way that we live in today has gotten so addicted to instant everything and constant information availability, until if something happened to all of this connectivity….we would be totally LOST! Many people would likely even commit suicide because they couldn’t get in touch or look up something. Being childish about some things is OK, being addicted to information overload is just ridiculous. We have intellect and intelligence but to someone coming from a different planet, it would not seem so at times.

Why have we lost our way so badly? Because we have moved away from God and His wisdom. Many of us have Bibles in our homes, many thousands of people have them on their eBook readers but do we read them? Some do, many don’t. The wisdom contained in the Bible is wisdom from God written down through the prompting of the Holy Spirit and it was sent to us for our benefit. Pushing it to the back of the room or throwing it away doesn’t change anything. Ignoring the Word of God doesn’t get rid of any Truth contained in it, just as ignoring the law of gravity doesn’t get rid of it either.

Reading God’s Word, studying it and praying for Him to open your eyes to the Truth is something which all Christians should be doing as we come to the end of the age. Many don’t want to believe that we are so close to it, but when it gets here….you won’t need a news program to tell you that it is, people all over the world will know it at the same time. Our education system has gotten so far from the Word of God and pushed any of its teachings out of the classroom until our society is paying the price for its arrogance in doing so now. The biggest problem with this is that once we have given up on teaching these things, there is no remedy, no way to introduce sanity back into our schools and society again without a HUGE backlash.

Childish, yes we are in more ways than most would like to admit. Sanity and being an adult seem to not go hand in hand anymore and IMO it is because of the absence of the Bible in the home and in schools that is the reason behind it all. How can we fix it? The sad truth is that we can’t. Only the return of Jesus will do that and His return will be sooner than many are willing to admit.

What have you done lately?


Well…lets see, I washed the dishes and the clothes. Then my son and I took the garbage out and got the mail. Yes, this is how my day has gone today, so far. What have you done? Are you a child of God? Do you know Jesus?

As you can tell, I was called a few years ago to be a minister, not just a pastor of a small church but one out here where everyone can see and read what I say. The words which I put out here are not my own exactly, they come from the Holy Spirit because I can’t take the credit for all of the things which I have put here. I can’t help but inject Jesus into my posts. This is not an “online diary”!!! I would never put my own personal life out here so that everyone can read it and learn about me!

I am not important nor am I the person that needs to be learned about, but Jesus wants to know you and He wants you to learn about Him and ask Him to come into your life! You know, there are many people who have never heard about Jesus, even in America, let alone the entire world! It has been two thousand years since Jesus ascended back to His home with the Father, and even though the church was told to go out and tell others about Him and the salvation that God offers through Him, there are many who either haven’t heard the message or don’t understand it.

We are the “body of Christ” on Earth but if we don’t put feet to our faith and go to those who need Him, they might never know about Him and the grace that has been granted to us! If you don’t know Jesus, then it isn’t your fault at all. It is just that you are not part of the solution, yet! Have you had trouble in your life since you heard of Jesus? If you have heard only one sermon or maybe one family member told you about Jesus, yet you said that you weren’t ready yet, or maybe you think that you aren’t good enough to come to Jesus, then today…right now is the time to ask Him to come and clean up your life and your heart so that you can belong to Him!

I know that some people have said that, “Jesus wouldn’t want me. You don’t know what I have done.”, well maybe I don’t know what you have done in your life. The number of sins that you have committed and the people who you may have hurt is none of my business, but Jesus knows! If He is dealing with you and your heart, you will know and if you can feel that then Jesus has decided that you are needed in His Kingdom. You can do something for the Kingdom of God that no other person on Earth can do, but you can!

God knows exactly what you can do and how much, so He will put you where you can and will be the most useful to Him. Yes, it sounds like you are a servant to Him and we are to an extent, but our relationship means more to God than just our service. He wants this relationship to be a two-way relationship like He had with Adam and Eve in the Garden before they disobeyed Him. Can you do this on your own? Absolutely NOT! We cannot do or be the servant that God wants or needs us to be on our own strength and there is nothing that we can do that will “help” God save us and get us into Heaven!

Jesus did everything that was necessary for us to have salvation and enjoy the grace of God in our lives and there is nothing that we can add to it that will make it better. You can’t improve on the perfection that God provided through Jesus, all that we have to do to claim our salvation is to believe in Him and what He did for us. Belief through faith in Jesus is all that is necessary, once that is accomplished then you are free from sin’s hold on your life and you are able to be the person that God intended for you to be!