Category: God’s purpose for you

Love, where does it come from?


Many people wonder about love and today consider that this word is just…a word. It doesn’t mean anything, it has no depth for many people. It is just a simple, four letter word and nothing more. Where does this sort of thinking come from? Why is it so denigrated and down-played from the meaning that it is given in God’s Word?

Mainly because people don’t see love today as the same as what is talked about in the Bible. We have been using the word, LOVE, as a stand-in for lust for so long until it has lost its real meaning. Nobody sees it being acted upon or toward people in the same way that Jesus told us that we are supposed to do. We are supposed to love each other as we love ourselves, but very few people do this today.

Everyone is out to get what they can get and as much as they can get for themselves. Its like the world is populated by millions if not billions of spoiled brats!

I am not saying that stuff is bad but the constant search for and chasing after more toys is idiotic. Nothing that you gain in this life materially gives you much satisfaction except for a brief moment when you are using it for the first few times. Then, just like most children, it becomes old and it just doesn’t fill the void that you wanted filled. At which point you are off to find something else.

Our search for something to fill that void in our lives is not a pursuit which is limited to young or old, rich or poor or middle class. It is something which we feel when we get to a certain age and realize that there is something that is missing. At which point we begin to search for it and depending upon our resources (money), we look in all sorts of places and seek out fulfilment in more and better things.

We will look at new cars or homes or games or guns, then sometimes we seek out new friends or relationships or even new gadgets like an iPad or tablets or phones and computers. Today, the selection is nearly endless yet we still have trouble finding just the right combination or specific person or thing which will fill that void. We will never find it until we begin searching for the One which can fill that place of empty feeling.

That is Jesus Christ. In life, we only have a small amount of time. It could be twenty years or thirty, it might be sixty or even ninety or one hundred years, but when you compare that time with, say one hundred thousand years, isn’t it tiny? God created us all with an immortal spirit or soul and that part of us continues on when this life ends. Your acceptance of Jesus places you on the path into Heaven with Him and that life will never end.

If you choose to hear or listen to a message about being saved by belief in Jesus and then walk away, deciding that you will live the way you want to live because your idea of God would not do that to someone. Your idea of God would not punish you in hell for not accepting His Son as Savior. It won’t be your idea that judges you! It will be God Himself and it is not His decision which will place you in hell, it is yours!

Even a child can understand the Love of God that was given to all of us through Jesus and His death and resurrection, but if you choose to turn away from the offer of grace which God gives you by that love then it is your choice. It will be your choice which condemns you to hell, not God.

Are we any good?


Bad things don’t happen to good people because good people don’t exist.

“There is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10 NIV)

I’m not trying to condemn anyone to hell, you do that all by yourself. I’m just trying to show you that it’s not all about you or me, it’s about Him. When your focus is directed at yourself, you forget to leave room for God.

Even though I was acting like a Christian, I was not a good person. To “sin” is to miss God’s mark. Sin is anything opposite of what God wants us to do. Even though everything I did was technically “pleasing to God” I still used it for my own pursuit for happiness. I am still a sinner, the only difference now is that my sins are covered by the blood of Jesus.

If Jesus is our role model then we should try to be Christ-like…right? I mean, that is what Christian actually means you know? Well try to compare your good deeds with what Jesus did. I’m sorry, but it’s an unfair match. People can’t seem to believe that He was able to be human and God too and many Christians don’t believe it, but He was and He is! Jesus’ mother, Mary, was human which we all know something about. His Father is God, so He didn’t have the “sin seed” if you will, which was passed down from Adam.

People do good things, but good people don’t exist. Yes, there are many people who are “playing church”, doing all the accepted things and trying to be “good Christians”. But, on their own and with their own strength they can’t do it, no one can!

Christ set the example for us, and our goal is to be like Him, but we will never reach the likeness of Christ. I’m sorry…but if we became like Christ, then we would consider ourselves to be a god. The only point in your life that you will be truly Christ-like is after you reach Heaven. You can try to follow the Holy Spirit to the best of your ability during this life, but unless you are depending upon Him every minute of every day…every day, you won’t be able to. You can come close, but the fullness of our holiness won’t be bestowed upon us until we are in His Presence.

So that leaves us where we are now. We are sinners, but if you have Christ in your heart then you are a sinner saved by His grace!

Our goal is to achieve Christ-likeness, but Paul says there’s no such thing as a good person. Until we are changed by Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit from the inside out, we are just us, each of us is a sinner because of the sin-nature that mankind inherited from Adam.

God shows us His ultimate righteousness to create an urgency of dependence towards Him. The Holy Spirit deals with our spirit on the basis of holiness and shows us just how unrighteous we really are. That is where we break down and cry out to God.

God made us all equal. Matthew 20:1-16 shows us that (stop what you’re doing and read this parable). Don’t focus on what you deserve. We all deserve the same wage, the wage of death, because we all have sinned (Romans 3:23 & 6:23). You’re a sinner, so am I. No one’s perfect. That’s why I lean on Jesus every day. The trials of my life have already been conquered by Him. We are no longer bound to our sin through Jesus. We are conquerors by His power and the Holy Spirit and we are able to overcome the temptations through Him.

The truth about us is not based on our deeds, our performance, our past, our present, and our resumes. The truth about us is defined by the gospel and our dependence on Him. It’s time to give up our false selfless ambitions and align our hearts with God’s will in our lives. We all need to work on this, I’m learning just as much as you. Keep seeking out God through His Word. Look for Him in your daily life in small victories and big ones. He will give you that victory over whatever is in your life if you will lean on and trust in Him!

God’s name is in Israel


I have a picture which was taken by a pilot in Israel and the hills close to Jerusalem spell God’s name in Hebrew. This is easy to see, yet I doubt that many people will take this as the warning that it could be. God has claimed this land thousands of years ago fGods name in Israelor the Jewish people and He signed it with His name. This alone should make the world afraid and wondering about the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But, of course, many will dismiss this as just a coincidence although I don’t believe that a formation on the hills which forms the name of God is a coincidence!

The land was given by God to Abraham and his descendants as their possession forever, by a covenant which God proclaimed Himself! You know, since the Creator is the One Who gave the land of Israel to the Jews, how can we argue about the ownership of it? How can we possibly act as if we can split the land up and give it to others?

God is God, the Creator of everything and whether we believe it or not. Whether the world will acknowledge Him or not, it is the Truth. He is real just as Satan and his demons are real. Heaven and hell are real and they are places where people will go because of their choices in life, not because of their evil or their sins but because of their choices!

Most will not believe this, but it is only your choices which will condemn you to hell and it is specifically your choice of whether you will follow and believe in Jesus and His atonement for you or if you will follow something or someone else in life. It doesn’t even have to be someone who you worship in a church or mosque or synagogue, you can just choose to not believe or even to place yourself in the position of a god.

How you could do that, I am not sure. The thing is that, when you put anyone or anything in place of Jesus then you are worshipping yourself or whatever may be taking the place of the Messiah! Everyone seems to deny that there is idolatry today, yet it is rampant. Not only in America but all over the world. I will get many reactions from this point of view, but my point is this: we are not gods and cannot be gods! It doesn’t matter how highly you think of yourself or how impressive your body is, if you are a body-builder, you are not a god and never will be! So much hate and cruelty is in our world today because of views on race and violence toward someone who doesn’t believe as you do. Why is that?

We are all part of the HUMAN RACE! Yes, there are different colors of skin, but just because a horse is black and one is brown or black and white, you don’t look at them as a different “race” of horse! Violence toward someone of a different belief system is another stupid way of persecution toward others too. I don’t care who or what you pray to, as long as you don’t push your beliefs on me especially with violence and killings because I choose to worship differently from you! It is true, that I believe that Christianity is true to the Word of God and is the religion which will lead you to Heaven because that is what God’s Word says. But, I am not going to threaten you with a sword or a gun because you want to believe something different!

That is why God gave us all a choice to believe in Him and His Son or not. People always choose what is most comfortable to them. What they have grown up with to one extent or another. Yet, God has a way of getting His Spirit to intervene in your life at times when you least expect it to happen, even if you haven’t been to a church, Christian or otherwise. If God has a plan for your life, then eventually your life and His plan will run into each other especially if it has to do with your being a part of His Kingdom and maybe having an influence on others too!

Consider that the world right now is on the edge of all of the prophecies which point to the “end of the age”. It is getting close, though I don’t know and no one else does either. Seek Him out in God’s Word, learn about the God Who Lives, the Creator, the King of Kings, the Prince of Peace. It is He Who will bring peace to this world after all and to all of those that choose to follow Him.

We are in dire need


StrengthI placed this picture here because we all need to pray this prayer every day! Yes, we are in dire need of prayers and the strength that comes from Him every day! Why do I say this? Because it is the truth. We, as humans, are weak. We cannot be strong enough to get through the struggle which comes our way every day. Not the little things like getting up and going to work or to get groceries or even just washing the dishes or the clothes. I am talking of the temptations which Satan throws into our minds and our way each and every day. You experience these every day, we all do, even Jesus was tempted but He didn’t give in to it so it didn’t become a sin in His life.

God gives us the strength, IF we ask for it and then depend upon Him for that strength to get through a tempting time or just one temptation today or tomorrow. Depending upon God and His Word and His Wisdom is the smartest thing that you can do. Reading His Word every morning, or every day gives you the strength and wisdom to make it through all of your problems.

I have heard that many people consider going to church on Sunday to be their time with God. That is just the beginning! How would you feel if your family only visited you once every week for about an hour? Not much like a family huh? Pray to God every morning and evening, read His Word morning and evening in order to get to know Him. How can you expect a Father to know you very well if He never sees or hears from you? God knows you better than you or your parents do, but He still wants a relationship with you every day.

God’s love has been flowing to us, all of us, since the beginning of Creation. He knew each of us then, even before He created Adam. We are special and we are loved infinitely more than we can imagine on our own. So, how can we get to know our Creator? By reading His Word and learning of His ways and His love and patience for us. He will give you the strength and the ability to make it past all of the temptations that Satan will toss your way.

We really are in a spiritual war between Satan and God. Satan hates God’s creation with a hatred that we can’t understand and will do anything that it takes to destroy your life or your ministry or both if he has to. Get closer to God through His Word and prayer. Seek Him every day in Scripture and don’t forget to ask for His protection for you and your family because Satan will get to you through them if he can’t get to you.

Addendum: I have received a comment that this post is too short and doesn’t include enough information for a “novice” Christian to follow, I respectfully disagree. While it is true that this is one of my shorter posts, the information about seeking God is the same as it is for everyone. It is true that my particular instructions are brief and low on specifics, but the Bible is not.

Learning about your role in spiritual warfare and how to combat it starts in the book of Romans and then continues through much of the rest of the New Testament. There is also a book or two in the Old Testament that is useful, such as Joshua and Daniel. Though, the entire Bible is best for learning about your responsibilities in Christ and as a Christian.

A daunting task if you are a new Christian, and one which I had some trouble sticking to when I first came into faith in Christ. Today, you have an app for that in the Bible app for your phone or tablet. With it, you can fine a reading plan which will help keep you on track to read the Bible all the way through in a year which will give you plenty of information, if you will pray through it as you go. The best advice I can give after that is….do it again. Each time, praying that God would show you something different and He will. I have read it through about six or seven times, I think, and each time I found something that had more meaning or wisdom than I noticed the time before.

I hope this helps somewhat. It is still a bit early here, so please forgive any terseness that may have crept into my writing.

Peace in our time?


“Since its inception in the 7th century, Islam has used the sword to advance its territory. It goes on to this day. The goal is to bring the world into submission to Sharia law. This is what motivates all these “terrorist” groups. ISIS is getting a lot of attention, but what is going on with Boko Haram against the people of Nigeria today is just as horrible. This practice of using force to compel conversion is a distinctive to Islam compared to the world’s other major religions.” (borrowed from another site afa.net)

Our world here in America and elsewhere is becoming much more dangerous, especially to Christians. Why? Because we don’t believe the same as other religions. Yet, people in America want tolerance from Christians toward everyone else’s beliefs and their lifestyles, but they can’t stand our beliefs. Talk about a double standard!!

It seems that people can’t comprehend the reason that Christians believe the way that they do, and I don’t understand this at all. The Bible, which is our guidebook and our Holy Book, is available almost everywhere. Most of it is part of Jewish belief as well since their Torah and much of our Old Testament are the same. Even Islam recognizes the Book and the Patriarchs and Jesus, although they don’t give them the same reverence that we do.

Peace in our life-time has been a common theme that many have tried to bring about for many hundreds of years, yet it is something which is either fleeting in its brevity or almost impossible due to cultural and religious differences. Is it possible? Yes, but it cannot be done through force and it will not come at the hands of a man, it will come about when Jesus returns and rules from Jerusalem.

Why do I say it this way? Because it is a fact. God has prophesied it in His Word and therefore that is the way that it will be. There is no argument and there is no other way that it will happen. Many people will fight against it and they will fail in the end. Like it or not, that is the way the future will be.

Christianity is not forced upon you. You will and always have had a choice to follow Jesus or not, but peace on the Earth will only come when He is ruling from Jerusalem. I am not speaking of the Anti-Christ, but the real Messiah, Jesus.

Yes, I know, many who might read this will not agree with me which is fine. I don’t expect nor require anyone to agree. I am just stating something which is prophesied to happen and it is going to happen. Whether you believe that I am delusional or not really doesn’t matter at all, I have been called worse.

God knows the hearts of men, regardless of their religion or their doctrine, and it is He that will judge each of us according to our faith and that which we have done or not done in this life. The things which have been done for His Kingdom will last, anything other than this will be destroyed. Your possessions and your money are all part of this world and it doesn’t matter how much you have of either. When  you die, regardless of the manner of your death, your “stuff” will be here for someone else to sell or enjoy. You will be in eternity and your decisions in this life for or against Jesus will determine where that eternity will be. So make the right choice.

Trust and obey, how can we do that today?


And she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory is departed from Israel”: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband. (Isaiah 4:21)

At the wedding in Cana, Mary the mother of Jesus told the servants, His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

In the first quote from Isaiah, it was a time of Israel’s departure from worshipping God. They were following all of the stuff that was around them in the promised land. The gods of the different people had enticed them, the people had enticed them and they had fallen out of love with God. Why? Because they had done it before, time and time again. People today ask, “How did the gods entice them?” Satan and his demons were the gods and they would cause things to happen from time to time so that the god seemed real, but the piece of wood or metal was still just as deaf and dumb as it was before. When the ark of God was taken from Israel, the Spirit of God did leave the Temple and the nation itself.

In the second quote above, the mother of Jesus told the servants to make sure that they did what He told them to do. Why? Because of Who He was and Who He is! Today, we have many churches which have formed their own doctrines and their own requirements for worship, but they are man-made! What good is that? Anything done by man or made by man will flop if it is not done for the Glory of God! If what you are doing in your life is only for yourself and nobody else, then it may work for a while but ultimately it will fail. It doesn’t matter if it is a business or your marriage, if you haven’t dedicated it to God and His Kingdom and make sure that you seek His Wisdom for it every day, then there will be trouble at some point. It may start as something small and insignificant but it will get worse.

Give your heart and your life as well as yourself to Jesus. Dedicate your marriage and your business to Him by giving ten percent of your increase to the church and God’s Kingdom. All of these are the beginning of wise living, the most important is giving yourself to Jesus and asking Him to come into your life. Live your life as if He was walking with you because if you have asked Him into your life, He is. Be careful of your business dealings, make sure that they would glorify God no matter what you do. The outward appearance of holiness without the inward man being renewed by Jesus, if like a white-washed tomb. It is pretty, but it isn’t clean. Just as you can clean up a hog and take it to the ring and show it off, but as soon as you let him out of the trailer at home, he will go straight to the mud wallow.

Living your life as Jesus would is the only way to show the world exactly Who it is that we follow. If they can’t see Jesus in your life, then He very likely isn’t in your life or your heart. Remember the clean hog? He is only clean until you let him out, then he goes right back to what he was doing before. Love and the power to change comes with Jesus, if you can’t show others both of those results in your life, then maybe you need the One Who can clean you up inside and out.

To finish the story from the wedding in Cana, Jesus told the servants to fill six water jars (about thirty gallons each) to the brim, then take it to the man in charge of the wedding. He told the groom, “Most people give the best wine at the first, then bring out the cheap wine. You have saved the best wine for last”.

It was because the servants did what Jesus told them to do that the miracle happened. The water was not special. Neither were the pots. What made the difference? First, it was the One who gave the command and second it was the obedience of the servants. Obedience is the thing which God has always looked for in us. From the Garden all the way through the Bible to the end of the age, it is our obedience, faithfully doing the will of God which brings the most blessings into our lives and in the lives of others.

Many people might ask the question, “How do I find the will of God for my life?”. That answer is simple: seek Him out in reading the Bible, prayer for His wisdom in your life, pray that He would reveal His will to you through His Word. Just as Jesus said, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all of these things will be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33

The Wisdom of God is contained within the pages of our Bibles, all that you need to do is read it, study it, pray over it and seek Him in it. Then pray about the things which you feel led to do by His Spirit. If He leads you to come to Him in repentance, then do that! It doesn’t matter how many years you have been in church! If you have been a member of a church for five years or fifty, that won’t save you if you haven’t given your heart to Jesus and asked Him to change you into what and who He knows you can be!

Live for Him, allow Him to live and work through you every day, because this is how many people will come to know Him and your example may be the only time that they ever meet Jesus before the end of their life. Make sure that they recognize Him through you.

Life…


Life is opening your eyes in the morning.

Life is seeing your child running in the yard.

Life is working in the garden.

Life is being there for a friend.

Life is going to visit someone in the hospital

Life is living your life in accordance with Christ.

Life is seeing a puppy or a kitten before their eyes open.

Life is holding your child for the first time.

Life is living with your sweetheart until they pass from this world.

Life is joining them in Heaven to carry on into Eternity.

Life is in Jesus and the grace that God grants us through Him.

Life is …..

Why?


If God’s presence has really left our country, why? Well, over the last fifty years we have continually pushed Him away from our children, from our educational institutions, from the public square, from being present at football games and other sports through prayer, even out of political and other bodies of legislative actions where His Presence is sorely needed today.

So, what would you expect Him to do? Granted, His feelings and actions are much different from ours but if your congregation or your spouse were doing this wouldn’t you leave too? I would. We are going to reap exactly what we have sown and I don’t think that this country is going to recover from it. There have been many signs and warnings such as the attack on 9/11, the financial crisis seven years later and now we are seven years past that point. What will happen this time? I don’t know and I am not going to speculate, but the moons that are happening on the Sabbaths this year and the two full solar eclipses could be telling us to wake up and repent of our ways.

God loves each of us, whether we are saved or not because He loved us all before we felt the conviction to repent. We are being given a chance to change and repent of our ways, and come back to Him.

Read the Bible, especially Romans and Revelation, because we need Him now far more than we have ever needed Him before. Please listen to the words from the Old Testament:

“Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

This is referring to all who call on God, not just the Jewish people. In Romans 9:25 it says: “Concerning the Gentiles, God says in the prophecy of Hosea, “Those who were not my people, I will now call my people. And I will love those whom I did not love before.”

Seek His counsel through the Bible and pray that it isn’t too late for our nation and our world.

God has left the building!


And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband. (Isaiah 4:21)

Is this what is happening in our culture and our country today? Is this happening in the world today? From what I have seen on the news and on the Internet, it seems to be happening. The thing is that it was prophesied to happen at this time and we are going through what is called the “falling away” or in some translations it is called the rebellion. In any event, it is the people of the church, who have attended church…some for years and yet when persecution comes or times get hard then they turn away from their faith and rebel against the teachings of the church.

These are people who I believe aren’t really Christians at all, they were just going through the motions. The did all of the “churchy” things like being teachers in Sunday school and even being Deacons in the church, some were even pastors, but they had never accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

I don’t understand how that is possible myself. How could you deceive people, and even yourself, into thinking that you are saved and even called to be a pastor, if you don’t have Jesus in your heart? “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17; isn’t this the scripture which shows exactly where your heart is and to Whom you belong? If you aren’t a new creation, then how can you possibly act like and perform as if you are, even when it isn’t genuine?

Our lives, in Christ or not, are in God’s hands and if we continue to push Him out of our lives then one day He will leave entirely. He will still be in control, but He won’t be there when you call on Him just as He did when Israel did this. There are many people today who don’t want to believe in Him or don’t want to hear about His message and that’s okay. Not what you were expecting me to write though huh?

The reason that I did write it is because I can’t convince you, all that I can do is give you scripture or some wisdom that I have gleaned from God’s Word. It is your choice to do with it what you will. Take it into your heart and learn about Him, then ask Him to come into your heart and live every day seeking more of His wisdom. That is His desire for us, at least in part.

Of course, you can ignore it and choose not to learn of Him. Deciding that He is an imaginary being from myth. Choose this road for your life and follow it carefully, watching everything along the way. Then when you die one day, and you stand before the One that you rejected maybe then you will see and understand. By that time, it will be too late to change your mind and your eternity will be before you.

“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15

United we stand


There are so many divisions in the body of Christ today, until I am sure that Satan is truly amused by it all. We have many denominations, some of which don’t or won’t talk to each other. Then there are divisions between black and white congregations. Many people call this racist and segregationist but the problem is that we are not different races! If you truly believe the Bible, then look to our original parents, Adam and Eve. They were both likely of a dark complexion, not one or the other, and yet many or all of the “races” came from them.

The body of Christ cannot be and should not be divided during this period. Why? Because we are nearing the end of the age, the body of Christ shouldn’t be divided. We need to be standing together in the unity of the Holy Spirit, not pointing out our differences and our doctrines which don’t line up exactly.

Our life as children of God needs to be in cooperation with each other and with Him. Our beliefs as Christians shouldn’t so far enough apart as to separate us this much. But, just as the political parties which can’t get along or agree about much of anything, we seem to have the same problem. One church believes that the Lord’s supper should be done at least once every month, another might say that once or twice a year is good enough.

Traditions and man-made rules and regulations are the kind of burdens which Jesus spoke against in His Earthly ministry. As long as we are communing with God through prayer and study of His Word and celebrating our freedom in Christ by having fellowship with other Christians, rules…especially man’s rules need not apply!

A written copy of a church’s “discipline” or creed doesn’t carry the same weight as God’s Word, yet some treat them as if they do. How can we call ourselves Christians, when we treat those in the church like cattle and we don’t even show the love of God to those outside the church doors! Today, there seem to be many “houses of worship” which don’t worship much more than their own self-image!

Get back to true worship of God and His Son. Come back to your first love and if you never really belonged to Him or He to you, then humble yourself and stop being so self-centered! The only place that kind of thinking will get you is on a very slippery slope to hell! If you have never heard of that place in a sermon, then you certainly need to read God’s Word, because you don’t want to spend an eternity there!

We, as Christians, need to be united because there are so many people against us these days. Even the DHS has evangelical churches on their watch list. Don’t believe it? Look it up! I have seen and heard this in the news. Maybe not on the “major networks” since they only report things that they are told to report, but on Fox and on Glenn Beck’s network they do. Yes, this labels me as a radical Christian, but I don’t cut people’s heads off, I am trying to save their souls by showing them the true Savior, Jesus Christ!

If that is a crime, then I am guilty of it and will go to my death with it if need be! My eternity is secure and I pray that yours is too.