Category: God’s purpose for you

Are you a follower, a leader, or a Christian?


In many ways we are called to be all three, especially if we claim to be Christians. Today, we are supposed to be a people who follow Jesus and His example, not the “politically correct” way but His Way of Life! If you are a follower of Him, will you be one when the persecution comes to America, and it will come sooner than you think! Will you stay true to your faith in Jesus and your claim to Him when someone is threatening your life or your family’s security?

We need to be that strong in our faith, we are supposed to be that strong so that we can stand in our faith and for our communities and our churches. We are also called to be examples and leaders of our churches and our families faith. If we aren’t doing that then what is the next generation going to learn? Who are they going to learn it from?

God gave that responsibility to parents. To raise their children in the knowledge and reverence of Him, not to be afraid of Him as if God were going to strike you with a bolt of lightning for doing something wrong. God allows us to make mistakes, but we aren’t supposed to live in those mistakes. We are supposed to learn from them, repent of the sinful ways that we had and move into a life of service to Him and not to ourselves.

Christians are supposed to be fundamentally bound to the Bible, God’s Word. It really isn’t supposed to be an option because if you choose to not believe one part of it, you are invalidating all of it! We have to be consistent in our faith in God and in the Word of God because if we aren’t going to believe all of God’s Word, then why be a Christian at all?

The belief in the Word of God comes with the faith that you have in Him and His Son. If that isn’t there, then you need to check with the Bible and see if you really do believe in what you say that you believe. This is exactly why there are so many people who don’t want to believe in God and who don’t go to church. They see all of these “so-called Christians” that go to church and then don’t live their lives by what they are claiming to believe on a daily basis.

This is exactly why so many people choose not to come to churches. They see many of those who claim Christ on Sunday, but who walk a different way during the week. The walk of a Christian is not an optional thing. It is just like walking on a thin line which we are called to do, you are either on it or not. Yes, we fall from our walk and step off of the line, but we should try to get back on it as soon as possible. Don’t decide that once you fall off that you can’t get back up! You don’t learn to ride a bike or a horse that way and your walk with Jesus is no different!

When you choose to be a Christian, regardless of how long ago it was, you are in a committed relationship. One which is dependent upon you to keep it going. Jesus has already done everything that He needed to do, it is up to you to seek Him out daily in His Word. Pray for your day to be the one that He would want. Keep your mind focused upon Him during the day, as often as you can, because the more you keep Him on your mind then the less chances Satan will have to cause problems in your day.

Make sure that, if you are a Christian, you are walking with Jesus and not dragging Him up when someone asks you about Him and then pushing Him away so that you can do what you want to do. Prayer is good, if it is done for the right reason and God hears those prayers when your heart is in them too. If you are just saying something like “God bless you”, then it is just an automatic thing and really doesn’t mean much. Consider what you are thinking because God knows what you are thinking too. Nothing is hidden from Him no matter where you might be.

What is going on today?


Many people are asking that question today and every day, so what would you tell them? Would you tell them that global warming was destroying our world? What about radical groups of religious zealots for Islam and Buddhism that are attacking and killing people because they don’t follow their brand of religion? Economies of governments and the budgets of nations are in dire need of help, but from where? The people in those countries don’t have enough money to put food on their table let alone enough money to pay taxes and higher fees for insurance! This world and the people in it need hope and a Savior but from where will he come?

He will come from Heaven and from Scripture into your lives and your hearts if you will choose to allow Him to do so. He is not going to bring pounds of gold to give to you nor is He going to make your problems vanish over night, but He will give you a hope for tomorrow and the strength to get through whatever it may be that is in your path today and tomorrow.

God loves each of us far more than we can know or even understand, yet we don’t seem to want to allow Him into our daily lives, why? Are we so blinded by our own ego and pride that we can’t see that we need Him in our lives? It is possible to let Him into our daily lives without His Presence interrupting our activities. Actually our activities should be in line with His plans for us, but that isn’t possible for many people.

The love that God has for us is far above anything that we can understand, but the closest that we can come to it is the love that most parents have for their children. That is how God views us, as His children. Regardless of our color or our background, He cares about us. No matter where you live or what you may be doing in your life, He is there watching and if you allow Him into your life He will guide your steps and your actions so that others will see Him through you and maybe they will seek Him out too.

In our world every day there is heartache and trouble, from drugs and shootings to violence in the home and religious zealots making statements about which religion we should be following. Some of those zealots may be Christians, but the majority that we hear on the news are from those who don’t believe in any god or those who follow Islam. Most news agencies won’t report anyone who is doing Christian work, unless it gets a headline somehow and usually in a negative way.

Satan is in control of most, if not all, of this negative press so it really shouldn’t be much of a surprise. If you have read some of the prophecies in the Word of God, you know that this is supposed to happen. God knows that it is happening and He is in control. He allows some things that Satan does but thankfully He isn’t allowing Satan free rein on Earth just yet.

Jesus is the only answer to our world’s problems and giving your heart to Him is the only way to come to the Father in Heaven. Seek Him out while you have today. We are not guaranteed tomorrow, only the day that we have and we must use it to the best of our ability. Serve Jesus and allow Him to work through you for the better and greater good of those that you come in contact with. He will grant you peace and security in the Life that you will have after this one.

Christ’s message


Our Lord, Jesus Christ, came to Earth to bring a message and hope to all people. He also came so that all might have a chance at being saved from their sins and from the punishment in eternity.

Yes, God loves you and me and because of this love He sent Jesus to die on the cross and pay the debt that we all owe. The only requirement for us to fulfill is to believe that He did it for us and to accept it by faith in Jesus. You cannot add to the redemptive power of His blood nor can you take anything away from it other than eternal life.

I have had people to say that they don’t believe in God so why should they believe in His Son? It is your choice to feel this way and your choice to follow Jesus or not, God doesn’t force you to do anything. Just as you can’t force someone to love you, He doesn’t either. That choice is completely up to you and it is your choice which will condemn you to hell, not God.

The verse which many know by heart, John 3:16-17 tells the story better than I can: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son; that whosoever believes in Him will have everlasting life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.…”

Jesus did not come into the world the first time to judge anyone, but to bring the news about Himself that through Him all might come to repentance and be saved through faith in Him. When He comes again, He will be a conquering King and Judge of those who have rejected Him. Your life can be more hopeful and better in many ways if you will trust in Jesus, please consider doing so.

There are many who don’t believe and that is their choice. God doesn’t force belief on anyone, because you can’t do that. You either believe or you don’t and belief only comes through faith and that comes by hearing the Word of God preached. God loves all of mankind, but the enemy hates us with a passion that goes beyond human reason. That is the one who brings all of the suffering into the world, Satan and his demons, not God.

If you have ever felt the Holy Spirit speaking to your heart and Spirit at a church service or a crusade or even a television program, I urge you to seek Him out in the Bible. Ask Jesus to come into your heart and cleanse you from your sins. We all have them. I have lied and cheated on tests when I was in school, I have also been a drunk and smoked weed. I don’t deny these things, but Jesus changed me and now I preach and tell others about Him every week and almost every day here and my other blogs.

The words which I have written over the years didn’t come entirely from my own mind. I am not that eloquent, but God gives me the words to bring to you just as He does on Sunday when I preach. Seek Him out while there is still time.

Reasoning


We make excuses for every decision that we make. Why? There are many who look to themselves for power and the way to have wealth and prosperity. Even if you are able to make lots of money and have all of the toys that “rich folks” have, what are you going to do with it when something happens to your child’s health or your spouse’s health? Having a Jag in the garage with twenty-six inch wheels won’t help you when you are diagnosed with cancer. Having a huge home won’t help when the economy crashes and the electric grid fails because of no bills being paid. Having a walk in refrigerator with enough food to feed a small village won’t do you much good when the electricity is cut off.

Justifying your excesses in life or your excuse for not going to church is the most silly and stupid way to take a trip to hell that there is. Even Satan himself knows Who God is and the atheists and Muslims don’t believe that he exists either, but one day they will meet him and the demons who followed him.

Stuff and nonsense will not be of any good at all to your eternity. The only One that can possibly change you and your life is Jesus Christ! Learn of Him through the Bible and a Bible teaching church, not some place where they tell you that you can pray anything in His name and He will give it to you! God is not a genie, He is the Creator of all that is and He is jealous of our love and devotion. He wants us to come to know Him and to choose to love Him, but it is your choice and nobody else’s decision. God doesn’t even force the angels in Heaven to worship Him, it is their choice.

It was their choice when one-third of them chose to follow Lucifer in rebellion against God, which got them all thrown down to Earth. We have been deceived by their lies since Eve decided to try some fruit from a tree which God had told Adam NOT to eat of. She justified her actions by blaming it on the snake and we have been doing the “blame game” in one way or another ever since. Justification is something which we have in our fallen state that we use to get out of punishment or to make us feel better about the lie that we told. It is just another way that our pride is able to deceive us into thinking that we know better than God how to run our lives so we can feel better about what we do, even when we know it is wrong.

All sorts of behavior has been justified in the name of Jesus and Muhammad and other religions for hundreds of years. It make the religions of the world and religion in general look bad because of what has been done, being justified by beliefs that others did not share. Which then makes those religions look terrible and hypocritical in the news and to the world in general. This is one of the reasons which has caused so many to walk away from and choose not to follow or believe in any religion.

Choosing to walk away doesn’t help and won’t fix anything. By doing this you are agreeing with Satan that God has no place in your life and that you have no place or reason to follow Him. It is your right and privilege to believe this way if you wish, but how will you feel when Jesus does come back one day? When you see Him and know that what you had heard about during your life was true, but you chose not to believe it, then it will be too late. Your decision for your life and for your eternity has been made.

Please, give Jesus a chance to prove His promises in this life so that you will have an eternity after this life is done. True, we all have an eternity to step into after this life is over but the difference is the life that your eternity will bring because of the choices we each make now. Your life and the decisions made in it are tiny compared with eternal life which you have before you when this one is over so choose wisely.

What should we do?


I read a report today about some research that the Barna group did and here is a small excerpt from that report: The California-based Barna Group reports that the combined number of unchurched people in America, approximately 156 million, would make the eighth most populous country in the world.

What can we do about these people who don’t want to go to church? Can we, as Christians, reach them in ways which might make a difference? I don’t know.

I have heard from some who say that we are all hypocrites and that they don’t want to go to a church service with people who claim one thing and live another. Then, change your own life! Be the Christians that God intends for you to be! If you truly are and you have given your heart to Christ and asked Him to come into your life and change you, then show it! Let people outside the church see Him and not a fictitious version, a fake Jesus, through your life and your actions.

Why do I say this? Because, if they won’t come to church then you may be the only Jesus that some people ever meet! And, if you aren’t being Jesus outside the church walls, then what good are you doing? What is your fruit that Jesus said that you would produce if you really are His disciple and an adopted child of God?

Are you going to fulfill the role of being the “hands and feet” of the church and of Jesus? This is what we are supposed to be doing if we truly belong to Him after all. I know that many of us can’t provide much in the way of monetary help to people in need because many of us are also in need too. Just being a worker for Jesus, showing your Christian character when you are at work or in a public place, essentially practicing your Christianity. That is what we are called to do and to be!

The best part about practicing your faith is that it will be easier for you and it will help you to learn more about being like Christ if you act like Him every day. Just as practice makes you better at sports or music, it also helps with your walk with Christ and since you are doing it every day it will become more genuine to those who don’t go to church with you. Therefore, they will see how you are enjoying life with Christ and they might want that joy with Him too.

You know, it seems that many people think that being a Christian or becoming a Christian will restrict your joy in life or even take the enjoyment out of life and that is not true at all! I have more joy in my life because I am a Christian, not because I pastor a church but because I have a future to look forward to. Not just in my life here but also in the life that I will have in Heaven or on the renewed Earth one day! The best part to look forward to is that time and the measure of it won’t matter anymore!

We will have all of eternity to learn from Abel and Adam and Noah and Abraham. We can know the wisdom of Solomon and of all the people in the scientific past such as Isaac Newton and Leonardo Da Vinci (they weren’t agnostic you know).

A life well lived


A life well lived.

This is a post about a day in my life. Let me know what you think about it. I hope that you like it and maybe it will help someone, somewhere. The post referenced above is not intended to popularize my other site, rather it is to show the day that I had and the fact that God can get us through even our toughest days.

Jesus came and died, not only to save mankind from his sins, but to give us hope. A hope of a future and one which will be the future that God intended for man to have from the beginning. As the Scripture reads, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved” John 3:16-17

God doesn’t crave our life as a sacrifice, but He does crave our obedience. This is stated over and over again in God’s Word and it is as true today as it was when it was written. Only by following Jesus and telling others about Him can we please the Father, but the only requirement is that we believe in Jesus and His sacrifice for us. We don’t have to do it, we must choose to do it. It is our choice to follow Him or not and if we choose not to follow Him then we have condemned ourselves to the same fate as Satan and his demons.

Read God’s Word and pray about it. The words which I place here are my attempt at evangelizing the world a little bit at a time, but God’s Word is far more important to you and to everyone else.

The love of God


These words from the song “The Love of God” truly touched me today, I hope that they will do the same for you as well.

The love of God is greater far, than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell,
The guilty pair, bowed down with care, God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled, and pardoned from his sin.
Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure,
The saints’ and angels’ song…

Reading this today and sharing it with all who read here is the most wonderful feeling that I have had in a long time. It truly is hard to describe the joy that I have in my heart, with the hope that you will seek out the One who went so far to redeem us to Himself!

I pray that all of you who read this will seek Him out, learn about His love for you and give Him a chance to change your life forever. I will enjoy getting to know all of you in Heaven and in eternity. I don’t know how soon that will come, but I pray that we will meet each other soon. Until then, look up for your redemption draws nearer and nearer than He has been for a long, long time from our perspective at least.

The only way for us to truly get to know Him is to ask Him to come into our lives. When that happens, if we mean to truly follow Him, then our lives in many ways will never be the same. No matter what our circumstances may be prior to coming to know Jesus, our lives will be immeasurably changed afterward. Changed to being a totally new yet complete person in Christ, in character and in our everyday lives!

Live your life like a sermon


I got this in a very special email today. I hope that it touches your day like it did mine.

 

Some things to think about before it is too late. Real life stories that teach you many things in life. Excellent reading; These are based on true incidences both wonderful and inspirational.

1. Today, I interviewed my grandmother for part of a research paper I’m working on for my Psychology class. When I asked her to define success in her own words, she said, “Success is when you look back at your life and the memories make you smile.”

2. Today,I asked my mentor – a very successful business man in his 70’s – what his top 3 tips are for success. He smiled and said, “Read something no one else is reading, think something no one else is thinking,and do something no one else is doing.”

3. Today, after a 72 hour shift at the fire station, a woman ran up to me at the grocery store and gave me a hug. When I tensed up, she realized I didn’t recognize her. She let go with tears of joy in her eyes and the most sincere smile and said, “On 9-11-2001, you carried me out of the World Trade Center.”

4. Today, after I watched my dog get run over by a car, I sat on the side of the road holding him and crying. And just before he died, he licked the tears off my face.

5. Today at 7 AM, I woke up feeling ill, but decided I needed the money, so I went into work. At 3 PM I got laid off. On my drive home I got a flat tire. When I went into the trunk for the spare, it was flat too. A man in a BMW pulled over, gave me a ride,we chatted, and then he offered me a job. I start tomorrow.

6. Today, as my father, three brothers, and two sisters stood around my mother’s hospital bed, my mother uttered her last coherent words before she died. She simply said, “I feel so loved right now. We should have gotten together like this more often.”

7. Today,I kissed my dad on the forehead as he passed away in a small hospital bed. About 5 seconds after he passed, I realized it was the first time I had given him a kiss since I was a little boy.

8. Today,in the cutest voice, my 8-year-old daughter asked me to start recycling. I chuckled and asked, “Why?” She replied, “So you can help me save the planet.” I chuckled again and asked, “And why do you want to save the planet?”Because that’ s where I keep all my stuff,” she said.

9. Today,when I witnessed a 27-year-old breast cancer patient laughing hysterically at her 2-year-old daughter’s antics, I suddenly realized that I need to stop complaining about my life and start celebrating it again.

10. Today,a boy in a wheelchair saw me desperately struggling on crutches with my broken leg and offered to carry my backpack and books for me.He helped me all the way across campus to my class and as he was leaving he said, “I hope you feel better soon.”

11. Today, I was feeling down because the results of a biopsy came back malignant. When I got home, I opened an e-mail that said, “Thinking of you today. If you need me, I’m a phone call away ” It was from a high school friend I hadn’t seen in 10 years.

12. Today,I was travelling in Kenya and I met a refugee from Zimbabwe. He said he hadn’t eaten anything in over 3 days and looked extremely skinny and unhealthy. Then my friend offered him the rest of the sandwich he was eating. The first thing the man said was, “We can share it.”

The best sermons are lived, not preached!
Andy Reese, Retired,USA

So many choices….


There are truly a number of choices for us to choose from relating to religion and our belief systems, whether they point to God, the Creator and the Godhead which is focused on in the Bible or not. In today’s society, it seems that almost any belief which focuses on something or someone outside of the God of Judaism or Christianity, is perfectly acceptable. Why? Because, there is no compulsion or consequence to your actions when there is no absolute Truth to compare to or live by. Most of the other religions of the world have differing ways of reward and punishment regardless of the entity that they follow, but even then most of them don’t have a credible group of witnesses to back them up, as the Scriptures do from the historical record.

Then, there are those who choose to not believe in any supreme being at all. Choosing therefore to be their own “supreme being”, their own law unto themselves. This could be considered a form of idolatry, but if you don’t believe in God or Allah, then believing in yourself is considered just fine in today’s society. I am not bashing those who use belief in yourself as a way to get people to feel better about themselves, but when you are the one who supposedly controls your own destiny then you have a problem. Not with me or my own beliefs, but you will one day find that it was really God all along and that He does exist whether you like it or not.

Just as light and heat, gravity, stars and planets exist so does God and Satan, not believing in them doesn’t change that. Just as a comedian once said something like this “you can confess all the way down that gravity doesn’t exist, it won’t change the outcome.” This may not be a direct quote as I can’t remember the exact words, but the gist of it is the same.

Life on Earth is tough and it is not going to get any easier whether you believe in God or Allah or have no belief system at all. The troubles of this life are easier to bear when you have a belief in God, because you can have hope that one day He will make all things new just as He says in the Bible. Your life on a daily basis can be easier to bear with the stresses that we all have because of your faith in God. If you think that your life is fine without Him, that is your choice and He doesn’t begrudge you for it.

We are not forced into belief, it is our choice to come to faith in God when we are convicted that our life is in need of Jesus. If you never feel that conviction from Him, then all that I can say is “I’m sorry”.

Some have said that Christians are blind and they follow blindly, but consider that faith is having a hope in something which is not seen yet it has been promised by One Who cannot break His promises. James said it best by this:

Dead Faith (James 2:14–17)

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

When you have been saved by faith in Jesus Christ, that is an action because you have faith in Him. Therefore, you will do things in your life which reflect that faith so that others might see it. It doesn’t bring you glory but it does glorify God because it was Him Who called you to faith and you answered. Please, open your heart and mind to the possibility that God’s Word is True. Look at it as the Israelites did while they were captive in Egypt, they were told that one would come who would bring them out of bondage. They didn’t know who or when, but they had faith that God would keep His promise and He always does.

 

What can we do?


There are wars and murders, attacks from terrorists, human trafficking, threats from all sides it seems and this is just from one day’s news broadcast! How can people be so hate-filled and mean in this day and the time that we are living in? What in the world has happened to humanity in the past fifty or one hundred years to cause us to be this way?

I am not sure anyone has an answer to those questions, at least or even at best they don’t have an answer that really makes sense. Some would say it is because of the Muslim threat, but they seem to be attacking their own people as well. Some might say it is because of poverty and hunger, but the danger is in the streets of developed countries as well. Does any of the problems have to do with race relations? It seems that it does in some places, but mostly it seems that people are angry and upset, frustrated about something. What that might be I have no idea.

I do know that we are in a period of time which was spoken about during Jesus’ time. Where He told His disciples that all of this would be happening and that it would get worse before it gets better. This is an answer which many people in the world today reject because they don’t want to hear it. They have heard at some point in their lives that the time that He was speaking of is the time of the tribulation and the time of the Anti-Christ. Fewer and fewer people believe in the real Jesus Christ today and even fewer think that we are going to come to a point of being in a seven-year period that Jesus said “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” Matthew 24:22

There are too many people who choose not to believe this or maybe they want to believe some other religion or doctrine. This is fine for them because that is their choice. But…what if all of us who are Christians are right about the Bible and everything contained in it? If we are wrong, no harm to anyone but ourselves I suppose, but if you died tonight or tomorrow and realized that you were standing in the Presence of God, what then?

Unfortunately, it would be too late at that point. You can’t get forgiveness after you are dead, your life is over at that point and your choices were made in this life that you will live with through eternity. Yeah, there are many who don’t believe in eternity either or even in Heaven or hell. You have been given this life as a dress rehearsal in a way, one in which you have a choice to make. One which will impact the rest of your life here and those that you may have an influence over. It will also have an impact on where you spend eternity, but that choice can only be made while you are here.

Since none of us know how many days we have until our death, the day of salvation is today…now preferably. Life is short, especially compared to eternity, so don’t waste your time trying new things and getting all that you can get now! When you are gone, someone else gets all of it anyway. The real choice that matters is your belief in Jesus and asking Him to change you into the man or woman who He knows you can be. That’s it.

Pray about it, read God’s Word if you have a copy, get a copy if you don’t. Seek Him while you still can, because your life is ticking away day by day and once your life here is gone, you don’t get a do-over.