Category: God’s purpose for you

What is your passion?


A friend asked me once, “What would  you do if you could make more money?”. My answer was, “Pay off all of my bills.” The problem today is that I am disabled and can’t work at a regular job, so I write on this blog. It doesn’t pay me anything, at least in this life, but I am hoping that some of you get a lift from it or from the words that God gives me to write.

Your passion is usually something which you are, well passionate about! For some people it is their job or making money, for others it may be conservation or community projects, still other people may just be passionate about their immediate family and their well-being. Then there are the sports fanatics and others who are passionate about their teams or whatever. Today, many people seem to be involved in online gaming and for some this is a bit too much.

The point that I was making in the paragraph above is that we sometimes put more of ourselves into something which has no future at all. It doesn’t provide us with any tangible reward other than the enjoyment of our passion, but outside of that, what do you get from it? In truth, many people don’t really care about getting something from it, they just enjoy it period.

Writing does that for me. Sometimes, the words that I am given are inspirational and sometimes they are uplifting or even critical. The reason behind my writing is something which we can’t experience yet and that is eternity. We all have it ahead of us in one form or another. Some think that they will be buried in the ground for an eternity and that is it, others think that when you die, that’s the end of everything like turning off a light.

I write here to tell you that you and I have an eternity ahead of us because that is how God created us. We have a part of us which will live on, our soul or spirit, and depending on our choices in this life will determine where and how our eternity will be spent. Your life, compared to even a portion of eternity like one million years, is pitifully short like a puff of smoke in the wind. It is gone in an instant, like the snapping of fingers.

That is the amount of time that we have here to make a small difference in our lives and in the lives of others. How we accomplish this depends upon Who we choose to follow, God or our own desires. Following our own desires is what we do to begin with and for a while we feel okay with it. But, when you feel something from the Spirit of God usually like an empty feeling like something is missing. Then, you want to fix it as if something just isn’t right.

We try doing this by experimentation with all sorts of “feel good” things. The problem is that they don’t work, at least not in the long-term. They are temporary just like our life. The only real fix is seeking out the Creator, Jesus, Who will fill that empty spot with Himself and then your life will be totally changed. Your passion won’t be the same any more, the hunger that you felt for other things will change.

Following and learning from Jesus is a journey and it is one which doesn’t end, until we are in His presence. When we are there, we will know as we are known. At that point, it won’t matter because our eternal life will be in front of us and all of those friends that we know now who are Christians, we can have fellowship with them for eternity. Although, I am sure our experience will be far above what we can experience here on Earth.

Determine your destiny, seek out God’s wisdom in His Word, seek Him out by prayer and learning of Him because until you find Him and His purpose for your life, you will feel as if something is missing that you can’t put your finger on. That something is Jesus, the missing piece to all of our puzzles.

God wants you!


God

God wants you, not your bank account or your stuff(whatever that might be), He wants you!

There is nothing that we can give to Him which is more valuable than ourselves. He is the One Who gave you what you have anyway, but if you haven’t given your heart and your life to Him then you are missing the point of life itself! He is Life and Truth and when you give your life to Him, then He can begin to work in your life and through you to reach others for Jesus. Allow God to change your perspective this year from a point in front of you to one which is in eternity! God wouldn’t have given His Son’s life on the cross just to blot out your sins unless He wanted you to come to Him in love and be in fellowship with Him every day! Believe it or not, God loves every person on this planet even though He doesn’t like the lifestyle that they live in or even the paths that they have chosen in life. When you give your heart to Jesus, don’t just put Him in the passenger seat and let Him ride with you, it needs to be and should be YOU who is riding along with Him! God can take you places and help you to do some things that you can’t do on your own, but fellowship like this is done on purpose, every day. This what Jesus meant when He said to “take up your cross and follow me” (Matt. 16:24). Seeking God and His wisdom is not a one time meeting every week, it is daily prayer time and reading of the Bible. Meditating on it so that you will understand the lessons contained in it.

This year, many of you need to be coming closer to Jesus so that you can learn from Him and find what you have been missing all of the years of your life. That part of you that feels empty or unfulfilled is the part which Jesus can give meaning and purpose to.

New year for you!


Have you considered, as one of your resolutions, giving your life to Jesus? The year and your life would go so much smoother than it has before, but for people who may have objections to it, this decision takes a bit of explanation and a bit of preaching too. If you don’t mind a bit of both, here goes.

I am not going to go through the entire Bible, which I am sure that most of you are glad about, but I am going to concentrate on one particular book in it and that is one by Paul called Romans. The very first few verses in this book are very good at telling us exactly the reason that we need Jesus, so I am including them here:

Romans 1: 1-7

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life[a] was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power[b] by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from[c] faith for his name’s sake. 6 And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. 7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

In this opening, Paul is introducing Jesus as the descendent of David and the Son of God. All of these Jesus was and is because He was raised from the dead after His crucifixion to be our Priest and Advocate in Heaven. Jesus fulfilled all of the prophecies about Himself during His lifetime and ministry on Earth and now He is our Lord and Master at the right hand of God the Father. In spite of the unbelief that seems to be getting more attention these days in the media and online, God does exist and He loves us…each of us in a way that we cannot understand. God’s Word is also disparaged these days as being “an old, dusty history book, written by imaginative old men”.

Those “old men” were inspired and guided by the Spirit of God and there is proof of this. This requires a question to be asked, “Could you get five or ten friends who know you well to write out a report detailing how you met and your life and influence on each of them? How well do you think their stories would match up?”

The Bible was written by approximately forty authors, beginning with Moses nearly six thousand years ago, with four thousand years of that prior to the birth of Jesus. Yet, every book of the Old Testament has some portion of it which points toward Jesus. The prophets of the Old Testament even point out the type of death that He would suffer, where He would be born and that He would be born of a virgin and these prophecies were over five hundred years prior to His birth! Forty people can’t even agree on the color of car that passed them all on the highway just a few minutes afterward, so these forty men who wrote the inspired Word of God had to be doing it with His help and prompting to get it all right.

Now that we have established that the Word is True, the man Jesus was man but He had the nature and Spirit of God in Him, because no man could live a totally surrendered life and also be totally sinless as well. He was God and man. Jesus died on the cross because the love of God compelled Him to. He could’ve refused, but He didn’t and because of His death and resurrection we have the hope of being resurrected when He returns. The only requirement for us is that we believe in Him and in what He did and ask Him for forgiveness for our life before He came into it.

I understand the way that many people think about Jesus and that He wasn’t Who the Bible says that He is because I used to feel the same way. But, when you give your heart and life to Him and begin reading the Bible and praying for God to give you the wisdom to understand what you are reading about Him and His plan for your life, you will come to understand that we are part of His plan and His Kingdom. Your life and everyone around you, from your spouse to your children and your extended family is important to God. Why? Because He is the Creator and He is God, He doesn’t have to give us a reason for what He does or who He cares about. Give God and Jesus a chance in your life this new year, the change in your life and in your heart will be glorious and you will have an eternity that nobody on Earth can even imagine! Have a blessed and happy new year!!

Jesus is born…now what?


Christmas is a time of wonder and magic, especially for young children, but what about the One Whose birthday we are celebrating? Do we truly consider what we should be doing with our knowledge of Who He is and the reason why He came? It centers around the nature that all of mankind possesses, that being our sin nature which has been passed down from Adam and Eve. Whether you believe in Creation or in Evolution, you can witness the results of this nature that everyone seems to have and you can see it every day on the news or on the Internet. The Truth which is contained within the Bible tells the story of people who want to be more than they are and it begins right at the beginning.

It is true that wanting to be more than what you are is not such a bad thing, in most situations, but when you are going against the laws of God and His will for your life it will have an effect on your life for years to come. Like any decision which we make on our own and that we continue in daily, going against God’s will for your life is allowed by Him but it is not a good idea. Truly, following God and giving Jesus your heart is the best decision that you could make for your life and yet many people want to “do their own thing” on their terms and not according to the will and purpose of God.

When you do this of course, your life turns out the way that you want it to, sometimes, but sometimes it doesn’t go the way you want at all. Many times when we choose our own path in life, it goes along just fine without any problems and that is a good thing for us. But, it doesn’t point us in the direction of following Jesus at times. There are choices that we make which can be good for our life and there are some which may lead us in the wrong direction.

Yes, it limits your choices in life a bit but the life that you will have is so much more than the one that you would have living outside the will of God. I know, many people today don’t see it that way but its true. I lived outside the will of God for many years, thinking that I actually belonged to Him but I didn’t and when I truly allowed Him into my heart and my life completely, there is such a difference in everything. It is as different as night and day! We don’t realize it at the time that we are living in it though and that is the problem with making our own independent path in life. The other problem is that it is not entirely independent, because Satan or one of his cohorts keeps a watchful eye on us especially when we come near to the Lord in one way or another.

It is at these times that circumstances will come up in some way, good or bad, to keep you from the influence of God. The test of your attention to God’s voice will be when He calls you to Himself. Are you listening for Him or do you just disregard it completely? I did this a few times in the past, but I have since come to realize that when He speaks in that voice, you need to listen because He is always right as long as you can discern that it is from God and not Satan or some other “voice” that you are hearing.

Jesus came so that we might come to know Him and through Him we can know God. Isn’t that an awesome thought? To get to know the Creator of everything is such an awesome and humbling idea and experience, it is impossible to describe to you the way that it feels, especially if you aren’t a Christian already! A person without faith in God cannot understand faith, God, or the Bible itself and until you have that faith, then the Bible is just a book about Israel, some of their historical events and prophets, as well as some poetry. Pray sincerely to God for the wisdom and the faith to understand His Word so that you can understand God’s plans for us and for you.

What Child is this?


Immanuel, God with us. Those few words explain the “why” of the Babe in the manger and the “Who” as well, so why do so many people choose to turn away from the offer of grace and mercy of God? Well, it has to do with that six letter word that has been having such a great impact on the human race ever since the Garden…choose or a different version maybe, called choice. It is what God gave all of His creatures, angel and human alike.

Why did He give us a choice in our life, in our service to Him and in what we ultimately do with that choice? Because of love. You cannot love a Creator or a person that doesn’t give you a choice of returning that love. You cannot enjoy being a servant unless you are given the choice of being a servant or not. We can choose to obey the call on our lives when we feel and hear it or to turn away from it. We can choose to be the people that we are called to be or not. It is choice which distinguishes us from animals who live by instinct.

Instinct is natural for animals whether they are dogs or cats or apes or whales, that is their position in the Creation of God. We have a choice to be or not to be what we are called by God to become, and yet some people don’t allow God to change them into the people who He knows that they can be. They refuse to “conform” or to be called by God. They want to do it their way, in their time, and for some that is fine. It may give them a successful life that the world sees, but it may not lead to eternal life unless they finally accept the call of God in their life.

“But, what if I don’t ever fell or hear the call of God?” “Can’t I just read the Bible and try to do what it says and I’ll be saved?” Reading the Bible is good and God may speak to you through it, if He hasn’t already but you can’t force God to save you. Just as God chose Jacob and not Esau to make the nation of Israel through, He can choose those whom He wishes to be saved which will bring glory to Him and His Kingdom. Why? Because He is God. He doesn’t answer to you, He does as He pleases in all situations.

God sent His Son to be born of a woman of the lineage of David, so that through Him we would all have the chance to be saved. He paid the price for all of us, all that we have to do is listen to that voice in our hearts which calls to us. If and when you hear it, don’t turn away from it. God gives us all second and third chances but when we keep turning away, He will call on someone else that will answer and the most telling part about His call to us is that He knows which person will answer His call and which ones of us who won’t.

Are you ready?


I just got used to this year, and now we’re going to begin another one in about two weeks! Why is it when you get past the half-century birthday, it seems that every year goes by faster and faster? It’s like time speeds up just trying to get you out of here quicker! Granted, I am ready to be done with this life, in a way, but I would like to enjoy the years that I may have left, rather than watching them speed by like race cars!

In some ways, I think that it is God’s way of letting us know that the best is yet to come and the quicker we get to the end, the better it will be! At least, that is the most hopeful spin that I can put on it anyway. God loves us far more than we can love ourselves and truly, He must have since He allowed His Son to die so that we could be saved and forgiven for our sins.

Also, the age of the church is coming to an end so time grows short and the time of the second coming of Jesus is at hand. Everyone seems to be moving about like a bunch of ants, some with a purpose and some seem to be just running around. So, what can we do to make sense of this short time that we have? Well, for one thing…read the Bible! It tells you everything that we know for sure about this time, from God’s point of view and for us.

Some people might say that it is too confusing to read, but the Bible explains itself if you will take the time to pray about it as you read and look up the references for the scripture that you are reading. The NT explains the OT and vice versa, but you have to read both, not just a verse here and there. It is something that we don’t or won’t do as we are growing up because our teachers tell us to and many of us just read the parts that the preacher is speaking about in his sermons and no more. Even if he reads an entire chapter, sometimes that is not enough to get the real meaning of it, which is why many people leave church looking “dazed and confused” more often than not.

How can anyone learn about Jesus and His mission and message if you only hear a small portion of it or just one chapter of it? Honestly, you can’t! Get into a Bible teaching church, read the Bible with a friend and ask each other questions when you don’t understand something, look it up in a concordance  or online if need be. We have many resources today that were not available to people just twenty-five years ago, but test what you learn against the Bible. Make sure that the message you hear is the same one that is in God’s Word, if not then run away from it.

So much to do….


Yes, there is a LOT to do before the end of the year. Even before the celebration of our Lord’s birthday (although it isn’t in December), there are many things which need to be done. Where do you start? Many people right now are in the malls or in certain stores picking up gifts to give to their loved ones, big and small, older and younger, but what about your faith? Where does that fit in with all of this? Have many of you even considered the true Reason for this season, not the pagan festival which was co-opted by the early church but the Person that this is supposed to be pointing our hearts toward?

Living your life all through the year, waiting for the time when you get stuff just for being here? What for? There has to be a reason and a purpose to our lives and the things which we get on our birthdays or at Christmas are not good enough to qualify as a reason to live from one December to the next! It seems that commercialism is the mainstay of American culture…the more we have, the more we want and many of us want it NOW!! So what are we to do? How much should you spend on all of this stuff?

Do you really want me to tell you? The amount needed for true, eternal joy and eternal life is….nothing. That is right, we can’t do or spend or add to anything in order for each of us to have eternity because it has already been paid for in full! All that we have to do, if we want eternal joy and life is come to Jesus and repent of our sins and ask Him to come into our lives and make us new creations by His power, the biggest hurdle we have to cross in this is….belief! Child-like belief, the kind where we know without a doubt that He did it for us and we believe it, period. No amount of searching for other proofs or justification because He justifies us through Himself and the proof is in God’s Word.

There is no other proof that we need. True, many people don’t believe that the Bible is true but that is because they don’t have spiritual faith to believe in the Word and the Truth contained in it. As one teacher said, “it takes far more faith to believe in evolution than it does to believe in God’s creation”, and that is true. Accidents and possibilities aren’t proven to create anything, after all it is the “theory of evolution”, it is not a proven fact and can’t be proven because of the time that it takes. Yes, I am going to get some folks hot under their collars but I still challenge them to find an honest and true fossil of something which is changing into another form of life. It hasn’t been done in the few hundred years that scientists have been looking and I don’t believe that it will happen before Jesus comes again, then you can just ask Him!

Merry Christmas everyone! Have a wonderful holiday and be safe. Attend a church service where they are celebrating the birth of Jesus this weekend with an open mind. Seek Him because He does exist and He loves you more than you can believe.

So much to do, so few to do it


Every day we see things happening around us, down the street and around the world. On the news, on the Internet, alerts on our phones, calls from family and friends, all of these things alert us to the problems around us and it is overwhelming! We look at all of these things and it increases your stress in this life beyond what you normally have to deal with every day. What can we do about it? Can we do anything that will help the situation and not make it worse?

It depends….

It depends on what you can do personally in your area of influence, however big or small it may be. Your effect on the crises in the world around us may not be so big, but there is still something which we all can do…pray.

I know that sound like something that you would hear on a television show or a broadcast from a church somewhere, but it is the most effective way that most of us have which will produce results. Those results may not happen tonight or even next week, but in God’s time the effect will be seen and felt wherever it is needed. God does work quickly when it is in His will to do so, like in a life-threatening situation or a disaster, and other times He moves when He deems it time to move on a problem. That is where we have a gigantic problem with Him.

We are not patient. We want results NOW! We want results today, like they were supposed to have happened yesterday! God doesn’t work that way though. He works according to His pleasure and His glory, for our good. Many things that we see in this world could have God’s hand working in the background, but we don’t see it that way because it may not be visible to us yet.

Such as the healing of a cancer in someone’s life or the healing of someone in a wreck as they are treated in the hospital. Many of the ways that God moves in our lives, for our good and His glory, are unseen by us until the result is done and it comes to fruition in us and our life. The command which was given to the disciples and by extension to us, was that we should go and tell all of the nations, tribes and tongues about the good news of Jesus. Whether they accept Him or not, it is their choice after all, we are supposed to go and tell. But, it seems that there are so few who are willing to go. Telling is not so hard, because that is what I am doing here. Regardless of who reads this, I pray every day that someone’s heart will be softened by the Holy Spirit and open to receiving Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Our lives here are fleeting like smoke in comparison to eternity, and yet we can help people to come to know the Christ, Jesus, Who died for their sins and rose from the dead. Your sins have been paid for, all that you have to do is accept it and believe it and in the One Who accomplished it, because you can’t! There is no amount of works or money or any other “man-made” thing or accomplishment that you can do which will gain you access into Heaven! Only your humble repentance of your sins and accept the grace that God has extended to you through Jesus and His death on the cross, only this will gain you access into God’s presence as an adopted child in His Kingdom. Otherwise, you will stand before Him and be judged for the sins that you did during your life, but the only sin which will send you to hell is the rejection of Jesus as your Savior and Lord. The sins committed otherwise would be wiped clean by His blood if you would just accept Him as your Savior when you heard or felt the call in your heart.

Turning away from the Holy Spirit when you felt Him call to you is the “unpardonable sin”, nothing else in the world qualifies as such except for that. No, we are a very impatient race of people and have been since the beginning. It has been getting worse and worse and today it is so bad until we can barely wait in line for anything, whether it is at the bank or at the drive-through window at a “fast food” place! God’s time is His time and we don’t like it and never have, but if you can surrender to Jesus and seek His counsel daily then His blessings will follow and flow into your life.

Living your life


Yes, we can live joyfully, but what about living for Jesus? Living with Him, waking up with Him, praying to Him about everything, no matter what it is. We can do it, if we choose to do it. It is our choice, we are never forced into a relationship with God. Can we live this way?

Yes, we can! But, we have to do it by choice! Wake up in the morning and thank God for giving you another day to serve Him and live on this Earth, enjoying our family and our blessings. Where do those things come from? God, of course. He provided you with the ability to do the things that you do, whatever your vocation.

You can’t tell God what to do, but many people are so proud and prideful in their way of doing things until they try to do just that. He loves you, but He is going to answer your prayer in His time and when you are ready for the blessings that He will provide for you. How do I know this? Because He has done it for me and for many others, that is how I know His provisions and His love.

Can you know Him like this? Yes, you can. All that you need to do is to decide to listen to His Word and ask Him to come into your heart, when you feel the calling, the prompting of the Holy Spirit which calls to us. Answer that call on your life and your heart and you can be saved. Many people will think that they don’t need saving, they are doing fine on their own without Jesus. Are you really?

Have you had a time recently which caused you to question your life or your place in life? Many people today question whether God cares about us, but if you look at all of the blessings which we see every day in the light of His love, why would you question Him? You woke up this morning with a new day to serve Him or yourself, which will it be? You were able to get up from your bed and go about your day, isn’t that a blessing from God? Many of you had food to eat and a warm place to live, those are blessings from God. Your job and income comes from the One who owns it all, so that is a blessing.

Can we be His in our daily lives? Yes, it is not something that you can do on your own, but you can do it with His help! God loves you and is concerned about everything that happens to you, from losing your keys to forgetting to pick up the milk. Yes, I pray when I go to the store or when I am driving to the store (especially when I am on the road with all the others out there). I need Him every day, all day, how else would I be able to come up with the content found here? My mind is not filled with words enough to fill these pages like I have these past few years.

God has given me a small church to pastor every week and I enjoy it, but I have a larger audience here. Why? I think it is because there are many more people outside my local area who are looking for God or evidence of His love or even just an encouraging word in the times that we live in. I can’t be in all the places that you live, but the words that God gives me to put here can, so I do this a few times a week, sometimes more if I am given the words for it.

I don’t want you to think that I am anyone special, because I am not. I am a servant of Jesus, gladly, until He comes again. Whether He wishes me to serve here or in a church doesn’t matter to me, I will do one or the other or even both as long as I can. I will only be able to do it with His wisdom and His strength, and I pray that all of you who read this will pray for me to be able to do this as well. We all need prayers, and I pray for my fellow bloggers as well. Have a wonderful, Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

Forgiveness


In Psalm 51, David comes to God with a broken and contrite heart seeking forgiveness for his sins. Shouldn’t we do the same?

Psalm 51 King James Version (KJV)

51 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.
King James Version (KJV) by Public Domain

The reason that I included the text here is because it is easier for you to read it here, than to find a Bible and read it somewhere else. God knows your heart and He knows what you have done in your life. Nothing is hidden from God, whether you belong to Him or not He sees the evil and the sins in the world. Everyone’s life is open to Him and He can see all of the things that you do or think or say, so don’t think that you can hide your life from Him because you can’t.

Jonah tried to run from God but God knew where he was all along. He made sure that His wayward prophet got to the place where God had told him to go and He can do the same with you, but He will not force you or me into doing something that we have not chosen. He will, however, convict you of the sinful life that you are leading and bring you into fellowship with Him, especially if He has a plan for your life in His Kingdom.

Please, consider your eternal life now and seek God while you have the time. When your life and mine are over, we will stand before Him and give account of the life that we have lived, like it or not. Pray that you will learn of God’s love and kindness through Him and His Word and not through trouble and pain.