Category: God’s purpose for you

Understanding the Bible, is it possible?


The reason some of us don’t understand the Bible any more than we do is because we have not been living up to the light God has already given us! If you want to understand the part of the Bible you don’t understand, begin to obey the parts that you do understand and then you’ll understand what you didn’t understand. Understand?

I know, its kind of cryptic to put it that way, but it is only by reading a letter that we can understand what the author meant about the story. It is also the only way that we will ever know the end of the story or its beginning. Your lives and mine are products of our educational system, a system which was broken many years ago and has never been fixed. Broken because we chose to take out the wisdom which our forefathers knew were necessary for us and for our country.

God’s Word, the Bible, was the main educational book used at the beginning of our country. When people began printing the Bible in English so that the common man could read it and understand it, it took away the control from the “church” and gave it back to God and the people who were reading it. This was deemed heresy by the Catholic church and the church of England! Many believers were killed for their beliefs because the teaching found in the Bible were slightly different from the “church” at the time.

The Bible should be part of our educational system now, but it isn’t because of politics and because a small minority doesn’t want it there. They are afraid of the Truth that it contains because it exposes their own sins and the failures that school systems have heaped upon our children for decades. People who like the darkness don’t like it when a bright light is shined into that darkness, because it hurts and it exposes the lies and the inconsistent stories which have been used to make us and our children go along with the “status quo”.

God’s Word is His letter to us…His way of speaking to us and it has been that way for more than four thousand years. Jewish scholars have accurately copied the scrolls which have been passed down to them for generations and this is our “Old Testament”. The followers of Jesus have copied the letters, epistles, which the disciples wrote to the churches so that we would have the “New Testament”. When one part of the Bible validates the other, there is no doubt about where it came from or Who had a part in its writing. The Spirit of God inspired the writers from both “Testaments” so that the New would validate the Old and verify it as authentic and it does this perfectly.

How can you know for sure that it is the valid and truthful Word? First, the Holy Spirit inspired the writers to write down what they wrote. Second, the prophecies in the Old Testament are proven and validated in the New. Third, and this is the most important reason, because it is the Word of God! He doesn’t lie, He cannot lie! So the inspiration that was given to the prophets and disciples through the Holy Spirit has to be the Truth!

Many people today think that you can take parts of it as the truth, and others are just metaphors for something else and can mean whatever you interpret them to mean. The Word is Truth and the laws and the wisdom contained in it is the Truth, like it or not. You cannot pick and choose! Either you believe it as the Truth or you don’t, but that doesn’t change its Truth. The love of God for us and the Truth of His Word is shown throughout the Bible and in our everyday lives. Seek Him out, read His Word and learn of Him and His wisdom because it is life to you now and in eternity, if you ask Jesus into your life and your heart.

Daily living with Jesus


Do you get up wondering and worried about things which are planned for the day or do you rest in the presence of God? Do you realize that He is interested in your day and all of the happenings in it? It’s true, the Creator of the universe is interested in your life and in everything that happens to you.

I know, there are so many people who have said that “God, if He exists, is not interested in us nor does He care about us at all”.  WHY would you say this? God did not create mankind and the world which He gave to us for our life and our sustenance just to turn away and go to some part of creation and turn away from us! Of course, we don’t know that we are the only intelligent beings in the universe, but God told Moses how things were created and we should accept it as the Truth.

If there are others, we will find out when God is ready for us to find out. In the mean time, we should use each and every day as we were commanded to by Jesus Himself, “Go into all of the world, teaching and preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God”. Those may not be His exact words, but that was the commandment that He gave His disciples and since we, who are Christians, are His disciples in this time, then we take up our cross, our mandate to tell others about Jesus.

Your day, like many others in this day and age, begins like the rest of us…by waking up. This act alone deserves our gratitude and thanks to Him! Then, if we are able, we get our coffee or tea and eat something to break the fast from the night before. If we are able, we get ready to go to a job which we should be thankful for as well to have one, and we work at that job until it is time to get off work and come home. All of this happens without you or me having to do much more than put one foot in front of the other. We don’t have to worry about our heart beating or our breathing, it just happens. God designed us this way, just as He did every other animal on Earth that breathes air, the big difference is that He gave us part of His life, our eternal soul.

No other created being has this! God wanted someone who He could have fellowship with, daily, which is why He is interested in you and me and the life that each of us has. There is no difference between a rich man or a person with little more than the clothes on their back. In God’s eyes, we are all equal and we are all guilty of being sinners unless we have accepted Jesus as our Savior. No amount of giving to the poor or volunteering for charity will give you an edge over someone else, if you have not asked Jesus into your heart then you are just as lost as the murderer on death row that has killed someone!

In God’s eyes, because He is Holy, even a sin like telling a lie is just as bad as killing someone in cold blood! But…if you have given your life and your heart to Jesus, your page which has recorded all of your sins is cleansed just as white as purest snow. From that point on, you are His and you are forgiven. Oh, you will stumble and fall just like the rest of us do from time to time, but the Spirit which lives in you will bring it to your attention and when you ask for forgiveness, it is gone because of the work which Jesus did on the cross.

Walking in fellowship with God and having the Spirit living in your heart is just a small taste of the Kingdom of God. Daily learning from Him, by reading and studying His Word, meditating on it during your day, praying about the day that you are having and then thanking Him for your blessings of your health, your family, your job and the salvation which was provided by Jesus..this is just a part of the daily life that we are to have in Christ. It is a way of life that needs to be embraced, especially now in the time that we are living in. Time is growing short for Satan and for the age of grace. I don’t know how long we have, no one knows that except for God, but according to the signs which are happening around us, it is likely that we don’t have very long until the proof that the world has been seeking will be revealed about Who God is and that His Word is true.

Think about it and look up, because He will come quickly when that day dawns and then the time is up.

Unbelieving Church?


There is a movement happening today in America and other nations, where agnostics and atheists create “a church for people who don’t believe in God”. They have speakers who get them excited and feeling good about themselves, empowering speakers who show that communities and fellowship can happen even without a pastor or religion. Is this a good thing? Some people say that it is. It empowers people, it helps people with their problems, they even have pot-luck suppers and feed the congregation of people who are at the meetings. But, this is not a church, at least not in the sense that it is a religious body of believers because it is not. These congregations don’t have a belief in a “supreme being”, they just believe in the morality of man.

Can mankind, regardless of their so-called race or skin color, be good and morally right? Yes, they can be for a while and I don’t discount the goodness of man when they want to be and act in this fashion. But, what is the natural tendency of man? What has happened in history, from time long past, when mankind is left to his or her own natural tendency in any situation? Few and far apart are those who are actually good and those who think of others above or beyond themselves. Taking historical facts which have been documented over the ages, even the “church” has committed acts of barbarism against other Christians and those of another faith when it suited their purpose.

Man is just as it is quoted from Proverbs chapter 6:14 “evil in his heart always”, without faith in God and the morality that faith brings into your life. Proverbs 6 has other things to say about people who don’t have God or faith in Him in their heart or their life:

12What are worthless and wicked people like?

They are constant liars,

13signaling their deceit with a wink of the eye,

a nudge of the foot, or the wiggle of fingers.

14Their perverted hearts plot evil,

and they constantly stir up trouble.

15But they will be destroyed suddenly,

broken in an instant beyond all hope of healing.

16There are six things the Lord hates—

no, seven things he detests:

17haughty eyes,

a lying tongue,

hands that kill the innocent,

18a heart that plots evil,

feet that race to do wrong,

19a false witness who pours out lies,

a person who sows discord in a family.

Proverbs 6: 12-19 (English Standard Version)

Mankind, regardless of the culture that he has lived in or the religion or lack of belief that he may have, doesn’t have the best of intentions in his life. At least not always. I am not trying to say that all of us (mankind), male or female, are evil because we are clearly not. If that were the case, then there would be a world like you see in those post-apocalyptic movies. We would’ve already destroyed most life on this planet.

But, we haven’t and that is why I believe that there is an inherent good in mankind and yet there is also a tendency for evil intent and these two natures are always at war with each other in each of us. God placed the goodness in our nature but the sin that came into the garden of Eden put the evil nature, the “virus” of being bad, into our ancestors and therefore in each of us. What was that sin? Disobedience. Rejecting the advice of a loving God and deciding to do what “I” want and what “I” think with be better for me.

There is no “I” in love and that is what God was trying to get his creation to realize. Love His commandments, showing that love by obeying Him and realizing that He has the best outcome for you already in place, if you will decide to follow His advice and follow Him. He can see all of your life from beginning to end and He knows what outcomes will be from the decisions that we make on our own versus the ones where we determine to follow His leading.

Choose a life that follows God’s wisdom and His ways as outlined in the Bible because there is far more wisdom contained in that one Book than in all of the rest of the library that man has created.

The fields are ripe unto harvest…


Those who are coming to Christ, especially those in countries which persecute and kill Christians, need our prayers more than ever. We may not be able to bring them out of the situation that they are in, but He is able to strengthen them and carry them to their reward in Heaven.

Yes, our lives are on display for the world to see. Many people don’t want to see it, and they don’t really want to hear the message of Jesus and His grace toward us, but there are many others who do want to hear it! They need to hear it. Many people need to hear about the One and only risen Savior of mankind and yet there is a vocal minority that makes so much noise that the media can’t help but listen to them first. Because of their boldness and the volume that they exert in the public arena, that is why they are heard over the Christians, the real followers of Jesus.

If we were only speaking of God, then there wouldn’t be any problems because those who are Jews read His Words and those who worship Allah (supposedly another name for God) claim to worship Him too. But, when you bring Jesus into the worship service or into the media, then it seems that everyone has a problem. Why? In some people’s minds, Jesus is just another prophet. But, that is not all that He is…He is the Son of God, the Living Word, the Prince of Peace, the Good Shepherd.

Jesus is all of these and more, yet He is also a stumbling block to those who don’t want to accept Him for the One that He is. He is our Savior. He came so that we would have access to God and eternal forgiveness of our sins. What more could you ask for? The Gift has been given by God, all that we have to do is accept it into our hearts and believe it, that’s it! It is not hard to do, but many who think that they don’t need Him for whatever reason just refuse to humble themselves and ask Him into their lives.

The problem with doing this is that we all die, someday. It may be tomorrow or this afternoon but our time is not guaranteed for X amount of years. And, while it is true that I am using this to get your attention, what can  you do when you find  yourself standing in front of God one day and you are shown all of the times that you have heard the message of salvation? Think of all the times that your friends invited  you to come to church with them and you didn’t go, or even the times that you may have heard a sermon on television. What can you tell God when He asks you, “What did you do with my Son?” “I didn’t believe the things that I heard”, “I didn’t want to go to church”, “I didn’t think that the message was the truth”, the problem with all of these answers is that many of them are exactly the thoughts and words of people who don’t believe or don’t want to believe.

These answers all have one thing in common, “I”. Too many of them. Selfish answers, selfish thoughts, selfish lives that don’t amount to more than a grown up child looking for the next toy to buy and play with.

Your life and mine are too short to think in such terms. God created all of us for a reason and you can’t find it out with an “I” in your life all of the time. Our reason for living and the reason for our blessings is because of Him, because He wants us to fellowship and be friends with Him and other Christians and other people. Yes, so that we can tell them about our joy in knowing that we have an eternity to look forward to, not one to be dreaded and feared. The number of souls that need Jesus grows every day, God needs us to go and tell them about Him and His grace. Won’t you decide to follow Jesus and give the rest of your life more meaning and purpose than it would ever have without Him?

Have you given your heart to Jesus?


Those who can’t believe or won’t believe are the ones that we need to pray for today. Their life has no purpose and no hope, at least spiritually, for a future. Because they refuse to see it or believe it, even when there is evidence for Him and His creation.

Many of you look at the Bible as a book and it is but it is also more than a book, it is the Book written with inspiration from God to us…all of us, not just Christians. Your life and everything in it, good or bad, is known to God. He knows the weaknesses that you have and the troubles too and it is likely that He has helped you through some of them during your life but you didn’t know it. Now, God doesn’t push His way into your life and your heart, He only asks patiently for you to let Him in.

The problem with many people is that they think that they have it all figured out and that they don’t need Him, period. They think that science and medicine can fix most any problem and if they can’t fix it then they can make it tolerable until you die, right? Okay, lets say that you are right and I am wrong. You will never know if you are right because if you are then after you die, that’s it, there will be nothing after death period. I won’t either so neither one of us was disappointed when we died, it was like being switched off and put up for storage. No harm done. Hmmm……but, what if what I have been saying is TRUE?!!

From a perspective that neither of us has experienced yet, lets just ponder this hypothetically. Lets suppose that there is a life that we go onto after this one, not one like being re-incarnated, but one where you are rewarded for your life on Earth with the rewards being dependent upon only one requirement: That you gave your heart to Jesus.

Let’s suppose that the Bible and all of its words and prophecies are true, just for this hypothetical. Even in the Old Testament, some of the prophets went to Heaven without seeing death. Some of the writers wrote about a life in paradise or Heaven. Then you have Jesus speaking of paradise or of a place of punishment for those who choose iniquity over their acceptance of Him. All of this seems to point to there being a “life after our death”.

Okay, now there is switch. Instead of being placed in a box and stored in the ground until eternity or until the Sun destroys the Earth, now we actually close our eyes in death and we stand before God Himself with books open which show all of our life, every word and thought and every deed that we did, good or bad. How is your book going to look? Thick with thoughts and actions that you enjoyed during life, but standing before a Holy God it doesn’t look so good now does it? I don’t mean that you have been a rapist or a murderer or some other heinous crime, but according to God, every word and thought which comes out of your mouth or your mind, has to come from your heart, and all of them are written in your book.

God’s books are not like our computers, they don’t crash and lose their data. So, how does your moral, good life look from that standpoint? Knowing that every thought, no matter whether you acted upon it or not, is there and that you will have to give account for those thoughts and actions…how does your life without God look now? I am not coming to this place to condemn you or your belief or lack of belief. I am just trying to point out that, at the end of your life, where will you end up? Standing in front of God with just your “self-righteousness” wrapped around you, how will you feel in front of a Holy God and the Righteous Judge? I would feel totally unworthy and would be on the floor begging for forgiveness. The problem with this is that after your life here is finished, you don’t get a do-over or a get out of jail free card. We have all been given the lives that we have, regardless of the length of them, to realize how sinful we really are and to ask Jesus to come into our lives and change us into what He knows we can be.

If that isn’t done prior to death, then Judgment comes to you and then you live out eternity with the one who enticed (tempted) you to do or not to do those things which would have brought you to salvation. This is the second death that is spoken of in the Bible…eternal separation from God and all that is good and Holy.

If you have given your life to Jesus, even if it was during your last moments on Earth, then you will stand in front of the throne of God but you won’t be alone. Jesus will be there and when the books are opened, the only things which will show up are those things that you accomplished in life after you accepted Jesus as your Savior. They will be shiny and bright because what you did afterwards was done through Him and with Him in your heart. Yes, there may be some dark spots that you forgot to ask forgiveness for, but they are covered by His blood and you are wrapped in His righteousness. Then, you will be admitted into Heaven and eternity will begin.

Building a relationship


It seems that in the culture that we have today, people don’t seem to do this much anymore. Why? Living your life alone is something that is only enjoyable if you really don’t like anyone else except yourself. Yes, there are people who are just made this way and that is fine, but what about the rest of us? A relationship is a wonderful partnership between two people who love each other, in God’s eyes it should be between a man and a woman but today that definition will get you labeled as a “hater” or a Christian! Heaven forbid!

The generation of seventy years ago, ancient history for kids today, learned that you made do with what you had and you worked at the life that you had together. Something which we need to get back to as soon as possible. Life is not something which can be thrown away and a relationship isn’t either, but our culture is such that if it doesn’t work in the first few weeks or months then its time to get someone new. And if there is a child involved then the anger and frustration over the failed relationship is poured into that child’s life. Then the cycle will be repeated over again with somebody else and so on.

Why not decide, while you are young enough to do so, without a child to get in the picture, to ask God to show you who you are to be in a life-long relationship with? It is something that we seem to have forgotten, but God does want to know what our lives are like and He will help you in these important decisions if you will ask Him to.

Relationships begin with a foundation, just like a house, and that foundation should be your relationship with God. First, cultivate a relationship with Him, learn about Him by reading and studying the Bible, pray and ask for wisdom because He will give it to you through His Word. All of these things are the things which our grandparents and great-grandparents did, if they were Christians.Marriage - Expression of Love Christianity has not caused the problems that we have today, religion has done that.

A relationship with God is not what religion is about. You can be religious about almost anything. You can even be religious about not believing in God or religion at all. But, to build a relationship with someone who you love, you have to know love and God is love. He is the foundation that all lasting relationships are built upon. My grandparents were married for sixty years and my marriage has lasted for over twenty so far. God has blessed us with this and it is all that is needed and He can bless you too.

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all of these things will be added unto you.” In other words, put God first and everything else will fall into place, there may be some potholes and some rough spots along the way, but for the most part…things will be good.

Give what?


This morning is just a short admonition of worship.

Give unto God what is due Him.

Your life, because He loved You first; your time because He gives you another day to work and live for Him; your efforts in everything because God formed you and knew you before the foundation of the world and most of all, your love for Him because without Him you can do nothing.

Praise the Lord all of you who are burdened and in need of rest, because resting in Him with praise in your heart is the best rest and peace that you can have.

In His service.

laminin Collossians 1:17 says: “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” 

This is a picture representation of the molecule of a protein which holds our cells together. Striking resemblance to the cross, don’t you think?

Why???


She is not old enough to know what religion is or who Jesus is yet. They are pointing guns at a child from a Christian family! I don’t know if there was any bloodshed or not, especially in her case I hope not. What good reason does anyone have for something like this? What kind of god could possibly ask his followers to kill women and children for being of another faith? I know that God asked the children of Israel to kill those in the land that they were promised and that many people may askaYoungChristian about this very thing. Yes, He did but the reason was to keep them from following a pagan religion and getting away from serving Him. What is the reason that the world is going through all of this upheaval? It has been prophesied by God, the only God that this is going to happen and is happening now.

In the book of Revelation it speaks of this time where people will be killing others because of their beliefs and we see this every day. But, why would you persecute a child that is so young that she doesn’t know the difference between Christian and Islam?

Our lives are short in comparison to the eternity that we all will face. I pray that when Jesus comes, hopefully soon, that everyone will see and know Who He truly is. It will be to the detriment for some who have never believed in Him and it will be the most wondrous and joyful reward for those who do.

In the world that we are living in, it is imperative that we who have Christ as our Savior tell others about Him. Not in such a way as to be pushy about it, just tell people the Truth and go from there. God will always pick up where our words leave off regardless of what you might say, but say everything in the love of Christ. Don’t be forceful, don’t act as if you are better than they are because it is that kind of attitude that has turned many people away from the church in the first place.

We are all sinners, the only difference between a truly born-again Christian and someone who doesn’t know Jesus is grace. That’s it! We are new creations, new creatures in Christ but by the reason of His grace and love, nothing more. We can’t add anything to the equation because no amount of “works” that we do can match the work of Jesus that has already been done.

Yes, we may be persecuted for our faith and our beliefs, but the Holy Spirit will give you the strength and the words needed at the time that you need them to get you through this time of testing. Many people say that we, the Church, are not going to go through any of the dark times, the Tribulation. They could be right, but if they are not then we must be prepared! Search the scriptures, pray, look to Jesus for His love and His righteousness and ask Him for strength before these times do get here, before it is too late.

God loves you and has a plan for your life, however long or short it may be. So, get to work for Him! The pay may not be much but the reward and the benefits are and will be FANTASTIC!

 

 

What should we say…


Christians tend to get tongue-tied when they are telling others about Jesus and it does happen to pastors as well. When Paul and Silas when to the Berean Jews, they accepted the gospel with gladness:

10That very night the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. When they arrived there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth. 12As a result, many Jews believed, as did many of the prominent Greek women and men. (Acts 17: 10-12)

The way that they accepted and searched the Scriptures is exactly the way that we should be every day with the Word of God. The more frequently you read and study the Bible, more of it will get into your mind and you won’t have to memorize it. It will just be there waiting to be used. It will also give you a greater understanding of God and His ways to “search the scriptures” because in doing so, you will be learning about God more and more.

Should we be more forceful or pushy with our faith, trying to convert anyone that we can? Absolutely not! Yes, we need to be able to tell others and defend the reason for our faith in what we believe and Who we believe in, but being zealous for our faith to the extreme is not necessary. Jesus wasn’t that way and we don’t need to be either. All that we need to do is tell others about why we believe in Jesus and why, the Holy Spirit will take that seed and make it grow.

God’s Word doesn’t come back to Him void of the purpose for which it was sent out. It always accomplishes that which He wills for it to do. Can we be better witnesses? Yes, with the help of Jesus and the Spirit of Truth. Why can’t we do it on our own strength? Because doing it on your own is not the way that it is done! If that were the case, Jesus wouldn’t have needed to come and die on the cross. In our own strength, we could keep the Law and work our way toward salvation, but we can’t!

We are too weak to be able to resist the temptations of daily living without the Holy Spirit in our lives and Jesus’ righteousness is the Only righteousness that is able to cover our sins. God loves us enough to know all of these things about us, yet He still sent His Son to die for us so that we will be able to come into His presence.

I am not saying that people can’t be morally good and do some worthy and good things even without knowing Jesus because they can. It is because of the Law that God wrote into our being that we know right from wrong and also we learned it from our parents and grandparents. So, yes, even people who believe in other gods or no god at all can do good things…morally right things even. The problem comes when you think that your “good works” are good enough to cover your sins and get you into Heaven, because they are not.

God is perfectly Holy and since He is, do you think that you can just walk up to His house and let yourself in? Do you think that you could do this at any residence of someone that you don’t even know? Of course you couldn’t and you wouldn’t let anyone into your house either if you did not know them. That is only a tiny part of why God can’t and won’t allow you to “work” your way into Heaven. He has given it to you as a gift and it is available to everyone in the same way, all that you need to do is accept it and believe it. That is it.

We are more than conquerors


We are MORE than conquerors through Christ, no matter what this world throws at us! In Ephesians 1:16-21 says this in the Amplified Bible:

“I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. 17. [For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him, 18 By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones), 19 And [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength, 20 Which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His [own] right hand in the heavenly [places], 21 Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named [above every title that can be conferred], not only in this age and in this world, but also in the age and the world which are to come.”

God has given to each of us as believers, the victory through His power and through Christ who also conquered this world and the one who is in this world! You might say, “Victory over what?”!

Victory over your circumstances, whether they are involving money, loss of a job or a loved one, depression, alcoholism, drugs, illness, whatever it may be. Paul wrote the scripture above to the Ephesians because that is what he prayed for them to experience in their lives, not just some of the time but every day! I am not saying that God will heal all of your sickness or your addictions overnight, but He will comfort you and be there with you through the process of getting over them and through the healing process.

Sometimes God will heal you or me when we claim that healing through faith in Him and His power in our lives. But, Satan is going to try to derail your faith and stop any victory that you gain over his demonic powers which enslaved you to that illness or addiction. He will tell you that it isn’t possible, that God doesn’t care about you and that God won’t do anything for you that you can’t do on your own. Those are lies from the master of lies!!

God does love you. He does care about you and your problems and He will make a way for you to get through them! If you have given your heart and your life to Jesus and asked Him to come into your life and change your life into what He sees in you, then you can make it through all of the things that are going on, no matter how bad they are! It may require that you are killed by someone who is not a Christian, but you are the conqueror because as a Christian you have a sure victory through Christ and a place..an everlasting home in Heaven with Jesus!

We see and hear every day that more bad things are happening in the world because of hatred and violence in places from America to the Middle East to Africa, but these are ‘birth pains” of a world that is coming to a close. Look up and pray, expecting Jesus to come because He will. Your salvation and redemption draws closer every day!