Category: God’s purpose for you

What do you mean, “die to self”?


It is a question which has been asked many times since Jesus was here. It is a question which is easy and hard to answer but I will try to shed some light on it here.

Our selfish nature or it could be called our childish nature, is what gets us into so much trouble and we don’t realize it until it is almost too late. Anyone who is a parent has heard a child say “I can do it myself” and it is that “self” that we have to get away from! If we don’t, it will get us into more trouble than we could possibly imagine!

I know that many people feel that this is just some preacher rambling about something that doesn’t mean anything. Well, I am a preacher but I have also been called to get these bits of wisdom that I glean from God‘s Word out to a dying world and in this instance our “self” is usually the bad guy. Satan will help our nature or our “self” to be a real problem, against our better judgement and our Christian nature, but it is us who cause much of our own problems!

As the old cartoon said, “I has met the enemy and he is us!” We are our own worst enemy in many ways, least of all to ourselves and the life that we live. It is our nature, the sin nature that was born in the garden of Eden, that has caused and is still causing heartache and pain and suffering today.

Can we do anything about it?  No, not on our own we can’t! With God in our life and in our hearts we can overcome our self, the old self that is at war with our new creation after Christ comes into your heart. It is a battle that we cannot afford to lose which is why we are admonished to put on the armor of God by studying His Word and taking its wisdom into our life on a daily basis. When we do that, we are able to do exceedingly more for Him and through Him than we could ever do on our own!

Give your heart to Jesus, the only One who loves you regardless of what you have done or will do! He will never leave you nor let you down so give your heart to Him and your life will never be the same, it will be BETTER!

Our life…does it matter?


Many people ask this question and wonder if it does matter. The answer is YES! Because you are alive, you matter and your life matters! God doesn’t make mistakes and you wouldn’t be alive on this earth if your life didn’t matter in some way.

He has a purpose for each of us and all that we have to do is find it. Many people think that they will never find their purpose in life and they are right….if they never look for it! Your purpose or reason for being is, in a nutshell, to have a personal relationship with God. Everything else will fall into place after that, but until that part of your life is working like it should nothing will seem to be right. There will always be a feeling of loss or emptiness in your life and you will attempt to fill it with something.

That is why the drug trade and other problems that plague the “human condition” are so plentiful. Many people are looking for something, anything to fill that place that only Jesus can fill. In some of my other writings, if you want to call them that, I have called it a “God-sized hole”, and that is exactly what it is! It is a space that only one thing, one being in the universe can fulfill!

Your life matters to the Creator of the universe,you matter! Your life does have meaning and a purpose and He knows exactly what that is and He has given you the ability to fulfill that purpose. No one else can do that except Jesus and He will when you ask Him to come into your life.

Can you do it on your own? Yes, you can exist and have a life without Jesus but what will you do when you die? Our life doesn’t end when this body is dead. The Bible teaches that from beginning to end. We are supposed to live eternally with God but when you reject His offer of salvation through Jesus that eternal life will be in hell!

I have had many friends who said that they would rather party with Satan than live in Heaven.

I don’t understand that line of thought because there will be no party in hell! There will be no laughter, no fun, no light, no water, only separation from God and darkness and heat, lots of heat! That is why the Bible calls it the second death because without God or Jesus, there is no life!

Do your own research into the Bible. Read the New Testament, especially the book of Romans. There is a way to life and it is only found in Jesus, and then your life will matter, here and in the hereafter.

How does Jesus know me?


God and Jesus both see us, each of us, as beautiful beings. Whether male or female, tall or short, dark skinned or light, they see us as we really are. They do not see us the way our family sees us or as our friends see us. They don’t even see us the way we see ourselves!

They know us more deeply than anyone can know us because they formed us and knew exactly what they wanted us to be. All of the warts and the beauty and forgetfulness and the genius that each of us have, they put it there. It was done for a reason and a purpose, God’s purpose. Each of our traits is something which can be used by God in ways that only He knows and for His purposes.

Your life and mine don’t belong to us individually. We belong to God and it doesn’t matter if you have given your heart to Him or not. If you are going to be part of His plan and His kingdom and a worker for Him, you will eventually. He will see to it. Your life will work out in such a way as to bring you into God’s family and then you can begin to live for Him!

We are truly not designed to live for ourselves; there is a God-shaped place in our being that needs Him. When we haven’t found Him, we try to put other things in that place but none of them fit. So many people search and try many, many different things to fill that place and yet none of them satisfy the longing. The longing that we have for Him, for a real relationship with Him will never go away until we ask Him to come into that place.

Jesus is the answer and He is the One which fits in that place. We can have a true relationship with Him daily, hourly even, if we want it. He doesn’t push himself into our life and He won’t because He wants us to want Him. If we were forced, there would be no love toward Him from us. God and Jesus want the same relationship that they had with Adam before the fall. Daily communion from us to them and back again, forever.

On our own and with the baggage that we carry in our lives, we are not worthy of such an intimate relationship, particularly with the Creator who is Perfect and eternal. The only way that we can be worthy is by asking Jesus into our life and into our hearts so that the space in our being can be filled with the One which it is designed for. Nothing else will fit and nothing else will satisfy. Give Jesus a chance to change your life into the life that He knows you can have!

In our culture today we have so many ways of looking at information. We have the Internet, from our computers and our phones. We have television which comes to us from cable or satellite with news from all over the world. All of this is nearly instantaneous and still we aren’t satisfied with what we have. Our food is cooked in microwave ovens in a few seconds, we go through the drive-through at McDonald’s or Wendy’s or wherever we go. Our culture is based on “instant gratification” and like spoiled children we want it NOW!

 

Can we have a relationship with Jesus right NOW the same way that the disciples had? I believe that we can if we are willing to put our heart into it. Jesus wants to have a relationship with us as intimate as any that we have with our families. When we have sin in our lives, the relationship is damaged, but not irreparable.  Sin creeps into our lives in small things and thoughts and words. Sin is like that, just one puff, just one little drink. Then pretty soon here comes another tentacle, just a thought or just a lustful look. But then here comes another tentacle. Just a little lie, a slight rearrangement of the truth, & out comes another tentacle & soon we are completely entangled and feeling helpless.

But, we are not alone in our fight against sin and Satan. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are always there to guide us and direct our paths and our thoughts. All we have to do is reach out to Him through prayer, acknowledging that we can’t do it alone but with His strength we can get through anything.

Jesus knows the people that He created us to be and He knows the abilities that we have even better than we do. Some people, like me, don’t know what they can do until God calls them. When He calls, He will give you the words and the abilities to accomplish His purpose in your life and in the place where He has planted you.

Five minutes after I die….


Ask yourself, “Five minutes after I die, what will I wish I would have given on behalf of the helpless while I still had the chance?”

Many people may say that this is a foolish question because there is no afterlife, but what if they or you are wrong? What will you say or do after this life is over and the next existence begins? Will you have a real existence after this life?

The answer to all of these questions is “It depends”. It depends on what you did in this life and whom you were following through life. If you took care of yourself and your immediate family, that is good but it is also selfish. Did you give your life to anything greater or any One? Could you have made a real difference in other people’s lives if you had been a Christian? Yes! There are many things which you could do to help others with our own strength, but with Christ living in your heart and working through you, you can do so much more.

Is it possible for us to go through life without Christ? Yes, but why would you want to? Having Him near everyday gives me such peace and the knowledge that I can speak to Him about anything at any time is reassuring. I feel that part of my life that was empty at one time is full now and the One that filled it was Jesus.

It also gives me the assurance that when I die, I will be with Jesus and the rest of my family who are in Heaven already. We will serve the Lord with gladness throughout eternity and that assurance gives me hope because it is a future without end!

Ask Jesus into your heart and ask forgiveness for your life before He came to you. Once you do that, your life will never be the same but it will be better than it was!

 

What will you do with Jesus?


After you have asked Him to come into your life, what then? Can you just go back to being the same person you have always been?

If there was true repentance and acceptance of His Lordship over your life, it is not possible for you to return to your old life and habits. Your heart and your Spirit won’t let you and your conscience won’t allow it either.

Can you ignore the prompting of the Spirit and your conscience and return to your old life? Yes, you can and each time you ignore the prompting of the Spirit, it will become easier and easier until you quench the Spirit entirely. Then you will be just another hypocrite who said they got saved and then turned away from it.

Will you feel good about doing so? At first you won’t, but eventually that small voice in your heart will go silent. Like ignoring your wife or your parents, it becomes easier with time until one day you don’t notice it at all.

Satan loves it when a “Christian” returns to their old ways because he has been watching you closely and so have your friends. If this was genuine, true repentance you wouldn’t turn away like Lot’s wife did. Why does this happen? In our society today people look for easy ways to get their way or what they want.

This has been happening ever since humans have been on the planet, so it is nothing new. Society hasn’t changed all that much in the thousands of years that we have been here. The facts speak to us from the pages of the Bible.

When they were in the wilderness and thought that Moses had died while talking to God, they begged Aaron to make them a god like the gods of Egypt. The Israelites wanted a god they could see and touch in the wilderness, even though they had seen the miracles that were wrought by God to bring them out of Egypt.

Then when they were in Canaan, they did not do as God had told them and they intermingled with some of the inhabitants of the land. Eventually, they began worshiping their gods and doing the detestable things that the Canaanites did, like sacrificing their children to a piece of wood or stone.

Our so-called modern society isn’t much different. We work more hours than our fore-fathers did, sacrificing our family life and our relationships with our children in the process in order to have “stuff” like everyone else. Our neighbors buy a new car or truck, so we think we have to have one as good or better. Your child comes home and tells you that Jordan or Sarah has this kind of game or toy, so you go get then one just like it.

Why? Why do we have to do or be like everyone else in the world when our Lord said that we were to be in the world but not of the world? This is not in the Bible word for word, but He meant that we are no longer ruled by sin which is of the world. When we come to Him and give our heart to Him, we are His and to be that which He wants us to be we have to be different. Different in ways that the world can see and therefore want to have. But, it is striving each day that makes us this way because the temptations are there every day. As children we may not see it as much as adults do, but the world, Egypt, whatever you call it is there and the ruler of our sinful world is Satan.

Satan and his fallen angels are real, whether we can see them or not and they rule over this world by tempting us and causing us to fall from the grace which we have been granted through Jesus. Some might ask, “Will I lose my salvation because of this?”. Losing your salvation is not possible in a real sense, except when you walk away from it yourself. Your witness to others will be affected because they might see that your life changed and then when you walk away from it for some reason they question if you were saved to begin with.

A person who has truly given their life and heart to Christ cannot just walk away from it because you have been changed from the inside out. If that change never really took place, if you never truly gave your heart to Him who sacrificed everything, then you never belonged to Him in the first place. Churches are full of people who think that they are Christians because they are in church and have belonged to it for a long time. They tithe, they volunteer for projects and help in the church, some may be deacons or even lay ministers. You can do most or all of these things in the church under your own strength and still not be a true Christian!

The ones you know that are easily identified as Christians, may not have Christ at all. True Christians, those who have Him in their life and in their heart, are humble and are usually behind the scenes. Not all of them are this way, but many are. Their life reflects the humility of Christ and His way of serving. Many so-called “upstanding pillars” are more like the priest who told God how great he was and that he was glad that he was not like the sinner who was in the temple with him.

As Jesus’ story illustrated, the person who went away justified was the sinner because he acknowledged that he was a sinner and asked forgiveness for it.

The priest only magnified himself in the eyes of those who may have heart him, not in the eyes of God. Pride was the sin he was guilty of that day and he didn’t even acknowledge his sinfulness.

God knows your heart, so bare it to Him. Ask Him to show you how to be His, ask Him to help you be the vessel that He knows that you can be. He will give you the strength and the wisdom from His word, the Bible so don’t neglect the reading of it. Even a few minutes each day can make a big impact in your walk with Him and in your service to Him.

God, the Creator of everything, is waiting for you to answer His calling on your life. We are important to Him, He cares for us and wants us to know it and to show it to others by allowing others to see what He has done in our life.

Through modeling and reflecting Jesus’ character by what we do and say everyday, we magnify God to the world. Isn’t that an awesome and humbling responsibility? Think about that as you go through this week.

 

Politically correct or in denial?


Many in our society today cling to the “politically correct” way of relating to one another, especially during the holidays. Which is fine but it is not what we have traditionally done in the past. The politically correct way or PC for short has only been around for a few years and in limited circles, particularly politics and not in the general publics view.

Being PC about everything is wrong because it is not following the wisdom found in God‘s Word. Today, this would put any reference to Christmas, the Nativity, God, or Jesus out of bounds and that is the way many would like it to be. Why is that? The majority of people in the world believe in God or Allah so why does the minority get the most votes because they don’t want to hear about Him, especially in reference to the Christian view of Jesus or God or the Bible.

Almost any other view is fine except for Christianity. Is it because of fear or anger or hatred toward Christians? I believe so but it is also due to the Bible being viewed as God’s Word and therefore it is correct in its wisdom and in its laws. The behavior and humility set forth in it are at odds with many world-views.

Many are in denial about the facts that have been proven true throughout the Bible and they want to disprove, in any way that they can , what the Bible says. Especially when it shows that they are wrong about their lifestyle choices or about who they worship.

We were created by God to have free will to choose to follow Him or not. But, we also resent being told that the choice that we may make is wrong if it doesn’t follow Him and the wisdom found in His Word. The choice that you make is an eternal one, our souls do not die or come back in another life, we are accountable to God for the choice that we make and you will give an account of that choice when your time comes. Unfortunately, many will realize too late that their choice was incorrect and at that point it will be too late.

God doesn’t condemn you to hell, your choice about Who you will serve does. If you choose to do what makes you feel good and neglect or disregard what you have heard in church or on the radio or even by television ministries, that is your choice. The majesty of God’s creation is all around us and the miracles of birth and rejuvenation in the springtime are there for all to see because He set them in motion a long time ago. God loves us so much that He put on humanity in the form of a baby and came to ransom our sinful ways so that we can ask forgiveness and believe that He did just that. Once you accept the gift of His grace and love for you, your life will be changed and nothing will ever be the same.

Come to the Christ and ask Him into your life. You won’t be disappointed because He knows who you are, He is just waiting to show you who you can be!

Christmas means…..


 

Scripture: Luke 2: 8-20

In our culture today what does this time of year mean? To some it means that their business may end the year with a little money in the bank. To others it means that they hope they will get what they want for Christmas from Santa. What about in countries which are less fortunate than we are?

What about the children in Korea with their eyes so big and bright, what does this time of year mean to them? In North Korea, they may be looking for food and hoping they will have a meal tonight. In South Korea, where there are some churches and a fairly robust economy, they may be celebrating Jesus’ birth just like we do.

I wonder also about those who live in Africa. In places like Zimbabwe where the annual income may be fifty dollars, where people live in huts and never see shopping malls or a Christmas tree, what do they think of this time of year that is celebrated in most countries?

How about the Muslim countries, where Christmas is not celebrated at all?

I am sure it means different things to different people depending on their culture and their beliefs.

Do we forget about Jesus at this time of year? I have heard of people who set an extra place at the table for Him because it is His birthday that we celebrate. It isn’t our birthday but it is the Lord’s birthday and this is a time to remember Him and why He came.

(READ Luke 2:8-14)

The announcement that went out to the earth about God’s Son being born went to the shepherds, not the temple, not the high priest. Why do you think God went to the outcasts of society to announce the birth of His Son? I think it is because they would receive the news with humble hearts and with willing spirits. They were chosen by God and told the news by a multitude of angels, they had to feel honored even if society said they didn’t deserve honor.

Shepherds were considered unclean and not allowed to participate in any worship service, even though they took care of the animals which were used as sacrifices.

What about today? How do we receive the news of Jesus and His sacrifice for us? Do we humbly bow and thank Him and ask Him to come into our lives and be near to us every day? I am sure that is what He wants of us but not just on holidays or at certain times of the year, or when things are going bad. Jesus wants us to be near to Him as He is with us every day and in all things, great and small in our lives.

Doesn’t He deserve our respect and praise? For all the things that God has done for us through Jesus and through His work on the cross the least that we owe Him is our life in service to Him. Is there any higher calling than to be called a “child of God”? I don’t think so and I don’t believe any of you think that either.

So, what are we to do when we realize who we are in relation to Him? Do we become missionaries? Yes, in a manner of speaking we are supposed to be just that, because Jesus told us to be the light of the world and to take the gospel to all people. We can do that every day while we are working, or at a restaurant or a ball game. We do it by our life and our witness to others and when His Spirit is working through you they will see it and recognize it.

Getting back to the shepherds and what they saw and did; they saw the glory of the Lord shining from those angels who were proclaiming that the Messiah had been born in Bethlehem. In the darkness of the Judean hills the light must have been breathtaking, like spot-lights shining all around them. Today with the technology that we have lights in the sky wouldn’t be a big deal, but these were angels and they were SINGING and there were no lights at that time except for a fire or a candle so the glory coming from them would’ve been much brighter than they were used to.

Can you imagine how those shepherds felt? “What is this from God? Why is He telling us this?” They might have been thinking those things but they listened to the message and obeyed. They went to Bethlehem and found the Christ child and worshiped Him.

This is all that we are called to do in our lives but we are to do more than just worship. We are called to be ministers and teachers about our faith and why we have the faith that we have. We are to be the voice of Jesus and his hands and feet in a world that is rejecting Him now and in the future, until we are taken to be with Him.

The most needed book in the world….the Bible


The Bible is the Word of God given to men by the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit and Jesus is the manifestation in the flesh of that Word. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. How can we just ignore Him or tolerate His presence when the glory of His majesty is shown to the whole world every day and every night?

The world has been pushing God and His Word away for a long time although lately, it seems that no one is paying attention at all. I am sure that Satan enjoys seeing this because it is what he has been counting on all along. Eventually humanity will turn away from God, but God has never turned away from us.

God’s Word, the Bible, is the most inspired book in existence. It is also the only one that gives us hope and purpose and direction for our lives, but the wisdom contained within it must be followed and learned by the reader. If we won’t do that, then it is just another book on a shelf.

For the Bible to be of any real value to the one who reads it, it must actually function the way it was intended and shape how we think, feel and act as well as shaping our beliefs, our values and the truths that we teach others. If we don’t allow the wisdom of God‘s Word to penetrate our mind and our heart and to shape our character, its value is diminished to nothing. The Bible has many things to say to many people today.

It is not old, even though most of it was written over two thousand years ago.
The messages contained within it are fresh because the Word is alive and the wisdom is from God. Each person that reads the Bible gets a different message, especially if you pray for God to reveal His wisdom to you through His Word! There are many people who need what the Bible has to offer and yet some refuse to take advantage of it.

If you read the words of the Bible and notice the wisdom contained within it, much of it parallels the so-called “self-help” books which are on the best seller lists. They may use different words for modern language and reference things which a modern audience can relate to but the wisdom hasn’t changed. That wisdom came from God no matter who is getting the credit for it.

We are into being politically correct these days and the Bible was not, which is why it is attacked as much as it is. That is also the reason that Christians are ridiculed and hated as much as we are. Our faith and our religion is not an all-inclusive religion or one which allows anything but what our Lord expects in His Word. God said, “Be Holy because I am Holy”, which we can only do through the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us which we receive when we become Christians and ask Him into our lives.

That doesn’t mean that we are perfect, sinless people after becoming a Christian, far from it! We are still human and not God, nor will we become gods as some religions profess. We will rule with Christ one day, but not today, and then only if we have been faithful to Him and the calling that was placed on our lives. Give the Word of God a chance. Read it, ask questions about it, pray about it while you read it…these are the only ways that it will finally make sense and give you a sense of peace about your life and what God says in it and about you.

Can we do without Christ?


In my opinion, NO! I know that many would disagree. Many people try to live their lives without Christ and that’s OK but what will you do if the God‘s Word is true?

I have seen discussions about a world without Christ describing or attempting to describe how we would be better off without Him. How could that be possible?

If He had not come into the world there would be no Christian religion, no church unless the Catholic faith could come up with something else to worship, no love for anyone, no freedom. All of these things would be changed and hundreds more if He had not come. There would be no hope in our world, no thought of an eternal life with God in Heaven. Living like that would be unimaginable to me and to many others.

I know from the news media that there are many atheists, agnostics, and other religious or non-religious people who would like to see any reference to God or Jesus eradicated from our world or at least out of sight. How do you think this makes God feel toward us? How would you feel if someone that you love were continually telling you to leave and get out of my life? Don’t bother me anymore unless I need you. What would you do?

Thankfully, God’s patience is deeper than the ocean and wider too. If it were not, our world would already be experiencing judgement from an angry God. Some of you may remember a show called the Hulk on television. When the principle character was being pushed by someone he would usually tell them, “Don’t make me angry, you wouldn’t like me when I get angry.”

What about the Creator of the universe? He could wipe out the earth with a thought if He wished, but He won’t because of the promises that He made to the Jewish people. Our world is under the rule of Satan and his followers, whether we believe in him or not. We will be better off when we wake up and see the problems that we have are not caused by God or Allah or any other deity but by Satan himself who is not a god but a created being just like the angels of God.

The problems that we have in our lives are also caused by our own choices, right or wrong, good or bad. When we make choices based on our own thinking rather than asking God to help us, we open our lives, and the lives of those around us, up to the consequences of those choices. God wants to be involved in your life daily, He doesn’t want to control it but if you give your heart to Him you will change and the life that you live will be in line with Him and in His will if you allow it.

We are never forced into a relationship with Him and even when we accept Him as our Savior we have to initiate the daily walk with Him. We are not forced to do it. So to answer the question posed in the title, yes we can live without Christ but it will be an existence it will not be living. If you never ask Him to come into your heart and life, the consequences for eternity will not be fun the way some try to make you believe they will. Eternity is a long, long time so I think I would rather be counted among those living in Heaven with Him than with those in Hell without Him.

Why do we abandon our search during the holidays?


I have noticed that on the blogs that I have the testimony of God, the traffic seems to dry up around the holidays. I realize that we are more busy during this time with many things to do but the reason for our thankfulness and for the season itself is God and the Savior, Jesus Christ!

Our thankfulness and being thankful to our Creator just for giving us life and the blessing of living it is what we truly need to be celebrating during this time! Not the football games, or the turkey and dressing or eating too much, but the risen Savior who came to save us from our own nature! God loves each and every one of us more than we can imagine and He wants the best for all of us. Unfortunately, Satan, hates mankind because we are loved by God and he only wants to make our lives as miserable as he can. If that means killing us or one of our family, he will make it happen. If it means causing some illness that will cause us to question God’s purpose, he will do that too!

We are not without hope though because our Savior, Jesus Christ, has overcome Satan and made a way for each of us to come to Him with no strings attached. All we have to do is come to Him and ask that He come into our lives and our hearts. Once we believe in Him and His saving grace that has been paid for through His sacrifice, we are His! Then the fun begins!

Our changed heart and nature will cause us to want to serve Him in whatever way we are able. If we can teach, then as a teacher. If we are able to be a missionary so someone can learn of Christ through us, then that is our calling too. Whatever your job is in life, be the Christian that you are in that job so others can see Jesus in you and through your life. That is all that we are required to be is a reflection of Him! He has already done the hard part and all we have to do is let people see it in our life–see Him in our life!

Our search for meaning and purpose is not hard once we realize what we were created for and by whom we were created. He is the only one who can re-create your heart and your life from being a sinner in a sin-sick world to being an evangelist to the world. Some of you may become even greater than other well known evangelists of our time but only if you preach and teach the gospel of Christ and His crucifixion for our sins. At one time I was like Moses, I did not want to be or do anything that God was calling me to do. Especially if it had anything to do with being a teacher or a preacher!

God changed my heart and my attitude toward doing what He wanted me to do and He can give you a peace about your troubles that will enable you to be His servant as well. You have nothing to lose from giving your heart to Him and only eternity to gain. How could anyone argue against that!