Category: Happiness is a choice

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!

Celebrating Easter


The idea that a rabbit has anything to do with Jesus’ resurrection came from a pagan ritual. The truth and the reason that we celebrate Easter is the resurrection of Jesus after His crucifixion! It has nothing to do with the spring of the year or eggs or rabbits but it has everything to do with your salvation!

Jesus died to ransom you from the penalty of your sins, regardless of what those sins are! It doesn’t matter if it is a lie that you told your Mom or your boss or your wife/husband, even that is a sin. It may be considered a small sin but in God’s eyes and in His universe this is no different from murder. Sins are just that, sins, regardless of the severity or consequences in our world! To a holy God, our God, sins are all the same regardless of the effect they have in this world.

This is a hard message to hear and to learn but it must be said because there is an eternity at stake and it is yours and mine! Think about what God might feel. He created all of us as His children, to learn about Him, to decide on our own to love Him because of what He does for us on a daily basis. Then, when we decide not to love Him and sin against Him, He feels it like a knife every time. Not just from one of us at a time but from everyone on earth!

We won’t be perfect even after we accept Christ as our Savior but we will have His righteousness to cover those sins that we do commit! We will still sin but we will know it, the Holy Spirit will let us know and we will want to follow Jesus’ footsteps toward the Father. If you haven’t allowed Him to change your heart and your life, please consider this…the fires of hell never go out and after your life on earth is over you will live forever regardless of where you are.

The eternal life that you live will have much more meaning and purpose if you serve Him now so you can serve Him then. If you choose not to allow Him into your life while you have this time on earth, (since we don’t know when our time ends we may not have another chance), your eternity will be very different from what it could have been!

Satan doesn’t care about you or your life other than getting you to choose not to follow Christ, as long as he can accomplish that he feels that he has hurt God more each time one of us chooses our own way instead of God’s way!

The Apocalypse of 2012?


In reference to the end of the Aztec calendar, maybe but not likely the end of the world as we know it. At least not yet! Nobody knows when the world will come to its end but the alignment of planets with the center of the galaxy won’t bring it about.

The end of the world as foretold in the Bible is also in our future and it is foretold in the Koran as well but trying to cause it to happen will not work. Praying that it will end tomorrow or the day after that won’t work either. It will be when it will be and nothing that we or anyone in the world does will cause it to begin sooner.

God can and does see the end from the beginning so only He knows when the end will come. The book of Revelation tells about many things which will happen at that time but the timing of the 70th week of Daniel is up to God and no one else.

The world and many people around the world are expecting something to happen this year. Something may happen, but we don’t know what or when because only God knows that. If there is a person who comes on television or the Internet and says that the world will end on such and such day, don’t believe them.

The future of our world is in God’s hands but Satan is in control on earth, at least as far as God will allow him to be. We have more to fear from those who hate Israel and Christians than we do from the doom-sayers that are pointing to global warming and the other possible scenarios that some say “may happen” this year.

A revival in this country and in the world itself should be our priority right now. Make sure that your heart belongs to Jesus because in the end, whenever it comes, eternity will depend on that one decision alone! Search the Bible, ask God to show you His wisdom and open your mind and heart to the Truth that is in the scriptures. He will never abandon you or forsake you but you have to be willing to ask Him to come into your life. He will not force you to do anything, it is your decision alone so make the one that will benefit you rather than condemn you.

God doesn’t want anyone to perish apart from Him but if you choose to go through life without making the choice to accept Jesus as your Savior, you will. It doesn’t matter if you were raised in a Christian, church-attending family because association doesn’t mean anything unless your heart has been changed and filled with the Love of Christ. Many people who have filled pews in churches will be in hell because of that one decision that they failed to make because they thought they were religious enough the get into Heaven.

That is the biggest lie ever to come from Satan…the one that says “all I have to do is join the church and I will have my “fire-insurance”!” Religion doesn’t save your soul, regardless of which religion it is. The worst disaster in history won’t hold a candle to the time of Tribulation that is coming. No amount of religion will save anyone from that time, only by accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior will you be able to stand in that day! I don’t know when that time will come, no one does, but it is not far off. Your personal meeting with God could be tomorrow since we are not guaranteed any number of days or years, so don’t put it off any longer. I pray that everyone who reads this will pray and read the Bible in order to at least have an idea what they need to do.

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!

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.

Happiness is a state of mind


I received this in an e-mail today and thought it would be good to post it so others could share in the wisdom contained within this story. I hope you enjoy it and put it to use in your life or that of someone that you love. Pass it on to those you think might need to hear it or who would benefit from it.

Remember, whether we are ten or ninety-two, God loves us all and gives us the ability to make our way through this world in a happy mood or a bad mood. We must choose which one we want to live in.

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, with his hair fashionably combed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today.

His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.

As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window. I love it,’ he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged… it’s how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. ‘It’s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.

Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I’ll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I’ve stored away.. Just for this time in my life. Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you’ve put in.

So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories!

Merry Christmas to all of you and I pray for a happy new year for us all as well!