Category: Pride and selfishness

Emergency Telephone Numbers


These are more effective than 911
When –
You are sad, phone John 14
You have sinned, phone Psalm 51
You are facing danger, phone Psalm 91
People have failed you, phone Psalm 27< /A>
It feels as though God is far from you, phone Psalm 139
Your faith needs stimulation, phone Hebrews 11
You are alone and scared, phone Psalm 23
You are worried, phone Matthew 8:19-34
You are hurt and critical, phone 1 Corinthians 13
You wonder about Christianity, phone 2 Corinthians 5:15-18
You feel like an outcast, phone Romans 8:31-39
You are seeking peace, phone Matthew 11:25-30
It feels as if the world is bigger than God, phone Psalm 90
You need Christ like insurance, phone Romans 8:1-30
You are leaving home for a trip , phone Psalm 121
You are praying for yourself, phone Psalm 87
You require courage for a task, phone Joshua 1
Inflation’s and investments are hogging your thoughts, phone M ark 10:17-31
You are depressive, phone Psalm 27
Your bank account is empty, phone Psalm 37
You lose faith in mankind, phone 1 Corinthians 13
It looks like people are unfriendly, phone John 15
You are losing hope, phone Psalm 126
You feel the world is small compared to you, phone Psalm 19
You want to carry fruit, phone John 15
Paul’s secret for happiness, phone Colossians 3:12-17
With big opportunity/ discovery, phone Isaiah 55
To get along with other people, phone Romans 12

ALTERNATE NUMBERS
For dealing with fear, call Psalm 47
For security, call Psalm 121:3
For assurance, call Mark 8:35
For reassurance, call Psalm 145:18

 

ALL THESE NUMBERS MAY BE PHONED DIRECTLY.
NO OPERATOR ASSISTANCE IS NECESSARY.
ALL LINES TO HEAVEN ARE AVAILABLE 24 HOURS A DAY.
FEED YOUR FAITH, AND DOUBT WILL STARVE TO DEATH

I got this in an e-mail and I believe that everyone needs this, especially today in the times that we live in. Pray and ask for God to show you the wisdom that He has placed in these scriptures. He will and your life will never be the same if you take into your heart and life. May God richly bless each person who reads these scriptures.

Are you a fan or a follower of Jesus?


Many of the disciples were followers of Jesus and the Word confirms that there were at one time or another about seventy of them. Were they fans or followers or true disciples?

Those who fall into one category or the other out of those three show three different levels of commitment. The fans of Jesus and his teachings were the ones who were with Him daily and tried to understand His teachings. The followers were the crowds which went with Him hoping for a miracle or some food or both!

His true disciples were the ones who went out and preached the Word and the good News of redemption through belief in Jesus and the Father Who sent Him. In the book of Jeremiah, there are a few verses which illustrate what following means, it is in chapter 6 and verse 16: “Thus says the LORD, “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls.” Even though it says that, at the time, the Israelites said to him that they would not walk in it.

There are many who find the right path but for one reason or another, they decide not to walk in that path. Some reasons that I have heard are “it is too hard”; “I don’t want to right now, I am having too much fun”; “Following Jesus requires too much time and effort”. If that were the real reason, no one would ever follow Him.

How can we follow Him and be a disciple of His instead of a fan or a follower for our own reasons? In today’s language being a follower could mean that you know about Jesus and everything that He did. You have been to church, you have listened to sermons and even read some scripture about Him, but do you follow Him?

Are you classified as a fan of Jesus? Fans know their teams and the stats well. They know about all the things that their favorite team does and each team member and their statistics. Some might be able to tell you how many children some of the team members have who are married. In reference to football fans, they can tell you everything that each player did in college and in their rookie season. But what happens when your favorite team starts to lose or has a losing season. If they have a losing season or two, their fans tend to trickle away and lose some enthusiasm for them.

What happens when life gets a little tough, do you fall away or do you cling to Jesus? What do you do if the road that your life with Christ is following gets a bit bumpy or hard like a mountain trail? Do you feel the need to get off? Our trail that we are following is not easy because Jesus said that He did not come to make things easy but that He would ease your burden by taking the weight of sin off of your shoulders. He did not say that you wouldn’t sin but that you would not be tempted beyond what you are able to bear.

How many fans get to play in the Super Bowl? (Answer: none) What about true followers, do they get to play in games like that? No, because they are not players or professional football/baseball players, they religiously follow the game and its players but they can’t play.

What about Christians? Do we get to play? Let’s look at what it takes to be in the game as a true follower of Jesus: 1. I have given my heart to Jesus; 2. I read my Bible daily and study it, praying over the passages so that I can understand; 3. I pray about little things in my life as well as BIG things so that God knows my heart in these matters; 4. I ask God to help me to understand and know what He wants me to do with my life after He has changed it and decide to live my life for Him from that point on.

The problem is that there are many people who are in church and have been in church for many years and yet are still “fans” and not followers. Even though they do many of the things which followers do, their hearts are still “far from me” as Jesus said. How can we get back from that far country to the place where we belong?

The only way to get back from that far country is to humble ourselves and admit that we need to get back in the first place! Once we do that, we can become followers of Jesus and our new life will keep us in that place close to Him. Then our lives will be even more useful and productive, not only for God’s kingdom but for our own walk with Him daily as well.

In many ways, our lives are mirror images of the world in which we live. Some of us live in the world and have very little to do with church and its doctrine which is preached there. Even if we come to church, there are things which are said there that we don’t agree with so we tune them out entirely.

When we look forward toward the years that we each have left or think that we have, what do we see? Do we see a life full of promise like we did when we were young? Or do we see the end of our lives approaching and decide to wind down like a toy and “take it easy for a while”?

We were not made to “wind down”; our lives are to be useful to Him regardless of our age or our point in life. He decides when our time comes to “wind down” from this life, but that still doesn’t mean that our life will end. You have an appointment with eternity and where that appointment takes you is your choice.

The narrow road following Christ will lead to eternal life and service to Him that will never be boring, the broad road leads to destruction. On which road will you be when it is time to meet Jesus?

Are you a true follower of Jesus?


I have been reading a book called “Not a fan“, and I can see that many of us are in the fan category, regardless of how long we may have been in church. Is it possible that our pastors haven’t taught the correct sermons about being a true follower or disciple of Jesus? I have included a link to the book mentioned and I hope that you may read it because it brings out many points that we need to address in our lives as followers of Christ.

Many of the people who followed Jesus around in His day were only fans because they were following Him for a healing or for food, and not for His teachings. When His teaching became a bit hard for them to take, many of them abandoned Him. There are many in churches today who are in the same place as those who were only fans of Jesus. They may have been in the church for many years, they can quote scripture chapter and verse about Him but they don’t know Him!

Is it possible that in being politically correct in our teaching, we have neglected the truth of the gospel itself? I am afraid that many pastors, me included, may have done so. I am pledging that I am no longer doing that from this point on. In our society today with all of its problems and time-crunched families we cannot be without Him!

Time, that many young people think that they have plenty of, is a precious commodity which we truly don’t have much of to spend with our families. There are many in our society today, especially school children, who have so much to do until they are feeling stress at a younger and younger age. When they are stressed, mom and dad are too. The entire family suffers because of it, but Christ came that we could live our lives more abundantly through Him.

Knowing about Jesus is easy, all you have to do is read your Bible. Christ or a representation of Him is there from Genesis to Revelation. But, knowing about Him is not enough, we must not be just fans of Jesus and His teachings we must be followers! Live for Christ daily, walk with Him, talk to Him and listen because He will speak to you too.

We are longing for meaning, can it be found?


Over the past few years I have noticed that people are searching, longing for meaning and purpose in their lives. We all do at one point in life. Some of us find it in our family, some find it in meaningful work, some never find true meaning or purpose and go on searching, wondering what can possibly fill that empty space. There is something, someone, who can fill that space in our lives and in our heart. But, we must search Him out, He will not force us to come to this knowledge. Force, coercion, and pain are not the ways to find Him or come to Him.

Granted, the so-called “church” has done many evil things in the past and some people are causing more pain in His name even today, but that is the way of our nature, not His. We are the ones who have perverted and soiled His name by claiming to be doing things which He would not condone and yet claiming that we do this for Christ. All that is happening when this is done is that the name and glory of the Christ and God Himself are being tarnished like old silver by the actions of people who only have their own interests at heart.

The reason behind this is simply Satan himself because even though he was created to worship God, he was given free will like we are and pride was found in him and he was cast out of Heaven because he wanted to be exalted above God. He is now the ruler of this world and all that is done on earth, especially things which are evil and which can cast doubt toward God he will do. Although, he is not totally in control because God only allows him to do what is truly in the will and knowledge of God. God knows exactly what will work to bring about our obedience and our recognition of Who He is, so that we will ultimately fulfill our purpose. We are in control only to the extent that what we do affects our lives and our immediate surroundings. We are not gods and were never intended to be.

We were created by God to be in this universe and to be servants to Him. That is not to say, that we are slaves in the sense that many people and the devil himself tries to make us believe that we are. As Christians, we do it because we were loved and known by Him first and considered worthy enough that He died on the cross to save us from our own stupid, prideful, decisions. People do things, good or bad, on their own which cause others to fall into a life which will be ruinous to them and to others. It is just our nature, because of the fall from grace in the Garden and we must be redeemed from it through Jesus. He is and always has been the way to life everlasting.

It has been called many things from many cultures and I am not saying that there is another way, by another name but one day everyone will know that Jesus is the only way to Heaven. Whether you get it in a church or from an evangelist or from the Bible itself, when God calls you it will become clear to you that what you need was there all along, you just didn’t know that it was so easy. Easy to claim the life of being a Christian, yet it is hard to live it daily. Many churches will tell you that the life of a believer is easy but it is not. Our nature keeps us from getting up every morning and laying down our own nature and taking up the nature of being a Christian. It can be done, but not under our own strength. We have to ask for His strength and through Him we can do what He wants us to do.

I know that all of this sounds very cryptic because I am not going into specifics about Christian life and service, but the reason that I am not is because it is different for each of us. You may be gifted in one area, your wife or son or daughter may be gifted in another. Yet, through the Spirit, once you surrender your will to His will in your life, you can and will be able to do whatever He asks of you and shows you what He wants you to do. God loves each person on this planet and wants each of us to come to know Him but until we do, He will not force us. It is not in His nature to do that and God cannot change because He is unchanging.

Jesus said: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man can come unto the Father except by Me” John 14:6. There is only one way which will get you to Heaven, and that is through trusting in the saving power of Jesus and the sacrifice made on the cross for you, believing Him for your salvation. No other religion or ceremony will do, no one can do what He did and yet He lives and will come back for His own. We will be tested and some will be found lacking in faith and there will be a falling away but if you will put your faith in Him and trust in Him, and cling to the Bible and the wisdom contained in it, you will find peace and life everlasting through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

Four words that are hard to say….


In our society today, we don’t speak much anymore. We text each other, we send e-mails, occasionally we talk to each other but we never write a letter to one another or at least it seems that way. Why is that do you suppose? Is it because of technology or our hurried lives? We just don’t have time anymore to talk to someone?

What about your prayer life, do you have one? Many people don’t think about prayer, at least not until they have some trouble in their lives. Then they may pray to God or Jesus about it, but once the problem is taken care of in one way or another they stop. They may even be angry with God if the outcome wasn’t what they asked for, at which point they may never pray again. They just determine that God hates them and decide not to reach out to Him again.

It is sad when people choose to do something like this, but it seems to happen more often than it should because there are so many people who have given up on God. He hasn’t given up on us and never will for the most part. I say that because at some point you can harden your heart toward God to the point that you won’t come to Him, period.

If you haven’t come to that point, there is still hope but you must say four words that some people find hard to say, “I am a sinner”. Once you can admit that to yourself and to God, you are nearly there! At that point, just ask Him to come into your life and free you from the sinful life that you have led in the past. Then you are a new creature in Christ and your life in Him and through Him starts fresh and new!

Many people say things like “I’ve been too bad for Him to want me” but if He is knocking on your heart and you can feel His presence wanting you to come to Him, He wants you! He can use your talents because He knows what you can do, probably better than you do.

This reminds me of a story in the Old Testament about Naaman, the commander of Syria‘s army. There were four words that he didn’t want to say either, mainly because of pride and shame. He didn’t want to admit that “I am a leper” because of his high position and because of the disgrace it would bring to him. Yet a little child , one of the captives who was a servant girl in his household, knew of a prophet in her homeland who could ask God to heal him and she told him about it.

To make a long story shorter, Naaman went with many gifts and asked the king of Israel about this prophet and found him, but Elisha sent his servant to him and told him to wash seven times in the Jordan river and he would be healed. He was furious. That river is full of mud, he said and he stormed out and started on the way home. His servant told him that if the prophet had said to do some great thing he would’ve done it, so why not do what the prophet said?

When Naaman humbled himself and decided to dip himself into the Jordan river like the prophet had told him to do (seven times), he found that the disease that he had for so long was healed and his skin was like that of a child. That is what happens to our hearts when Christ comes in. Our heart and our life becomes like a child of God, new-born and cleansed from our sins. At this point, we can do anything through Christ and others will truly see Him through our example and our character as we mature in our faith.

Jesus does love us all and has paid the price for our sins, all we have to do is come to Him and humbly say “I am a sinner, please forgive me”. Six words that will change your life and the lives of those around you forever.

Is there a point of no return?


Many today believe that when things get so bad in your life that there is a point that you reach where there is no way back or out of the situation that you find yourself in. In a legal sense that may be true but I am speaking of your heart and your life as God sees it. It is true that the Bible says that there is a sin that is unforgivable, but that is referring to rejecting God’s call on your life repeatedly until your heart no longer responds.

If you have ever felt that tug on your spirit from God and just brushed it away as a fly, that is the call that I am referring to. When we brush God off many times and refuse to repent and come to Him, that is the sin for which there is no pardon. At which point, God will refuse to hear as you have done for so long. Our hearts can be hardened just as the pharaoh’s in Egypt were when God was about to liberate the Jewish people from their captivity.

When that happens, there is no argument or persuasion that will result in your salvation. It is at this point that God has turned His back on you just as you have done to Him. It is also a very sad and lonely place to be in your life because there is nothing that can help your spiritual condition at this point. It is one of those times that no parent or friend ever wants to see, but sometimes it comes and you just have to move on.

Why do we turn away from God? Usually the cause is a mixture of pride and our own arrogance. “I can do it myself”, “Christianity is too elitist”, “Their way can’t be the only way to heaven”, these are all arguments that I have heard or witnessed and they are all wrong!

The Bible says that “the only way to the Father is through the Son”, which is my paraphrase of John 14:6 which says:

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

Belief and faith in Jesus is the only way to Heaven and everlasting life. I know that is a restricting way of saying so but it is true because the Bible is Truth and none of it is false. The world and the one who is in this world tries and succeeds in deceiving people into thinking that they can get by without God and without Jesus. It is true you can live your life without Him in your life, but the rewards of giving your heart to Him allow you so much more!

So much more life and effectiveness in this world and a future in the next one! I would never trade or attempt to return to my life before Christ because my life has become so much more alive with Him. God created us to have a daily walk with Him and that is what was restored when Jesus took our sins and paid the debt for us on the cross. All that we have to do is accept that, believe it and determine to follow His example and His Word in our life on a daily basis. He will give you the ability and show you what you are to do with your new life.

We are not just pawns to Him we are disciples, teachers, prayer warriors, preachers, evangelists regardless of where we work or live. These are our vocations once we are saved to be His. We are new creations in Christ and as such we are to boldly go out and tell others of how we became the adopted children of God! We also have the responsibility to mature into our new life by reading His Word and prayerfully accepting the truth that comes from the Spirit while reading it.

The Spirit of Truth which came down on the day of Pentecost to the disciples is the one that Jesus promised to us. We receive it at our conversion and acceptance of Christ, although it may not look like a tongue of fire when it arrives. Our life is so much more and can be much more meaningful with a relationship with Christ than it ever can be without Him. He wants all to come to Him if we will only believe in Him and what He did for us.

 

Are you strong enough to be meek?


Everyone thinks that when Jesus was speaking of being meek, that He meant passive and weak. When Jesus sat down to teach and said: “ Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5; He did not mean that we are to be door-mats. That is not and never has been what He meant by that word.

Recently, I found out what the word “meek” actually means and it is like a broken horse, strength under submission to the master. That is exactly how we are supposed to be in our walk and our daily lives, submitting ourselves to Him daily and gaining strength from Him yet allowing that strength to be under His control not ours.

Allowing Jesus to have control of your life is not something which we are accustomed to doing. Our nature is to retain control of our own life and situations at all times if it is in our power to do so. Being willing to give up control of your life and allow Him to guide you daily is what being meek and surrendered to Him is all about. We have been given a gift of divine Grace from our Creator and all we have to do is decide to accept it or not. I know it doesn’t sound like a big decision, but the simplicity of it, in my opinion, is what makes it hard for us to accept completely.

In our everyday lives, the decisions that we make have an effect immediately for us and our family. There are also those who are watching us, usually unknown to us, who take notice of what we do and how we do it. These are the ones that we can cause to change their lives for good or ill by the seemingly little things that we do or say. That is a huge responsibility and most people don’t pay any attention to it or have no idea that their actions have any impact outside of their family or friends.

Your life and how you live it will have tremendous consequences in the lives of those around you. Consider the apostle, Peter. He was a married man with a family and a fisherman when Jesus called him to be His disciple. Peter was brash and bold but not meek, until the night that Jesus was arrested. After he denied that he knew Jesus three times, Peter realized what he had done and it broke him as a pottery vessel being hit with a hammer. He became a meek servant of the Son of God at that point and stayed that way until he was crucified.

Your life and the life that you give to the Lord is the most important decision that you will ever make. Think about it, pray about it and seek Him.

Pride, the ultimate sin


We today are facing a time in history that has more trouble than ever before. We seem to be at the very beginning of what most would call the Apocalypse. The church has not been raptured and yet there is so much evil in the world, until I’m not sure if we as a church can truly have much of an impact on the world. I know that God is in control and that he won’t allow Israel to be harmed as the Muslim nations intend to do.

In light of all the news reports from the Middle East and from around the world, the condition of our world is truly bleak. Partially due to the influence of Satan but also due to humanity’s pride. Pride can be good but it can get out of hand. I am proud of my son and for what he has accomplished in school so far, but if I were to take that pride to a selfish level it would cause much heartache.

Pride is the cause of many, many failed marriages, friendships, partnerships in life and business, and it has torn apart numerous churches and denominations. It is also the main reason for so much conflict in the world between countries, religions, and people. Unlike money, which the lust for can cause much heartache, pride is something which cannot be used or sold. It cannot be spent or bartered with, and yet it can and will cause much dissension between close friends, marriage partners, business partners, clergy and congregations if allowed to.

Pride is a sin which was cultivated and nurtured before the world began by Satan himself. It is his work and his most prized tool to use against humanity. The only way to uproot pride is to empty yourself into Jesus or rather allow Him to pour Himself into you. Get your “self” out-of-the-way because while you are in the way, Jesus cannot have you fully. Cultivate your knowledge in His Word, pray about what you have read and ask Jesus to come into your heart, because once you do that He will move pride out and move humility in.

When pride is out-of-the-way and you have given your life to Jesus, you can be so much more than “just a Christian“. You will be a servant of the Most High and a disciple of His as well and it will show in and through your life so that others will see Him through you. God loves you far more than you can possibly realize and He wants you to return His love as well in service and in your daily life.