Category: Religion

And now, the news….


Today, most people don’t care what you or I think about anything. But, it seems that they are most interested in things which don’t matter at all in the great scheme of things. You can tweet or post about almost anything from what you are wearing today to something that you heard on the news or even something at home or school. Sometimes, you might even get enough people’s attention to make that tweet go viral! What is going on?

Mostly, I think it is too much information. We are bombarded with so much from our radios, our phones, our tablets and our computers. Then, when you get home you have to deal with all of the news and sports and commercials on the TV. Don’t you wish that we could just turn it all off for a few days or weeks? I sure do! Many people today would be totally lost if their electronics suddenly shut down or lost their connections. No more information, no cell-phone calls, no tweets, no posts on Facebook or videos on Youtube….what are we going to do?

We have lost our ability to get by without information constantly available. Just twenty-five years ago there were no real cell phones and the Internet was just for bulletin boards and email, not the huge amounts of data that is on it now. Going way back to the seventies when I was in school and you had the newspaper, dial phones which were land-lines and the news on the TV, that’s it. Other than listening to the radio or reading books or magazines there wasn’t much for entertainment unless you could get outside and ride your bike with your friends. That’s right, there also were no video games!

To many of the new generation, that particular time in history would be classified as the stone age. But, we survived and made it through high school too even without common core, thankfully!

Oh, yeah, the reason for all of this history lesson in how people are overloaded with information today…we are coming to the end of the church age folks! News flash! This has been in the Bible for many years. “But you, Daniel, keep this prophecy a secret; seal up the book until the time of the end, when many will rush here and there, and knowledge will increase.” Daniel 12:4 Why do I refer to a prophecy from over 2500 years ago? Because that is exactly what is happening today. Also, the book of Revelation explains the age that we are in as coming to an end and when knowledge increasing.
So, what does it mean by “the end of the age”? We are on the edge of time, the time when prophecy is coming to fruition and we should be watching for its Author coming in the clouds. The world is changing so rapidly until we are covered with information constantly, but the problem today is that most of the information is irrelevant to history or prophecy. It is causing people to pay attention to things that are not important and they won’t see what really is important. Like giving your life and your heart to Jesus and searching or seeking to know Him even better than you ever have before.

Why would you do that? Well, He died for your sins so that you wouldn’t have to pay the penalty for them. Is that really important? If you don’t want to go to Heave, maybe not. But, if you would like to enjoy eternity and live in it forever in a home that was built by God, then it is the most important decision you may ever make. Seek Him out in the Bible. Read it, study it and pray about it. You might just meet your Savior and His Father and get to know them better. If you do, you will be on your way to eternity and it will be one that you will never be bored in ever again.

The power of Love


This word has been used so much since the sixties until it seems that few people know or even care what it really is.

Love is a powerful word, one which can begin a relationship which will last a lifetime. It is also one that is used so flippantly today that much of its meaning has been lost. There are many kinds of love. One is meant for friendship, one is meant for erotic love, one is a type that has no boundaries at all and that is agape love. It is the kind that exists between parents and children who are loved by them. It is also the kind of love that is between God and all of mankind. There are no limits to it and nothing can stop it. Time nor space has no meaning to this kind of love and it is referenced in 1 Corinthians 13 as the highest form of the gifts which we are given by God Himself!

Today, love seems to be missing from our lives in its truest form. Many people really seem to mean that they “like” something or someone, but they use the word love. Its power is from God and yet we misuse it just as we misuse His name. Love puts up with many things and helps us through some of the toughest times in our lives. When you really love someone you want the best for them, sometimes to the detriment of your finances but that is how you feel and how you would like to treat them! It takes time and maturity in your love to know how much and what to do for those that you feel so deeply about.

Love that has grown deeper with time doesn’t fade and it doesn’t go away, ever. It is a smouldering emotion that is always there, but it never fizzles out or dies. True and genuine love cannot be expressed by someone who you just met a few weeks ago. Erotic love burns HOT like a flame which has gas thrown on it, but unless the lust can keep it hot over a period of time it will flame out and grow cold and heartless. This is the kind of love which will make you hate someone and divorce them or worse.

Seek out the Source of Love in God’s Word and you will know the Power of Love and if you really want to feel His Love, ask Him to reveal it to you and you can truly know of His Love forever!

Amen!


smiling-foxThank you Lord for another day to serve you!

Acceptance or Rejection


Which would you choose? In life, we would rather be accepted as friends or classmates. Rejection is something that most of us try really hard to avoid if possible. So, how do you feel about an offer of eternal life? We all get this one you know, it just depends on your acceptance or rejection criteria regarding where you spend eternity!

Humanity was created with an eternal soul, so it doesn’t matter how good or bad or indifferent you may be, we all have eternity stretching out in front of us. We don’t go into an abyss and we don’t just go “poof” after death, like a bowl of bad chili.

Yes, there is a heaven and a hell and whether you believe in one or the other doesn’t matter, they are both real. God doesn’t send you to one destination or the other based upon His whims either. It is your decisions in this life which determine your destination in the next one. Actually, it is just one decision in this life and that is whether you will accept Jesus as your Savior and live your life following Him or if you will reject Him.

That’s it!

Your eternal life and the destination in which you live it, depends upon that ONE decision, before you die. After you are dead, you can’t change your mind. Eternity starts when you breathe your last breath in this life. So, the question is when are you going to die? You don’t know for sure do you?

That is so true. None of us knows our expiration date, if you wish to call it that, so you are gambling with a future that you really can’t pin down with any certainty aren’t you? This is your decision and yours alone, no one can make it for you. My messages are just here for information, whether you follow any of these suggestions about salvation or not is your decision, nobody can make it for you.

Acceptance of the gift of salvation is an individual decision, just as taking any gift is…it is up to you. The value of your salvation is far beyond any amount of money on Earth, though you can’t spend it here. Which is one of the drawbacks of many people looking at its value today or even if it has any value for them at all.

Truly, God loves each one of us. Whether you believe in Him or not, He knows and cares for you. The truth of Scripture cannot be known or understood by reason or science, only by faith. If you don’t or won’t seek Him out by faith, then your eternity will be decided whenever He calls you into it. Rejection of God’s gift is a choice, just not a very good one.

Where does your strength come from?


To many people in this world today their strength comes from themselves and their own actions. It comes from their ability and their job or from their family and the strength that they gain from them. But, what happens when one of those is not able to strengthen you or keep you going? What do you turn to then?

Where do you look for strength and compassion when just one of those pillars cracks, when something goes wrong in your life? The people that we depend upon and the strength that we depend upon in life usually are just as weak as you are, spiritually and physically! We are weak, some of us are physically strong but without spiritual strength and our dependence upon Jesus for our strength in Him you will not be able to stand.

Not only to be able to stand up in the morning, which is not the strength that I am referring to, but the spiritual strength to stand against the sins which can drag us down. Standing against Satan and his demons and the temptations which are placed in our way every day, that is what spiritual strength is for! You can’t get it from a job, your family, your bank account, your friends, none of these worldly things can provide for you spiritually!

Yes, they can give you advice, but is it Biblical advice? Did they get it from God or their own mind or their own experience? What good will that do you? Your own advice and experience has not really helped, so why would you listen to them? God knows you and He knows what today had in it and what tomorrow has coming. He will be with you through all of these problems and pain and He will give you the strength to get through today and tomorrow and the next day.

Life is always one day at a time, one minute or hour at a time. Days don’t go by any faster for you than they do for me. The problems that we see each day, the pain that we feel each day are ours, but we don’t have to handle it alone because God is always available and He is with us no matter what or where we may be.

Seek God through His Scriptures, especially in the Psalms, Ecclesiastes and Proverbs. These three books have more wisdom in them than all of the “self-help” books combined. Learn of God’s ways, not just the way that He guided the Israelites but also the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels. He loves us, all of us, so much that He sent His Only Son to die on a Roman cross for the atonement of ALL of humanity’s sins, not just a few but all of them.

He will strengthen you in all of your problems and give you the wisdom to get through them. He will do this, not because He has to but because He wants to help you with your life. The lost keys, the misplaced bills, the bad grades or the forgotten birthday. He will get you through them all and give you wisdom in all that you do, IF you will trust in Him and follow His teachings for your life every day.

6 Things Christians Should Stop Saying


A very useful and TRUE post. I know that you will enjoy it.

David Qaoud's avatarGospel Relevance

We all have that one friend that consistently says cheesy Christians clichés. I think most of us would agree that this is typically, well, very annoying. This is intensified when the sayings aren’t biblical. The motive behind saying them are usually noble, but they often simply aren’t true or helpful.

So, what are some of them?

Below are six things that Christians should stop saying:

1) Let Go and let God.  This phrase is typically used when in a trial. In a sense, I adore the “letting go” part if that means resting in God’s sovereignty, but when facing trials and tribulations, there are simply a lot of things that we can actually do. We can pray, study Scripture, confess sin, repent of sin, seek help from wise counsel, weep, mediate on Scripture, serve others, etc. “Letting go” has too much of a passive feel to it; it denotes that we…

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Drama and life


It seems that today with the Internet and all of the social media outlets that we have, there is more drama than ever about things which are happening all of the time. I know, years ago this was all gossip on the phones. The problem with today’s version is that this stuff never really goes away! Births and deaths, accidents and graduations, heart attacks and strokes, family reunions and funerals, they will ALL be there until the Internet and Facebook are gone! Even then, some trace of this will be available to future generations to read and wonder about.

Dramatic situations and life seem to go hand in hand today, but they really shouldn’t. Yes, life goes on no matter what is happening around us and we can make it dramatic or dramatizing if we want it that way. But…why? I know that tragedy strikes and yes, that can be dramatic and traumatic at the same time but God will see you through it! If you haven’t given your life to Him, then you really should. If you need to know why you should do so, then you haven’t gotten there yet.

God doesn’t want us to go through life alone without Him, yet we merrily do so thinking that we can do it all on our own with no help at all. Many times, we are right…as long as everything is going smoothly. Get one of those phone calls from the doctor or a pink slip from your job, and things could change in a hurry! If you have a teen in the house and you get a call from the hospital or the police or sheriff and your life may change forever.

God is there with you through these times, and all that you need to do is call on Him. His Strength is available to you through the Holy Spirit and His Grace is always available, just ask Him for it! There is no shame or disgrace in admitting that you need Him because we all do!

Granted, He doesn’t shower us with gold or silver when we ask for it but that is because He knows what is best for us at any given time. His Grace and mercy and His Peace is always available through His Word, the Bible. We don’t have to pay much for it, we don’t need psychologists or self-help books to find the wisdom for life’s problems because it is all found within the pages of the Bible.

Seek Him first for your needs, your peace, your health, your life and He will provide all of those and more because He loves you! Any who have lost children or spouses to an illness or death, seek Him out and pray for His peace and comfort and He will gladly provide it. Though it won’t rid you of your grief and the pain that you feel, it will make it more bearable because He loves you!

Think about it.

Family life, is it?


I don’t know how to be a good father.

Is there a way?

Have you wondered about this too?

What, really, should we do?

Can it be done, today!

I feel inadequate to the task,

I don’t know what to do.

I watch my child sleep,

See the rise and fall of his chest, and

Yet I don’t yet have a clue.

I love my child because

God gave him to me.

A gift, a person to show the way

but how can I when I don’t know it?

The only thing that I know

for sure is that Jesus is the way.

I follow Him and I’ve shown my child

The One Who can affect His life the most.

It is the only real knowledge that I can give

that matters. The knowledge from his studies

won’t matter, the games which he plays

won’t matter, his friends won’t matter.

My life doesn’t matter unless

I can make sure that at least he

knows the Truth and has given his

heart to Jesus.

I pray that He lives in

my son’s heart. I can’t discern

his heart, but God can.

God knows whether my child belongs

to Him. I pray that I have done

at least enough to see that

him grow into Life

eternal.

The message of Jesus


Have you ever HEARD the message of Jesus?

Jesus said for us to believe in Him (and the atonement provided by His death and resurrection), and we will have eternal life. Repent of your former sinful life and allow the Holy Spirit to transform you into a likeness of Him. Are these things possible? Yes, if you have faith like a little child. One who trusts their father completely and without reservation. That is the kind of faith that it takes to live or rather to begin to live this life in Jesus Christ.

Are all Christians like this and do they have this kind of faith? The real and truthful answer is “NO”. All Christians or at least those who claim to be Christians, don’t have faith which would measure up to this standard. Many of them believe that they do and that they are true Christians, but when persecutions come or real trouble comes into their lives, the true person will show through. Hardship, pain, disease, financial loss, or loss of a family member will bring the real person out so that all will see. Sometimes, that is why we are allowed to go through trouble and trials.

In order to bring out the beautiful person that God knows is in there and the one that He needs for you to be for the duration of your life, sometimes He allows those trials. They can come in the form of a disease or the loss of a loved one. Sometimes the trial comes through the loss of a job or something which disables you. However it comes, treat it as Paul did and “count it all joy”. Look at the trial as a test in and of your faith then seek out God and His Wisdom through His Word. Pray deeply and fervently every day if need be so that you can get through this time. He will give you the strength and the wisdom to do so, and He will provide the comfort during your suffering too.

There are many people today, young people, who are turning away from God and religion which is their choice. It is the wrong choice but it is the one that God allows us to make. If He has something for you to do, then He will bring you back eventually if you will listen to His voice in your life. Our God, the One Who created everything and did all of the miracles in the Old Testament and the New, is an AWESOME God! Don’t turn away from Him, if you have given your life and your heart to Him then seek Him out in His Word!

God loves each of us and wants the best for us. Many cannot see this right now, because God doesn’t reward us the way the world wants to see rewards. Everyone sees reward as money, fame, a house, fancy cars, etc. but God doesn’t always reward us this way. Our reward, in many ways, waits for us in Heaven not here on Earth so we can’t use it or touch it until we die in this life and are born into eternity. Many people don’t look at this as a reward so much as a “bait and switch” game. Satan will do that, but God doesn’t.

“Seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all of these things will be added (given) unto you.” Matthew 6:33

Today is the day!


It seems that most everyone treats tomorrow or even next year as if we are guaranteed to get there…well sorry to burst your bubble but we’re not! Your life and mine can be much more than it is, but we truly have to live life in God’s hands, every day. Your strength can’t get you through all of the troubles of this life, but God can take you through it all and then some! I am not speaking about using God as a crutch or even suggesting that Christians are weak because we are not. The martyrs of hundreds of years ago could not and should not be considered weak because they endured torture and mutilation for their faith in Christ and would not give up that faith even in the face of death!

Why did they do this? Not because of some fantasy reward for their death, but because He died for them and they had placed their faith in Him! A legion of Roman soldiers froze to death, naked on a lake because they would not recant their faith in Him. John’s disciple, Polycarp, was burned at the stake because he would not burn incense to the Roman emperor. I pray that we will be faithful enough to follow these saints if that time should come.

I believe that we should give our lives to Jesus and seek Him and His strength to carry us through the trials that we have in this life. Why do I believe in Him? Because the Bible is true, every word of it! He came to give us life, not just life here but life in eternity! He loves us enough to give us the grace through Jesus to have eternal life, if we will believe in Him and trust Him. This is not some fantasy nor is it a fairy tale. The prophecies which God spoke about through His prophets have all come true except for the ones in the book of Revelation. Those are reserved for the world to see during the time of tribulation and testing.

When that day comes, and it will come, many will wonder why they didn’t believe in Jesus or God while they could. Many will want to begin to believe in Him at that point. It won’t be too late, but it will take a lot of faith and determination to do it with the persecution that comes on the world during that time. Our lives and the purpose that we have in this life are determined by God for us. We just need to seek Him out to find that true purpose. Please don’t put this off! God loves each of us and will answer your prayer of repentance and come into your life, if you will only ask Him.