Category: Salvation

What are you worried about?


In our world today there seems to be a LOT to be worried about. When you look around the world and on all of the media outlets…there seems to be more and more to be worried about. The news and every “pundit” that is on any channel seems to be pushing us to be constantly worried about something. My problem with the news today is that there are no actual news stories. We get a few seconds of what I call “blurbs” and then minutes worth of drug advertisements. We used to get real, actual news from the nightly news but now I don’t know if there is any news outlet that can be trusted and that is a true shame.

I am showing my age here but I remember Walter Cronkite and the news then. What we have now is a bunch of advertisements and some snippets of content and occasionally a heart-wrenching story at the very end. Sometimes the ending story is heart-warming too but why can’t there be more actual news today?

I know, this blog has always been about salvation through Jesus Christ, but I have to vent sometimes. Why is there no notice of anything that has been foretold in God’s Word? I know that most news programs don’t want to focus on anything that is religious especially if it involves Christianity or Judaism but God is pushing His agenda forward whether you are noticing it or not. Worry? Why? God is still in control of everything even if the world around us can’t see it.

Looking at the news and everything that is happening in the Middle East with spiritual eyes and with the Bible as a lens to see what is really happening…it is easy to see His hand moving the pieces. I pray that everyone who reads these posts will seek your salvation through Jesus Christ.

Pain and suffering


These two words are descriptions of the Christian life in some parts of the world today. Those of u.s blessed to live in America are experiencing some persecution but it is mild compared to those in Asia, Africa, China, and most nations whose state religion is Islam regardless of which “branch” it is.

It was the same with the early church during the first century only the persecution was much worse than it is today. Why am I bringing this up? Because, the time is coming, sooner than later, that the whole world will feel the wrath of God. Because of the anti-Christ and the influence that he will have on the world and because those in the world will be the ones who rejected God’s grace and the offer of salvation through belief in Jesus as their savior.

Jesus came here to bring the gift of salvation through believing in Him. Although many people in the world do not believe in Jesus or God for that matter, the Tribulation will be a very difficult time for everyone who is left behind after the church is taken from the Earth. Mainly because the Holy Spirit that has restrained the demonic activity on Earth for the past two thousand years will be gone. The devil and his cohorts will have free reign over the whole Earth and the people living here at that time.

Don’t wait, seek Jesus as your Savior today because there are no second chances after death. You have to make this decision in this life to have an eternity in Heaven with Him. If you don’t decide to give your heart to Jesus and ask for His forgiveness today, you may not get another chance. The pain and suffering of this life is nothing compared to an eternity separated from God in hell.

Stay in the freedom which Christ gave you


1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Galatians 5:1 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/gal.5.1.KJV

Affliction


 Lamentations 3:32–33:

Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men. (NIV)

I would like to welcome all of you to a world where all of us “little people” are trying to understand a Creator Who is infinite in His love and His grandeur. It is His world and you are His creation whether you choose to believe in Him for your salvation or not. The blessings that God gives to us every day in this life sometimes come with a problem or an affliction attached to them. But, God is allowing that because He wants to make you better than you were and to give you a witness to others so they will seek Him in their time of trouble.

 “God permits what he hates to accomplish what he loves.” — Joni

Life brings many opportunities for us in the church or for those outside the church. Sometimes those opportunities are good and some are not good at all, at least from our point of view. As Christians, we should try to look at the bigger picture that God sees but for our finite minds, it is hard to do that in every situation. In the past year, many millions of people have lost loved ones to this health crisis regardless of the name given to the disease or which variant it may be that is causing it.

My point is that God knows exactly where each of us is in our lives and what His purpose for us is as well. Some of us will be teachers, some of us will be caregivers and some of us will be friends to those in need of one. Jesus told His disciples that this time would come and that many people would fall away from their faith. Many are doing that because they are blaming God for this “pandemic” and while God did allow this to happen, I don’t believe that He created it. He is allowing it to happen so that people will turn to Him during this crisis. Some will turn to Him for comfort and I hope for their salvation too. 

What is my point in this post? It is that God is in control regardless of how you perceive Him from your perspective. If you think of Him as a tyrant that is trying to force you to believe in Jesus then you’ve got Him all wrong. God loves you and He is using this time in history to bring as many people to salvation as possible but salvation and love cannot be forced on anyone. God will use the death of a loved one to bring about His purposes. We can’t understand that in our finite minds but God can see how one person’s death in a family will affect the entire family and the community around them. It may not happen overnight but God’s purpose and His will for everyone in that community will be realized.

God gives joy to those who have lost loved ones because of the faith of the person who died. They may be gone from this life and we won’t see them again until we are in the next life but we will have an eternity to enjoy them and all of the good things that God has prepared for us as His adopted children through Jesus Christ.

He sustains us!


35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. John 6:35 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/jhn.6.35.KJV

Amen

The Lord is your fortress


1 Except the LORD build the house, They labour in vain that build it: Except the LORD keep the city, The watchman waketh but in vain. Psalm 127:1 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.127.1.KJV

Amen

Dead men walking…


I know that there are many people who like to watch “zombie” shows and movies. Why? Because it’s entertainment I suppose. The thing is…if you haven’t given your heart to Jesus and repented of your “normal” sinful life then you are walking around dead in your sins. We are dead toward God when we are still sinners and have not accepted Jesus as our Savior. So in reality we are dead men and women walking until the Holy Spirit revives our heart and brings us into a new Life in Christ!

You won’t accept Jesus as your Savior if the Holy Spirit doesn’t convict you of your NEED for salvation. We will continue to live as dead men without the conviction to make us see exactly what we are and Who we need in our hearts! Jesus loves you so much that He died on that cross two thousand years ago to pay the penalty for your sins. He didn’t have any sin of His own but He died for the whole world even though He knew that many of them would never accept His offer of Life through the grace of God because it is a gift from God to each of us. We cannot earn it nor can we pay for any part of our salvation. He paid it all!

Your soul is worth the life of the Son of God. Even if there had only been one person, such as the thief on the cross, that Jesus could die for and provide salvation for through His shed blood and resurrection, He would’ve done it anyway. That kind of love is hard for us to understand or comprehend. Our Creator loves each of you with that deep abiding love. I can’t explain it to you, I can’t even describe that love because as far as we are concerned that kind of love is impossible for us to know in our mortal life. The only time that we will know it and feel it truly is when we fall to our knees in front of the One Who died for us. Even then I don’t think we will understand it. It will be so overwhelming in its capacity that even in our glorified bodies we won’t be able to stand in the truth of it.

I pray that everyone who reads this blog might seek out God to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Don’t put it off because we are not guaranteed to even wake up in the morning.

Hope…


Jesus is the Hope of the world, at least for those of us who believe in Him. Belief in Him and depending on Him as your Savior is your salvation. Jesus is our Hope and our Salvation for eternity.

John 3:16-17: 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 

Truthfully, there is no greater sermon for salvation than the Hope that we have in Jesus and in what He did for all of us. God knew that we needed His Son to pay that price and He sent Him to do so in order for humanity and our Creator to regain the relationship that was there in the Garden…for eternity.

Make sure that you don’t refuse His call on your heart to give your life as a living sacrifice to Him and to be the person that He knows you are.

Seek God in all things


13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. James 5:13 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/jas.5.13.KJV

Amen

Early in the morning…


During Jesus’ ministry, He almost always got up before anyone else and went out to pray and seek His Father’s guidance for the day to come. Sometimes when I am facing a decision or a problem, I will wake up early and seek God’s wisdom too. Sometimes, He wakes me up to write here or to study a certain book or passage. Not necessarily because I’m a pastor because that ended a few months ago. I think it is because I have a ministry here and He wants to keep me grounded and abiding in His wisdom so I can do the best that I can while there is still time to do so.

It is our responsibility as Christians to tell others of the gospel of Jesus and how He has worked in our lives since we came to know Him. Because, once you become a child of God, adopted into His family, you represent Him in every area of your life. Not just on Sunday or whichever day you go to church or synagogue but you should be in a worshipful attitude every day. Thanking Him for waking you up to live another day for Him because after you become a Christian…you are living your life in Christ and He is supposed to be showing up in your life and actions on a daily basis.

Seek Him while there is still time because one day a trumpet blast will go out over all of the Earth and the church and all who belong to Jesus will be caught up to meet Him in the sky. At this point and on that day, there will be many people who thought they were going with Him but didn’t and even if they decide to give their heart to Him then, they will have to live through the Tribulation if they can. I ask you to make your eternal home a priority while you can. Seek Him out today in the Bible or at a Bible teaching church or ask a friend who is a Christian to tell you how you can come to know Him.