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
Category: Salvation
Affliction
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
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
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
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.
Problems? We all have ’em
Life is full of problems from the time you know what they are but can we do anything about them? Some of them we can but most of the real problems that we encounter in life need to be handled by God. Even Jesus told His disciples that some of the miracles that they tried to do needed fasting and prayer before the miracle could be accomplished. Some days we wake up with our problems and some nights we go to bed with them but the best that we can do is often not enough. That’s when we should seek out God and His wisdom because He is bigger than any problem or disease that comes along.
God is on your side regardless of the circumstances facing you. Whatever they might be He knows and He listens to your prayers. He may not answer them in the way that you want or as quickly but He will answer them. If you don’t know God or Jesus as your Savior then you need to pray even more earnestly for that to happen soon. The “church age” or the age of Grace is coming to an end and it will likely be in our lifetime. Make sure that you get to know Him and that He knows you too before this life is over because we are not guaranteed tomorrow.
It’s never too late…
12 Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: Joel 2:12 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/jol.2.12.KJV
The Living Message of Christ 