Category: Salvation

Taste and see that the Lord is good!


Psalm 34 a, b

1I will extol the Lord at all times;

his praise will always be on my lips.

2I will glory in the Lord;

let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

3Glorify the Lord with me;

let us exalt his name together.

4I sought the Lord, and he answered me;

he delivered me from all my fears.

5Those who look to him are radiant;

their faces are never covered with shame.

6This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;

he saved him out of all his troubles.

7The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,

and he delivers them.

8Taste and see that the Lord is good;

blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

9Fear the Lord, you his holy people,

for those who fear him lack nothing.

10The lions may grow weak and hungry,

but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

11Come, my children, listen to me;

I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

12Whoever of you loves life

and desires to see many good days,

13keep your tongue from evil

and your lips from telling lies.

14Turn from evil and do good;

seek peace and pursue it.

15The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

and his ears are attentive to their cry;

16but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,

to blot out their name from the earth.

17The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;

he delivers them from all their troubles.

18The Lord is close to the brokenhearted

and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

19The righteous person may have many troubles,

but the Lord delivers him from them all;

20he protects all his bones,

not one of them will be broken.

21Evil will slay the wicked;

the foes of the righteous will be condemned.

22The Lord will rescue his servants;

no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

The Bread of Life


God sustained His people in the wilderness with manna that was the bread of life for them. The Bread of Life for us today is Jesus Christ! Do you know Him? The Savior and Redeemer of the world and yet Christianity is one of the most hated religions of the world. The fact is that our “religion” isn’t a religion at all. Christianity is a relationship!

This is what God created humanity for! He wanted a relationship with us from the very beginning yet many people still don’t know Him. Why? Because of the “rules”? The New Testament church is bound by His blood and our belief in Him for our salvation, we obey His “rules” because of what He did for us not because of requirements or “rules”.

Jesus gave His life for us and He paid the debt for our sins and not just for the Christian church but for the whole world if they will accept Him as their Savior. We are called to be the light for the world to see. The Light of Jesus should shine forth from the church and draw those who are searching for His Truth to Him. If we aren’t being that Light then how will those who are searching know where to go or Who to seek out for their salvation?

The early church was a community of believers and we should be the same. I see a very different church today. One where couples and families come together as a church during worship services then they separate until the next time. This is fine…up to a point, but we should check on each other between church meetings. There are times when little problems come up for each of us that can grow into bigger problems before we can discuss them with our church family. Sometimes we feel so isolated from our church family until we will push “our problem” into a corner of our mind and suffer with it until it gets so cumbersome that we have to seek out our friends to help us handle it.

It is this community of believers that has come apart in the last fifty or so years and it is something that our church, every church, needs to get back to. Not exactly in a commune way but close enough to each other that we can be there for each other no matter what the need is, big or small or in between. This is the relationship that we should have in the Body of Christ and with Him too. If we aren’t doing this and haven’t been doing this then we need to start…NOW! I’m praying that the church will realize this and seek Him and His influence in this before the possibility of a revival is lost.

Show Christ’s love…


35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Luke 6:35 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/luk.6.35.KJV

Have faith…


6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:6 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/heb.11.6.KJV

Amen

Place your hope in God!


13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. Romans 15:13 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/rom.15.13.KJV

Amen

One day…


God brings us to each day with a fresh outlook so we can enjoy it by following Him. Some of us do and some don’t, but we muddle through our day making mistakes and asking Him to give us the wisdom to get through another day. As the song says, “one day at a time, sweet Jesus” and that is what we should be thankful for.

Each day that we have is a day to be His disciple and maybe someone will see or hear something from us that may point them toward a relationship with Him. We may never find out about it until one day in heaven, but I suppose we could find out while we are here too. It just depends on how Jesus wants it to work out. Today could be your “one day” to tell someone about your Savior and what He has done for you. Tomorrow may be the day or it could happen next week.

What’s the point of this?

The point is that you never know when your opportunity will come so you need to be ready. It could happen tonight or tomorrow or next week or some day during next month. Each of us has a day to enjoy life then if God wants us to have another day we will. If you have given your life and your heart to Jesus then you are His disciple and you are supposed to be telling other people about Him. After all, He gave His life to pay for your sins and mine, so telling others about Him and His love for them is the least we can do.

Walk with the wise…


20 He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. Proverbs 13:20 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/pro.13.20.KJV

Be still…


In our busy world today it seems almost like a joke when someone asks or tells you to “Be still!”. We want to say, “I don’t have time to be still, I have too much to do!”. Many of us think it, some of us may blurt it out but this is very true today. Our world, whether it is in a developed country or a third-world country or a war-torn country, is very busy, constantly moving in some direction regardless of whether it is the right one or not. When God says, “Be still and know that I AM God“, He is speaking of being still in your Spirit. Sometimes it does involve being still physically because many of us can’t focus on Him if we aren’t being still.

Can you be still? Many people are so busy running here and there trying to get things done yet most aren’t successful at getting the most important things accomplished. We do many little things during our day but many times we don’t get around to the really important decisions. “What is a really important decision?”; how about the decision to make Jesus your Savior so that your eternity is sealed with Him?

We live our lives and our careers so focused on “getting ahead” and “making sure our retirement is comfortable” but many people don’t consider their eternity. We live seventy or eighty years and spend maybe fifteen or so “enjoying” our retirement years by going to doctor after doctor. It doesn’t sound very enjoyable to me. Some do go on vacations and trips, then spend a month or more recovering from them. Consider eternity for a moment though. Even a life that lasts for a century is but a puff of smoke in comparison to ten thousand years and ten thousand years is only one tick toward one million years. Eternity is beyond our comprehension, so why not get prepared for spending it with the One Who loves you the most in all of the universe?

God sent Jesus to pay our penalty for every sin for every person from the beginning of Creation to the end. All that we need to do is believe it, repent of those sins and accept Jesus as our Savior and our eternity will be sealed with Him. Don’t believe the lie that you have plenty of time to make that decision because not one of us is guaranteed tomorrow. Just as the rich fool who built more barns to enjoy his wealth but God said “your soul is required of you tonight“, you or I don’t know when our time will be up! So, prepare for your eternity and make the decision to follow Jesus because not making that decision will send you to a place where you will regret your lack of decision for eternity.

Give thanks to the Lord!


1 O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. Psalm 105:1 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.105.1.KJV

When you are hurting, thank the Lord for His mercy and grace even when you don’t feel thankful. God loves each of us and we need to tell Him “Thank You!” for all that He does. Some people may ask, “What does God do for me?”; if you can get up and walk, He has blessed you with that ability. Everything that we can do each day is a gift from God. Whether it is getting up for a cup of coffee or getting up to go to work…or just being able to get up!

God created us to be His companion and He has given each of us a purpose in life which is to go out and tell others about Him. Some will believe and some won’t but God is still in control of it all. Take comfort in that.

Why is there persecution?


There are many reasons for Christians to be persecuted at this time. One is because it was foretold by our Lord Jesus Christ. Another reason is because our belief in Jesus and the Truth of the Gospel and God’s Word is offensive to many religions because of our claim that it is the only Truth. One other reason is because there are many people who don’t want to believe in Jesus and they fervently believe that their religion is the “right” belief to have in order to enter into eternity. The problem that is present in our world today is that God designed us with an eternal soul regardless of our belief in Jesus or not we will have an eternity ahead of us after death. Our eternal problem is our destination after death, will it be in Heaven or will it be in the lake of fire, not for any sin that we’ve done in this life but for rejecting the Savior that God sent into the world to save us!

Whether you believe in Jesus for your salvation or not doesn’t change the fact that eternity is still out there ahead of you. Oh, some people may tell you that there is nothing after death. You’re just dead!

That isn’t what is taught and shown in God’s Word. Jesus spoke many times about Paradise or Abraham’s bosom and hell, so if the Son of God speaks about a life after this one then the end of this life isn’t the end at all. But there are many religions and beliefs that don’t teach about an eternity beyond this life, let alone that you will experience it as a living soul! The soul that comes from God Himself, the breath of Life that was breathed into Adam, is eternal. When this body, this “temple of the Holy Spirit” is dead, your soul goes back to its Maker. If you have given your life to Jesus and followed Him, even if it was only for a few days or weeks, your soul will be in His Presence from the moment of your death into eternity. If you did not give your heart to Jesus and you lived like the end was going to be the end…period, then your soul will go into eternity to be judged by God without the blood of Jesus covering your sinful life.

Which one of those situations would you rather be in? The one where your soul is welcomed into eternity or the one where you are facing the Judge of all, God Himself?

It is an easy choice to make while you are alive here but it has to be made before you draw your last breath. This life is a “proving ground” in a way because God proves each of us while we live. Whether we will obey Him and follow Jesus and repent of our sinful lives or not. Those are the only choices in this life that have real eternal consequences. When you feel convicted of your sins, whether you are in church or in your car or at work, begin to pray right then and ask Jesus to forgive you and come into your heart and change you so that you can be useful to Him for the rest of your life regardless of how long that may be.

You and I are not guaranteed tomorrow, so when that conviction does come on your heart please don’t ignore it. Immediately begin praying for Him to come in and save you from your sinful life and it’s consequences. Don’t wait until Sunday because you may not make it to Sunday!