Category: Seek Jesus while you can

God is always on time!


We are living in and through the days leading up to the return of Jesus. That is why so much is happening on the news and all over the Earth. The prophetic books of the Bible foretold of this time over 2500 years ago and the book of Revelation was written during the first century 2000 years ago. Nearly every prophecy has come true except for the “taking up” of the church and its believers. Why do I say it that way? Because not everyone in the church truly belongs to Christ.

Some people in the church are just on the membership roll, they haven’t given their hearts and their lives to Jesus because they’ve been in church all of their lives and they believe that is all that is needed. Church membership doesn’t get you or me into heaven. Belief in Jesus as my Savior and your Savior gets you into heaven. God knows who will accept His Son as their Savior and He knows when that will happen. Some people may accept Him the first time the Holy Spirit touches their hearts. Some people want to wait a while but God knows when they will give their hearts to Jesus.

He also knows who will not accept this challenge. What challenge? Living as a Christian is not easy because Satan begins working on your life and your attitude trying to ruin your witness that others may see. He might’ve helped you get whatever you wanted before you give your heart to Jesus but when you become a Christian, Satan will attempt to take everything that you have from you. I don’t mean that he will afflict you as he did with Job in the Old Testament but he will try to take you back to your old way of life.

God’s timing is true and always on time and the end will come. The time of the Tribulation is coming soon and the “taking up of the church” will happen before that. Life is changing, our time on Earth is short and I pray that you will seek Jesus as your Savior today. Because our time is short.

A new way of seeing Him


Why do people reject new ways of looking at or learning about the gospel? Our lives are so built around traditions that we have grown up around, especially in our religious practices. Even our ideas of how Jesus lived and acted are bound up in our ideas of what He would or wouldn’t do. How could we know? The writers of the gospels didn’t talk about Him laughing or having fun. The only verse that says anything about His emotion is the shortest in the Bible, “Jesus wept”.

God doesn’t have to conform to our ideas of what He would or would not do, especially in the Person of Jesus. Yes, He cried when He came to the tomb where His friend was laid to rest but He knew that he would live again. Can we learn and understand the gospels in a new way? Only if we are willing to. God has been using the series, The Chosen, as a way to reach so many people with the gospel over the past few years. Whether there will be time to finish the series or not is up to Him but if that happens many people will be brought into God’s Kingdom because of it.

God loves His creation, especially mankind, but He has never been too fond of the way we live and act toward each other or the world around us. We idolize so many things and people and most don’t even realize they are doing it. I pray that anyone who reads this small post will seek Him out to become their Savior. He is coming back for His church soon. I pray that you will be part of it.

Don’t be angry…


Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools. Ecclesiastes 7:9 KJV https://bible.com/verse-of-the-day/ecc.7.9/288

Amen

Anger can cause many problems in your life. Allowing it to become more than an annoyance could have drastic and even tragic consequences. Ask God to help you with this problem because many people have the problem of uncontrolled anger, I did. Thankfully, it didn’t get too out of control but it could, so beware of it. Seek God’s help with it and you will be successful in turning your burner down in a manner of speaking.

God is True…


3 For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? 4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged. Romans 3:3‭-‬4 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/rom.3.3-4.KJV

Give of yourself


Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. Luke 6:38 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/luke 6.38.KJV

Many people interpret this verse as meaning we should give more to the church as a tithe and we will be rewarded with more money. That is not its true meaning. We are to give of ourselves. Our life, our time and our abilities and obedience to Jesus and His call on our life because of the atonement and the grace that we have been given. After you have given your heart to Him and have become a disciple following Him and His example daily, your life will be enriched with joy because of the awesome and wonderful gifts you have been given! Your sins have been forgiven and you will live in eternity with Jesus!

You will be walking with Him in eternity but what about now? That is what “take up your cross and follow Me” is referring to. Put your old life on the cross, whatever it may have been. An addiction or any other thing that you were holding onto before you came to know Him.

Enoch walked with God and he was taken up to Heaven one day. Elijah was also taken up to Heaven without seeing death. Jesus also said to “take up your cross and follow Me” meaning walk with Me daily. Many people are confused about the “take up your cross” part of that command because there is no real definition about what our cross is. It could be your addiction or a painful relationship that you need to either work on fixing or get help with overcoming the pain it caused. But there was another phrase that Jesus placed in front of taking up your cross and that was to “deny yourself”.

Both of them together could be interpreted to mean something that is getting in the way of your ability to follow Jesus that you need to put away or lay down. Again it could be an addiction or some other “thing” that is getting in your way, something that you haven’t let go of even after giving your heart to Jesus. Sometimes we keep parts of our “old” life in a virtual closet and we go back to it on occasion because we just can’t let it go, but in order to be fully committed to Jesus and following Him we have to.

It is at this time that we have to seek the help of the Holy Spirit because we haven’t let go of whatever it was on our own and it is likely that we can’t let it go in our own strength. We need to ask Him to give us the strength to let go of our old way of living and help us to learn how to follow Him. The Christian life was never promised to us as an easy road to walk on. We are tempted and tried almost every hour of every day. Especially if we are actively trying to follow closely our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As long as we are going back to our “old life” we aren’t a threat to Satan but when we are truly trying to live as a Christian and take His message with us everywhere then we become a threat.

The longer and more active your life in Christ is, then the “ruler of this world” sees you as a threat to his plans. So don’t think that life will be easier when you give your heart to Jesus and begin to learn more about Him from your Bible study. The demons and powers that Satan controls will be watching you even closer because of your faith in Jesus. You can hinder their work through prayer and telling others about Jesus and what He has done for you and that makes the words that you say to others very powerful.

Don’t let go of your faith even when bad things happen because they will happen. The devil loves to trip Christians up with temptations that are specific to each of us and he’s had many thousands of years of practice. He caused Adam and Eve to disobey God’s command in the Garden and he was doing it with the angels that he convinced to follow him in his rebellion against God. He isn’t some little demon with a pitchfork and a pointed tail dancing around for fun. Satan was an archangel before God kicked him out of heaven with those who followed him but God is the Creator. As long as you have Jesus in your heart and you are following His example every day you will be fine. Make sure of your salvation soon because we are not guaranteed tomorrow morning.

Old Testament 4, Lesson 5: Elijah Is Taken to Heaven - Seeds of Faith Podcast
Elijah being taken to Heaven.

God’s Character


Psalm 103 is a good example of David’s poetry which states that God’s character is always good. In the very first line he writes, “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name”. David is not saying that he was going to bless the Lord. What he wrote and said was that he would bless the Lord with all of himself! Physically, spiritually and emotionally he would praise and worship the Lord with every fiber of his being.

God desires the praise and worship of His children but not because He can’t be satisfied with us because we are His children. He desires our praise and worship because of His mercy that He extends to each of us every day. If God did not bless us with our breath and our life each day then we would either be with Him or in hell, depending upon our belief in Jesus for our salvation. God has specific jobs for each of us as believers and we are to seek His wisdom in His Word to find those jobs. It isn’t listed on page 22 in the third paragraph but when you read His Word you can understand, with the Holy Spirit’s help, what God requires of each of us.

He requires obedience to His Word. Of course, the New Testament is our contract because most of the Old Testament is actually sent to the Jewish people. The promises found in the Old Testament are still relevant to us because of the prophecies which are still going to be fulfilled and the promises are partially contained within those prophecies. Each covenant in the Bible explains and confirms the other so you can’t just read the New Testament without the Old Testament. They both are necessary because the whole Bible is God’s inspired Word. He gave it to mankind so that we could learn from His wisdom if we will only read it and do what it says. 

In verse 12 of Psalm 103, David writes something which many of us have heard but maybe never knew exactly where it came from. Verse 12 says: “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us”. When we pray for God’s forgiveness for something that we have done or something that we said, He puts that sin and its consequences away from us just as David says “as far as the east is from the west”. It is completely gone! God doesn’t place it in a box to be brought out later to torment us because when He sees that it is covered by Jesus’ blood it is forgotten and remembered no more.

That doesn’t mean that we forget it because our memories and our guilt are still present here and now and of course Satan will bring it up and beat us with it as well. So we can’t forget it easily but God has. God’s mercy is everlasting and He grants this to each of us who believe in Jesus for salvation. We don’t have to earn it or pay for it or anything like that. We just have to believe in Jesus and ask for forgiveness in His name. Then we need to walk away from that sin or behavior and never visit it again. That is the hard part for us because sometimes our sin involves something that we really like to do, but we should ask for His strength to stay away from it. One day at a time.

Life is not easy like most people think it is and especially for Christians who are trying to live and walk on the pathway leading to heaven. It is narrow and it has thorns and stones which we may trip on. We can look around from this path and see the things that were our problems before and Satan will make them look so tempting trying to get us to get off of the pathway. That is where prayer for each day comes in handy. Thank God each day that you wake up so that you can take His message to others, even if it is only one person that you tell. They may be the person that you are the only contact with for God that they will have and by saying something about God or your salvation God may use it to draw them to Himself.

Darkness closing in…


Many people, it seems, have problems with depression and fear. You hear about suicides among Veterans and police and other service people like EMT’s and firefighters. Why does this happen? Is it because of the jobs that they have and the things which they see on a daily basis? In part, that is it. I worked as an EMT/Firefighter for a total of ten years. Not very long I know, but the things that I saw and the people that you come into contact with will bring you down. You can’t let it get to you while you are on the job so you learn to compartmentalize it and just push it away until the job is done. But…when the shift is over and you go home, that is when the enormity of your feelings about what you saw and had to deal with comes crashing down.

I’ve never really talked about this to anyone and it has been almost thirty years since I got out of being an EMT/Firefighter. But from what I understand the trauma and the stress that I experienced during those years never really goes away. For years I would still have dreams about my old job and wake up sweating in the night for no apparent reason. I could hear, in my mind, the siren from the ambulance or the fire truck even when there wasn’t one around. The different types of death from suicide and murder and car accidents and fire…you never forget them entirely. Some days it comes back so hard until I just feel like screaming at the top of my lungs. But even if I do, these images never go away.

The worst part of this is that you can’t sit and talk to someone about this. Nobody would understand unless you could sit and talk with another person who worked with you in the same type of service. Even then, they really don’t want to relive it either so usually you both just stop talking and change the subject or get a beer or something. Since I am a pastor now I have to shove these things away from my life and my work because nobody in the congregation would understand either. I have never talked about this with my family either just because it is something that they wouldn’t understand.

This is the reason that I am writing it here. As a bit of therapy for myself and to let others know that we feel deeply about what we have experienced. So deeply that even after thirty years it still comes back to haunt our minds and our feelings. Even now my heart is picking up speed just writing this.

I know that God can and will get me through this because He has done so in the past. I am asking all of you who read this to please sit with someone who works in a service job like I’ve mentioned. Just talk to them about anything or nothing. If they like to fish, take them fishing. But be there for them if you can. Because we have days which most people cannot understand and feelings which are hard to express. Please pray for me today and if you know anyone who was in the military or police or fire service, pray for them too. The suicide rate for them is much higher than for the rest of the population.

Psalm 51 is a good read for days like this.

Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God

(2 Samuel 12:1-12)

1{To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.} Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

2Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

3For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

4Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

5Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

6Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

7Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

9Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

10Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

11Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

12Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

13Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

15O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

16For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

18Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

19Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.King James Bible

I’ve been reading…


Lately, I’ve been reading a couple of good books. One which was written by many different authors over thousands of years. God’s Word. The Bible. The other book is one by a brother in Christ by the name of Phil Robertson called “The Theft of America’s Soul“. I am putting the link here not because I get anything from it but because it is a good book and it is one that needs to be read by many Americans, whether they are Christian, Democrat, Republican, liberal or whatever they are calling themselves these days.

Both of these books point us toward our Savior, Jesus Christ, and He is the only answer to our world’s problems. You can agree with me or not, but our founding fathers knew it and most of America has either forgotten it or they just don’t want to hear it anymore. Life in the time which we are living in today is not hard like it was many years ago. For some, it may be, but for most in America, their lives would be considered luxurious compared to the living conditions in China or North Korea or in many places in Africa. There are many other places where life is tough in more ways than any of us know about but in reality, we have it good here.

Why is it that people are so much against our laws and the Bible on which most of those laws are based on? In the last decade, I’ve noticed that many who live here would rather turn America into a socialist country or a Communist country than to be proud of the Democratic Republic we are supposed to be!

The Christian principles which guided our country for so many years have been torn apart in the last three decades or so. America isn’t the same country now that my parents and grandparents grew up in. The principles which God placed in our hearts and in His Word are the only principles which will bring our world, not just America, back from the edge of destruction. I ask you to please pray that our country and many others that claim to be Christian will turn back to God and His principles before it is too late.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.“