Loving yourself

Many people seem to think that this means being selfish, but that isn’t it at all. Learn to love yourself because you are the only one who can love you that way, except for God. He knows you better than you know yourself and He loves you more than you ever could. Loving yourself is the only way to undo the damage done to you by Satan and the depression and self-hatred that he brings into our lives. Can we do it without being vain and selfish? Yes, through God’s Spirit and with His strength we can.

Do many people think this way? Not many do in our society, I’m afraid. We all seem to be caught up in the latest “reality show” or the latest news on Facebook and Twitter and we don’t seem to have time for each other, let alone ourselves. At least we don’t until something goes wrong in our lives, such as a wreck or an illness, unexpected or not, then we get down on our knees in NEED of God, right now! The only problem with this is that once the emergency is over and there is a healing or an improvement moving us toward being healed, we tend to just say, “Thanks, God, I’ll take it from here.”.

How arrogant we are? Yes, we are independent and we have a choice of whether to be a Christian or not, but the relationship needs to be a deeper one than that. We know it, we just don’t think that we want God hanging around everyday. But you know, He never really leaves your side.

Its like telling your spouse, “I don’t need you today, but don’t go far.” How hurt and unnecessary would you feel if someone told you that? I am not going to presume that God is hurt in the same way that we are, but I imagine that it does hurt Him in some way when we reject Him, even once, let alone on a daily basis. So, what can we do that will help our situation in life and be of service to God too?

Love your neighbor as yourself and for that you have to love yourself first. Because if you can’t or won’t love yourself, how can you love others? Seek God’s wisdom in this through the reading and study of the Bible. We learn how to do things everyday in one way or another, so why not learn of the Creator and how to be His through learning about Him? How can I learn about God? By reading the Bible! It was written by men who were inspired by God to write His wisdom and His laws down so that others could study them and learn to be His and why they should be His.

God loves each of us, far more than we could understand and truly more than we deserve. He has loved us since the beginning, before the Earth was created. In His Wisdom, God created everything so that we would know that Someone had to have been the Creator of this, and up until the turn of the twentieth century, scientists really didn’t deny His existence but tried to use science to prove that He is God.

I know that some people will not believe that statement, but it is true. To love yourself and your neighbor is to show and exhibit the love of God to others as well as experiencing it yourself. To experience something, like love, you need to know love and since God is love you need to know Him. Seek Him while the time to do so is on your side. Read His Word with an open mind and with prayer so that He can teach you that which you need to learn.

Living your life

Yes, we can live joyfully, but what about living for Jesus? Living with Him, waking up with Him, praying to Him about everything, no matter what it is. We can do it, if we choose to do it. It is our choice, we are never forced into a relationship with God. Can we live this way?

Yes, we can! But, we have to do it by choice! Wake up in the morning and thank God for giving you another day to serve Him and live on this Earth, enjoying our family and our blessings. Where do those things come from? God, of course. He provided you with the ability to do the things that you do, whatever your vocation.

You can’t tell God what to do, but many people are so proud and prideful in their way of doing things until they try to do just that. He loves you, but He is going to answer your prayer in His time and when you are ready for the blessings that He will provide for you. How do I know this? Because He has done it for me and for many others, that is how I know His provisions and His love.

Can you know Him like this? Yes, you can. All that you need to do is to decide to listen to His Word and ask Him to come into your heart, when you feel the calling, the prompting of the Holy Spirit which calls to us. Answer that call on your life and your heart and you can be saved. Many people will think that they don’t need saving, they are doing fine on their own without Jesus. Are you really?

Have you had a time recently which caused you to question your life or your place in life? Many people today question whether God cares about us, but if you look at all of the blessings which we see every day in the light of His love, why would you question Him? You woke up this morning with a new day to serve Him or yourself, which will it be? You were able to get up from your bed and go about your day, isn’t that a blessing from God? Many of you had food to eat and a warm place to live, those are blessings from God. Your job and income comes from the One who owns it all, so that is a blessing.

Can we be His in our daily lives? Yes, it is not something that you can do on your own, but you can do it with His help! God loves you and is concerned about everything that happens to you, from losing your keys to forgetting to pick up the milk. Yes, I pray when I go to the store or when I am driving to the store (especially when I am on the road with all the others out there). I need Him every day, all day, how else would I be able to come up with the content found here? My mind is not filled with words enough to fill these pages like I have these past few years.

God has given me a small church to pastor every week and I enjoy it, but I have a larger audience here. Why? I think it is because there are many more people outside my local area who are looking for God or evidence of His love or even just an encouraging word in the times that we live in. I can’t be in all the places that you live, but the words that God gives me to put here can, so I do this a few times a week, sometimes more if I am given the words for it.

I don’t want you to think that I am anyone special, because I am not. I am a servant of Jesus, gladly, until He comes again. Whether He wishes me to serve here or in a church doesn’t matter to me, I will do one or the other or even both as long as I can. I will only be able to do it with His wisdom and His strength, and I pray that all of you who read this will pray for me to be able to do this as well. We all need prayers, and I pray for my fellow bloggers as well. Have a wonderful, Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

Who was your builder?

Psalm 127:1 says this: “Except the Lord build the house, the labor in vain that build it; except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.”

Your body was put together by God for a purpose in this life. It did not happen by chance, nor did it happen without His knowledge. God is our Creator regardless of what the critics say about our world or the universe itself. One day, this will be evident to all but until then I must go on telling people about Christ and His offer of salvation and about our Lord’s will for all to come to repentance in Him. There are many today who reject this teaching, many more who are deceived into thinking that the road or path that they are on will carry them into His presence when they die.

Life has a way, and by life I mean that God has a way of working things out so that His purposes are fulfilled. We are not in control, He is, and we had better realize that before it is too late. There are many people who think that just because they have been to church a few times in their lives that they are “OK with the Man upstairs.” What a load of baloney! First and foremost, calling Him that is insulting to God! Second, going to church once or twice a year or for special occasions is a good thing, but being in church even for a lifetime doesn’t get you into Heaven! Being a preacher won’t even get you in the gates of Heaven if you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior!

You can memorize the Bible from beginning to end, but unless you believe in what it says and in Jesus as your Savior, being able to quote the Bible from memory won’t help you either! Until God’s Spirit calls you and touches your heart, drawing you to Jesus in faith, you won’t turn to Jesus and you can’t just decide to do so unless He has called you!

I have even heard some so-called “pastors” saying that they were going to ride their congregations until they could find a bigger one. Sounds to me like they weren’t called to be pastors, they chose to act as a pastor in order to get money from the church and the prestige of being a “pastor” when they really aren’t one at all! These are the “pastors” which give Christianity a bad reputation and they are actually leading people in the wrong direction too. God will deal with them in due time.

When we are called to be a Christian, each of us knows it because you can feel it in your heart and your soul. The person which God speaks to is the soul living within you and when He calls, your real self knows it. It is not a wrong number and it can’t be faked. You can choose to ignore Him for a time, but eventually you will listen and obey His call. How do I know this? Because I tried to ignore Him for a while. I could feel the call on my life, my heart or soul could tell Who was calling, but I didn’t want to answer yet. He kept calling until one day, I did answer and my life hasn’t been the same since…it has been so much more, well more!

When we have finally come to our spiritual senses and come to Him in repentance then He can use our talents that He gave you for His purposes and for the good of the Body of Christ. Think about it, seek Him out and He will come into your life and change it into the life that you were meant to have!

Give what?

This morning is just a short admonition of worship.

Give unto God what is due Him.

Your life, because He loved You first; your time because He gives you another day to work and live for Him; your efforts in everything because God formed you and knew you before the foundation of the world and most of all, your love for Him because without Him you can do nothing.

Praise the Lord all of you who are burdened and in need of rest, because resting in Him with praise in your heart is the best rest and peace that you can have.

In His service.

Collossians 1:17 says: “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”