What is ….?

The idea of asking someone, that you don’t know, to describe a smell or the taste of their favorite food or drink is something that crosses our minds sometimes. But…how would you describe such a personal thing such as a smell or a taste?

It would be similar to attempting to describe a color or love to someone who has never had sight or who has never had the experience of love. Impossible would be an apt description of the attempt. The description of warm feelings or trying to describe a color, even to someone who can see, is very difficult. When you don’t have a reference to build on or they don’t have a way to visualize what you are describing, the act of description becomes futile.

Many of our descriptions of the love of God are that way as well. His love is so deep and encompassing until we don’t have a reference to compare it to. The only human comparison would possibly be the love of a parent toward their child when they are born. This little person is a part of you and your wife/husband and just after they’re born you love them deeply beyond words. How does that happen? You know that they have been growing in the womb for the past few months and until they are born, you have never seen them until that day. Yet, the feelings that you have for them when they are born are indescribable to anyone except yourself and your mate.

The love that God has for each of us is similar to that but His love goes deeper. All the way to the molecular level. Why? Because He knit your genetic structure together and activated your personality and gave you your eye color and all of the quirks that make you and I unique. So God knows you better than you do. He knows you better than your parents or anyone else. That is why He made the sacrifice that He did in order to bring each of us to salvation. He knew you and me before we were born and He knew where we would be born and who our parents would be. That’s what makes God’s love so fantastic and deep!

When you feel His touch in your life and it is drawing you toward being a born-again believer, don’t turn away from HIm. He loves you so much and even the slightest turn from Him would hurt Him and you don’t want to do that. He won’t take it out on you or cause you to hurt because of it because He is far more patient than we are. God’s love is so deep that I can’t give you any better description than I have given here. I pray that anyone reading this will take it seriously because He is coming for the church soon.

God’s Son

We hear many messages about our Savior and about His sacrifice for all of us, but have you considered the fact that He was God’s Son. Part of the Trinity in the flesh so He could die and pay the price for ALL of our sins. Granted, there are many who don’t believe that He was/is God’s Son and that’s okay, but He came and paid for every sin of every person who ever lived on the Earth.

Think about that and let it sink in a bit.

God came to Earth as a baby, wrapped in frail humanity to live and know the temptations that we live with and have to deal with on a daily basis throughout our lives. God has loved each of us since before He created everything, but that is something our minds can’t understand. The prophets in the Old Testament and Jesus in the New Testament said that we were known “before the foundation of the world was laid“.

Jesus came to be the sinless, spotless Lamb of God Who took the sins of the world on Himself, dying on a cross after being flogged so brutally that He scarcely had any blood left to make it to the cross. God loves each of us deeply enough that if it had only been me or you to save, He would’ve still gone to the cross.

If you have never seen the movie, “The Passion of Christ“, I believe it will drive home the brutality of a Roman crucifixion.

I pray that everyone who reads this will take the time to read the book of John and the book of Romans in the New Testament. If you want to, watch the movie and you will feel the love of God shown in the sacrifice Jesus went through for the whole world.

Why ‘But’ Hinders Our Reception of God’s Wisdom

That word causes more problems in people’s lives than any other. “But”, why do people try to put that word in a sentence referring to the Bible and what it says? Mostly its because they are trying to get around what it says. Either because it refers to a part of their lives that they don’t want to stop doing or it is a way of rationalizing something.

I’ve noticed that in TV shows and movies, the word “but” usually comes before something going wrong. Why do we go this way? God’s Word was given to it’s writers by His Holy Spirit so it is the Truth, yet many of us don’t want to listen to the wisdom contained within it. Our world would be so much better if people could follow even half of the wisdom God has given us in His Word.

Studying the Bible isn’t difficult or impossible if you have given your heart to Jesus. I’ve heard people say that it is hard to understand and it can be if you don’t have the Holy Spirit in your heart teaching you as you read it. Before I became a Christian, most of the Bible didn’t make sense to me. Yes, the stories of Creation and the Exodus from Egypt I could understand from watching the movie about the Ten Commandments but (there’s that word again), when I tried to read the Psalms or any of the prophetic books of the Old Testament it was hard to understand.

God has blessed me in the last fifteen years. I have served as a pastor of a small church and I’ve read through the Bible each year since 2011. I figured I had better know about what I was going to be preaching about. In my reading of His Word, He taught me more than I could learn from going to a school (which I couldn’t afford to do). This site is the only place I’m preaching from anymore, but I enjoy it because it is what God called me to do.

Turning away from God’s Word because it seems hard to understand is something a Christian shouldn’t do. You learn about God and what He likes and hates and how to get closer to Him. Through prayer and reading the Bible you will learn more about how we are supposed to live our lives every day. It is not a rule book or a book with a lot of do’s and don’ts. The Bible is really an instruction book about living as a Christian, especially the New Testament. Every prophecy that was written in the Old Testament is or will be fulfilled in the New Testament. It is likely that we will see the return of Jesus in our lifetime, so I urge you to give your heart to Jesus soon.

Only Jesus Can Heal: Discover True Restoration

Three wooden crosses stand on a rocky hill against a fiery sunset and dark clouds.

Only Jesus can heal completely, so that the disease doesn’t come back. Only Jesus can heal paralysis and strengthen legs that haven’t walked for years. Only Jesus can do impossible things in your life and mine. Heal your hurts. Quench your thirst for something or Someone you’ve never met before. Only Jesus Christ can do these things and more in your life. No other religious figure can accomplish these changes in your life and also bring salvation to your soul at the same time!

Today most Christians are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus from the grave! No other religious figure has ever come out of their grave…not one! Only Jesus!

The woman at the well found her Messiah and a well of Living Water to refresh her soul all the way to heaven! The paralyzed man who had to be carried to his healing and let down through the roof to get in front of Jesus came out of the house on his feet walking home and carrying his bed. The thief on the cross who realized Who Jesus was before he died just asked Jesus to “Remember me when you come into your kingdom”. Jesus told him that he would be in Paradise with Him today. He didn’t have to do anything but believe in Jesus for his salvation.

Our lives have many problems that follow us around. Relationship problems. Financial problems. Health problems. The only way to fix these is to get our heart’s problem fixed by allowing Jesus inside our heart and soul. Your salvation and mine through Jesus will bring healing to our other problems. The healing may take some time for all of your problems and mine, but it will come.

Jesus came to pay the price for all of humanity, but only those who are called will answer and accept His offer of life and healing. Will you accept His offer? Will you be His follower when He calls you?

You may be in a situation like the thief on the cross or maybe the man who needed healing. You might be like the woman at the well and feel judged and rejected by everyone, but God doesn’t turn away from those who need Him. Just call on Him and ask Him into your life to fill that empty place or heal your broken heart and accept you as His child. God only asks that you follow Jesus Christ in love from that moment on.

Living with Jesus daily

The preacher tells us that we should strive to do this, but I don’t remember him telling us how to do it. It depends on your relationship with Jesus. If you are a new believer, you will be seeking to know Him on a daily basis. At least for a while. I did that because I wanted to know Him, so I got into reading the Bible every day. The problem of reading the Bible every day is that life gets in the way. Your morning routine gets rushed because you slept late or for some other reason. Living your life with Jesus is something that you have to be determined to do, and eventually it will become a habit. Bible reading and prayer will just happen, but it won’t happen unless you make a daily decision to do it.

As you become more mature in your walk with Him, your prayer life and reading Scripture will become second nature. You won’t have to think about it; you will just do it. It may not be at the beginning of every day, but you will do it at some point in the day. I like listening to the Bible reading on my phone with the You Version Bible app. For over ten years now, I have picked a year-long plan to give me a certain number of chapters to read/listen to each day. I enjoy doing my reading this way because I don’t have to sit and open the Bible to read it. I can do so and read along with it, but I have to be at home to do that.

Living with Jesus every day is a choice, and some people choose to do it as their Christian walk. Others choose to only learn about Jesus when they come to church. Sometimes they come every Sunday, while some come only when they feel like it. Living your life with Jesus is not supposed to be a part-time life; it should be like a marriage. A marriage wouldn’t last very long if you only came home sometimes, and that is what I mean when I wrote “part-time” life with Him. Any relationship will only work if BOTH partners are dedicated to each other. In a relationship with Jesus, He is intent on His part of the relationship; it is on you to choose to be dedicated to Him. That is why it should be a daily relationship, not just a “part-time” relationship.

Do you talk to God?

He created you and me and everything in this world, so why not thank Him for everything in your life? I know that we all have good days and bad ones, and sometimes the bad ones may outweigh the good ones, but God provides His promise for us all.

God talked to Adam, Noah, and Abram. God also talked to every faithful king in Israel and every prophet that He sent to Israel. If we acknowledge that He talked to all of these people, then we can infer that God likes to talk to His people, whether they are Israelites or Gentiles.

So, why does the church only talk to God when we pray for others? Why can’t we talk/pray to God about everything that we need to talk to Him about? I’m not speaking of prayer for things that we want, but prayer about being thankful for our blessings. I’m not saying that prayer for others is a bad thing, but do you pray to God about your day? He knows what is going on in your day, but like a parent asking their child, “How was school today?”, God wants to talk to you about you!

God loves each of us, whether we love Him or not. He cares about you and me. He may not like your lifestyle if you live a sinful life, but He loves you. When you wake up, thank Him for a night’s sleep and for waking you up again. When you have a good day, thank Him for it. If you have a bad day, pray about it, and He will help you with that problem.

Read the Bible and ask Him to help you understand His Word. God speaks to each of us through His Word, and you can know what He is saying IF you read His Word. We are living in the beginning of the end times, so I encourage you to seek His knowledge and wisdom by reading His Word, and come to know His will for your life.

Jesus is King

He was King when He came in the manger. He was King when He was with the disciples teaching them and healing many while doing the will of God. He is still King and He will be coming back to be King on the throne of David one day soon. God loves all of us so much that He sent Jesus to be the Lamb which paid the price for our sins.

Jesus is our Savior and creator and He will soon reign over the Earth for one thousand years. Life will be the norm during that time and death will only come to those who reject Him as their Savior. We celebrate Christmas as the birth of Jesus Christ but that is not the main theme of the season. We give and get presents and go to parties, when celebrating His work on our behalf is what we should be celebrating, if we believe in Him for our salvation.

Life as we know it today is changing all of the time and one day it will change drastically. When He comes for the church, believers who have died and those who still live, the world will change dramatically. Can you imagine? A world without believers in Jesus. Some people will be glad that they/we are gone. But…hell will be coming to Earth for seven years after this. Still, some will be happy about this, but I don’t think that everyone will be happy about this.

God loves you. He has made a way for you to live with Him for eternity. Life more alive than we are today. Working for and with the Creator of everything! We will not be bored for thousands of years, He will have something for us to do. We may be in His kitchen cooking or painting beautiful scenes for Him. Whatever your real talent is, God will find a way for you to use your talents. There will not be schedules or time clocks or cell phones (thank God). I am truly looking forward to being there. I pray that you will be there too.

Grateful thanksgiving

The Bible tells us to be thankful in our lives, even during hard times. It is something that we find hard to do because you can’t understand why. Why do I have to be thankful for the hard times in my life? Consider the grace that we have been given by God. We don’t deserve it, but He has given it to us because He loves us.

Grace and being grateful go together because you can’t have one without the other. God gives us grace through faith in Jesus Christ and as we live as Christians we become so used to having grace in our lives…we take it for granted. Be thankful for God and His love for us because He loved all of us many years before we were born.

Being thankful every day because you woke up this morning. Be grateful for today because God has given it to you and He wants you to tell someone about Jesus and what He has done for you. He loves you and has provided a way for you to gain entrance into Heaven one day and that door is Jesus Christ. Ask Him to come into your heart and change your old heart into a newborn heart that is loving, grateful and thankful for every blessing that you have received from His hand.

Because one day, Jesus is coming in the clouds for His Bride and when He does, the world will see Him and they will see that the Church is gone. The news that day will be terrifying because the Holy Spirit is gone too and the evil in the world will now have nothing to hold it back. Make sure that you have given your life to Jesus and that your heart has been changed today. Because, life will be so much sweeter and everlasting when you are in Heaven with Him one day.

Endure through the hard times

The world is going through some hard times today. How we get through them is not only our responsibility but it is also our witness to others who know us and our beliefs. Christians have a Savior to lend a hand with our trials. We can lean on Jesus and His teachings when our lives get a bit rough during illness or family troubles or financial troubles. Most of the world does not have that. Many people in America and around the world only have their family or themselves to get them through troubled times, regardless of the severity of the trouble may be.

Those who find themselves in a real fire-fight like during war or during tribal problems have to rely on their wits and their neighbors to get through these times and very often it isn’t enough. Sometimes it takes more faith than we can imagine to get through even one night of ideological skirmishes and attacks. God is close to all who have faith in Him and in Jesus and the joy that comes with that is something that most people can’t understand. Especially during physical attacks and war because faith in God gives us comfort for our eternal life but it doesn’t take away the fear and anxiety of today or tonight.

Comfort from God comes from the strength we get from our faith in Him regardless of our circumstances right now. Seek to know Him as your Savior and your King because one day He will appear to take His Bride, the church, home to be with Him. The true joy that we have in Jesus is knowing that as long as we are His in our hearts and live like we are ready to die to be with Him, there is nothing in this world that can take that away from us.

If…

If God doesn’t exist? Really?! How can you possibly believe that there isn’t a God? Life in the universe, or even the possibility of it, wouldn’t have been possible if He didn’t!

There are many things in science, particularly regarding the universe, that prove His existence without a doubt. The position of Earth from the Sun, for one. If the Earth were just a few miles closer, it would be too hot for life to be here. If our Sun was just a little bigger, there wouldn’t be life here. There are so many other details about the constants in the universe that would’ve caused our universe to just be full of hydrogen if it was just a tiny bit different. All of these are out there on the Internet to find, I can’t list all of them.

My point is, God’s influence in our universe is necessary for just our planet to be able to support life as we know it. He created all of it, but He put us here and made many of us smart enough to build and use telescopes so we could ask these questions. So that we would wonder about how all of this was put together and why.

God allows us to ask questions about His existence because He made us that way. Some of us will believe in Him and His plan for our salvation and some of us will not…and that’s okay. He already knew which one we would choose. But He gives us that choice. Why? Because He loves each of us. You can’t force someone to love you or to depend on you, but when they see the reason behind your love for them and read it in the Bible, many people will walk down the aisle and accept Jesus as their Savior by faith.

A relationship that is built on love and compassion is one that will grow deeper as time goes on. A relationship that is forced is one that will grow bitter with hatred not love. God doesn’t force anyone to serve Him or do as He asks. Angels even have the free will to love Him or not, but many of them do. We have free will to love Him and there are many in our world who do and they know that He loves them. If God did not exist then our culture and the people on Earth would’ve destroyed each other long ago. Most of the prophecies in the Bible have come true already. If you are looking for a Savior, seek to know Jesus Christ. If a “man in white” has told you He loves you in a dream, seek out someone who can tell you about Him. Don’t turn away from a life with Him as your Savior.