Tag: Christ

The Love of God in your life!


Do you believe that God loves you? Have you felt it in your life this week or this year? Has someone from a Christian church ever showed the love of God to you or to someone that you know? Is there a church nearby that teaches from the Bible as God’s Word in truth and in love? All of these questions are things that shouldn’t be needed in our society, the commandment which was given by Jesus was that we should “love our neighbor as ourselves” along with loving God! The problem with this idea is that you can’t love God or anyone else until you decide to love yourself!

I am not speaking of selfish love, believing that everything and everyone should love you and revolve around you, but about caring about yourself and your soul in the way that Christ does. You also need to care about others too, especially those who may be less fortunate than you are. Those who are homeless or without a job for one reason or another (not just because they don’t want to work) or even someone who is elderly need to feel the love of God through us. Something that you can do or your church can do would be a great demonstration of God’s love. It doesn’t have to be much, just a meal that you take to someone or even helping them to get their groceries by taking them to the store.

In this world that we live in, little things mean a lot to someone who is in need. The need may not be financial, they just may need to have someone to visit them a couple of times a week. Many elderly people rarely see friends or family unless it is on a holiday or at church. Some have trouble driving and have a hard time getting someone to help them get to the doctor or the grocery store. These are just ideas, and they are small things that we can do but they mean a lot. So, how can you feel the love of God in your life?

If you are not a Christian, then you truly need to know the love of God. So, I ask you have you given your life to Christ? Do you believe in God and His Son, Jesus? There are many people in the world today that don’t claim to have a belief in Jesus or in religion in general. How can I show you the love of Christ? I know that He loved those of us in this world before we were born because He said so in His Word and He doesn’t lie.

The love of God is eternal for His Creation, all of it which includes each one of you. Satan cannot love anyone except himself, he doesn’t reward anyone with anything except the same punishment that he will receive for eternity. God cannot be different and He doesn’t change, we are the ones who change, we are the ones who move in the relationship and it is usually away from the One that we should cling to! The problems in our world today are the result of rebellion.

Rebellion against God, rebellion against the laws of God, rebellion against the wisdom of God, these are the reasons for the problems in our world today. If we spent our lives trying to be like Jonah, then sooner or later you will find that escape from God and running away from Him does not work. Why? Because God knows where you are, even if you don’t! He can see you regardless of the darkness that you try to hide in, especially if He has plans for you to accomplish! Like Jonah, He will make certain that sooner or later you will accomplish His purpose in your life and for Him!

When bad things are happening….


What do most folks do when bad things are happening in their lives or in the world around them? Some resort to destructive behavior like smoking more or drinking alcohol, so just go out and do what I used to do and get drunk enough that they can’t remember why they did it. Others will call a friend or visit a friend and talk about their problem and together they can feel better about the situation. Then, there are those that really get crazy and get down on their knees and pray!

Why does the world and many people in it think that it is useless or crazy to pray when things are getting bad or when bad news comes. Prayer is one of the most powerful things that we can do, because God is the One who can do all things and He hears us when we pray. If you are not a Christian, the only prayer that will make a difference will be the one to ask Him to come into your life. He always hears that prayer.

The stuff that I used to do nearly killed me when I was a teenager, thankfully due to my mother and grandmother praying for me God was watching over me. The power of prayer is one that cannot be denied because many people use it in love. Prayer is the most useful tool that Christians have because God listens to it when it is done in love.

When you care about the condition of others lives as much or more than your own, then the prayers that you can pray will have an awesome effect in their lives but it will also have a great effect on you! Your life will be changed by the way that God will move in their lives, because when you see that prayer does work it will increase your faith and that will also have an effect on your life in Christ.

The way that things are going in our world, the tough times have not gotten here yet but they are coming. We cannot change this or stop it, it is going to happen and we have to depend on God and our faith in Him to get us through it. It is not something which some pastors will even tell you about, which is why many don’t preach from the book of Revelation, but it needs to be told and with God’s help, it needs to be explained to the best of our ability. We are approaching this time and after two thousand years some people have stopped thinking about it.

“It hasn’t happened and its not going to happen because it has been too long since it was foretold”; these are the words that you hear from skeptics and those who just don’t know better. The facts are, since the Son of God said that it would come, then it will. It will only happen when it is His time for it to happen, it could be in the next three to five years or it may be forty or fifty years but it will happen. Personally, I don’t think it will be more than ten to fifteen years away but that is just my opinion.

Your faith is what can and will sustain you during a crisis in your life, whether it was caused by a disease or an accident or even if you had a hand in its cause. The point to take away from this is that we should never count God out of a situation because He is in the situation with you. He never leaves you and is always there, all that you have to do is call on Him and ask that He come into your life. He won’t make all of your troubles go away, but He will enable you to bear them when they come.

Can you reconcile Jesus’ limitations?


There are many who deny that Jesus was the Christ because He seems to be limited in His ability as the Son of Man. But, did you ever consider that He limited Himself because of His love for us? Think of this: the question has often been posed about whether God could create something which He could not move, but this question sets up a paradox which doesn’t exist. Since God created the whole universe, as expansive as it is, the answer to the question is “no, He would not”, not that He could not. There would be no point in creating something so large because He already has created something which we cannot comprehend, limitless time and space. We cannot see the edge of the universe because our limited instruments can’t penetrate any distance past which time allows and time is controlled by God Himself.

Jesus’ limitations while living as a man, were the same limitations that we have except when He asked the Father to glorify Himself for a reason, such as bringing Lazarus back after four days in the grave. He proved His control of the elements when He came to the disciples by walking on the water, man cannot do this without the aid of some trickery or manipulation of the video by computers. Yes, Jesus had limitations but they were limitations that allowed Him to be the Son of Man. He could’ve done far more, but if it did not serve the purpose for which He came then why bother?

Just as someone who has a fast car doesn’t exercise that speed every time they are on the highway, Jesus did not use His power as Creator unless it suited His purpose for being here, unless it actually punctuated Who He was and why He came! There is no need nor reason for using power when you have it unless it is needed for a reason, specifically to glorify God!

Yes, He could’ve forced Israel to see Him as Who He was, He could’ve made it abundantly clear but that would not have taken His message to the rest of us. He came to bring the good news of the Kingdom of God to all people and that wouldn’t have happened if He had done things the way that we might have done them! We think small in most areas, God thinks in terms of eternity, which we can’t even imagine.

Our lifespan is tiny in comparison to even one billion years and that is small compared to eternity! God sees all because He is outside the limitations of time. He sees your life from your physical birth all the way to the day you die and everything in between. Yet, the most important decision in your life has nothing to do with your job or your family or your finances, it involves your relationship with Jesus and the decision that you make about Him. Will you believe in Him and follow Him so that others can see His work in your life and want that in their lives? Or will you decide that you can do it on your own, without Him? Your way may be a life filled with helping others, giving of your time and energy so that others can have a better life, doing things for those who may not be able to do for themselves but if you are doing this without the love of Jesus in your life it will gain you praise from men but it will avail you nothing when you come to God and present your life to Him.

The question at that point is, “What did you do with Jesus?”

If your life was spent in your own strength and your own ability to do good things for people, then it may have gained you praise from them but your reward perished with you!

The lasting legacy of a life lived through Christ is that you will live into eternity and so will those who have benefited from His love that was expressed in your life toward them. Jesus lived His life in service to the Father’s will and also in service to those that He came to bring the message of life to. He did this without being arrogant, but by being a humble servant to all. Power flowed from Him into their lives and enriched them, it did not corrupt Him or those who learned the lessons that He taught. This is the legacy that we are to bring to our world and those around us while we are able to do so, this is the message of a life lived through Christ and His life lived through yours!

Does anyone go the second mile anymore?


There is a passage in God’s Word which speaks of going the second mile with someone. Do you know anyone who does that anymore? Do we, as Christians and believers, go the second mile with anyone or do we just give them a platitude to help them and pray for them and send them on their way?

We are being unfair and disingenuous in our faith if we do and being lukewarm in our walk with Christ too! He doesn’t want lukewarm Christians! Can we become more active in our faith and in our service to Him and to others as well? It is necessary for ALL Christians to get more involved in their faith and in the work of the Church, especially now, since we are coming to the end of the Church age.

I know, many preachers and so-called prophets have been saying doom and gloom for many hundreds of years, but if you read and study the prophetic books (Daniel, Ezekiel, and Revelation) you get an eerie feeling that you are reading today’s headlines! That is why I am saying that we must wake up and begin letting people know, whether they really believe it when you tell them or not, but they need to hear the news of Christ and how they can be saved from the wrath to come!

We need to go the second mile to help someone who is a new Christian as well. Show them how to study the Bible, help them to understand some of the hard teachings in it because if we don’t, who will? Many pastors don’t have the time these days with all of the functions going on at church, such as weddings, funerals, baptisms, study groups, etc., their time is further taken up by preparation of the sermons which they deliver during the week and every Sunday. It is up to us, each of us who may be born-again Christians, to teach and instruct our children and those new to faith in Christ. Help them to understand the fantastic gift that they have, give to them by God through Jesus!

Going the second mile with someone who is hurting from a divorce or the loss of a job or a family member, this is what Jesus would do so doesn’t it stand to reason that He would expect it of us as well? We are not perfect, we are not destined to become “gods” at some point, we are His bond-servants because of His love for us and our duty to Him. The perfection of God and His creation is that it is unchanging. He loves us with a love that is above anything that we can understand, for no reason except that He wants to love us that way!

In some things moderation is good, like eating, rest, recreation, exercise, and finances. But when it comes to spiritual warfare, moderation is a sin. When it comes to believing the Bible, moderation is a sin. When it comes to loving the Lord, moderation is a sin! We have to go full-throttle, not just ten percent in our service to Him, in our belief in Him and in our love toward Him!

If you are a Christian, your life is in Him, so it should be all in Him not just a little bit or once a week. God doesn’t want someone who begins on a row, like a planter planting a field, and then quits a few feet down the row. We can’t expect someone else to take up our slack because we get tired of being the one who is making the sacrifices or taking the time to do things. How much food would we have to eat if every farmer just planted a quarter of a row and no more?

If Jesus and His disciples had not made all of the journeys that they did to tell people of the Good News, there wouldn’t be a church today! If they had sat down only five miles outside Jerusalem, none of Paul’s letters to the churches would’ve needed to be sent or written! We need to have that enthusiasm and drive to get the message out to the world, even if it is just through the medium of pages like this. Pray about what you can do, how to do it and get started!





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Temporary living arrangement


Have you noticed that there are many people here who are living in a temporary arrangement? They stay in one place for a while then stay in another for a while, they never settle down and live anywhere. In a way, that is exactly the way that our life is supposed to be lived, temporary residence in a permanent place.

Jesus said that He was going to prepare a place for us to be with Him, forever. So, in light of that, the life that we live here is considered temporary. It doesn’t matter how many months or years that we have been living in the home that we have while here because it is not our permanent home. Only a home built by His hands will last forever, not these homes of clay, brick, and wooden sticks. Not even the ones that are built of concrete will last forever, although without being subjected to an earthquake they would come close.

What will you do in eternity,  if you haven’t asked Jesus into your life? Well, Jesus said that people who reject His grace and His sacrifice for their sakes will be cast into the lake of fire with Satan and his angels. I know that seems to be a harsh punishment for not giving your life to Christ, but it is the destination that you choose by not accepting Him. God did not create hell for us, it was made to punish Satan and the angels which rebelled with him. The reason that some of us will end up there is because of our rejection of God‘s gift of salvation through Jesus. When you do that, you have chosen to put yourself on the side with Satan, whether you know it or not.

There is not middle ground, no grey area where we can live and have a little bit of our way and a little bit of Christ. It is all or nothing, you are either a follower of Christ and have asked Him into your heart or you are not. There are many people who don’t believe in God or anything that is in God’s Word, the Bible and that is their priority. Sometimes, there is no way to convince people of the love of God or His grace, but I pray that many will come to know Jesus before your time on Earth is over.

I have been accused of using fear tactics to scare people to come to faith in Christ, well if it works, so what? I want you to be afraid of going to hell! Do you really want to spend eternity in punishment, in a place that was not made for you? If you are not a disciple and follower of Jesus, then you will be in that place. Think about it.

Are you satisfied?


In our world of instant potatoes, microwave popcorn, throw-away phones, etc. is it any wonder that we aren’t satisfied with life? Everything is easy, quick, “cheap”. Nothing lasts as long as we would like or feels as good as we had hoped. We are depressed, disillusioned and most of all angry at everyone and everything because nothing, nothing ever satisfies our hunger or our thirst for whatever it is we are searching for, no matter what it may be!

Boy, am I glad I got all of that off my chest!!

Your life doesn’t have to be that way. You don’t have to have everything instantly. Things that last are much more precious and harder to come by than the advertisements lead you to believe. Although the most precious and lasting relationship can last forever, most never realize it until it is too late. They find they have picked the wrong one and by that time there is no turning back. Or possibly, you might not wake up at all tomorrow. What then?

Will you find yourself facing God and not having an answer to His question, “What did you do with my Son?” Do you know who His Son is? Have you met Him? It really is easy you know? If you have been searching for something, but you are not sure what, it may be that you are truly being drawn to Him. Listen to that voice inside which is pulling at your heart. God is the creator and He loves His creation, you! Let Him into your life!  He can clean out the dirt, the cobwebs, and everything else that you think would make you unworthy and make you whole and new again!

Call on Him!  Ask Jesus into your heart, simply, like a child. He will hear you and come into your life and make you and your life whole again, if you will let Him. That is all that He asks of you. Just give your life to Him. He doesn’t need your money, just your service to Him and His Kingdom.

I know, there are many who say that they don’t want to serve Him. I understand and He does too. If you want to be selfish and just take care of yourself and the things and people that you can see around you, that’s fine. Many of our problems in this life, especially Christians, are caused by the enemy of God, Satan. Because He tries everyday to make life hard for us, just because we belong to God. If you don’t follow Jesus, then you are already on Satan’s side so he doesn’t want to cause you any trouble.

The troubles that we have in this world, for Christians and non-Christians alike, are usually caused by Satan and his demons. Many people don’t think that he exists, that these are just our imagination, but they are real. That is and always has been his greatest achievement, making people believe that he isn’t real.

We live in a fallen world and it will remain so until Jesus returns, which many people don’t think is happening. But, what if the Bible and the prophecies contained in it is really true? When it becomes crystal clear that these prophecies are coming true, what then?

I can do ALL things through Christ!


 

Do you realize that God wants you to accomplish a lot in your life? I am not talking about your own things like all of the everyday stuff that weigh us down, I am talking about the ministry that God has given you! Did you know that you have a ministry? If you are a child of God, then you do!

I am not saying that all of us are supposed to have an international ministry, but we are supposed to take our beliefs with us wherever we go. To work, to school, at home, to the grocery store, to the bank, yes we are supposed to walk with Christ and let Him walk with us wherever we go! If you would be ashamed to have Him with you then don’t go there! As a child of God, He is with you all of the time, no matter what you happen to be doing or where you happen to be!

Why can’t I be alone sometime?

You can’t leave God out of your life once you have taken Him into it! You may walk away from Him, but He is always there with you. He doesn’t get in the way, or tell you what to do or not to do but if you have given your heart to Jesus, then He is present in every situation and circumstance that you are, day in and day out.

As Jesus said, “I will be with you always, even unto the end of the age”; there is no greater comfort than this because we are never alone, in our most desperate times or our most joyous days!

Even those of you who may not have given your heart to Jesus or asked Him into your life, He is still watching over you. God knows how many hairs are on your head and He knows when even a sparrow falls to the ground, so of course He knows what you are doing and where you are! You are not alone whether you have accepted Jesus into your life or not.

Then why do I feel alone sometimes?

We feel this way not only because we are social people and when we are alone we feel it. But sometimes we feel alone even when we aren’t alone which truly troubles some people. Do you have friends nearby? Are you able to meet with them? Do they have the time to meet with you? These are the questions that come into your mind when you are feeling depressed and lonely.

God understands because He knows how it feels to be lonely, because He experienced it through Jesus’ life and He will be with you through your time of lonely feelings and other problems which come in our lives. God loves each of us and will help us in all areas of our lives.

If I am not alone, why do I feel so depressed at times?

God is there with you at all times because He is in all places and present in every situation. If you have given your heart to Him, then you will feel Him near you in times of joy, pain, heartache, fear, doubt and yes even when you are depressed. These feelings are not placed on you by God … we are hit with these every day by Satan because he hates God and those who belong to Him. Just as Job was beset by some really bad circumstances in his day, we are too. We may not lose everything, but the spirits of doubt and fear and depression can make us feel as if we have lost it all or may be about to.

God loves each of us and we have an Advocate who defends us before God when Satan accuses us before Him. He is there no matter what the circumstance and He will be there when we arrive at the gates of Heaven. Nothing is impossible with God and there is nothing that He cannot accomplish for you or through you. Give your life and your heart to Him, it is the best decision that you will ever make in your life.

We all need Christ today!


Jesus loves you, that is why He came to earth to do what God wanted Him to do. God loves you too, which is also why He sent Jesus to earth to be the sacrifice for the whole human race. He did it for all of us, from the time that Adam and Eve lived up until now and also those who will be born until the end of the age. Jesus paid the price for you and for me.

He loves you and your family, whether you have accepted Him as your savior or not. It doesn’t make sense to us because we can’t understand what God does. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, His ways are higher than our ways. Many people today don’t know whether their eternity will be one that they will enjoy or not. People like you and me just don’t know where their destination will be, which is a sad thing. God’s grace was given to us through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross so that we might know that we have eternal life through Him!

If you haven’t accepted Jesus into your heart, then your life will end here on earth but your eternity will be in torment. Not because God is punishing you but because you decided that you didn’t want to accept His grace through Jesus to save your soul. You do have to turn from your sins, repent from them, and ask Jesus into your heart, then go to a Bible teaching church and confess that you have given your life to Christ. Jesus said that we are to publicly show that you have given your life to Him and He will acknowledge you before God and the angels in Heaven.

There are so many hurting people in the world today, and their only real salvation is through Jesus. Give your life to Him and ask Him into your life. Time is growing short, the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation are  coming true every day. This is why all of the bad things are happening, because Satan knows that his time is short as well. Don’t wait, please learn of Jesus and turn to Him, He can and will help you through the pain in your life.

Charismatic movement a cult?


I just read a little of the article which carries this as the title and I couldn’t believe it! If the Holy Spirit is drawing people to Christ all over the world right now, I don’t care if they are speaking in tongues or jumping pews or whatever, if God is getting the glory for it then it is not a cult! On the other hand, if the man or woman bringing the message is getting the glory then it most likely is a cult!

Jesus told His disciples that “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draw him: and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:44). If the Holy Spirit is moving in the world today, and He is, then who are we to say that it is wrong? The Holy Spirit or the Spirit of God is moving and will continue to draw those who will answer the call to come to Jesus until the Father decides otherwise. It will do so until the end of the age, if God wills it, so who are we to say if it is something out of the ordinary.

Arguing and fighting between denominations and churches should not be happening, and yet Satan will cause this to happen because if he cannot get rid of the church then he will tear it apart from the inside. He has done it before, numerous times in the past, and he will continue to do it. If we can’t agree on Biblical teaching and preaching and stick to the Word of God as the Truth, then we are wrong altogether, regardless of denomination or translation.

The disciples argued among themselves during their evangelistic efforts after the resurrection, about doctrine and law. The point is that if we are going to show a united front to the world as Christians, then we cannot allow the body of believers to come apart because of disagreement between doctrines and denominations. The facts are that our churches have come apart in the last two centuries, mostly over small disagreements and sometimes over things which have nothing to do with evangelism or Christ.

This is the kind of divisive work that Satan enjoys the most because he can show that we are petty, spoiled children. Unable to cooperate or get along with each other and continually sniping at each other about points of doctrine and disciplines and man-made laws that our congregations should abide by if they want to belong to a certain conference.

How is it that Christians can claim to know the Truth from God’s Son, Jesus, and yet we make up rules and statutes and disciplines for those who belong to our conferences to follow? Isn’t this what the Pharisees and Sadducees did in Jesus’ day? They laid so many rules and regulations on their people until they couldn’t possibly fulfill them all. Many of our churches today are doing this, especially in the Methodist group of churches. I am not against the Methodist denomination, but it seems that they are a divisive and divided group.

There is little wonder why people call the church a place of hypocrites, because it seems that we cannot make up our minds which way we will follow Christ. Biblically we are supposed to be following Jesus and the doctrine that He taught, not our own! After His resurrection and ascension, individual congregations existed in different localities, but they were not religiously divided. All of them had the same pattern of organization, doctrine, worship, salvation, etc., so why can’t we do this today? The reason is Satan himself. He is the one who is putting the divisions and the jealousy in our churches to break them apart so that they will be ineffective for God’s kingdom!

We must cling to the Word of God and to its doctrines and not our own. Stick to the teachings of Jesus and don’t add anything to it nor draw your own conclusion from it, if the wisdom is not coming from the Holy Spirit then it should be questioned and proven through the Word of God. Pray that our churches can stay the course until Jesus arrives in the clouds to take His saints home.

What is going on now?


Many people are confused, scared and worried about what is going on around the world and in our own country, and they should be! Our officials seem to have lost their minds about what needs to be done about our economy and about our nation as a whole. They want to pass a so-called “balanced budget” which we haven’t had in years, but they won’t let go of an insurance tax that no person in America can actually afford! Why are we being pushed to the brink of economic disaster? Because those in charge don’t care about the people that they were elected to represent! That is why!

I know that my site is supposed to be about learning about our Lord and how to serve Him, but sometimes it is hard to keep from preaching about something that it seems that many in the media are ignoring completely! Yet, God is in control, whether those in Washington, DC want to believe that He is interested in our country or not. He knows which direction our country is heading in and where it will end up. Time is catching up with us and with the world in general and how much longer we have before the time of testing, only God knows.

There are many things happening all over the world right now, every day, and yet God is in control. Many people think that He is not because of all the evil, sick stuff happening everywhere but that is due to Satan and his demons which influence all of the evil that men do. Mankind is evil without God, their thoughts are evil and against God’s law from the time they are born until they feel the call of God on their hearts. If they listen to it and follow Him, God will create a new heart in them so that they will know and follow Him and learn from Him how to be a Christian.

You don’t have to do anything to be saved and become a Christian, in fact it is free. There is no amount of “works” that you can do or have to do in order to receive the grace that God provides for us through Christ because nothing that we do counts in eternity until after we accept the gift of grace from Christ! Your life in eternity begins with your acceptance of Jesus into your life, then everything that you do in His name counts in eternity. A glass of water given, teaching someone about Jesus, giving food to someone who is hungry, if all of these are done in the name of Jesus and because you are a Christian, then you have done it to Jesus Himself.

Charity in this life, done as a follower of Christ, has eternal rewards and maybe eternal consequences. The charity that you do for someone may have an impact in their life and may cause them to become a follower of Christ and it could go on from there. Eventually some small thing that you did for someone may affect many people that you don’t know, but because of something that you did the effect rippled out away from you to include more people than you could’ve known. If we, as Christians, act as we are supposed to do after we come to know Jesus then the world will be a different place, even if it is only one person at a time.

The “ripple” effect can eventually effect many hundreds or even thousands of people. Yes, there is a lot of evil in the world and a lot of bad people to go with it but if we can inspire one person each, then there will be more light in the world than there is darkness eventually. People need to know that there is good in the world, that there are good people, Christian people in the world who show the love of Jesus to those around them. What is going on now can be changed into something good going on now and in the future, if we will be the witnesses and the disciples that Jesus had at the beginning and the ones that His Word commands us to be today!