Tag: Christ

Worry and fear, what should we do?


Jesus said for us not to worry although in today’s world it is hard not to. We hear of all the wars and killings, in our local cities and overseas. We read the news or hear it on the nightly news and wonder what is going on in this world and why. We are worried that our children and grandchildren will have a worse time of it than we had instead of hoping for their lives to be better like our parents did. What has happened to our world and why is all of this terrible stuff happening every day and every night?

It was foretold that this time would be this way, yet few people are paying attention because there are so few who believe the Book that contains those prophecies. Even fewer it seems, believe in the God Who gave the words to the writers of that Book or in His Son, Who came so that we would have eternal life and have a way for all of our sins to be forgiven. Why?

The reason for the unbelief that is so rampant these days is simply that very few families teach their children about God and the founding of our country as a Christian nation. The schools don’t teach it because someone might be offended and take the school to court. America was at one time, following God and seeking His counsel in politics and in everyday life. What happened?

Some would say that we became enlightened to the new “truth”. If the Truth didn’t come from or originate in and from God’s Word, IT ISN’T TRUE! It has been massaged and mangled and changed to the point of being a lie, period! Fifty years ago, when my parents got divorced, the company that my father worked for wrote him a letter and asked him why? Now, most companies could care less what their employees do in their personal lives until they get caught.

Even the sanctity of life is questioned in our lives now. People care more about some terrorist’s feelings than they do about an unborn child and his or her right to live. If you happen to be a Muslim, people are more afraid of insulting you than they are about anyone or anything in the world, why? Because of the wrath of Allah? No, Allah was the name of a moon-god, not the Creator of the universe. The place in Mecca which is so revered houses a meteorite inside, go figure.

Satan’s hatred


For those of you who claim to be atheists, you can stop reading now. If you don’t believe in God then you shouldn’t have to worry about Satan, right?

The rest of you, believers and non-believers, listen to this: Satan HATES YOU! With the utmost, vilest hatred that is known but it is likely that we could never understand the depths of his hatred. Why are we as humans, mankind, hated so by the Accuser of the Saints, Lucifer, the Devil himself? First and foremost is because God loves us, and anyone that God loves, Satan hates since he has chosen to be as much an opposer and opposite of God in all things as he possibly can be.

He cannot create in the same way that God can by speaking something into existence out of nothing, he can incite death and destruction through us by influencing our minds and our thoughts. He has become truly expert at this as well as causing us to dismiss his existence as a tale told to scare children and nothing more. All of the religions of the world were created in the minds of men by him and the fallen angels that came to Earth with him long ago.

The diseases and wars and all of the things which are happening to people, young and old, are part of his doing. As long as he and the demons who serve him are able, they will be thorns in the side of church members and pastors until Jesus comes again. They will cause dissension and other cracks to appear in churches and between the members of those churches in order to weaken the message of Jesus that may be taught there.

This has been going on for centuries and Satan has become very adept at all forms of deceit which mankind will listen to. He will appeal to your vanity and pride through success that he brings your way in order to lure you in his direction and away from serving God. It won’t be as dramatic as the contract signed in blood like some movies have portrayed, but you will be following him or his legion if you are not following God.

Why am I bringing this up on my site? To show that Satan is real and that it is he and his demons who are influencing our world leaders and many of our people today. You can choose to believe that he is doing this or not, I am not trying to prove it to anyone. I am just bringing it up because it is happening, in the background and unless you are a Christian who is following Jesus every day then you are vulnerable to their influence.

Even Christians, if they are not following Jesus and reading God’s Word daily and praying, can be influenced by Satan and his demons. Make sure of your faith, strengthen your faith through God’s Word and pray about what you are reading. Make sure that your life is in God’s hands because life is short and Satan’s time is growing shorter.

God’s grace


God’s grace is sufficient for all of our needs. Why does He extend His grace to us? Because we don’t deserve it, but He gives it to us anyway, that’s why. God loves us and wants the best for all of us, whether you believe this or not doesn’t change the fact. His love is deeper and more pure than anything that we can understand and yet we push Him away more and more. Many people today seem to want less and less to do with Christianity in general. What have we ever done to deserve this? Have we attacked your schools or your homes? No, we do want the best for all and that is why we try to tell you about our Savior. It is that “telling” that everyone who has a phobia against Christians is afraid of or is totally against.

There are numerous instances where the church is vandalized or even set fire, especially in Europe, but it seems to be happening more and more. The sentiment toward the church was predicted by Jesus for the time that we are living in, so it is not totally unexpected but it still brings out pain in my heart and it hurts our world, not as an entity but as God sees us.

God extended His love and His grace to us through Jesus and His sacrifice for our sins. Whether you want to believe in Him or that grace which is so richly poured out on us is totally up to you. It is your decision to choose which part of the world that you will live in, the Christian part or Satan’s part, because there is no middle ground! You are either on one side or the other.

I know that some have said that they will sit on the fence until something or someone knocks them to one side or the other. The problem with this thinking is that, you may fall off when you die and if you haven’t made the decision to follow Jesus by that time then you will be on Satan’s side of the fence. Paint the church black on one side and white on the other to represent God and Satan, allow them to meet in the middle and see how well you can walk the line without dipping into one or the other. You must choose!

The problem that we have is that it is the choice and the power that we have to choose one or the other that causes so many to wait or to put it off for too long. God is patient, but your life goes on regardless and it is limited. As the writer of James said, “your life is like mist or a puff of smoke”, especially compared to eternity and while you have it you must make the best choice that you can. This can’t be denied because even comparing our lives to the past millennia or two, we are only here for a very short time! The choices that you make during this life do have an effect on where you spend eternity! Choose Jesus and come to Him, before it is too late. We live so close to death that many people don’t notice it anymore. People get killed on the highway every day. They are shot and killed for no reason at all in our cities and towns and we hear about it every day, but we get used to it. Life is precious but it is short, make the choice which will give you life everlasting. Ask Jesus to come into your heart and save you from your sins and from the life that you would’ve lived.

Do it…before it is too late.

What are you looking for?


Many people today are searching for something in life to give them hope and joy, but many don’t find it. Why is that? Mainly, it is because they are looking in the wrong places and trying the wrong things.

People tend to give all sorts of stuff a try to see if it fits or if it might fill the need in their lives, hoping that one of them might fill the spot which seems to always feel empty and hollow. Is this because they are ignorant or maybe it is because they haven’t found the right combination yet? No, there is no specific combination or specific thing or drug which will fill this void in your life. But, there is a person Who can do all of those things and more and His name is Jesus.

Living without Him is possible but it is unfulfilling. Yes, you can get through life without Him in it, but you will always feel lost and alone regardless of what you try or who you may be with. When you have felt a tug from the Holy Spirit, whether it is by a dream or a church service or someone witnessing to you, that is Him calling to you. You can walk away and ignore Him, but the call will be felt again. It won’t go away. When that call comes to you, it will come whether you want it or not, because there is something that God knows about you that you do not. That something is a particular thing which only you can do. It may be a message that you can bring to someone or it might be that you will be able to touch someone’s life in a way that nobody else can. But, only you can do it and God knows this which is why He is calling you.

Yes, there is something that you can do or someone who you and only you can speak to or bring the Light into their life and until you let that Light into your life they might never see it. Jesus is the Light and the Life and the proof of it is in God’s Word. All that you need to do is seek Him out because until you do, that part of you which feels empty will never be filled with the One and only Person that can and will make you feel like a whole person.

Think about it and allow Him to come into your life and give you His Life.

The End Game, what is it?


There are always end games in movies, in computer games of all kinds, in business deals and in life itself. So, what is the end game from God’s prophetic point of view that is told in the book of Revelation? It is very simple actually, to bring about the end of Satan’s reign on Earth and to restore Earth to its pre-fall condition.

Humanity fell when Adam didn’t obey God, not just one couple, but also the entirety of creation itself. Before the fall, there was no corruption of the Earth, no weeds or thorns or creeping vines which were of no use except to cover everything. All of this came to be afterward. Death and decay began after the perfection of creation was broken by disobedience.

God knew that it was coming and when. He also knew who would be responsible for the fall, not just Adam but Lucifer too. It was he in the form of a snake which tempted Eve and then Adam decided to go along with his wife instead of following the command of God. Then the Seed of the woman was foretold and we waited for about four thousand years for Him to come into the world.

When that happened, it was still a few years before His ministry came to its conclusion but when it did the endgame began. Bruised by the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus, Satan has been attacking humanity for the past two thousand years. Bringing war, disease, famine, infanticide in the form of sacrifices to demon gods and abortion, the list of tragedies and heartache goes on and on, all because he knows that his time is coming to a close.

Regardless of his pride and his boasting, Satan has already been defeated but he hasn’t stopped trying to get as many people away from God as possible. If he can keep you or me from asking for Jesus to come into our lives, then he will find a way to do it. He is not above killing your family or taking your job or your home either. Any way that he can get to you, to keep you in the place of blaming God instead of asking for His help, then he and the fallen angels that followed him will do it.

Humanity has always had a special place in God’s eyes and if Satan can hurt God by hurting us or causing us to miss the calling that God has for us, then he will do it. The thing to remember is that he is already defeated! The battle is won because Jesus was triumphant over sin and death on the cross! All that we need to do is to believe in Him and His grace that has been given to us.

God did have a Son and He came to bring salvation to us by His death and resurrection at Calvary. He was foretold at least four hundred years before His birth and all of the prophecies about Him were fulfilled by Him when He came! We are important in God’s Kingdom, each of us, and there is something which each of us can do that God knows only we can do. Pray that you can and will find that point in your life, find that place which will bring you to know Jesus.

Because when you do, nothing else matters except doing something, anything for Him and His Kingdom, no matter what it might be, no matter how insignificant you may think that it is, because for Him it will be significant and you can make a difference. Why would anyone do this? Because, Jesus died for you to be able to do it, that’s why! He paid the price so that you can be the person that God knows you can be with His Spirit guiding and helping you to be that person.

So many choices….


There are truly a number of choices for us to choose from relating to religion and our belief systems, whether they point to God, the Creator and the Godhead which is focused on in the Bible or not. In today’s society, it seems that almost any belief which focuses on something or someone outside of the God of Judaism or Christianity, is perfectly acceptable. Why? Because, there is no compulsion or consequence to your actions when there is no absolute Truth to compare to or live by. Most of the other religions of the world have differing ways of reward and punishment regardless of the entity that they follow, but even then most of them don’t have a credible group of witnesses to back them up, as the Scriptures do from the historical record.

Then, there are those who choose to not believe in any supreme being at all. Choosing therefore to be their own “supreme being”, their own law unto themselves. This could be considered a form of idolatry, but if you don’t believe in God or Allah, then believing in yourself is considered just fine in today’s society. I am not bashing those who use belief in yourself as a way to get people to feel better about themselves, but when you are the one who supposedly controls your own destiny then you have a problem. Not with me or my own beliefs, but you will one day find that it was really God all along and that He does exist whether you like it or not.

Just as light and heat, gravity, stars and planets exist so does God and Satan, not believing in them doesn’t change that. Just as a comedian once said something like this “you can confess all the way down that gravity doesn’t exist, it won’t change the outcome.” This may not be a direct quote as I can’t remember the exact words, but the gist of it is the same.

Life on Earth is tough and it is not going to get any easier whether you believe in God or Allah or have no belief system at all. The troubles of this life are easier to bear when you have a belief in God, because you can have hope that one day He will make all things new just as He says in the Bible. Your life on a daily basis can be easier to bear with the stresses that we all have because of your faith in God. If you think that your life is fine without Him, that is your choice and He doesn’t begrudge you for it.

We are not forced into belief, it is our choice to come to faith in God when we are convicted that our life is in need of Jesus. If you never feel that conviction from Him, then all that I can say is “I’m sorry”.

Some have said that Christians are blind and they follow blindly, but consider that faith is having a hope in something which is not seen yet it has been promised by One Who cannot break His promises. James said it best by this:

Dead Faith (James 2:14–17)

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

When you have been saved by faith in Jesus Christ, that is an action because you have faith in Him. Therefore, you will do things in your life which reflect that faith so that others might see it. It doesn’t bring you glory but it does glorify God because it was Him Who called you to faith and you answered. Please, open your heart and mind to the possibility that God’s Word is True. Look at it as the Israelites did while they were captive in Egypt, they were told that one would come who would bring them out of bondage. They didn’t know who or when, but they had faith that God would keep His promise and He always does.

 

The REAL instigator


The person responsible for the fall of mankind isn’t man at all nor is it a woman, it is a fallen angel named Lucifer. He used our own feelings against us in the garden and he is still doing it today. We feel lonely, he is a friend for a price. We are hurt, then he will soothe your feelings with words of comfort..for a price. When you are angry, he will make you feel powerful but he will abandon you when you have to pay for something that you did. There is one particular emotion which he knows how to use and manipulate like a master violin player and that is our pride!

That part of us is usually hidden from most of the world, but sometimes our ego lets it loose. That part of us is easily tweaked as well, our ego, but it goes right along with pride so both of them travel together. Satan has been using this against us for a very long time and he and his demons are expert at getting inside our minds and finding our weaknesses and then using them against us. We shouldn’t be surprised at this at all, because humanity does these same manipulations with each other all of the time.

Sports figures, media, actors and actresses, the list is endless and yet we all tend to be just as manipulative of each other and we begin learning it at a very early age. As children, we learn to manipulate our parents and grandparents into getting us things that we want and we carry that ability into our adult lives. It is part of our “fallen nature” and that is what needs fixing, although many people don’t want to do what is needed in order to get it done.

Jesus is waiting to come into your life and into your heart and He is the only fix, the only cure for our life’s problems. True, becoming a Christian will not provide you with wealth enough to pay everything immediately and I have never claimed that it would, but being a Christian and living by the principles outlined in the Bible will give you an outlook toward being debt free.

The debt toward your sinful life is paid by the blood of Jesus and the life that you live after you accept Him will reflect that if you will read the Bible, pray about your day before starting it, tell others how knowing Jesus has impacted your life. These are the fruits of a life that has been changed by Jesus, it is not work that is required of you nor will it give you more status in the Kingdom of God. These grateful actions are what you do when you feel that Jesus has done something for you that you cannot EVER repay!

Even with our pride and arrogance and ego, God loved us long before we ever heard His call on our life and then answered that call. The thing that many people can’t understand is that we don’t…we can’t be worthy of a place in Heaven without Jesus! If you have ever felt the pull on your heart and soul at a church service or revival and then refused to accept Jesus right then, its okay. But, don’t keep putting Him off by pushing Him away and ignoring Him. God has something which He needs you to do, that is why He is calling you. Because only you can do whatever it is, but you won’t find out until you accept it by accepting Jesus!

Emotions get in our way and sometimes ruin relationships and families, pride and ego, anger, frustration, fear, jealousy are all part of our fallen nature, our “dark side” if you  will. But we can overcome that dark side of us by asking Jesus to come into our lives and give us the power and change us into the people who He knows we can be. When that happens, the world doesn’t look the same or feel the same ever again because it is temporary and will be remade like it once was one day.

Give your heart to Jesus and live for Him every day so that your life will be magnificent and wonderful just as He knows that you can be. Don’t let Satan spoil your life and make it into a mockery of what God knows is there!

What is your passion?


A friend asked me once, “What would  you do if you could make more money?”. My answer was, “Pay off all of my bills.” The problem today is that I am disabled and can’t work at a regular job, so I write on this blog. It doesn’t pay me anything, at least in this life, but I am hoping that some of you get a lift from it or from the words that God gives me to write.

Your passion is usually something which you are, well passionate about! For some people it is their job or making money, for others it may be conservation or community projects, still other people may just be passionate about their immediate family and their well-being. Then there are the sports fanatics and others who are passionate about their teams or whatever. Today, many people seem to be involved in online gaming and for some this is a bit too much.

The point that I was making in the paragraph above is that we sometimes put more of ourselves into something which has no future at all. It doesn’t provide us with any tangible reward other than the enjoyment of our passion, but outside of that, what do you get from it? In truth, many people don’t really care about getting something from it, they just enjoy it period.

Writing does that for me. Sometimes, the words that I am given are inspirational and sometimes they are uplifting or even critical. The reason behind my writing is something which we can’t experience yet and that is eternity. We all have it ahead of us in one form or another. Some think that they will be buried in the ground for an eternity and that is it, others think that when you die, that’s the end of everything like turning off a light.

I write here to tell you that you and I have an eternity ahead of us because that is how God created us. We have a part of us which will live on, our soul or spirit, and depending on our choices in this life will determine where and how our eternity will be spent. Your life, compared to even a portion of eternity like one million years, is pitifully short like a puff of smoke in the wind. It is gone in an instant, like the snapping of fingers.

That is the amount of time that we have here to make a small difference in our lives and in the lives of others. How we accomplish this depends upon Who we choose to follow, God or our own desires. Following our own desires is what we do to begin with and for a while we feel okay with it. But, when you feel something from the Spirit of God usually like an empty feeling like something is missing. Then, you want to fix it as if something just isn’t right.

We try doing this by experimentation with all sorts of “feel good” things. The problem is that they don’t work, at least not in the long-term. They are temporary just like our life. The only real fix is seeking out the Creator, Jesus, Who will fill that empty spot with Himself and then your life will be totally changed. Your passion won’t be the same any more, the hunger that you felt for other things will change.

Following and learning from Jesus is a journey and it is one which doesn’t end, until we are in His presence. When we are there, we will know as we are known. At that point, it won’t matter because our eternal life will be in front of us and all of those friends that we know now who are Christians, we can have fellowship with them for eternity. Although, I am sure our experience will be far above what we can experience here on Earth.

Determine your destiny, seek out God’s wisdom in His Word, seek Him out by prayer and learning of Him because until you find Him and His purpose for your life, you will feel as if something is missing that you can’t put your finger on. That something is Jesus, the missing piece to all of our puzzles.

Lots of stuff happening


Many times and in many places today, people are not sure of what is happening in our world. Oh, they see the news and read it on the Internet and in newspapers and magazines, but much of the stuff that we read and hear about is truly hard to understand. Why are people so angry and frustrated in our world today? Why can’t we just get along with each other? What happened in the past few decades, when we apparently weren’t paying attention, to make our world the way it is now?

All of these questions are asked by people all over the world, yet very few people can give a rational explanation for any of them. Why is that? It is because of a lack of faith and a lack of trust in Almighty God for one. We have become so dependent upon technology and instant gratification until we can’t seem to take a step back and take a breath in order to learn the awesomeness of God Himself! Someone today would ask, “Why should I learn of someone who I don’t believe in? He has no control over my life, and I won’t give him that control.” If that is the way that you feel toward God, then I pity you, whether you accept my pity or not I don’t care.

God is the Healer, not the doctor. God is the Comforter, not your pills. God is the Father of all, not Darwin or Dawkins or whoever you have heard that is preaching the religion of evolution!

God loves you and all of those around you, like it or not, but He doesn’t force you to follow Him or worship Him or even do the things which are written in the Bible. Why not? Because anyone who is forced to do something, hates the person or the system that is forcing them and God wants your love. That is why we have a choice. That is why we are able to choose to obey, to follow, to learn of Him. It’s because of love. Jesus was not forced into submission, He did it willingly because of love. John 3:16 is a verse which almost everyone knows whether they believe it or not, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son. That whosoever believes in Him will have everlasting life.”

We were created to have fellowship with God, not because we have to but because we should want to. Think of it this way, if you were found guilty of a crime punishable by death, not just a death but one which would go on and on throughout eternity in pain and agony. Then some person came forward and said that they would pay your debt, wipe clean your slate and take the punishment in your place, without anything that you could give them for this or anything that you might add because you have already been condemned. What would you do? What would you say to them? Would you be grateful beyond measure? Or would you just walk off and say, “Better you than me!”? It seems that in our society today, many people would do just that. Why?

I can’t answer that. My love for God and for His Son doesn’t allow me to understand that sort of callous, cold heart. I know that some people feel that way, because years ago that would’ve been me. Consider that Jesus didn’t have to do any of the redemptive things which He did, but because He loved the Father and the Father, God Himself, loves each one of us, Jesus did fulfill all of those things which had been prophesied about Him. Out of love and compassion for us, Jesus willingly gave His life so that we might have an eternity to look forward to. Some think that they are going to have an eternal party with Satan in hell, without interference from God. It will be an eternity, but it will not be a party!

You get this life to work out your relationship with God, as short or as long as your life may be. None of us knows how many years or days we have left, so the idea that you can wait until you are old is just stupid. You might be involved in a severe car wreck tomorrow and never wake up from it, until you are face to face with God. You may have a stroke or a heart attack tonight which may put you face to face with God. The point is that, whether you believe in God’s existence or not, you will face Him one day. He doesn’t punish you by sending you to hell, you are the one who has made that choice and it is your choice! By sending Jesus to take the punishment for all of us on the cross, God provided each of us a way to be reconciled to Him, all that is required of us is belief in Jesus and asking Him to forgive us for waiting so long.

Satan’s plan


The church is being deceived by Satan and his fallen angels and was so long ago and they are still at it today. Oh, for some it is a very minor deception, mostly of pride and arrogance which has been nurtured by working in the minds of clerics and priests as well as in bishops and preachers. The deception is so subtle until it is hard to spot, until the damage is done but it creeps in like rust on a steel bridge. A little weakening here and there, a bit of dodging around the scriptures in ways that seem “right” but changes their meaning just a bit. This has been his way all along, just as he did in Eden when he asked Eve about what God said. “You will not surely die! You will be like God knowing good and evil. Twisting words a bit, appealing to humanity’s pride, because pride has been the root of mankind’s sin that gives rise to all kinds of things like rebellion and vanity just as it did when the rebellion happened in Heaven.

Satan and his fallen angels will do whatever is possible against the church and its members in order to take as many with them into hell as they can. They are the instruments of disease, death, persecution and temptation in our world, especially against the church and those who claim to know Jesus. They also empower some church leaders to gain so much wealth that the message becomes twisted and weak and in the end, the body of Christ becomes weak and pitiful, alive but just barely.

In many ways, this is exactly what the world sees in the church today, regardless of the denomination or the leader who is taking his flock on a very broad road to hell with the assistance of Satan himself. As long as he can injure or take down the effectiveness of the church and the message, then he and his fallen angels will do just that, regardless of how much damage it does. He hates man with a passion which goes beyond human understanding and he hates the church even more!

The church has seen much deceit and division with people caught in lies and extortion and with the “leaders” of the congregations getting into all sorts of trouble. Some of them caught in adulterous situations and some getting very wealthy from their “partners in the ministry” helping to spread the Gospel of Christ and yet they own mansions and cars and jets. This is not the church that Jesus intended it to be!

Christians are supposed to be patterning their lives after Jesus, seeking Him and His Wisdom in everything that they do, yet there are some who do demonstrate against authority, against the law and against our government.Why is this being done? Because, if Satan can make the world look at the church, the body of Christ, as intolerant and hateful towards the freedoms that the world enjoys without the church then soon the world will turn against the church altogether.

One of the biggest problems with mankind and one that Satan uses is that we have an independent fallen nature which gives us the delusion of being in control of our lives and the outcome of our lives, whether spiritual or physical. We think that we are capable of reaching for Heaven independent of God and that is the biggest lie that Satan has told and nearly the whole world believes it! True believing Christians who depend on God and seek Him in their lives do not, but it seems that those are few these days and likely in a couple of generations will disappear from the Earth which is exactly what Satan wants!

Since God created mankind to worship Him and know Him, Satan is striking at God by destroying or hurting us in any way that he can. Through disease, poverty, war, famine, hatred of our religion and the One that we follow, Satan has struck at the heart of God by striking at the church, those of us who believe in Jesus and His message. If he can do enough damage that Christianity were outlawed and church services were banned, unless they were worshipping him or one of the “religions” that he approves of, then part of his mission here is working.

It is not finished yet, but he knows that his time is growing short.Then, he will turn on God’s people, the Jews just because they are God’s chosen people. He has deceived them into being so religious about their religion that they missed the Christ when He came and many still can’t see Him even today because they are blinded to Him. Pray that our world and those in it who have been blinded by the pride of life and their own fantasies will come to realize that they are not in control