Tag: Christianity

The Depth of God’s Love Explained


What does it mean, “to call on Him in truth”? The truth that David is speaking of here has to do with your faith in the Lord. God has never been very far from any of us whether we believe in Him or not. He is always near us. Close enough to be a comfort in our time of need, whatever that need may be. It is true that we sometimes feel that He is far away, but in those times it is because we have moved away from Him. He is always close at hand to be a comforter and a friend in all of our times of need.

We are living in a time where we feel the world is going crazy. It seems to be coming apart at the seams, to quote a phrase. But even when the world seems to be coming apart, God is still in control. His plans and His prophesied work will be accomplished regardless of our belief in Him or not.

God loves us and even if there had only been one person to save, Jesus would’ve gone to the cross for that person. That is a hard truth to wrap your mind around but it is true. God’s love extends to each person so deeply and completely that He would’ve gone to the cross even if only one person in the world would believe and be saved. Think about that for a moment. If that doesn’t blow your mind, I don’t know what would.

We can’t imagine the real depth of the love which God expressed on the cross through Jesus Christ. Jesus told the thief “today, you will be with Me in paradise“. All that thief did was believe in Jesus, yet it brought him to salvation

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.

Three wooden crosses stand on a rocky hill against a fiery sunset and dark clouds.
Three wooden crosses stand silhouetted against a breathtakingly dramatic sunset and stormy desert sky.

There is too much…


Every day we are exposed to all of the news. Good news, bad news, and every kind in between. Today we have “smartphones” which expose us to all sorts of information that we actually don’t need to know. If you are on Facebook, then you have that on your phone and you get all of the relevant “stuff” that comes with it. Any of the other social media sites that you may be a part of and your exposure just goes up exponentially. Does anyone remember when daily life was a lot simpler? I do enjoy having my phone and the fact that I can use it to look up information is just a plus. But, how many people are truly addicted to their phones and the networks that we have on them?

I saw a young man last week walking around with his smartphone in his hand and in front of his face as he walked. I pray that he doesn’t drive that way. What is my point about all of the news and exposure that we have day after day? My point is that we should be using all of that time that our phones take from us to be with our family and friends. I don’t mean texting them or giving them a like on something they shared. I mean actually putting the phone down and talking to them. If you have children, put the phones down and talk to them.

God allowed the smartphone to be invented but I don’t think He would agree with how we live almost 24 hours connected to social media and all of our “friends”. What do I mean with the “friends” being in quotes? I’ve seen people on Facebook who supposedly have over two thousand friends!? Really? I don’t have 500 and I actually try to keep my list of people that I actually know or have become friends with.

Regardless of the number of friends you have on Facebook or any other social media page, the friend that you truly need is Jesus. The world around us is reflecting the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation and from Jesus in Matthew 24. If you have never given your heart to Jesus and allowed Him to change your life, you need to be seeking Him today. We don’t know how many days we have on this Earth, so today truly is the day of your salvation! I pray that everyone who reads this will turn away from their “life” and seek your true Life in Jesus Christ.

God can overcome evil!


We are supposed to overcome evil with good as well, but we can only do it IF we have God in our hearts.

When you ask Jesus to come into your heart and save you from the sin that you were in, it is His power that gives you the ability to overcome evil. Life is full of good things that everyone can see and feel, but some bad things happen every day, too. Prayer is one of the weapons that we have to overcome evil in this world and we should use it. Will God stop evil in this world? Sometimes He will, but He won’t stop all of the evil in the world because even God uses the outcome of it to bring about His purposes.

It sounds wrong to say that God would use evil to accomplish His purposes, but He does. God loves us all, but many of us have not given our hearts to Jesus. He is still trying to bring as many people in the world to Jesus as He can, but He knows who will respond and who won’t. The age of grace is coming to an end, and if you want to spend eternity in Heaven, you should give your heart to Jesus as soon as possible. I don’t know when He will call the church home, but it is much closer than many people think.

I pray that anyone who reads this post and hasn’t given their life to Jesus will consider it and make that decision soon. The Tribulation spoken of in the book of Revelation will not be a pleasant time for anyone on Earth, so be sure you get your life and your heart right with Jesus before it is too late.

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.

Suffering produces strength


Rejoice in your life, whatever might be happening every day. God loves you, and He doesn’t leave you, regardless of how you feel. Some people will tell you that God doesn’t care, but He does! God loves each of us more deeply than we can imagine because His love is elemental. He created you in the womb, and He knows every part of you because He knit your DNA together, especially for your purpose. What that purpose is, only He knows for sure. Seek Him so you will learn about His love and about your purpose.

The entire Bible is a book about God’s love for His creation. Yes, it does focus on Israel and the Jewish people, but when Jesus came and died for the whole world…that includes each of us. Don’t go through life thinking that money will solve your problems. It does help, but money is not the only thing. Your life matters, regardless of your status or how much money is in the bank. Allow God to guide you every day by reading His Word and seeking to know Him better. He does have a purpose for you, so find it and ask Him to help you fulfill it.

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.

You are important to God


When you become a Christian, for a number of years, you will be looked at as a babe in Christ. Until you learn more about the Bible and study it, you will be recognized as a student of the Bible. You won’t be able to move beyond that until you have read the Bible completely and quote scripture without looking it up. It takes a while, and it is not easy. I have used a reading program for years that reads the Bible to me as I study along, and in the last fifteen years or so, I have read through the Bible at least once every year.

Our world has changed so dramatically in the last fifteen years, since I was called to be a pastor, and it seems that the rate at which we are moving toward the “end of days” is speeding up. If you have read the 24th chapter of Matthew, you can see some of the correlation between the Bible and what is on the news. If you read the Revelation of Jesus, especially the first four chapters, you will find more of the news pointing toward the time of the end. Over 99 percent of the prophecies in the Bible have been fulfilled already. The parts that haven’t been fulfilled are those in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, and some parts of those are beginning to be fulfilled.

Make sure that you know Jesus, but especially make sure that He knows you. There will be no warning when He comes for the Church, you will either go with Him or you won’t.

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.