Tag: God loves you

Abounding Grace


Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people because all sinned—

13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.

15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

OurGodisAbleIn these verses, Paul writes that because the knowledge of sin increased, grace abounded even more through the man Jesus and His sacrifice for our sins. We are made free from sin in Christ, not because we don’t sin anymore or that we are made sinless but because through Him our sins are forgiven and we can be made free from the burden of sin. Sin has made mankind slaves to its influence for thousands of years and yet through Jesus’ sacrifice, we can gain our freedom if we will put our faith in Him and believe that He did this for us!

In Jesus, we can have life eternal because He is the Author and the Finisher of our faith.

But…sitting in church or having knowledge of Jesus and Who He is, yet without accepting His gift of eternal life through belief in Him and what He did for you will gain you nothing! Satan knows about Jesus, the demons in hell know about Him but knowing about Him is not enough. Believing in Him and what He did for you is the key when you feel convicted of your sins. Don’t turn away from Him when He calls at the door of your heart.

God loves each of us dearly or He would not have sent Jesus to go to the cross and die for your sins and the sins of all, past, present and future! He knows which of us will accept this gift but it is available to everyone who will believe in Jesus and ask for His forgiveness of our sins. Don’t throw this opportunity away.

 

tick, tock, tick, tock…


Every second which passes by you and your family is gone for good. There is no getting it back and it can’t be recovered in any fashion by any means. So…why do we allow the time that we do have to slip from our grasp with impunity? It seems that work and life, in general, gets in the way or just takes up our time as we live it second by second.

Telling your wife or husband “I love you” gets pushed away at times because of other pressing matters such as work and time taking care of the yard or the dishes or some other “busy work”. Then, when it comes to the end of the life of our significant other, we want to run time back so we can have more time to do those things which they enjoyed.

You never know when your life or mine or your wife or child will be taken from this life, so make sure that you spend time with them, love them and tell them so. Make sure that you know Jesus and that your family does too because you don’t want to spend eternity in Heaven knowing that they aren’t there.

Time slips by one second at a time and I began this post 24 hours ago! Those are hours which none of us will ever see again. What you did last night or yesterday is in the past, but God knows what you said and what you did with those minutes and hours. Life is precious and so is the time that we have to spend in it so don’t waste it…ever! Cherish those around you and enjoy the time that you have with them because when it is gone, you can’t get it back.

God loves each of us which is why He came in the flesh of man to redeem us from sin and its sentence in our lives bringing death to all who don’t repent. Jesus, the Son of God and second in the Trinity, came to bring a sinless man to the cross and die for all of mankind which paid the price for all. No amount of work or gifts to the church will help in your salvation, only by accepting Jesus as your Savior and giving up your old life can you be saved from an eternity in hell.

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Grace


His grace is an extension of benevolence translated into action that releases His enabling power into our lives.

Seeing that we can never merit His favor, we are indebted to Him to extend to us His mercy and bestow upon us His grace whereby we may respond to Him in an acceptable manner. From beginning to end we are dependent upon Him, for life itself, for all sustenance by which we continue to live and have our existence, and most importantly for our spiritual life without which we are but the “living dead”.

God extends His grace to us each day, yet many don’t perceive it nor even care that it is available. Jesus died and rose again to give us the grace and the hope of Heaven and eternity along with forgiveness from the Father. So why are so many churches today closing their doors? Because of the time in which we live, that’s why. This time frame in which we are all living right now is just prior to the Tribulation but the church and the Holy Spirit will be taken from the Earth before that.

God will still work in the hearts of mankind during the Tribulation but it will be much harder to give your heart to Him because if you aren’t serving the person who is in power at the time, there will be consequences. How long in coming will this be? I have no idea. Even Jesus said to His disciples that that day or hour is only known by God.

There have been many people in the past and right up until recently who thought they knew the day or the hour but they were mistaken. We can’t know the mind of God or His timing but there will be no mistake when the church is taken up to Heaven. Make sure that you are a part of that company and not one of those left behind.

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No boundaries


In the world today there are borders which are not visible on the ground which separate nations from each other. But there is no boundary between us and God Himself, at least not anymore. When Jesus said that “It is finished” on the cross the curtain between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies ripped from top to bottom. This didn’t happen because of an earthquake or by someone cutting it but because of the Holy Spirit giving access to God’s mercy seat.

Why did this happen? Because the sinless Lamb of God had died and paid the price for all of mankind, not just a few people but for all who had lived and died in the past, the present and in the future where we are today! God’s love doesn’t have any boundaries, regardless of the rhetoric that we hear in the world. His love is such that He gave a part of Himself, His Son, to pay for all of our sins so that we can have access to Heaven and to Him. Nobody else would do that!

The question for us today is this: Do you set boundaries in your life where God is NOT welcome? If you do then you are limiting His work in your life and through you for the world around you. God loves each of us and He will draw each of us to Him when we feel the conviction of our sinful ways. That conviction comes through the Holy Spirit and each time that you feel it, if you have pushed it away or ignored it, it will get a little bit weaker and not quite as loud. Until one day, you may not feel it or hear it at all.

Don’t push Him away. Listen for His call on your life because it doesn’t matter what you may have done in the past, God is willing to forgive and take you into His family. Paul and Moses had both committed murder, yet God used them in mighty ways! Your life can be a witness to others who may believe wrongly that they can’t be saved, but they can be if they are willing to repent of their sins and follow Jesus.

The Bible is God’s Word and it is not just some old dusty book written by a bunch of old men! It is the Living Word! The Bible is a testament of God’s love for us and it is the tangible representation of the Son of God that we have today. John called Him the Living Word and that is what the Bible is as well. Each person who reads it gets a different message from the same passages because He speaks to each of us differently.

Don’t turn away from Him or the study of His Word because it is the mind of God which was given to us for instruction and training and for wisdom in this life! There is no education in the world which contains the wisdom in this Book except maybe a few seminaries where future pastors are trained. God loves us and He is coming back soon, so be watchful and be praying for those who haven’t given their lives to Jesus.

God’s Love


God’s love is more than we can believe or understand and that is why we have so much trouble believing. Even when you read the “Love chapter”, 1 Corinthians 13, most of us think this is referring to love that we have toward each other. In reality, it is a human description of God’s Love for us. Why do I call it a human description? Because the Bible was written with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, just as the words here are, but our vocabulary is limited by the words that we use.

God’s love for us is so…deep and unknowable until we can’t begin to describe it in terms which we can understand. We can compare it to our love for our children, whether we are a father or a mother but even that falls terribly short. Yes, we love our children but God loves each of us in a deeper way that we just can’t comprehend. Does He really love those who hate Him? Yes, and He loved the world enough that He sent Jesus to die in our place to provide each of us a way to come to Him through His Son. Whether we accept that invitation or not is still our choice though.

God doesn’t want slaves or instinctual service from us, He wants a relationship with us! It doesn’t matter what we have done or who we are, He wants to know you and He wants you and me to get to know Him!

1 Corinthians 13 New International Version
13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

This is the description of how we should be to our wives and our children as well as toward each other in the church. It is a description which falls short of the love which God has for us, but it is how we are to be toward each other in Christ. Can you do this without Him? Partially, but not completely. Living and loving in this manner is not something which we are able to do on our own. God designed us to be this way but when sin entered the Garden our Spirit was cut off from God until we realized that we truly need Him in every way, every single day!

Don’t turn away from God and His love for you. He longs to show it to you in ways which you may not be able to see right now, but He will if you just give Him a chance in your life to change your heart and draw closer to Him each and every day.

We are special to God


YouAreSpecialHave you ever needed help which people cannot provide? Most of us have been through exactly that in our lives, especially before we found out that we NEED Him! There are many times in life where each of us truly needs God.

In truth…we need Him every day. Can we get through the day without Him? Yes, but we will likely make more mistakes during those times while we aren’t living each day with Him, following Him through the day.

I pray that you will seek Him out while you are yet living on this Earth because one day you will face Him and you will give an account of WHY you chose to live without Jesus.

If you believe that you are good enough to get into Heaven without Jesus, you may try…but it won’t work! We are not able to be completely free from sin on our own. We are only human and our nature from a young age is to be sinful. If you don’t believe me, tell a three-year-old or a five-year-old child not to touch the jar of cookies. Even when you are still in the room they will be working out in their head how they can do it.

Then, when they do get a cookie or two, ask them if they got those from the jar that you told them not to get into. They will most likely tell you “Nope, I didn’t get any cookies”. Many of us who are parents have heard this many times, it is nothing new. We are born with a sinful nature and even when we are too young to know that we are telling lies, we know how to do it and we don’t need someone to teach us how.

joyBe joyful in the Lord because He is thy Helper and your strength in times of trouble. God knows your trials and the problems that beset you in your days because there is nothing which is hidden from Him. Amen

 

 

 

Who is Jesus?


John 8:12-29

12 Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not valid.”
14 Jesus replied, “Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is valid because I know where I came from and where I am going. But you do not know where I came from or where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16 But even if I do judge, My judgment is true, because I am not alone when I judge; I am with the Father, who sent Me. 17 Even in your own Law, it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. 18 I am One who testifies about Myself, and the Father, who sent Me, also testifies about Me.” 19 “Where is Your Father?” they asked Him. “You do not know Me or My Father,” Jesus answered. “If you knew Me, you would know My Father as well.”
20 He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts, near the treasury. Yet no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come. 21 Again He said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for Me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews began to ask, “Will He kill Himself, since He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 Then He told them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 That is why I told you that you would die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
25 “Who are You?” they asked. “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. 26 “I have much to say about you and much to judge. But the One who sent Me is truthful, and what I have heard from Him, I tell the world.” 27 They did not understand that He was telling them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He and that I do nothing on My own, but speak exactly what the Father has taught Me. 29 He who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, because I always do what pleases Him.

Why is the title of my sermon, Who is Jesus? Well, I want to know Who He is to you! Is He your Savior? Is He a prophet or a man? Is He the Son of God? Is He all of these?

YES!!! Jesus is all of these and more!

But…how many people think that He was just a prophet like Moses? There are many in the Middle East who think this way. The Jewish people mostly think that He was just a prophet like Moses. The descendants of Ishmael, those who are Muslim, believe that He was only a prophet and a servant of their prophet.

Jesus is part of the Trinity and the Son of God and yet He was also human, which is why He could understand us and our temptations and pain and our limitations in this life. But, He was also God and He proved it through His actions like healing the sick, bringing people back from death, and walking on water. Jesus also proved that He was more than a man in that He was able to hear and listen to God and to do everything that His Father told Him to do.

We may try to do those things and truly we can hear from God in our prayer time and we can try to do the things which He tells us to do but can we do them completely? No, we can’t be completely in His will and do His will every day, all of the time and accomplish it without mistakes. We are human and because of this and because of our human nature, we can’t perfectly be obedient to God’s will each and every day of our lives! But Jesus could do these things because He was fully human and fully God too.

Here is another proof of Who Jesus was and is:

The Way, the Truth, and the Life

5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

So…what are we to do with Jesus? Are we to keep Him in our hearts and never tell anyone that we know Him? Do we ignore what the Bible says about Him and live our lives as if Jesus and God Himself don’t matter in our lives today? Do you know Jesus?

If you do know Him then tell others about Him and what He has done in your life. Do you live your life without Him? That is a very dangerous thing to do. Have you accepted Him as your Savior but you haven’t told anyone about Him. Why?

Living without Jesus is dangerous because when your life is over and you are standing before Him…what can you possibly do to justify your life’s choices? If you have accepted Him and have not told anyone about His influence in your life then you are being disobedient to His command to tell others about Him. Being a Christian by giving your life to Him and repenting of your sins is a gift from God and it is your choice when the Holy Spirit convicts you of your NEED of Him. Choosing to live without Him is a foolish choice in this world so I urge you to choose Jesus as your Savior before it is too late to make that choice.

 

 

 

Why is racism a thing?


 

 

NoRacism

There is no racism or bigotry here unless it is taught by their parents. God did not design us to be racist. He didn’t endorse racism, even though some passages seem to say this. God only told the Israelites to get rid of those in Canaan who were not of their “race” because of their worship practices, not because of their skin color or their hair or any other distinguishing feature about them except that they worshiped false gods.

So, why do we continue to see so much bigotry and hate between people who are the same race…the human race? Remember, in the book of Genesis, all of humanity came from one set of parents. Adam and Eve, who were likely dark skinned but were also light enough that all of the skin tones in the world came from their genetics. God did not make a mistake in any of His creation, so why do we consider one race, one skin tone, better or more desirable than another?

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That is learned from our parents and grandparents, nowhere else does this bigotry come from in each culture of the world. Yet many people hold that their “race” is the one who discovered ______________. Who cares? Any person in the world can be smart enough to find the cure for cancer or diabetes or any number of ailments if God gives them the talent and the knowledge. Many herbal remedies could be the cure for many diseases IF the pharmaceutical companies weren’t so greedy.

Our world was made by God and declared to be good in His sight, it is mankind who has caused things to go downhill since then. I don’t believe in global warming, but our world is changing in ways that are leading up to the end of the age. That is why things are changing so much. When I said that we have caused things to go downhill I don’t mean in our climate, but I do consider all of the wars and drugs and pornography and other things which are causing many more troubles in the world today.

Our news programs don’t concentrate on any good news and the bad news is just heard in snippets of a couple of minutes or so and then they move on to the next one in line. All of this is because of our attention spans getting shorter and that is a direct result of the Internet and its effect on us. We should be reading the Bible and asking God to show us exactly what He wants us to learn from it because it is His Word and the absolute Truth! Many people today don’t want to hear about an absolute Truth but the Word, which has been given to us by God, is the Truth which we all need.

Don’t turn away from His Word and seek Him out in all things, especially in the times that we are living in. God cares for us and He gives each of us the grace that we need for today and the strength to go with it. If He decides that we have another day then we will get the grace and the strength for that day when it comes. He doesn’t give us a promise of a certain number of years, but we do get a day to day existence when we are following Him so don’t miss it.

Encouragement


Son of encouragement. That is what Barnabas was called in the book of Acts, in fact, that is what the name means. His actual name was Joseph and he was from Cyprus. He was very prominent in the early church. Why do I mention him here? Because each of us needs an Encourager. Yes, the Lord is also an Encourager and gives us the encouragement we need through the reading of His Word. So, why do we need another to give us more?

Because we have all encountered setbacks and problems along the way. Sometimes it is because of depression or other things which are “bringing us down” and we need someone to cheer us up. We are so bombarded by updates and news today in this world of 24/7 connected devices until it is hard to make sense of it all. Decompression and relaxation doesn’t happen when we take a vacation anymore. Because we are never disconnected from our phones or our tablets or laptops!

God did not intend for us to live our lives like this every day! Years ago the prediction was that computers would make our lives easier and our work would be less. That didn’t happen at all! Now that we have smartphones, which amount to pocket-sized computers, we are never away from news and work-related content! Even when we are in places where there is limited service we feel as if we are in danger because we can’t contact someone or be contacted.

So a bit of encouragement is needed especially today and particularly now. It keeps us going when the times get a bit choppy with troubles and all of the stress which we have in this world. Just listen to someone who is hurting or in need of a friend, don’t offer advice unless they ask for it. Why do I say this? Because it is very likely that you haven’t been in their shoes before. I know that many of us have had loved ones to die or we have gotten divorced or even lost a job, but some people are going through more than one stressor at a time. So..be gentle.

God is there for all of us and He does comfort us in all of our troubles and situations, but sometimes it just takes a sympathetic ear or a shoulder to lean on or even cry on. Nobody can handle all of life’s troubles without God or someone to support them and just be there when things aren’t going the way they should. Yes, Jesus is nearer than any person could be, but until He is here in the flesh we need a friend at times. Try to be that friend because there will come a time when you need one and if you were never there for someone then who will be there for you?

What will you do?


I think I have written a post by this name before but it does need to be repeated. Why? Because there are too many people who haven’t figured it out yet. So, have you figured out what this means?

Jesus died on the cross for you. He paid the penalty for your sins and mine and everyone else’s sin in the world. While it is true that not everyone will be saved, that doesn’t mean that the way is open for all. So…what will you do with your gift of eternal life in Heaven? Will you throw it away or just decide not to follow Jesus because you think there isn’t any fun in it?

Every person is going to live for an eternity, but it is your decision about your belief in Jesus which determines where you will live it. If you decide to only believe in yourself or in some other “god” besides Jesus, then you will meet Him but He will be your judge instead of your Lord. Some of you may think this is unfair, but God has provided a way for you to live in Heaven but it is dependent upon your belief in Jesus or not which determines your admission to His Kingdom. Why did God make it dependent on your choice? Because salvation is a choice. While it’s true that the Holy Spirit convicts you of your need of salvation, it’s still your decision to accept the offer.

God loves all of humanity but He doesn’t love our lifestyles or our sinful lives. Many in the world deny that Jesus was the Son of God even though God says so in the gospels. Why do we rebel against our Creator in this way? Because we are stubborn and we want to live our lives the way we want to live them, not according to the Bible and His way of living. Can we live the way that Jesus taught His disciples to live and work and spread the gospel? Of course, we can, but we will have to live our lives daily according to His example

Will it be easy to live this way in the world today? No, it won’t be but with Jesus in your heart and with His Spirit, in you, it can be done. But, only if you depend on Him to get you through each day…one day at a time. Which is why you should look in God’s Word for wisdom and support for your life. As Paul wrote about each of us “keeping our eyes on the prize of glory through Jesus the Christ our Lord”, it’s necessary to do exactly that!

When Jesus told Peter to get out of the boat and walk on the water, he did it for a few steps. But, then he took his eyes off of Jesus and began to sink. That’s why we should spiritually keep our eyes on Him every day! Because walking in this life as a Christian is not easy, even though many people think that it is. Walking as a Christian daily can only be done successfully by keeping our heart and our mind focused on Him. Don’t seek out your own wants and stuff, which most of us don’t have enough room for anyway. Seek His way and His Truth in your life and in all of your steps through this life.

I pray that our churches, our country and our representatives in Washington will turn to the Lord because our country and the world needs to see us doing this.