Tag: God loves you

What is the difference?


OnlyJesusIn the world today there are many, many religions and their differences can be confusing, even baffling to someone who doesn’t practice one or another. Some are looking for a stress-free environment or a way to live as stress-free as possible. Others are thankful for just living one day at a time, while some religions seem to worship everything around them.

Then, there is Christianity which worships one God which has three persons. That doesn’t mean that there are multiple gods in Christian worship, the three in One serve the same purpose in different ways.

God the Father is our Creator and the Creator of everything in the universe. God the Son was sent to Earth to reconcile mankind’s sinful ways so that we could come to the Father through the sacrifice of the Son, Jesus. God the Holy Spirit has a job which includes the other two, but He is Spiritual in form and function. Which makes His function kinda hard to describe. The Spirit or Holy Ghost as He has been called allows our minds to understand and learn the Truths of Scripture when we study and read it. He is also the One Who convicts your spirit of the need for salvation if you aren’t saved through Jesus already.

If you could be physically in the room with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, they would look alike but different. Similar to being in the room with triplets. They look the same but there are subtle differences which are seen and understood but which are also hard to detect. Am I making this distinction worse or understandable? If you saw the movie, The Shack, you get a little bit of the differences and similarities that I am talking about.

None of the other religions claim to actually get you into heaven, except Christianity. They call it paradise or nirvana or oneness. Jesus even called it Paradise once on the cross when He was talking to the thief who asked to be remembered when He came into His Kingdom. Heaven would and will be a true Paradise because there is no death, no disease, no need for any of our man-made things to feel better because in the Presence of God nothing can hurt or harm us!

We will be in the dwelling place of God Himself and since He is the manifestation of Love and Life, there will be nothing which can take those blessings from us ever again! The descriptions of Heaven which some have written about or painted are so much beyond our ability to put into words or even to paint them with the colors or the words that we have until it truly blows your imagination apart. The mind has not seen nor can the imagination fathom what Heaven looks or feels like because we have nothing to compare it to.

A life lived in honor of and following Jesus is one which is never boring or without results which will burn into eternity. God loves us and since He gave His Son to pay the penalty for our sins, then we should give our lives to Him as a living sacrifice so that others may know His blessings and His grace.

 

We need hope


But, where can we find that hope? Have you ever wondered about that? We can’t do it alone. Our collective hope should come from Jesus, but will this ever happen? Yes, it will but it will be after a time of great suffering in our world. Why do hope and redemption come to us after hardship or suffering? In many ways, it is because we need to learn a lesson and God knows how stubborn we are. So, our hope and our deliverance come at the cost of hardship and suffering.

We always pray for deliverance and hope, sometimes we don’t use those specific words but it is the presence of hope that most of us are searching for. There are times when hope seems to be very far away or even not attainable, but God is as near as our next prayer and that is what gives us hope. God does care about all of us and He is never any distance from you, yet we think He is at times.

Hope is also the offspring of love and since God is Love personified then just knowing that your prayer is heard and that He listens to it and knows your situation gives you hope. So, why do people generally ignore Him and look in all sorts of places and people for their hope? I believe that it is because of the time in which we live.

What is so different about this “time”? If you can look back about forty or fifty years, with your parents or grandparents, they can tell you about how the world was when they were young. I know, many of you are tired of hearing about “the good old days”, but in many instances compared to today, that was true! Crime statistics from 1960, 1970 and 1980 all show a very different world from what we see and hear today.

For instance, in 1960 there were less than 200 car thefts per 100,000 people in the whole of the United States.a5667a1c-d550-49b9-9c38-daf1c70db46c

This is just one statistic but you get the point. I am sure there are others out there which can be found on the Internet. My point is that even though theft of cars has gone down and is even approaching the numbers from 57 years ago, other metrics like murder, rape, crimes against humanity (religious wars), are rising. All of this is happening because we are nearing the time described in the book of Revelation.

Why am I bringing this up in a post which is about hope? Because our Hope is in Jesus and He is coming back very soon. This is why Satan and his demons and spirits are intensifying their work these days. Their time is growing short and they know it! I am not speaking of people being possessed, just that spirits and demons can influence people, especially those who have ignored giving their lives to Jesus.

I am not speaking of people who just “claim to be Christians” because there are far more of those than there are actual Christians. People claim to be Christians when they have been to a church service once or twice a year. They also claim this distinction when their parents went to church when they were young as if you can inherit it. Christianity is not something like a cold or the flu, you don’t get it by being in contact with a Bible or being present in a church service occasionally!

You are and become a Christian when you have felt the call of the Lord on your heart, which you will be able to detect. It isn’t emotional nor is it just a decision which you make to become a Christian. When the Holy Spirit touches your heart or your soul, that part of you which can’t be found on an MRI, you will know it. Occasionally it comes during a service or by watching a service on TV, God can use any venue to get your attention. But it is NOT just a decision on your part!

Some people will tell you that you can refuse to listen when this happens and you can ignore it for a while. But I don’t recommend it. Read the book of Jonah and you will see that when God wants to use someone for His purposes, you will be brought around in time. My own calling into the ministry was over thirty years ago, but I ignored it until about ten years ago and I couldn’t ignore it any longer. No, God doesn’t make your life hard or unhappy in order to turn your heart back to His call but He will cause you to feel that call in a more urgent way.

Your hope and mine lie in the arms of Jesus and when you feel His call on your life, don’t put it off. My reason for this is that you can’t be sure of the length of your life and if you don’t accept Him as your Savior and Lord when you feel His call, you may not get another chance to accept it. An out of control car or tire on the highway could take your life tonight and you will meet Him but in a very different circumstance than what you should. Meeting Him without knowing Him and being a Christian will be…well let’s just say it isn’t very good at all.

Could we all just get along?


This is a question which has been asked and asked again over the years and decades yet it never seems to be answered. We are all human beings, Gender doesn’t matter, nationality doesn’t matter, skin color doesn’t matter, even political ideology doesn’t really matter, at least they don’t until someone gets their feelings hurt or in some way offends someone else. Then one offense gets blown out of proportion entirely by the news media or social media and it makes the offense grow.

One word or phrase or even the look on your face can cause these same reactions between friends and family alike. Is it possible to even have worldwide peace and harmony when we are all so messed up and thin-skinned? On our own merits and ideas, no I do not believe that peace can be achieved in our lifetime or maybe even in many lifetimes.

The only possible way that this will ever happen will be when the world is brought under one ruler and He must be Jesus, the Son of God and our Lord. Any other initiative or attempt at peace on a worldwide scale will fail eventually simply because…well because we are human!

So, what do we do in the meantime? If we could get the world to follow Jesus and understand that He is the only Savior Who can bring our whole world into a peaceful state of being, I am afraid that nobody living today could possibly get everyone to get along. Even if we did somehow get the world to go along with this initiative, eventually it will fail. Following Jesus worldwide will only happen when He rules the world from Jerusalem during His reign of one thousand years.

Seek Him out and pray that you will be saved through Him so that you can enjoy fellowship with Him and other saints into eternity.

 

Sufficient grace


2 Corinthians 12:7-10

“And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh…”

We are plainly taught how mistaken we are when we set eminent saints upon a platform by themselves, as though they were some kind of superhuman beings or even angels.

Paul enjoyed more revelations than we do or at least more than we should let others know about,  but then he also had a thorn in the flesh. He was a good man, but he was only a man. And, as men sometimes do, he was subject to the lure of the sin of pride itself. Pride in your children is not a bad thing, nor is being proud of your heritage, but the things which Paul had seen in the Spirit and in his walk with the Lord, he might have elevated himself higher than he should if he were to think much about the revelations that were given to him.

In his prayers, Paul asked the Lord to remove this thorn from his flesh. He did this at least three times as recorded here, yet the Lord said, No. My grace is sufficient for you. So, you see sometimes our infirmities may be brought on by Satan but allowed to stay by God. Why? Because when your joints hurt and it is hard to get up and walk or maybe you can’t balance yourself very well, then you need to depend upon God and His grace toward you so that He will get the glory in your weakness by giving you the strength to endure this trial.

In verse 9, Paul says that he would rather boast in his weakness and infirmities that the power of Christ may be manifest in him.

Leaning on God or on Jesus daily is what God was always speaking of when He told the Jewish people time and time again that He was their portion or that He would sustain them. Even in the wilderness, they got tired of the manna yet they ate it because they needed something to eat. He provided water for all of the people and their animals in the desert, even where there was no river or spring to draw from. God has always provided, yet people tend to rely on themselves more than they do on Him. Even when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, God provided the substitute for him in the form of a goat.

We are meant to walk with Him every day. That doesn’t mean that you have to be reading your Bible all of the time or even be in prayer all of the time. But, to walk in the spirit of worship regardless of where you may find yourself or in what situation, this is what Jesus meant when He told the disciples to take up your cross and follow Me. Your cross is your spiritual worship of Him everywhere you are, not just in church or Bible study.

Even when we do walk with Him daily, don’t fall prey to the sin of pride like the Pharisee did while praying. He was proud in his prayer: The Pharisee was standing alone by himself and he was praying these things: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men: extortioners, oppressors, adulterers, and not like this Tax Collector.”  We must be careful not to allow pride to raise us to a place above others because we don’t deserve it, especially concerning our faith in Jesus.

Paul’s thorn was a blessing as well as a messenger of Satan because it drove him to his knees in prayer. Anytime that we are on our knees in prayer before God we can stand before anyone or anything! God honors our prayers and He hears them, whether He answers them right away or not is His prerogative because He is God!

Do we look to Him for our strength today and every day or do we just say so because it makes us look more like a Christian in the eyes of others? Remember, there are many people who claim to be a Christian but there are fewer people who actually worship God and live their lives in accordance with His Word. Even when they do this, they don’t brag about it, they just walk through their day and their lives the way that they always have since Christ entered their life. Sometimes you can spot them and other times you may not be able to pick them out. Striving to be more like Jesus is a life of living one foot in front of the other. Every second of each day is expectant of His return for us because it could be at any time.

Is it possible to live with the grace of God giving us our daily bread and following Him like He will be appearing just any day? Yes, it is! Because whether we are ready for it or not, He will appear and call us home one day. Then the world will mourn and rejoice in the same day! Rejoice because all of those “intolerant Christians are gone” and those who are mourning will be the ones who attended services and knew about His return one day but like the virgins who needed more oil…they weren’t ready when He did show up.

The glorious gospel of Jesus!


The glorious gospel of Jesus the Christ is all that you need. Our world and the young people in it don’t need to be preached self-help courses masquerading as topical sermon series.

The church needs to be…the Church that Jesus and His disciples began in that first century. Reaching out to those who are lost, reaching out to those who don’t attend church for whatever reason it might be. Don’t try to make them or your congregation into people who fit into a doctrine or some mold that someone dreamed up when they met with others who wanted to give their brand of religion a code to live by!

That is NOT what Jesus taught! He taught that we are saved by faith alone in Him and through Him, we are justified and sanctified! No amount of communion services or crackers and wine/grape juice will ever save anyone, but their belief in Jesus and the sacrifice which He paid for us on that cross does save and sanctify each and every one who believes in Him!

It is true that this sort of a sermon may not be very popular, but it is the truth. People under forty don’t need to be pampered with coffee or told that they are the next generation to lead the church, they already know that! God needs them to carry on with the message, His message of love and compassion and salvation. It doesn’t take a light show or a bunch of slides to bring the message across, just preach from God’s Word and the Holy Spirit will do the rest!

Will the church be flooded with people clamoring to get in and hear the message? NO, they won’t at least not at first, but they will come. Put your sermon on the Internet in written form and recordings if possible so more people can hear it or read it because it is needed in the world. Your ideas and your way of teaching may get people’s attention, but God’s Word and His Wisdom is what they truly need and no amount of flowering it up and putting more flamboyant shows which pass as a sermon team approach will make it any more appealing to young or old.

If the Truth of God’s Word is preached, even without the flash and bang of music and lights, the hearts of those in your audience who are longing for God and looking for Jesus will respond to His Word. God does love each of us far deeper and more intensely than we can stand or even imagine, and yet much of the world doesn’t want to hear it regardless of how you jazz it up or change it so that it is more like a pep talk.

If it is the Word being preached, even if you try to disguise it, it will still shine through and those who recognize it as God’s Word may not like what they hear. But…God will get the glory and He will draw those in the audience to Him whether they do it today or next week because He knows how long they have to live but they don’t.

None of us know whether tomorrow is going to bless our eyes when we wake up or if we open our eyes in the throne room of Glory! Make sure where your heart is before your day is through because that uneasy feeling may not let you sleep much tonight if you don’t.

Be ready, look up!


Look up…

When the trumpet of God sounds, what will you be doing? Are you working for His Kingdom or just working to pay your bills? Well…it depends on what time of day that He blows the trumpet. If it is in the night, most of the world or at least half of it will be asleep. If it is the early morning, like right after sunrise, then many will be getting up and preparing for the day to come. Whether it is getting ready for school or work, that is what they will be doing, regardless of their age.

What about the people who don’t know Jesus yet? Truthfully, they will be doing mostly the same things that we are, except some of us will be reading God’s Word and doing our daily Bible study, if we are in the habit of doing that. It is a shame that many Christians miss out on the freshness of God’s Word in the morning simply by NOT studying His Word before going to school or work. Why do I say this? Because reading and praying for God to reveal His wisdom for you from His Word is just a good way of starting the day off on the right foot.

Are we commanded to do so? Well, no, God doesn’t tell us that it is a commandment but He did say “Meditate on the Scriptures day and night”; so in a way, He did say that we should read His Word daily. Whether we choose to do it in the early morning or in the afternoon or evening is our choice, but it would get the day started better if you would begin your day by being in His Word.

God loves us beyond our measure and yet we don’t usually seek Him out until something is wrong or something is going wrong in our lives. Many people seem to be brought up with that sense of not needing God until ?. It isn’t good for us to try to live our lives daily, let alone throughout the year, without Him as part of our lives. What good does that do you?

Your Father in Heaven is the Creator and if you don’t want anything to do with Him don’t you believe that hurts His feelings? I know there are some who don’t believe in God or Jesus or a Creator and that is fine, but it is foolish. Our universe did not just create itself and it didn’t organize itself without God’s hand guiding it to be what He intended it to be and to do His will.

On that day when the trumpet sounds, will it be audible for all to hear or will it be audible for only those who have given their hearts to Jesus? Honestly, I have no idea! It could be the loudest trumpet blast in history or it may be only audible to the ears of those who have been waiting for it eagerly. Either way, it is going to happen soon and by that, I mean within my lifetime.

So, look up expecting to hear or see something beyond amazing but also terrifying. Why? Because, if you see it happen or hear it and you are not part of it, then you will need to seek out God fast! Because the world is going to go into a tailspin and there will be a delusion, sent to the Earth, which will allow people to believe the lie that they will be told about what happened. This is what the Bible speaks of in 1 Thessalonians 4, about being taken up in a moment: 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

This is the rapture of the Church, of those who believed in Jesus and His message. No matter the denomination, those who have truly believed and have been changed by the Holy Spirit will be taken up into Heaven, changed into our immortal bodies and be with Him forever. Jesus told the thief this while they were on their crosses before Jesus said: “It is finished.” He said, “Today, you will be with Me in Paradise”. No waiting for the end of the age when all will be awakened to their punishment or their reward,  and when you die you will be taken from your body to be judged to receive your reward or your punishment.

Make sure of which one it will be while in this life, because after death there will be no second chances.

Who is driving?


Have you ever seen those bumper stickers which say something like this: Jesus is my co-pilot? Do you realize what that even means? In a Christian’s life, Jesus is not supposed to be the co-pilot, He is supposed to be THE Pilot! The problem is that we have a very hard time when it comes to giving God or Jesus control over every area of our life. Most of us walk around or drive around with a prayer on our minds or maybe a Bible verse on a sticky note on the console to remind us that we are supposed to be like Jesus.

WalkingwithJesusThe problem with that is that God is not and doesn’t want to be your second, He wants to be first in all that you are and in everything that you do, no matter how small you think it might be. Our lives are small compared to the majesty and glory of our sinless God, but He wants to be part of your daily life, not just someone that you call on in a time of crisis. God loves you deeply or He wouldn’t have given His Son’s life for you and every person on Earth! While it is true that Jesus didn’t stay dead, thankfully, the shedding of His blood was part of the sacrifice which had to be given in order to bring salvation to all who will believe in Him!

No, God doesn’t want to be your co-pilot, He wants to be the driver of your everyday life. Yet, many people stick Him in a place which only gives us a little taste of being a Christian. We visit Him in church on Sunday and Wednesday nights, but we leave Him in the church when we leave. We take a memory of Him with us on the way to work on Monday, but by Thursday we have forgotten that He is there anyway.

We should ride along with Him each day, no matter what may be going on in our lives. He came to the Garden and walked with Adam every day, Adam could probably see His feet in the grass or see His back as they walked along. Could we have that kind of relationship with God? I don’t think we will see any part of Him until we meet Him face to face in Heaven, but I am looking forward to it.

Why do I bring this type of walk with our Lord up now? Because I don’t think that this type of relationship is being taught in Sunday school. God does want a relationship with us that is much more than a once or twice a week visit. He wants to be a part of your life and mine every single day, from the time you wake up until you go to sleep at night. Some people may find this weird, but ever since I accepted the calling of being a preacher I have tried to live my life with Him in it every day. Some days I fail at it pretty badly and some days it goes along pretty smoothly.

The only person Who ever walked with Him perfectly was Jesus, so we are not expected to be perfect just strive toward that goal. Will you fall down or fail at this? Yes, it is very likely but He will help you up and then you can begin again. You don’t lose your salvation just because you trip and fall or give over to a temptation which comes your way. God is not going to kick you out just because you tripped up today or last week because He loves you!

Be not conformed to this world


Why not, you might ask?

All of the wonders of this world are ours to enjoy, so why should I just ignore them? Because, if you have given your life to Jesus then you are not part of this world. You belong to Him. But, Jesus did not say that we couldn’t enjoy the world with all of its wondrous beauty. He meant for us to stay away from the worldly pleasures of drinking and using drugs and the sin that those can lead you into.

LoveOfChristBe not conformed to this world is an admonishment against following the crowd and doing what everyone else seems to be doing. Walk your path through life with Jesus by your side and realize that once you have given your heart to Him, He is always near you regardless of where you go. Jesus is the potter and we are the clay and we are to allow Him to mold us and make us into an image which closely resembles Him in almost all respects.

Why should you follow Him this closely? Because He died to save your soul and if you truly are a Christian you will want to be near Him and take Him everywhere with you. He died in order that you might be set free from sin and its deception in this life and to give you access to an eternal life which we cannot imagine or comprehend from where we are now. There have been a few people who have been blessed with visions or even a spiritual trip to Heaven for a little while and when they come back to finish their life here…they can’t explain nor describe the colors or sounds that they heard and saw there!

I think the little boy, who died for a few minutes in the book Heaven is Real, saw the people in his family so that he could come back and tell us that our life up in Heaven will be unbelievable to people here unless we can make sense out of Heaven. He did make sense of it because Jesus wanted him to know and be able to give hope to people when he came back.

God loves you so deeply that He sent Jesus to die for your sins and everyone else’s sins too. He may not call every person on the planet to get to know Him, but He loves you just the same. If you diligently and earnestly seek Him in the Bible and by prayer, I don’t believe that God would refuse your prayer of repentance and request to allow Jesus into your heart and life.

Does God know which of us will ask Jesus into their heart? I am sure He does or He isn’t God! Does He know which of us will actually accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior? Yes, again if He doesn’t know that, then HE isn’t God! God doesn’t say that He will refuse you when you pray earnestly and mean every word of your prayer. But, if you pray in a manner which is just a mockery of God and essentially laughing in His face then He will not listen to that prayer.

The Bible does say, “be not deceived, God is not mocked” because whatsoever a man sows in his life, that is what he will reap. God is the Creator of ALL, and He is terrible when He is angry so I wouldn’t recommend that you try His patience or His anger. He loves us deeply, far more than we can imagine or comprehend, so please ask Him into your life before it is too late. After you die, there will be no second chances.

Face(Bible)time


In our culture today we have put the Bible down and we turn to social media such as Facetime from Apple and Facebook online in order to see what is going on with our friends and sometimes family in our community. We have abandoned God’s Word and many in the church don’t even believe that it is the inspired Word of God.

What happened?

Have we truly lost our way as far as God’s Word is concerned? Have we moved so far away from God until we will accept almost any religion or doctrine? I pray that we haven’t gone that far!

God has never left us alone or without His Presence and yet America seems to be moving away from belief in Him. Not only America but much of the world doesn’t give Him any credit for being our Creator anymore. It seems that there are more Christians in Korea and China and even India than there are in America today! What went wrong?

At one time America was sending out missionaries to many places all over the world. Now, there are missionaries coming to America to bring Christianity and other religions here. I had always thought that the church or the body of believers in America was larger than it is, but I suppose I was wrong. Just because a person claims to be a Christian doesn’t make them a Christian.

Much of America claims to be a Christian but lately, some statistics show that the real percentage is much lower than the seventy percent which is claimed. God has not given up on us, so why are we giving up on Him or the verity of His Word? As Christians, God’s Word is our lifeline and the standard by which every instance in life is supposed to be judged by. Thinking that the Bible is only true in certain situations is like saying that the Sun may come up tomorrow, but I am not sure of it.

Get into the Word of God so that your walk with Him will be more productive. If you are wondering why that will happen, then you haven’t read the Bible enough. You can’t be productive as a Christian without knowing what God’s voice is like and you can’t recognize Him unless you have read and studied His Word. Especially if you only read it during a sermon or on the weekends.

God loves you and He will never leave you in a situation that He can’t get you out of or at least give you the strength to get through it.

 

 

God loves you!


AllRoneinJesusDuring my life, I have seen Christian attitudes change. Sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse, but the love of God is for everyone, regardless of your nationality or creed. This is the message that Jesus taught and it is the same message that all believers in the world should be taking to the rest of the world today! Why should we do this? Because Jesus would do it if He was still on Earth doing His ministry today and that is why we are supposed to take His message to ALL over the world!

There is no reason that we should not tell others about our Savior, regardless of where we might go or who we are talking to. Everyone needs Him, regardless of their religion or their doctrine and they need to make that decision today. Why? Because today could be your last day on this Earth. We are not guaranteed tomorrow, so seek Him and believe in Him today! Your salvation and your eternal destiny depend upon your decision here and now. Once your life is over there is no second chance to make it right.

Make sure of your salvation now while you have the time.