Tag: God loves you

So many claim Him, yet so few follow…


You have seen and heard about the number of “Christians” in America. Our country, in most polls, claims to be over 80 percent Christian. If that were true, there would be no abortions, there would be no city which has over 250 murders in a year’s time. If that were true and all of them were true, devout believers there would be fewer homeless people, Veterans or otherwise.

If that were true we would be building more churches than prisons and every one would be full on Sunday morning. So, what happens to everyone when any sort of test of faith comes into your life? We give in to what the rest of the world wants to hear or not hear. We become PC Christians. So many claim to be Christian, but when the least bit of resistance pops up in your life or mine, we fall into our “politically correct” mode of coping.

If the apostles had done that, there would be no church today! If other brothers and sisters had done that, we wouldn’t have the stories of the martyrs that stood proudly, boldly declaring Jesus as Lord while they were burned at the stake or beheaded! Some in countries around the world today are being killed or imprisoned for their faith, but they have not given their Savior up or backed away from their faith.

So many claim to know Him, yet there are few who will boldly say it. Our problem isn’t knowledge of or about Jesus it is possession of Him in our hearts and our lives. Just as an engagement ring isn’t much without a diamond in its setting, we aren’t much without Jesus in our hearts! Knowledge of Him and doing works to please Him are all good, but without Him in your heart and the change that comes with it through the Holy Spirit, you will walk right into hell with your “holy bible” in your hand.

Knowledge of Jesus and God is great, reading the Bible from cover to cover is wonderful, but if that Book hasn’t changed you in any way that others can see…it means NOTHING!! God inspired the writers of His Word so that we can learn about Him and His Creation, but He also gave us His Word so that we could come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ!

Is it possible to read the Bible and not come to a saving and believing knowledge of Jesus? Yes, I have heard that many people read it as a book of history and nothing more. Without faith, hearing the Word and believing it whether you are reading it or not, it will do you no good at all. If you are not open-minded enough to give God’s Word and prayerful read, then why bother? Yes it is a history book in some ways, particularly of the Jewish people, but it is also His story!

Your life will have far less impact on those around you unless you read this book with an open mind and with a prayerful attitude of “Show me Who you are, God!”. If you will do that, honestly and prayerfully, then He will show you Himself in all of its pages. If you don’t want to know about God and His provision of grace and salvation for your life, then just read a Bible like any other book. Don’t ask questions and don’t expect any answers, if you can.

God has a purpose for all of us, no matter whether we have believed in Jesus from a young age or if we are fifty or more before He touches our life with a moment of clarity bringing Jesus into focus for us! Be willing to give Him a chance in your life, because if you don’t one day you will regret that choice and after your death that choice can’t be undone.

Consider….


Faith, religions, Christianity, and church, to some people these are all lumped together in one big mess. We bring religiosity into the church and create some doctrine around a couple of verses then go around telling others that our way is the only one. How arrogant and stupid is that? Religion is what crucified Jesus. Self-righteousness is what makes people act the way they do toward other religions.

Consider this too..God loves each of us whether we know Him, believe in Him or worship Him. Your salvation and your eternity depend upon your belief not on your actions or anything that you do in this life. The work was already done by Jesus, you just need to realize that you need Him and come to Him in humility asking for His forgiveness. No amount of money or donations or building projects or evangelism for “your church” will get you any closer to Heaven, only your belief in and acceptance of Jesus as your Savior can do that.

Life is hard and depending upon where you live it can be brutally so. God loves you and cares for you regardless of your location or your circumstances. This is why He sent Jesus to pay the price for ALL of humanity’s sins, not just a few. Seek Him out in your life and in your situation, even if He doesn’t change your situation now, your eternity will be assured and you will spend it with God! Place your faith and your trust in Him and let those other “gods” go, since they can’t save you or help in your situation now.

Did Satan and his followers fall?


The Bible says that they were cast out of Heaven for their rebellion and they were cast down to Earth. They are here and have been since before Eden was a place where God created the first man. The Devil, Satan himself, tempted Jesus in the wilderness after His baptism. In the gospels, Jesus cast out many demons and spirits from people who were sick from their poisonous influence. The sicknesses took many different forms such as bleeding which couldn’t be treated by a regular doctor or diseases such as cancers or seizures. It is true that today we have “medical diagnosis” which places a cause for these in other means of infection.

But, how can even science be sure of those infections? Demons, spirits of disease, whatever name you give it, it is a way to turn a Christian away from God’s influence. These problems cause us to turn toward a doctor for relief, when Jesus can help in all ways far better than a doctor can.

In the books of Daniel and Isaiah, the fall of Satan is described and Jesus said that He saw Satan fall like lightning from Heaven to the Earth. Here are a few scriptures which detail this:

17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name.” 18 So He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you.…

Berean Study Bible
Cross References
Isaiah 14:12
“How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations!

Matthew 4:10
“Away from me, Satan!” Jesus declared. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.'”

Revelation 12:9
And the great dragon was hurled down–the ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

All of these verses speak of Satan as a fallen angel. He was created as a true archangel, one of the most powerful of God’s creations. Yet, he wanted to supplant God, even when he knew that he wasn’t the Creator. He is not able to be everywhere and not all-powerful, even though he is immortal. The angels who followed him in his rebellion were also thrown down to the Earth. They help Satan to create chaos and anger and terror all over the world. They have the ability to cause all sorts of diseases and hatred in mankind, even if they don’t “possess” people like in the movies, although if they are invited in they will!
God loves you, no matter what religion you have been involved in all of your life. He will convict you of your sins and cause you to want to know Jesus. Why? Because, each of us can do something or have an impact on someone’s life that nobody else can get through to. You may only touch that one life or you may be able to make a difference in many lives.
Yes, Satan is here. He has been here for a long, long time and he has influenced humanity to create all sorts of religions and worship of gods which are not God! Sometimes those “gods” were manifestations of himself or his demons, sometimes those “gods” were ideas which were placed in humanity’s minds. The Israelites worshiped other gods of the people around them even though they knew the miracles of God were real!
Seek out God in His Word so that you can know Him! He already knows you, better than you know yourself. Allow Him to be your Savior because He is your Creator!

God’s Promises


This is the day that the Lord has made for you and for me. What will you do with it? Do you wake up with an attitude of “Oh no, not another day!” or do you thank God for waking you up so you can have another day?

This is the life that we are given, daily, and we should be walking with Jesus but are you walking with Him or maybe someone else?

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
God promises many things in the Bible but most of us either don’t understand that we are entitled to those promises or we haven’t read the Bible enough to know what those promises are! God loves each and every person on the Earth, which is why He sent His Son, Jesus, to be the sacrifice which could pay the debt which everyone owes. Why didn’t I put that in past tense? Because we are all still committing sins regardless of our status as Christians or not, the only difference is that those who have given their heart to Jesus know they are forgiven.
They will be convicted of that sin, no matter what they do and they will ask forgiveness for it. Anyone who is not a Christian will not because until the Holy Spirit convicts you enough that you seek Him out, or you won’t do it at all. Truly, God does love you more deeply that you know or even realize but unless you have felt the touch of the Holy Spirit and become convicted of your sinful nature, you will not seek Him.
God intended for mankind to have an intimate relationship with Him and, before they ate from the forbidden tree, that is what He had. What happened? Adam and Eve did not obey God. It wasn’t the fruit or the tree that caused the sin of disobedience, it was the disobedience which caused the rift between man and God. The curse which was placed on mankind and all of creation was because of his disobedience and we still haven’t learned from it yet…because it is still going on!
People go against the rules, the Ten Commandments, all of the time. Murder, rape, stealing, incest, disregarding parents and grandparents, all of this and more happens every day. The only cure for our world’s problems is obeying God, the True God of the Bible! Not the one in the Quran or any other “book”, but the One Who created everything and everyone. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the One that we need to be listening to and following!
Seek Him out in His Word because His Spirit prompted and inspired the writers to write down His Words. The Bible is not made up by man because the prophecies that it contains would not have come true if that were so! The birth of Jesus was foretold down to Him being born of a virgin and in what town He would be born in. This was written at least six hundred years or more prior to His birth!
The same goes for the Psalm which David wrote almost one thousand years prior to His death by crucifixion. A type of punishment which wasn’t even being used at the time that David wrote Psalm 22, but it describes it perfectly even to the soldiers gambling for His garments. Give the Word of God a chance to change your life for the better and you will never be the same again!

A dangerous cancerous growth


Unfortunately, humanity is born with this condition and has been for many thousands of years. This cancerous growth is our sin nature. We are prone to it and will fulfill it even at the young age of two. Tell any child of toddler age that they can’t have something, but they know they can reach it. One day, they will do exactly that and if you ask them if they did, they will lie to you. Even with the crumbs from the cookies in their lap, they will lie about eating them.

They haven’t been taught to lie nor are they cunning little thieves but our nature is bent toward sinful behavior whether we have seen it or heard it or not. This growth, this nature is something that we can’t cure by any means of our own. We have not the idea of formulating a cure and we don’t have the ability to do so with our own resources.

Kidney cancer cells, SEMThis sin nature is like a cancer for which there is no cure and no treatment. Radiation will not affect it, chemicals of any kind will only make it worse but they will not kill it. It is, pure and simple, a death sentence to every human born since the time of Adam and Eve. Yet, God did provide a way for us to clear it from our system, from our hearts altogether. Through the work of the Holy Spirit and the grace given to us as a gift by God and the atonement bought with the blood of Christ. It is a very expensive treatment and a cure, but it is freely given to us by God…if we will, by faith, believe in the work of Jesus!

God had this idea or plan in place even before the Earth was formed or Adam was created. Because, He knew that it would be needed and necessary for all of mankind. It was not something which was an afterthought, nor was it something that caught God by surprise! It was necessary, which was all of the reason that God needed to put His plan in motion. You might wonder, why would God choose to allow part of Himself, part of the Trinity, to take on the form of a human and live among them, teach those who would listen and hear the words and working of God and His grace and then die a death on a cross in order to redeem mankind?

The answer is very simple but it is also hard for us to understand, which is why so many people have trouble with this word and the actions and results which come from it. The answer is: LOVE.

God loves His creation, not just the planets and stars and galaxies, but He loves each of us because He knows each of us. How is this possible? Because God is outside of our time. He can look at any point in time that He chooses, from the beginning to the end and HE can see each of us at any point in our life. He knows what you said yesterday and what you will do tomorrow. You are known in a way that you can’t understand or comprehend, but it is because of this knowing that He loves us. It is also for this reason that He did send Jesus to atone for all of mankind’s sins, even though much of mankind will not accept it nor believe it.

As the Scripture says: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son. That whosoever would believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

God didn’t do this because He had to, but because He wanted to. He wanted to have the same relationship that He enjoyed with humanity in the Garden. If this was the only way to do this, then that is exactly what He would do. He knew that Israel, as a nation, would reject Jesus. Which is why Paul was blinded on the road to persecute more of the young church. God wanted him to be the apostle to the Gentiles (those outside of Israel), which is exactly what he did. God uses the weak things or people to prove His power and glory and to bring to redemption those who might not hear of His grace and mercy through any other means.

If you have felt the call of the Holy Spirit, the feeling which tells you that something inside needs to change, then seek Him out at a church which teaches from His Word. Read His Word and pray that He will show you what you should do. Give your heart to Him by asking Him to come into your life and save you from this “cancer”, so that you can be made new and whole, into a new creation. One which will be used in His Kingdom to bring others to Him as well. Each of us has a purpose that nobody else can accomplish. This is why those of us who are called to Him are called in the first place, because we can have an effect on someone’s life that is very important to God. That person may be the next Paul or Peter or John, but if we aren’t available then they may never come to know Jesus at all.

Confusion in Christianity


So much is happening in the world today and some of it is due to confusion about Christianity, what is contained in the Bible and how to live as one. Do I mean that Christians are confused? Some of them are, but mostly it is the world that is confused about what Christianity is. Why is that? What is there to be confused about?

Jesus is our Savior and Creator, He was born as a man but with the nature and Spirit of God present in Him. He died because of His humanity and the body that He lived here with, and He also allowed Himself to die in order to pay for the sins of mankind. Could He have refused this cup, yes He could but He didn’t want to defeat God’s purpose.

Many films and books today question Who He is and the authenticity of the Bible as well as whether it is the Word of God or not. People seem to get all worked up about Christianity’s claim that it is and Who it is about, even if they don’t believe it themselves. If you don’t believe it, then let all of us “Christian nutcases” believe what we believe. Very few of us seem to be trying to convert anyone or bring anyone to any knowledge of Jesus, so why does it bother so many people?

I think it bothers them because they doubt their own beliefs or rather non-belief. What if the Bible is true? What if the sermons which have been preached and the truths in them are true? What if hell really does exist? What if…Christianity is right? If you wait until you die to find out, it will be too late to change your mind then.

God loves each of us, regardless of our love for Him. Please, tell others about Jesus if you know Him. The workers are few in the world and we can’t reach everyone, but people are wanting to know Jesus. I do try with this site, but I can’t get to every person because the Internet doesn’t reach everywhere. I will be praying for you all. Thank you.

Real Christianity


realsalvationThe only way to tell if someone is a Christian, is a real change in their life. One which lasts and is evident in their lives from day-to-day. Life has a way of making this hard to see sometimes because of our work or our everyday life, but its the little things which people notice. Such as, giving thanks for your meal at a fast food restaurant and bowing your head at the table to do so. Having an attitude of peace even during times where others would be under stress and this attitude comes from the Holy Spirit which gives you comfort even in times of trouble.

So, what should you do with this religion? If you haven’t embraced and accepted Jesus as your Savior, what are you waiting for? I realize that there are many who are against Christianity that this is totally out of the question. But…allow me to ask one question of you: If you don’t believe in Jesus or the Bible, then what do you believe in? One other question comes to mind as well: What if you are wrong?

If Heaven and Hell exist, which they both do exist by the way, then do you think there is a reason for belief in Jesus and the Bible? How will you feel after death when you find that life doesn’t end entirely but continues on into eternity and there are consequences for your beliefs, in particular if you have rejected salvation through Jesus.

Please, consider the possibility of the facts contained in the Bible being true. Why am I saying this? Because, I am a pastor and I have to! It is my job requirement, just as it was the apostle Paul who began as Saul. He was a persecutor of Christians, he stood by while Stephen was stoned to death yet God saw that he could be used for spreading the gospel of salvation in Jesus! I will be praying that many of you will give it a serious read in the book of Romans at least.

What will you do?


john317Jesus did not ask this question exactly, but He did ask His disciples “Who do you say that I am?”. The answer that Peter gave was one which wasn’t available in the Scriptures of the day, but it was given to him by the Holy Spirit. So…what will you do with your knowledge of Jesus and Who He is to you?

He is our Savior and our Creator and our Lord, but He doesn’t cram Himself into your life. It is your decision to accept Him as your Savior when you feel the Spirit touch your heart about your need of Him. We do need Jesus, each and every one of us. So…what will you do?

God loves all of humanity but we don’t return that love and that is a sad situation which most of the world is living in right now. God made a way for us to be sanctified and cleansed by His Son’s sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection. The only thing that we can do for our salvation is to accept it by faith.

There is nothing which we can add to our salvation because it was taken care of by Jesus. Your money won’t get you a better home in Heaven, your works here on Earth won’t get you any closer to righteousness here on Earth. The only place where your salvation could have any impact is right here where you are and that by telling others about your life and the new life that Jesus gave you!

No evangelist or preacher can earn a better place in eternity and no amount of charity will do it either. We are ALL equal in God’s sight when we accept Jesus as our Savior, no matter our position or place in our country or a business. The pastor’s saying is true: “The playing field is level at the cross”. The rich man has no advantage over the poor and a salesman or janitor has the same opportunities as a President or a Prime minister when coming to salvation and their place in God’s Kingdom. Slaves and statesmen are equal and no one stands any taller than a person on their knees asking for God’s forgiveness.

God loves the saint and the sinner alike, but God doesn’t love the sinful lives which we all have led at one point or another. So….what will you do? What is your decision? Consider that Jesus said for us not to worry about tomorrow because it has enough trouble of its own and we are not guaranteed even our next breath. So…what decision will you make about making Him your Savior and Lord?

So much, yet so little…


godsblessingMaking a paycheck in today’s economy is not a small thing, its a necessary thing that people need. So, what do you do with it? Most of us pay bills with it first, then if there is any left we give a tiny portion of that to God when we go to church. That is not how God structured His economy though and each of us pays for that in the long run. An illustration that we could truly understand would go something like this:

A man or woman brings home a paycheck that they have cashed on the way home. Lets say they got $400 this week. Not a great paycheck but not too bad. On the way home, they filled the gas tank which took about ten percent of the check, $40. They also got a drink while they were at the quick stop, another $2. Now they have $358. The next morning is Saturday so they go shopping for groceries and spend about $100, now they are down to $258, so they deposit the rest in the bank, which won’t be available until next week. If they keep some out for themselves, maybe $25, now they are down to $233 which actually went into the bank. On Sunday morning, they give the church five dollars and they think they are doing pretty good because they gave that much.

Sound about right? Not to God!

God doesn’t need your money, but the church does and He has based your blessing upon the amount that you give and out of which portion that it comes. All of the blessings in the Bible came from the first-fruits of harvest or wealth, not the dregs after everything else is taken care of! Abraham gave ten percent of the first fruits and every other person who was blessed by God did the same thing. It doesn’t matter if you made one hundred dollars or ten thousand this week, before you pay anyone…you should set aside at least ten percent of it for God’s house. I am just as guilty of doing this as everyone else, so I am not standing on a pedestal preaching. I have suffered loss from doing so as well, but the point is that if you give it cheerfully to the Lord, then it will be blessed and given back into your hands.

God loves us and wants to bless us in many ways, whether it is through our health or our paycheck or our family doesn’t really matter, the point is the attitude which we exhibit when we give. If it is given grudgingly, then it wasn’t given in the right spirit and we will not see much, if any, blessing from it! God knows your heart and your thoughts, so you can’t hide from Him nor can you cheat Him because HE can see into your heart and the result of this can be good or bad but it depends upon you and your attitude.

Consumption


This word is what our entire economy is based upon these days. We do not produce anything which is exported to other countries, except for printing money. So, what is our country good for? Even the value of our money is suspect and dropping in the eyes of the world, so why do we live this way?

Mostly because of the culture that we live in today, but it started about fifty years ago and it has only gotten worse. When fast food became popular in the fifties, actually that was the start of “instant gratification”, so my estimate is off by about ten or more years. My point is this…when we got to the point of getting something fast or for free, things really started going downhill from there.

Our world was not designed by God to be based on consumption in this manner. We are supposed to produce our food, eat it and work to produce more. In today’s society, this has been replaced with our governments providing for us without even the need to work at all! The Bible says that “if you don’t work, you shouldn’t eat”, but we ignore that and go right along with all of the consumer driven economies and businesses that are available. The chart below shows that the number of structures (buildings) in each area have crossed over, so that now we have more retail structures than production facilities.

My ideas don’t really go along with our economy because we have more electronic consumer abilities today than we have ever had before. I use them as well, so I am not trying to get rid of it entirely. But, when I was growing up, my grandparents grew their own vegetables and we had a herd of cattle which we could choose to have at least one butchered each year for our own use. So our trips to the grocery store usually had to do with getting things which we did not grow or produce like coffee, flour, corn meal, cooking oil, and bacon (although we did have a few hogs which we could use at times too).

Our country and the people in it would be more healthy in every way if we went back to at least a partial agrarian economy where there were more local farmers who produced wholesome, organic foods. The problem is that we don’t have anyone to teach us how to do this anymore! Big farms and the regulations from the FDA have pushed small farms like this out of business.

We were meant to live this way, but we have allowed so much regulation and rules to interfere with our daily lives until the freedoms which our grandfathers and great grandfathers fought for don’t really exist like they once did. It is nobody’s fault but our own, so we can’t blame anyone but ourselves.

God’s Word says that we should live on and work the land that we have and eat the produce of it. Are we doing this? No, we are not and have not been for quite a while. We need to learn God’s way of living and working so that we can be more productive for Him and for us. His advice for this is in His Word, all we need to do and should do is to read it and learn from it.