Make sure of Whom you believe

In 1 John 4 it says these words:

1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they are from God because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us, but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

When you are committed to being and living as a Christian there is a part of God’s Spirit which comes to live inside you. He or She is the Holy Spirit. All of us who are His and belong to Him have a part of Him, as Jesus called Him-the Comforter and He is living in your heart (soul). God’s grace and mercy have been poured out in your life so that you can believe in the One Who has saved your soul, but it is God’s Spirit Who teaches you and helps you to understand His Word.

Without faith, we can do nothing in God’s Kingdom and without His Spirit, we would understand very little of God’s Word. We could read it every day but without His teaching and giving us the meaning of it for our lives the Bible would be just a book of stories and nothing more. For many years before I truly committed my life to Him I read chapters in the Bible and read along with the pastor at church but until I accepted the Holy Spirit into my life it really didn’t make sense.

Jesus’ sermon on the mount was just a bunch of blessings given to those who were looking for the Messiah until I looked at it from His point of view. God loves each of us and He wants the best for you and me. That doesn’t mean that He wants all of us to be rich and wealthy with no struggles, however. God’s best may be our eternal home with Him, not some fancy house with a mortgage here for us to struggle to pay. The same goes for all of the other “stuff” which the world around us sees as symbols of our success.

Seek God and His Son, Jesus, for your salvation because the time which each of us has is very short compared to eternity. Each of us has an eternal soul and you will spend eternity somewhere so make sure of your destination while you can.

Boundless love

That is the type of love which God has for each of us. It is not one that we can duplicate in any way because we are not the Creator. He expressed His love for us by all of the wonders and the variety of life and the mystery which abounds in our universe. Why are there stars which would engulf most of our solar system? Because God wanted us to ask that question. Why are there diamonds and gold found in the clouds of nebulae in the universe? Because God wanted it to be that way so we would ask questions and wonder about it.

It was God’s love for us which sent Jesus to Earth as a man who didn’t sin and could pay the price for all of mankind. It is God’s love which watches over each of us as we sleep or as we travel on the highways. We are never outside of His love or His gaze and His protection of us as we go through life but He doesn’t force us to give our heart to Him. It must be our choice. How can we understand His boundless love for us? We really can’t, unless you know the love of a parent toward their child. That is the only relationship which comes close to by only a degree to the depth of God’s love for each of us.

Why does He feel this way? Because we are His creation, His children and He cares for us in a way that we cannot understand or comprehend yet He does so without measure. Life is a part of Him, death is a part of Him and every part of our lives is contained in a part of Him as well. Don’t turn away from Him because you are only hurting yourself when you do. Does our rejection of His love hurt Him? I’m sure it does in some way, but how deeply it hurts I couldn’t imagine. Make sure that you learn to love Him before your life ends because once this life is over there are no second chances.

Humanist utopia

This is the very ideal which “Star Trek” was pushing a little over fifty years ago. We are not even close to any kind of utopia at this point, anywhere on Earth, but this is what people would like to see. Will it ever happen? In my lifetime…I doubt it unless Jesus comes back soon and sets up His Kingdom as it is described in the book of Revelation. Humanity is not able to be like those portrayed in the Federation which Gene Roddenberry imagined. There are too many cultural and political differences in our world and in the nations of the world to achieve any utopia without Jesus.

It doesn’t matter how far we go technologically, that advancement won’t bring about a Utopian society because it can’t do away with our differences. We can’t do away with our differences because of our cultural hangups and our own pride which tends to get in the way. While it is true that many of the truths which we hold near and dear to our hearts either can’t be proven scientifically or logically but neither can the theory about evolution. Our only proof of life on this planet is the fact that there is so much of it on our planet.

God placed each of us here with a purpose in His mind which many of us seem to ignore or rather we just don’t care what it is. His purpose for each of us is that we learn to serve Him and His Kingdom by becoming more like Jesus. The problem which most people have with that is this: “I want to do it MY way!”

We are like children who are spoiled and who don’t want to listen to God or learn His ways from His Word, the Bible. Even though Christianity has been around a long time and has survived the many times that it has been outlawed or threatened there are many people in the world today who just don’t want it to be taken as the truth! They don’t want to acknowledge that it is absolutely the Truth because if they did they would have to give a reason for why they don’t live by it!

Humanity doesn’t want any kind of absolute moral compass to guide them. They only want to be their own guide and have their own rules, but the problem with that is that there will never be any lasting peace in the world while each person clings to their version of “truth”. That’s like allowing each person to make up their own laws and only abide by their individual laws, the world would be without rule and utterly without redemption or hope!

It is very true that we like the ideal which states that mankind can overcome his most basic instincts and become better than he is now but it won’t happen. The society portrayed in science fiction was only that way because every person on the planet could use a fictional machine to create as much food and clothing and wealth (gold). While that might bring about more equality between people and countries there would still be the issue of pride and greed.

The only way that the world will be in harmony and peace will be during the reign of Jesus for the one thousand years which God has foretold will come. Since God cannot tell a lie this will happen but until that day an ideal society with equality and opportunity for everyone will not happen just because we feel that it should.

Seek Him for your salvation while there is time to do so.

You can’t do it yourself!

God made this pretty clear during the exodus from Egypt. He saved the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt and it was His power that got them through the Red Sea. Even when He gave the Ten Commandments to Moses, no person can keep those on their own. We have to have the strength of the Holy Spirit and follow His leading every day in order to be the best that we can be with His help!

The Truth of God came to Earth one day a long time ago. He was born in a livestock pen because there was no other place for them during the census which was going on. We just finished with the season during which much of the world celebrates His birth, but there are many who do not. Actually, Jesus was born during the Feast of Tabernacles so that would’ve been around October. Anyway, He came to pay for ALL of our sins, past, present and future and He did just that!

He gave you the breath and the strength to get up this morning and see the day and the blessings contained in it. It has always been His mercy and grace which has held you in the good times and the not-so-good times which come in each of our lives. Yet many people don’t want to hear that because they don’t believe it. I would like to stop believing in gravity so I could fly, but that won’t happen. Just because I don’t want to believe in it won’t stop it from killing me. Remember, its not the fall that kills you…its the sudden stop when you hit the ground!

No matter what you believe in this life, when it is over you will meet God. It may be a good meeting or it may not be but that is your choice. Your eternal soul hangs in the balance until that day and your destination also hangs in the balance. Make sure of your decision while you have the chance to make one because a car wreck or an airplane crash or even a clot could end your life before you finish reading. If you ignore God’s call on your soul and His touch in your life and your life ends before you make that decision, it is your fault for your destination. God doesn’t send people to hell but He will allow you to go when you won’t accept Jesus as your Savior.

We do not decide to get saved, it is God’s Spirit which touches our heart and our soul. He gives us the faith to believe in Him and His Salvation for us IF we will accept it. Just because you have the faith to believe doesn’t mean that you have to believe, it is still your choice. Don’t put it off. If you have never believed in Him or given your life to Jesus for your salvation, I pray that you will do so because one day soon He will call the church home. When that happens there will be chaos in the world because there will be no bodies to bury only empty cars and homes with clothes and watches and rings on the floor where a Christian was when it happened.

Make sure for your sake that you know where you are going before that happens.

What does this season mean to you?

The Christmas season means different things in different cultures and religions. For some this time of year doesn’t mean much at all because they don’t recognize Jesus as a Person Who should be celebrated. For others, their religion doesn’t celebrate any holiday regardless of the time of year. For those who celebrate Christmas with food and consumption of it in all of its celebratory ways, it is a time of throwing out the diet and enjoying food for the tastes of the season.

Then…there are those who just love to buy all kinds of “toys”, from those for children to the ones for children who haven’t grown up. Most of us actually fall into this last group. We see so many problems, financial and otherwise, which come from our consumption of this “stuff”. So what should we do with our lives because of this season? Do you even see this season as one which we should celebrate the birth of One Who came to be a Savior for all?

This celebration has been with the Christian church for nearly two thousand years at this time. Some celebrate it as such and some do not because they do not recognize Him as their Savior. God brought about His works in this time not to glorify Israel or Himself but to show His love for all of mankind and His work was to bring Jesus into the world as its Savior.

The world chose not to recognize Him then and most of the world chooses the same even today which is why we, as His servants, should tell them about Him and stress that the time grows short for making a decision about Him. While it is true that some have many days still, there are some who do not have much time to decide if they want an eternity with Jesus or with Satan.

All of us have an eternity to bear but it is the type of life in eternity that is at stake. An eternity with Satan in Hell is called the second death because you are separated from God, the Author of Life. Why am I bringing this up during this season of joy? Because it is necessary for people to hear it and because some have heard it and many more have not, and yet there are many who have chosen not to receive Him.

These are in need of a Savior and are the reason for which He was sent to us. Not to begin a season of gift-giving, although that is a good thing, or even to bring hope for a fallen world but to bring to each of us the hope of an eternity with Him and the possibility of being redeemed from our sinful lives. That is the message of His coming as a babe in Bethlehem, God dwelling with mankind to redeem us all through His teachings and His death on a cross and His resurrection so that we could be with Him one day too.

JesusISChristmas

He is our Savior and Redeemer. Amen

Do you believe?

Jesus said that if we believe in Him we will be saved. But what about the rest of God’s Word? Do you believe what it says? You know…you can’t pick and choose which parts or which verses or books to believe although many people seem to do just that these days. Being a Christian means more than believing in Jesus although that is the beginning of your faith. Living as a Christian daily means living by God’s Word. Not just the New Testament or the parts about Jesus and His ministry but by living and believing ALL of God’s Word from Genesis to Revelation.

There are no areas of the Bible which are gray areas when it comes to faith. You either believe all of it or you actually believe only parts of it and when you do that you have invalidated ALL of it. By choosing to believe some parts of it and not others it is you who makes God’s Word of no effect!

Being a Christian, heart, and soul, is not a life of choosing what you will believe and then throwing out the parts you don’t like. Except in our world today, this is exactly how people want to read and believe or not believe in God. They want to choose which parts that they can live with and leave out the parts that they don’t like or those which make them feel guilty of their sins.

Jesus did not soften His sermons because there were people in the crowd who didn’t like what He was saying. He taught what the Father told Him to teach and to bring those in who would believe. If there were some who would not listen or believe that His teaching came from God then so be it because it was their choice to reject His teaching.

God had been trying to reach them ever since He liberated them from slavery to the Egyptians. But as soon as three days into their freedom, they began to grumble and it never really stopped, even when they reached the land which God had promised to them and conquered those who were living there. We are the same way today. We want the blessings of God and the promise of eternity in Heaven but we want to live our lives our way…but that isn’t how it works!

In our world or living by God’s rules, it is either one or the other, you can’t have it both ways!

That is why in the book of Joshua they were given a choice and we are as well: “Choose you this day whom you will serve“. You will either serve your own selfish desires and live like the rest of the world does or you will serve God and follow His ways and live in the footsteps of Jesus.

Gadgets and doodads

Why are we so interested in these things which take up space and don’t get used? Life is not about stuff and gadgets and doodads, it is about relationships and the people in our lives, especially those in our families! We should be thankful for them and let them know how we feel about them and their contributions to our lives. Those who we attend church with should also know how much they mean to us as well. But many times we keep that information to ourselves and never really express our feelings toward them.

Even toward our family, immediate and in-laws too, we seem to keep our feelings to ourselves. Why has our society become so distant toward each other and yet many want to open our borders to people who aren’t Americans and really don’t want to become citizens? Many of them seem to only want the benefits of being considered an American but they don’t want to be an American!

Christmas and being a Christian is not about stuff or presents or doodads and gadgets, it is about celebrating the birth of Jesus Who came to bring humanity the salvation which God wants us to have. Do you believe that God wants us to be saved? I do. Because He wouldn’t have sent Jesus to be our Savior if He didn’t! Remember, if you have ever read about the Garden of Eden, God used to walk with Adam in the cool of the day. That is the type of relationship He desires to have again with us.

Not just a few of us but with every person that will repent of their sins and accept Jesus as their Savior by believing in Him.

Statues and idols don’t have any power to save you. Nothing which is made by mankind, religion or otherwise, can bring salvation to your soul. Only belief in Jesus as your Savior can do that. Praying to Allah can’t do it. Praying to Mary can’t do it. Praying to your ancestors can’t give you eternal life. Only belief in Jesus and in His atonement for your sins on the cross can bring eternal salvation to you.

Walking with Him daily and following His lead in your life can bring such peaceful days to you that I can’t describe them. I have had more days of peace walking with Him for the past twenty years than I could ever imagine having without Him in my life. Granted, I don’t live in a country ripped apart by war or terrorism and I’m not wealthy since I live on disability now, but life is better since He is keeping me here to do His work until that day when He calls me home.

I still have trouble making my bills sometimes. I still wake up with my aches and pains that go with me everywhere. But…I am blessed with His Presence and His promise of eternity when this life is over. The time which we have here is a very small amount of time compared to eternity and that is my goal. To make it to the home which He has prepared for me and for you too if you will believe in Him. No more sorrow or pain or wearing glasses to see or even a watch to tell time by because we don’t need to watch the time.

We will be “like Him” when we are there, not “gods” but our bodies will be immortal and a lot better than the ones we live in now. I pray that everyone who reads this will seek Him out as their Savior so I can welcome you home or even meet you one day in eternity.

One at a time

How can we advance our faith and our church in our community? One person at a time. That is how Jesus did it, at least at the beginning of His ministry. So, what should we do with our own testimony? Should we tell everyone or should we just talk to one person who needs to hear it and pray that it makes a difference in their lives?

Have you ever considered the impact of your testimony about the impact which Jesus had on your life? Few of us really think about this after we have accepted Him as our Savior. Even fewer think about what His influence has had in our own lives. It sounds a bit odd, doesn’t it? Why would you give your life and your heart to Jesus and then rarely think about Him or even the impact He has had in your life?

Although it seems that many people try to live a solitary life with Jesus as their Savior. That is not what He called us to be. We are supposed to be His witnesses in the world and His representatives in the world so that others might see the difference that He made in our lives! You can’t really live a solitary life with Jesus, can you? Yes, but it isn’t a lonely life as long as you acknowledge His Presence in your life each and every day!

John 5:1-18
After this, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.…

I. THE PATIENT.

1. He was fully aware of his sickness and owned it. He was not like those who are lost by nature, who do not know it or will not confess it.

2. He waited by the pool expecting some sign and wonder. This is how many people wait, persevering in ordinances and unbelief, expecting some great thing, that on a sudden they will experience strange emotions and remarkable impressions, or see a vision or hear a supernatural voice. No one will deny that a few have been thus favored but such interpositions are not to be looked for. Jesus Himself is the greatest of wonders. In regard to this matter of waiting.

(1) That it is not the way which God has told His servants to preach. The gospel of our salvation is “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.”(2) This un-gospel-like gospel of waiting is immensely popular. Why? Because it administers laudanum to the conscience. When the minister preaches with power and men’s hearts are touched, the devil says “Wait.”(3) Is not this “waiting” a very hopeless business? Of those who waited how few were healed? What right have you to expect that if you wait another thirty years you will be different?

(4) There lies our poor friend. I do not blame him for waiting, for Jesus had not been there before. He expected some person to have mercy on him and help him to get into the pool when the water was disturbed. Then when Jesus came and He expected Him to help him to get into the pool but Jesus said that your faith has made you whole.

(5) Having been so often disappointed he was growing in deep despair. Moreover, he was getting old; and life is wearing away with you. You have waited all this while in vain, sinfully waited. You have seen others saved, your child, your wife; but you are not. So how can you make a difference in your life? By believing in Jesus for your salvation and living with Him each day expecting Him to give you an eternity like He has promised to do for those who believe.

II. THE PHYSICIAN. (Jesus the Christ)

1. He made an election. This man was possibly selected because he was the worst case and had waited longest of all.

2. Jesus said, “Wilt thou be made whole?” not for information, but to arouse attention.

3. He gave the word of command.

4. There is nothing said in the text about faith, but the whole incident shows that the man must have had faith.

5. The cure which Christ wrought was —

(1) Perfect. The man could carry his bed.

(2) Immediate. The man was not carried home by friends and gradually nursed into vital energy.

Did he gradually get better on the way home? No! He was healed right there at the time that Jesus said so according to his expectation (faith).

God loves us!

Many times we look around and see all of the things which happen to those who serve God and try to be His servants, some people think that it is not worth it for the trouble. Why does this trouble come upon us when we are trying to do the work of the Lord? Mainly it is because of the prophecies of Jesus, Who said: “you shall have trouble in this world, but take heart I have overcome the world“.

We do have trials and trouble in this world because of the ruler of this world. Satan doesn’t bother those who haven’t given their hearts to Jesus but those who are following Him, he brings trouble to them. Sometimes it is trouble for our hurt and at times it may be for testing us and our faith. See that you follow Jesus in life so that others might see your perseverance in Jesus and become saved through Him because of your witness.

Many Christians don’t desire to “witness” to those around them but I have to ask in this instance, “Are you truly saved?”!! If Jesus has not made a change in your life such that you would shout from the roof that He is your Savior, then you may need to check your heart by God’s Word and make sure of your salvation. I know that many people think that they can’t tell others about their salvation. If you don’t feel that your salvation is a gift worthy of telling others about it then what did you seek salvation for?

Jesus willingly gave His life and His blood for your sins and for everyone’s sins in the world and He was raised on the third day after this to be our Lamb of sacrifice and our payment for our sins. If the blood of the Son of God is not precious to you then you don’t belong to Him. God extends His love to all who believe in Jesus for salvation if we will give our life to Him daily in our service to God’s Kingdom.

John 16:

Persecution Foretold
(Acts 23:12-22)

1 I have told you these things so that you will not fall away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. 3 They will do these things because they have not known the Father or Me. 4 But I have told you these things so that when their hour comes, you will remember that I told you about them. I did not tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you.

The Promise of the Holy Spirit
(Joel 2:28-32; John 14:15-26; Acts 2:1-13; Acts 10:44-48; Acts 19:1-7)

5 Now, however, I am going to Him who sent Me; yet none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 6 Instead, your hearts are filled with sorrow because I have told you these things. 7 But I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.

8 And when He comes, He will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 in regard to sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me; 11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world has been condemned.

12 I still have much to tell you, but you cannot yet bear to hear it. 13 However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you. 15 Everything that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said that the Spirit will take from what is Mine and disclose it to you.

16 In a little while you will see Me no more, and then after a little while you will see Me.”

Grief to Joy

17 Then some of His disciples asked one another, “Why is He telling us, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and then after a little while you will see Me’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 18 They kept asking, “Why is He saying, ‘a little while’? We do not understand what He is saying.”

19 Aware that they wanted to question Him, Jesus said to them, “Are you asking one another why I said, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and then after a little while you will see Me’? 20 Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21 A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. 22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.

Ask and You will Receive

23 In that day you will no longer ask Me anything. Truly, truly, I tell you, whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

25 I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. A time is coming when I will no longer speak to you this way, but will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 In that day you will ask in My name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from God.b 28 I came from the Father and entered the world. In turn, I will leave the world and go to the Father.”

29 His disciples said, “See, now You are speaking plainly and without figures of speech. 30 Now we understand that You know all things and that You have no need for anyone to question You. Because of this, we believe that You came from God.”

31 “Do you finally believe?” Jesus replied. 32 “Look, an hour is coming and has already come when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and you will leave Me all alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. 33 I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”

We have been blessed!

How much has our country been blessed? We are not being persecuted for our faith, regardless of your beliefs or which “god” you believe in. So why do we keep looking for something to satisfy a longing within which we can’t identify?

Because there is only One Person which will fill that space in our soul (heart) and it is Jesus Christ. When we invite Jesus into our lives, He also sends the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, to live within our heart and teach us about Him and to help us learn our position in God’s Kingdom. So by accepting the blessing of God through Jesus, we receive the Holy Spirit to be our teacher and our guide through our life with Him! How cool is that?! We receive blessings and wisdom from the whole Trinity of our Creator!

Adam and Eve had that relationship by default before they rebelled and ate from the tree which God had told them not to eat from. The Spirit of God was present in them so that they could have communion with God and with the animals and all of creation around them. Can you imagine how they felt when they lost that? It would have been devastating.

Living daily with God’s Spirit guiding you and teaching you is what we have access to if we have given our hearts to Jesus so why are Christians so messed up today? I mean, we can’t agree on which doctrine to follow or what to call our “religion” so how can we be a unified body of believers? God loves us with a love which is so deep and wide that we can’t figure it out from our perspective yet we have placed all sorts of additions and doctrines between our beliefs and the real Savior in God’s Word until we don’t know how to serve one of them let alone both!

Why can’t we get back to the teachings which Paul taught and John wrote about instead of making a morning service into an “experience” or a performance and actually teach those who come to learn rather than entertaining them? We can’t be Christians without the Spirit in our hearts so why can’t we worship Him without all of the fluff and additions which we see and hear about in some churches today?