Tag: God

God’s will


Anything that is happening in this world, good or bad, can and will be used in the will of God. Like it or not, you are too. Why there are so many people who are going against this, I don’t know. Yes, there is much in the world which is seen as bad by many people and it is hard to understand why such things are happening. It doesn’t make sense to us because the things which are happening seem to be heinous and evil, God permits those things to happen but it is not His will that they do. Whether you believe it or not, the heart of man is full of evil and wickedness and it is because of our collective sinful nature. This is the reason that things, bad things, happen in the world today.

I have been asked by some “Then why doesn’t God stop it? If He is God, couldn’t He force us to behave?”

Yes, He could, but forced obedience doesn’t engender feelings of love and compassion does it? If you were forced to do something, like go to church for instance, would you be worshipping God while you were there? Not likely, you would be angry and resentful toward the person who made you come. You wouldn’t be thankful or grateful for the sermon or for the person about whom the preacher was speaking. Being forced into something, whether it is a worship service or a marriage like some women or girls are forced into in some countries today, doesn’t engender love for the arrangement regardless what it might be.

God does love each of us and it is His wish, His will that all of us would come to Him, to know Him willingly. But, it is our decision to do so. He doesn’t force us. Therefore Allah doesn’t exist. Allah and God are NOT the same person. The Koran is not God’s word, it is something which was given to a man by a demon from Satan disguised as an angel from God. The concepts from God’s True Word about love, dignity, purpose, and life are not reflected in it anywhere. Oh, yes, there are some good points and some of it is about peaceful living. But, the surah which talks of lying to the infidel and attacking him, killing him if he will not convert to Islam. Waiting for a chance to kill a Jew or a Christian when the time is right…these are concepts born of a hatred for God’s people.

Compare those concepts with Jesus’ teaching about love your neighbor as yourself, do good to those who persecute you, give to the enemy which takes your cloak your tunic also, these are not the same as the “teachings” of Allah.

Now, I am not attacking anyone’s beliefs with this. If you wish to worship Allah, that is your right and ability to do that, those who worship Zen, or any other Eastern religion are welcome to their religions too. Yes, I said that Allah doesn’t exist but if you worship him, then feel free to do so. Worship is not up to me or you or any other person, at least in the sense that someone is in control of your worship. Religion and religious worship are individual decisions, just as following Jesus as your Savior is an individual decision too.

Think about it, pray about it, seek God and He will come to your heart and your life and change it for the better.

Revival of the Church


Is this something that is needed or is it already too late?

Yes, it is needed and it is absolutely NOT too late! Although many churches, or at least those who make up the body of the churches need revival in a BIG way. Revival of spirit, revival of conviction and of their purpose as Christians. It is not too late, but to most of the world, especially in America, we are silent about things that we should not be silent about. Yes, Jesus said to turn the other cheek but even He overturned the money changers tables and those tables which were selling animals for sacrifice in the courtyard of the Tabernacle!

We are not supposed to just roll over and say, “Oh well, so it goes.” Would Jesus be quiet right now in the face of all that is going on in this world? I don’t think so. When He comes back there will be many who will be wishing that He had not!

I know there are some who don’t believe in our God or in anything that the Bible says, but it is the Truth of God and when He comes they will see that it is and always has been true. As Ezekiel looked on the valley of dry bones, he did not know that they would live again but God knew. God could revive them and in the vision that he had, God did just that. He can do that to the church today! He can bring us up from the grave, no matter where we are in life or death because He is God the Creator.

The church today is not dead, but asleep and not doing the work that Jesus gave it to do. We must keep working for Jesus until He comes again. It is our duty and His command that we take His message to all of the world and we can’t do that sitting behind the walls of our churches. Jesus is and always has been the Son of God, the Living Word and He is the Creator because of the Word that was used by God to create everything.

We have to get out of our comfort zones even if it takes getting our shoes dirty and going places that we might not want to go, but where He commands that we take Him! He prompted me to begin this ministry online and it is His prompting that gives me the words to write. I am not and never have been a prolific speaker or writer, but in the past few years I have been writing what I was given by Him…here and elsewhere (my other two sites), in order to get His message out to those that might read it.

I don’t do this for my sake or for any kind of recognition, but for your sake and for your salvation in coming to know my Savior as yours. The church is not a building it is the people who meet there and come to worship Jesus there. Whether the church happens to be in a large building or in a home, the people gathering there are the church. We need to be inviting others to join us in our worship so that they can come to know Jesus too.

Conviction, what is it?


I asked a question a few days ago about what is hell, now I am asking about conviction. What is it? I am not talking about being convicted of a crime such as in a court of law. I am talking about being convicted by the Holy Spirit. Have you ever felt that? Have you felt it during a sermon at a church? If you did, why didn’t you give your heart to Jesus and allow Him to come to live in your heart and your life?

Think about it. Conviction of doing something that is wrong or sinful brings you to the point of knowing that something needs to change and that something is your life-style. Give up drinking and smoking and having sex outside of a married relationship with a person of the opposite sex. Why am I being so specific about this? Because there are too many people who don’t think that this is important. Because there are too many people who don’t believe that the Bible is the Truth of God and the Word of God. If it isn’t the Truth, then I am mistaken and I am wrong.

But, what if the Bible is the Truth and the Words in it are True? If it is, then everything that I have said is just as true because I preach this every Sunday in church and I preach it from God’s Word, the Bible. Yes, it is true and it is God’s Word. There is no denying this, although many people do. So how can we possibly get past the conviction of the Holy Spirit?

We can’t, actually. If you have felt it or maybe are feeling it but don’t know what to do about it, here is a hint: Don’t turn away from it! God wants you for a reason, that is why you are feeling this conviction. If the Creator needs you, don’t run away from Him because you can’t. It doesn’t work. Jonah tried it, I tried it too but eventually God will manage to get your attention and get you back where He needs you to be.

Give your heart to Jesus and ask Him to show you how to live and what He wants from you and He will. The Lord is gracious and loves all of us, He will answer a prayer for wisdom and knowledge especially if you are wanting to do what He is calling you to do.

Do you know that God loves you?


He loves you in such a DEEP and intimate way until you cannot fathom exactly how much He truly does love you! Satan and the world at large try to tell you that God doesn’t care about you or anything that goes on in or on this Earth, but He honestly does. I mean, honestly, do you think that He would’ve allowed His Son to die for you or me or the rest of humanity if He didn’t love us?

You may not believe in God or in His Son, but God does love you. Why? Because God IS LOVE! He can’t help but love His creation and you and I are a part of that! Yes, there are many people in this world who don’t believe and may never believe in Him or His Son and truly that is too bad. There is nothing that I can do or say that will change their minds and unless they feel or hear the call to their heart from Him and answer it, they will never know Him. The problem is that they will blame Him for it when it is their decision to believe or not!

Can anything be done to prove to anyone that God exists? No, not really. People in our world are deceived by their eyes and by science and by Satan, although many don’t think that he exists either. I have met many who don’t want to change their minds, even if you could prove God’s existence. But…one day they will meet Him. Because we will all stand before Him and give account for our lives and the deeds done by us..each word, each syllable uttered that was hurtful or may have caused a child to disbelieve in God. Every action that we did in life, if it was not covered by the blood of Jesus, will be accounted for.

When you are not a child of God what are you exactly? You are a human being just like everyone else, regardless of the color of your skin or the culture that you grew up in. God knows this because He knows you! He knows exactly where you…each of us is at any time, no matter how dark the place may be or if you feel that God is not in this place, He is. God loves you no matter where you might be, all that you need to do is allow Him into your life.

He will not push or poke His way into your life, you may feel a tug at your heart when you hear a sermon but unless you answer that call it will be unanswered until the next time. If you close your mind and your heart to God though and decide for yourself that it isn’t worth giving your life to Him, He may stop calling and just allow you to be the way that you want to be. Grace is available to all but unless you make the decision to let Jesus into your life it won’t happen.

Jesus came and died on a cross and rose again so that we all could have eternal life but we have to believe in Him and in the fact that it is His blood that purifies your sinful life before God. You can’t do it, Muhammed can’t do it, Buddha can’t do it…there is no other person or priest who can pray for you and absolve you of your sins. Jesus is the only way…the only Shepherd that can bring you into eternity.

Believe it or not, it won’t matter whether you are a good person and have given your life to doing good things or maybe you have given thousands of dollars to charity to feed the poor and the sick and disabled. These are all wonderful things to do, but unless you are a Christian and have the love of Jesus in your life and you did them for His glory and not your own…they don’t mean anything.

People will think well of you for doing this but it will have no lasting significance, no eternal reward for you because it was done for your recognition and not for God’s glory! He will enhance your life and your eternity with His love and His grace and He will help you to be more of what you are supposed to be in Him and through Him. Think about it and seek Him!

Hell, what is that?


HELL-105818653518Sounds crazy doesn’t it? But, many people don’t believe that it exists. God speaks about it and Jesus speaks about this place, so it must exist somewhere. Why do people think that they will be having fun by going there though? I don’t understand that at all!

Even Milton wrote something quite unusual to me: “Better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven”; since when does anyone think that they will be “reigning” in hell? There is nothing to reign over! Heat that is eternal, sulphur that burns and those in hell have bodies which will not die, they will just feel pain! The pain of rejection and loss of Heaven and opportunities to be with loved ones will also be there.

Your life will continue although it will not be like many people think that it will. I have worked with many people who think that they will be living it up with all of their friends while eternity rolls on, when in fact it will be nothing like that at all.

God has given each of us a grace period in a way. One that allows us to come to our own conclusion about our eternal destination but there are so many that reject this gift and think that they have a better and more fun-filled way of getting to Heaven on their own. There is a problem with that though, because nothing that we do on our own is good enough to get us to Heaven. Jesus did everything that is necessary for our salvation and all that we have to do is believe in His sacrifice for us and accept it as the wonderful gift that it is!

No amount of work or money will add to what He has already done because nothing from our point of view and our strength is worthy of recognition by God. Jesus’ sacrifice and the blood that He shed for us, all of us, is enough and it doesn’t need anything added to it. Look at it like this:

If you had committed a truly heinous crime, one that deserved the death penalty and you were convicted of it. What could you do about it? Once you are convicted, unless there has been a terrible mistake, there really is nothing that you can do to reverse the situation. All that you can do is wait for your execution date. Then, one hour before your execution, a man comes to the judge and asks to be put in your place so that you can go free. Unbelievably, the judge agrees and you are set free and he is executed in your place. Did you deserve to be set free? Do you deserve the gift that you were given…life in the place of death?

This is exactly what Jesus did for each person on Earth. None of us, not even one person, deserves the life that is provided, the eternal pardon that has been given, but that doesn’t keep each of us from reaching out and taking it if we want it. So, what is keeping you from taking the gift that has been given? What part of your life here is so important, so wonderful that you would rather choose it over the future that you have in Christ? We have no idea how life will be in Heaven, but it will be far better than what we could have here, even if we had everything that we could possibly want it will pale in comparison to what is waiting for us.

Give it some thought, read the Bible with an open mind, pray about your future with Jesus. Don’t throw away the chance that you have been given freely and without cost to you.

Thinkin’ about stuff…


300px-Pooh_and_Piglet,_Thinking

I really like Pooh Bear. His philosophy of life is profound and simple. Eat, enjoy life with your friends, think about…stuff. Like, how clouds look and how they get around, why is the Sun so bright, could I fly to the moon? All important questions, especially when you don’t want to think about the REAL world and its problems. Life is a question from the time that we can talk and make sentences until the day that we, in the words of Commander Data “go offline”. How can we really enjoy life when there are so many questions? Do we have to answer them all? I am only adding to the number of questions by asking all of these.

The point is that we are beings who think. Our minds work all of the time, except while we are asleep and some say that we actually solve many of our problems while we are asleep we just don’t realize it at the time. Unconscious thoughts, words, meanings and emotions cloud our thinking and crowd out the really weird stuff, but only while we sleep. When we are awake, we have news and Facebook and Instagram and conversations over our phones and computers as well as with other human beings. Not to mention the things which we really have to do, like go to work, drive the car, watch for the other people on the highway around us, then do our job (whatever that might be) and then drive home and either fix something to eat for our family or get it as take-out from a restaurant.

Your life and mine are constantly in motion. Our minds rarely have a chance to catch up with everything that we are doing, and yet I haven’t even mentioned giving time to God or Bible study and meditation, prayer, etc. It is possible to do all of these things but when you write them down…they look so overwhelming! God gave us the ability to do this but we take it for granted, because from the time we first start going to school, more things are added to our daily menu of things to do every day! It seems that we are never really caught up or that we ever will catch up. Why?

More questions. Think…think…think..what can we do that doesn’t require so much energy, so much brainpower? I don’t have the answer to that, unless you might want to play some games on a console or on the computer, that is a mostly brain-less activity in my opinion. So, without being brain-less, how about getting into God’s Word? The wisdom contained in it doesn’t require us to really think, just believe in Him and His wisdom, as well as in His Son Who made it possible for us to come to God at any time that we need Him, regardless of the circumstance.

Once Jesus took care of the atonement or payment for our sins, all that we have to do is to believe in Him and what He did and ask Him to forgive us and to help us be more like Him in our daily lives. So that we can bring His message to others and, if the Holy Spirit draws them, maybe they will want to give their lives to Him as well. Christians don’t go on jihad (except for the ones that were deceived by their church in the Middle ages), Christianity cannot be forced on anyone and neither can any other religion!

Please consider your eternal soul and really think…think this through before deciding to follow Jesus or not. The decision can be the most valuable in your lifetime, because then your true, eternal life won’t end at all! 

Does God care?


If God did not care, you wouldn’t be reading this. Whether you believe in Him or not isn’t the point and whether you want to believe in Him isn’t the point either. God is, period. He cares, He loves each of us and He knows when and where you will die and how. He is omnipotent and outside of time, so He can see the beginning and the end and everything in between.

Your lack of belief will not change any of these facts and you will believe when He comes again, there is no denying that. Just like voting against gravity or sunshine will not make them go away, not believing in God is your choice but even Satan knows better! YES, God cares about you and every person on this Earth because He had a hand in your life at one point.

Choosing to disbelieve this will not change anything. God is eternal and He has a plan for us all. We can’t find out that plan until we seek Him and come to know Him though. Walking around or sitting around watching TV, fishing, hunting, or whatever you do that qualifies as ‘recreation and relaxation” doesn’t get you any closer to God. You are experiencing His creation and all the wonders of it, but until you decide to repent and allow Him to come into your life, the experience of it won’t mean much.

God is as near to you as your heartbeat and your breathing. He allowed you to get up this morning and begin a new day so don’t waste it! Use it for Him, decide to come before the Creator and humble yourself asking for His forgiveness that it took so long for you to find out that you need Him. Yes, God cares. He cared enough to send His Son to take the sins of the entire world on Himself, so that when you realized that you need Him, all that you have to do is believe in Jesus and ask Him to come into your life and make you His. That’s it.

It is not hard and there is nothing that you can do to make it better or easier. Actually, it couldn’t be much easier than: Father, I have been a sinner all of my life. I ask that you forgive me of all that I have done and cleanse me. Make me into a new creation through the power of your Son, Jesus. Thank you for your love and mercy, God. In Jesus’ name I ask this today and look forward to a new life with Him. Amen.

That is it. That simple prayer is all that you have to…no, need to do if you have never asked Him into your life before. Believe in Jesus, trust in Him and the Creator, God, because when you do everything changes and becomes new. Then, get a Bible, read it, study it, pray about it while you study it because He will help you to understand it and how it applies to your life. Then, tell someone about what Jesus has done for you. They will see it and know it whether you tell them or not because the change will be evident.

Consider the names of God


He is El Shaddai (The Almighty)
He is El Olam (The Everlasting God)
He is El Ohiym (The Strong One)
He is Adonai (Master)
He is Yahweh Shalom (The Lord is Peace)
He is Jehovah-Rapha (The Lord Who Heals)
He is Jehovah-Hoseenu (The Lord our Maker)

God is all of these. He has been for eternity and will be for eternity. We do not have to wonder if He is because…He is. God is able. God is the Holy Spirit. God is Adonai…our Master and Lord. All of these are true, but do we accept them when we become Christians? Do we truly realize exactly Who we are dealing with or even praying to?

In our daily lives, whether we are Christians or not, do we ever come to grasp that it is this Presence, this Person Who came and died for each of our sins and then rose from the grave to conquer death and prove that we will also? If we allow Him into our lives and into our hearts so that He can cleanse us from our previous Earthly selves and change us…each one of us into a new Creature in Christ. This is the message that Jesus wants us to take to the world. This is the testimony that we have to let others know about by telling them in some way, because if we don’t tell them…who will?

Sure, there are books and Bibles and tapes. There are DVD’s and CD’s that people can listen to, but did you listen to them? Did you hear or see those messages before your heart was broken into thousands of pieces? Did you want to know God prior to His touch…His call on your life? I doubt it. You did just like the rest of us hypocrites, you went about your life doing the same things day in and day out with no more thought about eternity than your thoughts about the economy or even what you would eat for lunch!

But, you know, when your heart got a crack in it….when something got your attention to come around to see that there was more to life than hunting and football, then you began to look for a meaning, for a purpose. You felt that things wouldn’t be enough, stuff wasn’t important any more just because you had more expensive stuff than someone else! This life…this time that we have only has meaning and purpose when you give it to the One that Created it, so that He can make you into what you were…what you ARE supposed to be. You can’t do it alone. You can’t be “the one” in your life or anyone else’s life until you allow the One into yours!

Yes, today is today and tomorrow is still yet to come but if you give your heart, your life to God and ask Him to make you into His idea of what or who you should be then your tomorrows will never end. Even if your life here does, the effect that your words, your actions, your character had on even one person may go farther than you ever could to make an impact on more people than you will ever know on this side of Heaven. Consider that and think about His Names.

What has been your “test”?


Have you been blessed with a “test” in your life? Many people don’t think of these as tests but as trials. In reality, it is a learning time or a teachable moment, even if the so-called moment lasts longer than you wish or want it to. Think of Job, in the Bible, his teachable “moment” took away everything that he had including his health. So much so that his wife advised him: “His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!“. ( Job 2:9)  What kind of nonsense it that!?

Giving up on life or cursing God…neither option is a good one and could actually make things much worse! God loves each of us far more than we can understand and He is always near us, especially if you are a Christian. Although many who are going through times that are hard, especially now, may not be Christians. So, what can they do? If things seem to be too hard to bear, cry out to God! He is the Great Physician and is able to do above and beyond what we can know or think to ask for!

Jesus died for us so that we can come to the Father at any time and if your heart feels that there is no hope, there really is! Through Jesus’ sacrifice for us, He gave us the access to God directly. We no longer have to go to a priest or a rabbi to know that our prayers are being heard. There is nothing that we can do that will aid our prayers about whatever it might be that is tasking us and trying our faith. God hears what you need, especially when we are seeking Him for His ever-present help and understanding!

We are not to test God with irrational things like jumping from a building or handling snakes or drinking poison. Our faith may save us in some of those situations, but God will allow gravity to have its way. The other so-called “tests” are just against common sense, period!

The point that I am trying to make is that God loves us and will save our souls if we come to Him, seeking Him for our salvation. When we add suicide into the mix of “issues”, God will allow your soul to be saved if you have given your heart to Him prior to this, even though some might argue this point. My actual point is that if you have given your heart to Jesus and truly asked Him into your life, I don’t believe that He will allow you to get so far down that you take your life. During my month of feeling this way, I have thought of suicide but that is as far as it went…just thoughts and nothing more.

I love my wife and son too much to leave them like that and even though I love Jesus more, I don’t believe that He wants me to do something that stupid with my life. If for no other reason than it doesn’t honour Him at all if I kill myself! Writing this out seems to be helping in many ways because it is almost like talking to a therapist without the bill. Besides, they have no interest in you anyway. All that they want is their fee. I may be wrong about that, but consider that they don’t really know you at all, you are just a patient to them.

Anyway, God created you and knows you far more intimately than anyone. He knew that this was coming and why. He also knows when it will end and will enable you to get through it, and you will by depending upon Him, trusting Him and having faith in His provisions for you.

 

Blue, down or depressed..which is it?


When you feel down, you don’t want to do anything. When you feel blue, you just don’t feel right. Depression makes you feel this way too, but in a more concrete way, by that I mean in a way that is not easily gotten over. Which of course is another thing that many people will tell you with all of the insensitivity that this contains, “Get over it!”.

When you feel like you are blue or you are just having a bad day, nothing seems to go right.
Depression and feeling depressed gives you a bad day which lasts much longer, sometimes, than you would care for it to.

Feeling blue or down in the dumps can be fixed by a lively song or a cheerful child or even a happy book or movie. The “blues” go away and you are yourself again. Depression is something which cannot be fixed by a happy song or any of the things which help a “blue” day. As a matter of fact, some of these so-called fixes can make the depression worse…can make it even deeper than it was.

Feeling sorry for yourself is another form of the “blues”, but it is nothing in comparison to depression at all. It’s like comparing a fire-cracker to an atomic bomb, they both go “BOOM”, but with far greater intensity and destruction in the atomic bomb’s case.

It is the same with depression, feeling blue is easily fixed…while depression is like an ongoing “bad day”. Drugs can help, but chemicals only go as far as they can go. Therapy can help, but confession to others only gives you a support group to spread the pain around with.

Time, prayer, and faith in God’s healing power is the only real cure for depression. Although, Satan will try to derail that with more intense feelings of despair and depression. The answer….I don’t have it. It is found in God’s Word, in faith and in fellowship with God’s people. Fellowship and the caring love demonstrated by them toward you, as a child of God, is the only REAL cure but it still takes time. It is not a quick fix, like we expect in our society today.

It is not easy and coming to the church is hard to do especially when you are depressed, because there will always be someone who thinks that you are just feeling sorry for yourself, when that is far from the truth. Whether they voice their opinion or not doesn’t matter, the look that you may get are just as cutting…just as hurtful.

You can fake “getting better”, but inside depression doesn’t go away like “feeling blue or down”. It is more similar to an alcoholic. Some think that it is a personal demon to be conquered, but it is one that truly doesn’t go away entirely. An alcoholic may be sober for years, but one drink can send them back and depression is like that. You might be OK for a while, but one trigger, one bad day can send you right back into the well of depression again.

Prayer and fellowship is the only real helpful fix for your state of mind. Intercessory prayer from friends is more helpful than anyone can know, so I am asking for this from all of you, and I Thank you in advance for your prayers.