Tag: God

Four words that are hard to say….


In our society today, we don’t speak much anymore. We text each other, we send e-mails, occasionally we talk to each other but we never write a letter to one another or at least it seems that way. Why is that do you suppose? Is it because of technology or our hurried lives? We just don’t have time anymore to talk to someone?

What about your prayer life, do you have one? Many people don’t think about prayer, at least not until they have some trouble in their lives. Then they may pray to God or Jesus about it, but once the problem is taken care of in one way or another they stop. They may even be angry with God if the outcome wasn’t what they asked for, at which point they may never pray again. They just determine that God hates them and decide not to reach out to Him again.

It is sad when people choose to do something like this, but it seems to happen more often than it should because there are so many people who have given up on God. He hasn’t given up on us and never will for the most part. I say that because at some point you can harden your heart toward God to the point that you won’t come to Him, period.

If you haven’t come to that point, there is still hope but you must say four words that some people find hard to say, “I am a sinner”. Once you can admit that to yourself and to God, you are nearly there! At that point, just ask Him to come into your life and free you from the sinful life that you have led in the past. Then you are a new creature in Christ and your life in Him and through Him starts fresh and new!

Many people say things like “I’ve been too bad for Him to want me” but if He is knocking on your heart and you can feel His presence wanting you to come to Him, He wants you! He can use your talents because He knows what you can do, probably better than you do.

This reminds me of a story in the Old Testament about Naaman, the commander of Syria‘s army. There were four words that he didn’t want to say either, mainly because of pride and shame. He didn’t want to admit that “I am a leper” because of his high position and because of the disgrace it would bring to him. Yet a little child , one of the captives who was a servant girl in his household, knew of a prophet in her homeland who could ask God to heal him and she told him about it.

To make a long story shorter, Naaman went with many gifts and asked the king of Israel about this prophet and found him, but Elisha sent his servant to him and told him to wash seven times in the Jordan river and he would be healed. He was furious. That river is full of mud, he said and he stormed out and started on the way home. His servant told him that if the prophet had said to do some great thing he would’ve done it, so why not do what the prophet said?

When Naaman humbled himself and decided to dip himself into the Jordan river like the prophet had told him to do (seven times), he found that the disease that he had for so long was healed and his skin was like that of a child. That is what happens to our hearts when Christ comes in. Our heart and our life becomes like a child of God, new-born and cleansed from our sins. At this point, we can do anything through Christ and others will truly see Him through our example and our character as we mature in our faith.

Jesus does love us all and has paid the price for our sins, all we have to do is come to Him and humbly say “I am a sinner, please forgive me”. Six words that will change your life and the lives of those around you forever.

Is there a point of no return?


Many today believe that when things get so bad in your life that there is a point that you reach where there is no way back or out of the situation that you find yourself in. In a legal sense that may be true but I am speaking of your heart and your life as God sees it. It is true that the Bible says that there is a sin that is unforgivable, but that is referring to rejecting God’s call on your life repeatedly until your heart no longer responds.

If you have ever felt that tug on your spirit from God and just brushed it away as a fly, that is the call that I am referring to. When we brush God off many times and refuse to repent and come to Him, that is the sin for which there is no pardon. At which point, God will refuse to hear as you have done for so long. Our hearts can be hardened just as the pharaoh’s in Egypt were when God was about to liberate the Jewish people from their captivity.

When that happens, there is no argument or persuasion that will result in your salvation. It is at this point that God has turned His back on you just as you have done to Him. It is also a very sad and lonely place to be in your life because there is nothing that can help your spiritual condition at this point. It is one of those times that no parent or friend ever wants to see, but sometimes it comes and you just have to move on.

Why do we turn away from God? Usually the cause is a mixture of pride and our own arrogance. “I can do it myself”, “Christianity is too elitist”, “Their way can’t be the only way to heaven”, these are all arguments that I have heard or witnessed and they are all wrong!

The Bible says that “the only way to the Father is through the Son”, which is my paraphrase of John 14:6 which says:

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

Belief and faith in Jesus is the only way to Heaven and everlasting life. I know that is a restricting way of saying so but it is true because the Bible is Truth and none of it is false. The world and the one who is in this world tries and succeeds in deceiving people into thinking that they can get by without God and without Jesus. It is true you can live your life without Him in your life, but the rewards of giving your heart to Him allow you so much more!

So much more life and effectiveness in this world and a future in the next one! I would never trade or attempt to return to my life before Christ because my life has become so much more alive with Him. God created us to have a daily walk with Him and that is what was restored when Jesus took our sins and paid the debt for us on the cross. All that we have to do is accept that, believe it and determine to follow His example and His Word in our life on a daily basis. He will give you the ability and show you what you are to do with your new life.

We are not just pawns to Him we are disciples, teachers, prayer warriors, preachers, evangelists regardless of where we work or live. These are our vocations once we are saved to be His. We are new creations in Christ and as such we are to boldly go out and tell others of how we became the adopted children of God! We also have the responsibility to mature into our new life by reading His Word and prayerfully accepting the truth that comes from the Spirit while reading it.

The Spirit of Truth which came down on the day of Pentecost to the disciples is the one that Jesus promised to us. We receive it at our conversion and acceptance of Christ, although it may not look like a tongue of fire when it arrives. Our life is so much more and can be much more meaningful with a relationship with Christ than it ever can be without Him. He wants all to come to Him if we will only believe in Him and what He did for us.

 

Small sins cause the greatest pain


When we do sin, even in the smallest way, we are breaking God‘s laws. Not that we are bound by the Laws of Moses since we are under the sacrifice of Jesus and under grace, but consider that God said that we are to be subject to our government and its laws. Every time we break the speed limit, even a little, we are breaking the law of God and man.

I know that many people don’t count those “little sins”, but God does. In the least, those “little sins” like speeding, lying to someone (just a little), cause problems with our prayers and with our relationship between God and us. If we are to call ourselves Christians, we should act like it, and that means obeying the law.

“For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth.” Leviticus 11:44

Christians and those who believe in God and who He is are called to be holy by claiming Jesus as our Saviour because He is the Messiah and the One prophesied about by the prophets in the Old Testament scriptures. We have to come to Him before it is too late because the only way to the Father is through the Son.

There will be a great falling away of people from their faith in God and Christ during the time of tribulation coming upon the world. Your faith in what you have been taught and in the Bible itself will be tested and the only way to hold firm to that is to claim it fully and completely. God does not want any to perish but if you cannot or will not accept the free gift of salvation through Jesus, that is what will happen.

I know this is a harsh message to read and hear but the time will come when these things are happening. It is prophesied in the Bible and God’s words are true!

Are you a broken vessel?


Does your life feel broken? Do you feel broken in your walk with God? Sometimes our lives feel this way but Jesus and His Father have not left you. If anyone has moved in the relationship, it is you. Even though you may not have moved very far, distance makes the relationship a little harder to feel from our perspective.

Is your relationship with God feeling empty or lacking in depth? Mine does at times. At the point where we are in history, our lives and our relationship with God needs to be fresh and refreshed daily. Walking with Christ daily from the moment you wake up until you go to sleep at night is a process and it is one that He desires from you. It is also one which will enhance your life with Him as long as you keep your part of the relationship active and alive.

In biblical times, when pottery became broken and useless, it was thrown away much as we do today with things that don’t work anymore. The pottery and the clay of which it is made can be used again, unlike electronic junk today. Pottery just has to be broken and wet to the point of being remolded and shaped into something useful again. In our lives, it is the breaking and remolding which causes us discomfort but it is necessary if we are to be useful to Christ.

A few verses which show this are found in the book of Jeremiah: “Arise, and go down to the potter‟s house, and there shall I announce my words to you.” Then I went down to
the potter‟s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make. Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?‟ declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter‟s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.” (Jeremiah 18:2—6)

God can work with us as a potter does with clay to make whatever is needed and to make it better suited for the job. How can we help the Potter in making us a suitable vessel for Him to work into the shape that is needed? By keeping our lives on the path which is set before us and by studying His Word and asking Him to show us what He would have us to do with that which we learn.

I am not saying that we will become as wise as Solomon or as effective as Paul was but God knows what we can do and He will equip us to do that which He has purposed for us to do. All that is required of us is to obey Him and listen to Him. Just as Abraham and all of the other prophets did when they were chosen to be His servants, so are we to do in our walk with Him. All of the disciples which followed Jesus and were faithful to Him in their service while He was about His Father’s work did this as well. They listened to Him and to what He taught and then when He told them to go and teach others to do the same, they did. The commission that was given to them was passed to us as believers today and the church too.

We, as the body of Christ which is the church, are to go and make disciples of all nations. That includes those at our workplace or at home or anywhere else that we may be asked about the joy that is in us. I know that there are times when we don’t feel “joyful” but when you have Jesus in your heart, the joy will leak out whether you feel it or not. Those around you can and will see it.

What kind of vessel are you? Are you a pitcher to bring forth prophetic words, a bowl brimming with the Spirit of Truth, or a perfume vial filled with anointing oil? Are you a basin to wash feet, a fine goblet fashioned for the King’s table, or are you a large platter to hold the bread and meat of His gentle Word?
We are uniquely made in the gentle hands of Jesus, and He alone knows your color, shape, and purpose. Are you going to allow Him to mold you and shape you to do great works? Do others see the works that you can do but you are not doing them? Could that be why your life seems to be off just a bit?

We are at the beginning of a journey, one which will be wonderful for some and endless for all who have come to know Him. If you have not made that commitment in your heart to Jesus, do it today. He patiently waits for you and He loves you more than you can know. Living the life of a follower of Christ is not the easiest journey that you will make but it is the most rewarding. We don’t know and can’t imagine the life that we will have with Him in Heaven and we won’t know if the decision is never made.

Show Christ what your heart is made of so that He can live there and He will show you what you are made of and He will make you better than you are now. You will be a new creation when He comes to live with you, one which can do all things through Christ and with His power so that others will see Him through you and your witness for Him. The finishing touches won’t be done until you are born into your heavenly body and it will be there that your eternal life will truly begin!

Can you see?


When we are born our eyes take a while to get to the point of actually seeing what is around us. Our brain and the nerves have to grow to the point of being able to process the information. What about when we get older? Can we see things as they are or do we only see what we want to see? It depends on what we are looking at.

When we are looking at things or people that we like or love, we usually see the best in them. Then at other times we may see more or less good or bad, it depends on our mood and sometimes how we feel. Then there are times when we are looking at things with our spiritual eyes, especially if we are Christians. Those who have not accepted Jesus don’t have spiritual eyes yet.

I have had people to ask me about this and it seems odd that people who have been in church for many years don’t understand about their spiritual eyes and what they are for. We have to use all of our gifts from God if we are to be successful in delivering His message to a world that needs it. There are so many people in the world and outside the church that do not see things happening according to prophecy and the scriptures that refer to this time in our history.

Why is that, you may ask. It is because of the deception from Satan‘s spirits and demons and the lies that they get people to believe, especially those within the church! We are the ones that are targeted more often than any others because we already claim to belong to Jesus. If he can get one or many of us to slip up or believe something which is “twisted scripture”, or scripture that is true but has been altered so that it says something different or means something different, then that is what he wants to do. Corrupt the message and the messenger so that others will be deceived and follow a teaching which will carry others straight to hell.

In that way, Satan can take unwitting victims which may have been searching for the truth and lead them down a path to destruction without them ever realizing it until it is too late to do anything about it. Our scriptures show that he is good at that because he is the father of lies. Back in the garden of Eden, he twisted God’s words and added a question to make Eve question God. He did it again when he tempted Jesus by leaving out some parts of scripture to fit his purposes, although Jesus knew what he was doing we don’t! When he comes at us through a preacher or some other messenger that we trust, with words that sound right, we have to ask God to help us to understand the message so that we get the correct message.

If we don’t do that, Christians can be deceived just as easy as everyone else. Satan has been at this for thousands of years and can craft a lie that sounds true and he can do it well enough to fool even the angels of Heaven. That is how he got so many to follow him in his rebellion against God!

Now those that followed him are the ones who deceive us and cause us pain and disease and depression and heartache. The world that doesn’t know Jesus may not even know about the work that Satan and his demons and spirits do because they are already outside the love of God. Satan doesn’t care about them unless he finds out that they are going to give their lives to Jesus. Then they become a target because they can cause him problems, especially if they are going to be a strong in their witness for God.

Our lives are worth a lot to God because He loves us and He created us. When these spirits cause rifts in churches or families, Satan loves it. Especially when there is a death in the family. He will use that death to cause more anger and frustration between members of the same family when there wouldn’t be if he weren’t right in the midst of it. Prayer is the only avenue that we have in this to have power over him and what he does to us. That is why I am still praying for those who have lost a loved one recently because they do need it, whether they want it or not. God can do wonderful things in your life if you will let Him.

Give Jesus a chance in your life and you will never regret it, on this side of Heaven or when you get there. When we get there, we won’t have anymore pain or sorrow, or anything that comes from our enemy here on earth. We will have life everlasting and a home for all of eternity.

What will the Church do?


“Men and women have become “lovers of self’ (humanism), “lovers of money” (secularism), and “lovers of pleasure” (hedonism) “rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power” (2 Tim. 3:2, 4b-5), and the church in general has moved in tandem with the trends of modern society. In many ways, the society in which Noah lived, as described in Genesis 6:5-12, was not unlike the society we live in today!”   The Rapture Question Answered: Plain and Simple (Kindle Edition). By Robert Van Kampen

At the time of the Great Flood during Noah’s time, people were going about their business and their everyday life with no clue as to what was about to happen. Even though Noah was preaching to them and telling them that if they didn’t repent, there would be consequences and yet they did not listen. It sounds a lot like today. Our world and those living in it are going about their lives with no care about who they are serving. Most may not be aware of what spiritual condition they are in.

It is a sad situation that we find ourselves in, especially concerning the times that we are living in and those that are approaching rapidly. The church and those who profess to have Jesus in their hearts are also on the edge of a precipice, one that could calve out from under us like ice from an iceberg. Is the body of Christ, His church, ready for it? I am not sure if we are. Even if we are not in the time of the Tribulation right now, the testing will come. Some of those who teach that the church will not enter this time are clinging to  the rapture of the saints before the time of Tribulation which is coming and that may be the correct view. No one is sure about this, yet.

What will we do? What can we do as the representatives of Christ? Pray and seek Him, then follow Him and keep our eyes and our hearts focused on Him and His Word. If we don’t do those things, the world and our place in it will be sealed because either we will keep our faith in Him or we will lose our faith in Him and fall away from the church. Those that lose their faith will have the same fate as those who didn’t have any to begin with.

Those who stand by with Christ as their Savior and persevere with their faith intact, will be rewarded. What are you going to do when the church that you have attended most of your life denies that the tribulation has begun? I am not sure what I will do. The only thing that we have to hold onto is Jesus and His Word with our faith as the anchor.

The time  has come for us to be watchful of the times and the prophecy concerning them. It is a concept and a problem for the church because many don’t teach about prophecy and the book of Revelation and we need to be. Because we need to watch and be informed enough to be able to know what God’s Word says about the news that we hear and see everyday.

The End of Days?


According to the prophecy that is in the book of Revelation, I would say so. Mainly because of the number of prophecies that have already been fulfilled. In general, all of the prophecies that were to be fulfilled before the time of tribulation have been fulfilled. The only ones left are those which precede the seven-year peace accord that the Antichrist will broker between Israel and her enemies.

There are many people in the church today who think that we, the church, will be gone before this happens. I am not so sure. There is another view that shows the church being subjected to the first half of the Tribulation and then taken away to Heaven before the wrath of God is poured out on the world. It is a very compelling argument and it has many scriptures to back it up. I am very interested to see just what will happen in the next few years because I believe we are that close to the time of Tribulation which will come on the whole world.

“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only”. Matt. 24:36; our Lord told His disciples this in the Olivet discourse after they asked Him about the signs concerning the end of the age. We are living at that time or immediately before it right now. I know there have been many people who have said that the end of the world is on this day or this day, but no one knows! Your last day on earth is your personal “end of the age” and we have no clue as to when our last days are, thankfully! The times that we live in are and have been told about many times in God’s Word, from Daniel and Ezekiel to Joel and Isaiah then to the New Testament and the book of Revelation in particular. This time in our world should not surprise anyone if you have ever read God’s Word.

There are many who say that they will wait until their last day to accept Jesus as their Savior, but you and I don’t know when our last day is! It is arrogance beyond measure to plan your life that way because as soon as you leave home, your life is in danger! Even when you are at home, you may die of a heart attack, stroke, or any other ways. We are not given X number of years and days to live, and we don’t know when our last day is, only God knows that. Thankfully, He keeps that a secret from us.

The end of the church age is near and we are living in the “last days” right now and have been for a long time. Since the state of Israel became a nation again, there are few prophecies left to be fulfilled before the times foretold in the book of Revelation. In the past sixty years technology has advanced at a rapid pace, the world has grown smaller due to the rise of the amount of technology that is available to us on a daily basis. We do have the ability to talk to someone on the other side of the world and see them talk to us by way of the Internet. The Bible says: “But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.” Daniel 12:4

Our world is beginning to see some of the signs of the “end of the age”, but not the ones foretold that would be immediately prior to it. God loves us all and wants us to have a relationship with Him. If we choose not to accept the gift of the grace offered to us through Jesus’ sacrifice for us, we are the ones who will condemn ourselves to everlasting punishment! The day or the hour may not be known by us because our personal “day and hour” could be at any time since we are not guaranteed tomorrow.

Get into God’s word, the Bible and ask Him to reveal what His will is for you because it is important to Him and to you and your family. He loves you and all of us and doesn’t want any to perish, but if we wait too long our chance to accept His gift of Grace may pass us by and then all you can say when you stand before Him is “I am sorry, Lord, I waited too long and I didn’t realize my condition in time”. The most dreaded words that anyone could hear at that point are “Depart from Me into everlasting punishment because I never knew you”. There will be a tear in His eyes when you are told this, but it will be too late. Don’t let this happen, come to Him and give your life to Jesus before it is too late!

We live in unsettling days


There are so many things that are happening right now all over the world, especially in the Middle East, until some days it is hard to watch the news. We are not left alone in these times though because the Creator, our God, knows about everything that is going on and who it is affecting. Everything that is happening today and in the future is happening according to His plans. Satan is trying to derail those plans and fool the world into believing his lies, but in the end God will win and so will all of those who belong to Him!

Our lives are not in vain as long as we keep our faith and our life’s focus on Jesus and on the purpose that He has for us. The time that we have with our loved ones is short compared to the time that we will have with them in eternity. That is why we must be bold in our witnessing to our family and to all of those that we love! If you care about them, you have to witness to them! You must! This is not an option that we can ignore and we must not quit because the seed that we plant must be watered and yet the Holy Spirit will give the increase and call that person to Jesus.

God loves us all and does not want anyone to perish and yet, He knows who will come and who won’t. It is our responsibility to make sure that everyone hears the gospel of Jesus and His offer of salvation, given freely through grace if we will believe. Once we have told our friends and loved ones about Him, if they have not decided to follow Him, then we must pray without ceasing until our Lord calls us home. Shower them with prayer, love them regardless of their actions because once we have done our part it is up to God and His Spirit to bring them to Him.

In 1 Chronicles 16:8-9 says: “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name. Make known His deeds among the people. Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him. Talk ye of all His wondrous works.”

We are to praise Him and tell others about Him so that they may be saved from the coming wrath during the Tribulation. Our time is not done until Jesus calls us homeward so we must do everything that we can to get the word out about Him and His grace and mercy. During these days and in the near future, our faith will be tested in ways that we have never experienced before. We must pray that our faith will keep us true to Him and that we will have the strength to tell others about Him, because that is what we are here for.

Jesus will come back for us when the Father says that it is time and no one knows exactly when that will be. Although the signs are showing up, a little at a time right now and will increase as we get closer to the Day. We have to watch and be ready for in that day one will be taken and one will be left and the sign will be seen by all people over the world. There will be no secret snatching away, everyone will see and then the truly Great Tribulation will come.

There will also be a falling away of those who are of the faith. There will be some who have been in the church and will lose their faith and begin to trust in lies. Those of us who stand firm in our faith and stay true to Jesus will come through and be rewarded.

1 Chronicles 16:10 says: “Glory ye in His Holy name; let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord”. We must put our trust and our faith in Him and pray that our loved ones truly seek Him too. God loves us all and will take care of us through trials and hardship, grief and in joyful times, in sickness and in abundant health. These He promised to those who love Him because He loved us first. How much more could be expected of our Creator and our God? What could we ask of Jesus who gave His life for all of us? He endured the torture and flogging and the crucifixion as a man, and yet was raised to eternal life three days later! In doing this, He conquered death and the grave and made a way for all of us to come to the Father through His sacrifice and by faith in Him. What more could we possibly ask of Him than this?

Many would say that they want a healthy life or more money, these things are temporary because they are from this world. Your life and its comforts last only a short time, like a puff of smoke compared to eternity with Him. While we are here, if we are believers, we must do the things that Jesus told us to do:

Mark 16:15-16 “and he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned”.

This is our commission and our duty for our Lord. It is the highest and best calling for any Christian and one that we should be honored to do. Go and tell because our days are not given us as promised, we have today but not tomorrow until it is here. While we have the time and the breath we must be about our Lord’s business and our Father’s. Tell others, pray for those to whom you cannot go to in person, give someone a hand toward the Hands that were pierced for our transgressions. He loves you all, can’t we do likewise for those that we love?

Are you good enough?


In our world today there are many people who think they are in pretty good shape to get to heaven. They don’t steal, they aren’t committing adultery, they don’t cuss, and they haven’t killed anybody (yet). So, they consider themselves to be pretty good but those that I listed are just four of the Ten Commandments. What about the other six? They mostly deal with pride and selfishness. How are you doing on those? What about having anything take God’s place, which is the first commandment? Is there anything or anyone which you value more than God?

Most everyone has trouble with those at one point or another. Everything that we have is a gift from God whether we purchased it or He brought it into our lives. Your children, your wife or husband are all gifts from God, you may not be happy with them all the time but neither is He happy about us and our choices, which is why we have the ability to choose. God wants us to have the choice and the ability to choose Him as an act of love not because we had no choice.

When we were still sinners and blind to the truth of God’s love…did His love for us still exist? Of course it did! Even the smallest detail regarding sin is a sin. The thought you had about someone having more than you do…is a sin. The envy that you feel toward someone you may not even know is a sin. Any word or thought that we say or think that is hurtful or to spite someone is also a sin. Speeding on the highway, taking a pen home from work, using something that is not yours without asking, these are all sins and we will be held accountable for them unless we repent and ask forgiveness.

The world and every created thing in it exist regardless of our position in it or our comprehension of it. The sun and the moon rise and set, the tides come in and flow back to the sea and the seasons change just as God said that they would from the beginning. Animals, birds, fish, and insects all live according to God’s plan because they don’t have a choice regarding what they are or what they do. They glorify God by living and reproducing. We should glorify Him in our walk with Him daily and by our character that everyone sees daily because to some people that may be the only reflection of Christ they ever see.

The same is true in our lives. We wake up and go to sleep at night. We dream, we wake in the morning, eat breakfast and get ready for another day. This is a ritual which will continue until we retire or we die whichever comes first. The true novelty of life is that it shouldn’t be a novelty; we should live it as real as it is and thank God every day that we have that privilege. The life that we are given to live is for God’s glory and His purposes. Whether we choose to work for Him and with Him is our choice but our life will be much greater for it if we choose to walk in His ways and follow His purposes.

While we are here, regardless of our vocation, we should use our time and energy to witness to people by our lives and what they see of Christ through our actions. Remember, the pay for God’s work may be small compared to what others get in this world but our retirement plan is out of this world! No one on earth could possibly measure what the streets of gold or your mansion in glory would be worth. The wonderful presence of God Himself and the fact that you will be with Him for eternity is also beyond anyone’s comprehension.

Our life will be more than we can imagine when we are in His presence and we will be for eternity if we are His. I can’t comprehend one thousand years or one million and eternity is far longer than either of those which is why Christ said that we live like flowers, here today and gone tomorrow. We have to allow Him to work through us while we are here because we only have a short time on this earth, and yet if we belong to Him we will have eternity to learn from Him and to be with Him daily. Heaven will be a place where we will experience freshness and joy all of the time because we will never be tired or run out of things to do, ever!

Even the apostle John couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing when he saw the vision of heaven and the angels and even God Himself. We truly haven’t a clue in regard to what is in store for us and our loved ones in Heaven or even when the earth is remade in the image of the paradise that it was in the Garden of Eden. I have left out reference to scripture in this morning’s sermon because the whole Bible from beginning to end declares God’s majesty and the magnificence of His creation. The sky, the trees, the birds and all the creatures that have ever been on the earth as well as the universe declares His creative power and wondrous love for us. He created all of these things for us to marvel at and consider because He is God, period!

I am bringing this message of praise and adoration before you because it is necessary to realize God’s presence and who He is. We are coming to the end of the church age and our time on earth will soon be done so the time to make your choice regarding who you will serve and where is now, not tomorrow or next week.

What would you say to a person who thinks they are good enough to stand in front of God and declare that they are eligible for heaven? Are you sure about your salvation? If you or a friend of yours thinks “I hope I can get into heaven when I die”, unless your “hope” is in Christ you won’t! If you are counting on your deeds to get there, you will be sorely disappointed. Our righteousness is as filthy rags without the blood of Christ because nothing that we can do on our own will ever be good enough.

John 3:16 says: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Give our life to Christ and ask Jesus to save you from your sins today. We aren’t guaranteed tomorrow or even tonight so the time is now. Once you do that and are sincere in your repentance there will be no doubt about where you will go after you die. You will be with Him and then your life will really begin!

Our country, do you care for it anymore?


Our country is 235 years old on Monday. Does anyone realize why the United States was formed or why? It was settled because of freedom of religion and for freedom itself. There are many today who don’t know our history or who actually don’t care. If we keep teaching our children that the founders weren’t Christians and that our country is not a Christian nation, what will happen to it by the time they grow up?

God ordained our country’s creation because He knew that Israel would need more help than England by herself could provide. Now, we seem to be turning our back on Israel and that is not good. It is not good for them and it won’t be for us either. As God said in the Bible (paraphrased) “Those who bless Israel, I will bless and those who curse Israel I will curse”.

Our country may not call itself cursing Israel, but by turning our back on them and telling them to give more of their land to the Palestinians we are doing just that.

If or when we as a country have a revival of our true Christian values, we will be a nation once again. But, until a revival  happens in this country I believe that our economy and our society will only keep getting worse. Turn back to God before it is too late! If you have never given your life to God, now is the time to do so.

Jesus is coming to claim His church and if you are not part of it when He does, the condition of the world is going to get much worse than it is today. The Bible says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son. That whosoever believes in Him will have everlasting life”.

God loves us all but until you give your life to Him, you won’t know how much! Give Him a chance in your life. Your life will never be the same, it will be better!