Tag: God

Faith of a child


Children are special not only to their parents but to God as well. Why is that? Because their faith is unwavering and true and hasn’t been corrupted by adult ideas and teachings from school and living life itself. They look at life around them in absolutes, black and white, there is no gray area when a child sees the world! Children don’t bring their own baggage into their beliefs because they haven’t lived long enough to have “baggage”.

A child can be told that a prayer can heal someone of a sickness or disease and if they are young enough, they will pray with more faith than the most aged saint can muster.Why is that? Because they believe with their whole hearts and minds, and they don’t doubt the Word of God.

So, why do we doubt God’s Word? He cannot lie and His Word is True, so what’s the problem? Mostly it is our own individual ideas about Who He is and what He will or can do in our mind. We limit Him and put limits upon Him with our own ideas about Who He is.  In fact we are creating a “god” which fits our definition and we aren’t truly believing His Word about Himself!

Children don’t have that hangup until they are taught how to do it by us. Whether it is something they hear in school or Bible school or at home, we are the ones responsible for killing that young, powerful faith in their Creator.

I would love to tell you how to get that kind of faith back, but it is hard for me to dredge up the kind of faith that a child can have with no worries at all. Growing up and learning about the world and going through our “education system” seems to put a blanket over that faith which eventually smothers it or at least dims the light of it so that it is almost useless until we are tested and made to exercise it.

Seek Him out in His Word and ask Him to show you how to exercise your faith so that it can be stronger and useful to you and to Him. God loves us and all that we have to do is seek Him out and learn to love Him in return.

Umber


The color of umber is brown. Not a dark brown but not exactly “paper sack tan” either. Truthfully it is like a lightly roasted coffee in color. Why am I bringing this up on this blog? Because there are discussions and arguments arising about the way that Jesus is portrayed in paintings and in our culture.

Some say that He should be portrayed as white, others say that He is black, actually He is neither one. Jesus was born Hebrew as a Jewish Israelite. If you have ever met someone from Israel you notice that they have skin tones which have an olive complexion. What does that mean? It means that their skin will tan easily in the sun.

Our Savior did a lot of walking throughout Judea in His lifetime, therefore He most likely was very dark-skinned where the sun struck Him. His face, arms, feet, and lower legs were likely very dark. The depiction of Him being white by artists who painted Him or otherwise portrayed Him is a nod to the culture of their day, racist though that may have been.

Our ancestors, the ones who began all of this in Eden, were very olive-skinned so that when their offspring came about a myriad of skin colors and complexions would be genetically possible. God knew then and He knows now exactly what He is doing genetically in this world. He is also giving us the ability to choose our spiritual pathway in our lives and He has been doing this from the start.

God doesn’t care if your skin color is dark or light, olive or even very darkly pigmented, He cares about your soul…your inner man. That is the part of you that lives on into eternity and your culture, your “skin tone” will likely be in eternity as well so we will all be able to see who we really are or were in our previous life on Earth. No one will lose their identity after death. Jesus spoke of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob being alive in eternity and our names and all that we have done in the service of God will follow us into eternity too.

Living here in this life is far different from what we will see or know in Heaven and for those who won’t give their hearts to Jesus, their eternity will be a true living hell. The descriptions of hell are varied but the regrets and the separation from God’s love and all that we have known in this life will be with us through eternity. The color of your skin, your culture, your lifestyle or how much money you had on Earth will mean NOTHING!

I was given a very tiny glimpse into heaven once and the gold streets are pure enough to shine like the Sun and the gold is like glass. Some of the buildings are made of a substance like opals only more pure and clear with walls a cubit or more thick. They reflect God’s glory with all of the colors imaginable but a description would not do them justice at all.

The descriptions found in the Bible are man’s attempt at describing things which our minds can’t comprehend fully, so I can’t either. Race doesn’t mean anything in the end. We are all God’s children and all of us are descended from Adam and Eve, since God cannot lie I don’t understand why we deny that we are all related.

Times and miracles


Many days we see things or hear about something which happens that could be described as a miracle. Some people may not recognize them as a miracle but in many ways, they are. Why do I say this? Because of the living God Who is Creator, He is the One Who accomplishes these things.

For instance, scientists are still discovering “new” species unknown to science a few years ago. Healing of tumors and cancers which are inoperable happens in many cases where the patient is being prayed for by their family and these are not given the proper respect because the doctor doesn’t know how it happened. But, the family of the person that is healed knows where the healing came from, it came from the Lord!

Sometimes, the healing needs to come to the church itself. The members of some churches are so stone-faced and inexpressive during church until it looks like we are attending a funeral rather than a church service. We are supposed to be living in the Joy of the Lord, not grumbling through a service and sitting like a bunch of old turtles on a log!

Also in the Bible, it says that there will be a falling away by the church and it seems that it is beginning right now. Yes, there are still mega-churches with thousands of members but are those members Christians? Or are they just sitting in a pew when services start and not living a joy-filled life with Jesus? Many small churches and large ones too have the same problem…people who have been raised in the church who believe they are Christians because they have attended church most of their lives.

The Bible says that in the latter days, which we are living in now, young men will see visions and dream dreams. This has been foretold because God is an awesome God! The dreams and visions that young people are seeing are leading them to become Christians even in places where there are no missionaries! People are seeking God in any way that they can and coming to Him by the thousands.

I have read of accounts of young men who were against Christianity and they have learned of it and have come to know their Savior, Jesus! The times in which we are living are hard in ways but also joyous in others. Life can and does find a way to break free from bondage and chains when there is an alternative presented. Christianity does not force anyone to believe because you can’t force belief on anyone. Just as love cannot be forced on anyone.

Our world is coming to an end. It may be in the next year or in a few months or it may be in the next decade but it is winding down like an old-fashioned clock, except God didn’t forget to wind it. He knows exactly the day and the hour that the end will come.

Ooops!


Do we have times or places or even events in our lives where “Ooops!” would be appropriate? All of us have these at one point or another. The only person that hasn’t had a day or even a minute where this would be part of the vocabulary would’ve been Jesus.

I know, many of you would say “What about the scourging or the cross?”; those were already planned and part of His life before they came to be. Those of us who watched cartoons in the seventies and eighties learned from the master of “Ooops”, Wile E. Coyote. He always got the bad end of gravity or a falling rock or even an explosion which didn’t go off at the point where he wanted it to.

What do you do when this happens in your life? I know that most of us don’t have problems with gravity or with bombs going off unexpectedly, but just walk with me down this memory lane a bit. Do you fret over it or worry about it? Sometimes it is too late when you realize it, so what can you do about it? Most of the time, you can’t really do much about it. If the “ooops” has already happened, then you will just have to deal with it in one way or another.

Sometimes it is caused by something that we say, in my case it is most often done this way. My mouth gets in a gear that is running faster than my common sense and I say something that I should’ve thought about a bit before it came tumbling out in the open! Does it cause pain or anguish, sometimes it does, at other times it just causes someone to giggle or laugh, depending upon what my mouth blurted out at the time.

A moment of “ooops” can cost a lot in the long run, down the road of life but at times it can also put you in a place where things can change. Sometimes…even you change. Sometimes…I change. So many times an “ooops” moment can even make a difference in the long run, if you use it in the right way.

But, you have to follow-up and work with the feeling that this moment caused in you. Don’t think about it and then let it get away and forget about it, use it to spur you on to fix the problem whatever it might be. God uses moments like these to show us what to do or what we should do, it is up to us to realize that He is part of the equation and the answer to it as well.

Why do I bring this up? Because He is always the One in control of the outcome, whether we believe it or not. If you believe in God and have learned that you need Him in your life, then follow through and make sure that He is your answer to your life’s problems. He wants to be that answer and the One that you call on in all things, not just when there is an “ooops” in your life.

He is our Savior!


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God has done all that is needed through Jesus, our Savior, to save each and every one of us. All that is required of us is to believe like a child that He did it and ask Him to come into your life, into your heart and soul and you will be a new creation in His Image!

It doesn’t take your works or your money or strength to be saved and righteous enough to be allowed into Heaven because nothing that you or I can do in our strength is good enough to bring you into His Presence! He provided all that you need to be saved, all that you have to do is believe it and ask for it.

Unfortunately, many people look at this as being too simple, too easy. They want to help in some way. The problem with us helping is that we get in the way.

So, what will it take for you to believe in Him? People have been teaching that God punishes us so that we will learn certain things when the fact is that Satan is doing that. Of course, he won’t do that unless you are a Christian or you are thinking about becoming one because in the spiritual realm if you don’t belong to God then you are part of Satan’s group. I don’t mean that you worship him, but if you aren’t or you haven’t given your life to Jesus then as far as Satan is concerned you are not dangerous to his cause.

God loves you because He created you for a reason. What that reason is and when you might get busy with it is only known to Him until you are drawn to Him and make your decision to follow Him. The reason that I don’t make a distinction between God and Jesus is that they are part of the Trinity, which includes the Holy Spirit. All of them are part of One Creator. Like it or not they all show up in Scripture.

God has made a way for you to be saved from sin and the consequences of it, all you have to do is claim it. Will you?

Read the scriptures in Romans and John, not just one or two passages but all of them. Pray that God will show you why you need Him and how to come to Him. He loves you and He wants a relationship with you. It is up to you to seek Him, because He doesn’t force faith on you nor does He chase you down.

http://jesusfilmmedia.org/1_529-jf-0-0/

You are with me


youarestillwithmeIn the 23rd Psalm it goes like this:

Psalm 23 King James Version

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

This Psalm of David is an ever-present help, just as the Lord is, it is also a poem of comfort and of thanksgiving. In our world today, we need this because of all the things which are happening around the world. Why? Because of all the strife and the anger and frustration that flows from the news every single day. It seems that we can’t get away from it, even if we turn the TV off and don’t watch it. If we log on to our Facebook account, the news is there; if we log onto Google and look at the news, all of it is there in front of our eyes. We can’t escape it even if we are in the car and turn the radio on…the news, no matter how bad it is, is there too. We need God’s comforting presence in our lives today!

Why do I say this? Because we are not “supermen” and we never will be. It doesn’t matter if you made it through boot camp or SEAL training or any other type of military training, you are not bullet-proof regardless of what they tried to tell you over and over again!

We are normal people with problems, hang-ups and hang-overs. We have all of the problems that they try to recommend medication for on TV, yet most of us don’t want the side-effects of that medication. Most of us don’t want to be told that we are sinners or back-sliders or adulterers or in some cases, perverts. Nobody wants to hear about our personal dirty laundry, but we love to hear about and read about celebrities and sports figures who have problems!

Every church is filled with people who are exactly like those in the paragraph above, no church is immune because we are all sinners! The only difference between those who claim to belong to Jesus is that we….they are forgiven! We claim our forgiveness from Christ when we admit that we need it, just as a person addicted to alcohol or drugs had to admit it before being able to fight it! The big difference is that Jesus already conquered our sin nature, all we have to do is believe in Him and ask for it to be applied to us!

There isn’t anything really special about Christians except for the faith in Jesus that most of us have. The reason I said “most” is that some think because they have been raised in church from their childhood, that makes them a Christian. Many have this belief that because they go to church occasionally like on Easter and Christmas, that this makes them a Christian. Not any more than sitting in a garage will make you into a car!

God created each of us to be in a relationship with Him and the only way we can do that is through His Son, Jesus. There is no other door, and no other “prophet” who can get you into Heaven. No amount of work you can do will help you. No amount of money given to the poor will buy you a brick to build a heavenly mansion. Nothing that WE can do will have any bearing on our eternity EXCEPT belief in and submission to Jesus in faith believing that He did everything necessary for your salvation!

Trust in Him, learn about Him, and come to Him with a heart that knows that He is your Savior and at that point ALL of Heaven will celebrate a new saint that will be coming home!

Why is society having so many problems?


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In our society, particularly in America, stuff means more than God or a relationship with Him. How much can we live without Him? Not much really. We have enjoyed prosperous times in the USA since the late 18th century. Yes, there have been bumps and problems occasionally. Wars, civil and otherwise, have caused many of our problems and sometimes they have given our country a boost in confidence and pride. But, just in the last thirty years or so “stuff” has come to mean more to us than our Spiritual health. Think about it and learn from it. Seek God while we still have the time to do so and the freedom to as well.

Romans 8:23,28; John 3:16,17

I seem to have stung some people in the wrong way with this post and it wasn’t intentional. I really was pointing out our society’s love of stuff more than religious services or even getting to know about God Himself. He loves you more than you could realize and yet many people are so worried about specific words or hymns or whether there is going to be coffee served as you come into the sanctuary. Read the Bible, all of it, and get to know Him for His ways and His love that is expressed toward all of us!

No, He doesn’t condone sin and He doesn’t like any sins. A perfect and Holy God can’t, but you and everyone else need to get to know Him better and the only way to do that is by reading His Word. Even if you don’t go to a “perfectly home-style church”, you need to get to know Him before you put down the worship services that are at least trying to point you toward Him.

Do Christians or church-people fail, yes they do, miserably at times depending upon their generation and their culture. I happen to be one of the latter years of the Baby-boomer generation so I don’t understand some of the new generation that has come along. I do have a sixteen year old son who really doesn’t fit into the “norm” for his generation because he was raised around a mom and dad who grew up more in the seventies and early eighties. We all make mistakes and I have made my share, but my point is that if you will get to know God as He is in the Bible, regardless of the congregation around you, then you will find that He is a loving a compassionate Creator, One Who can be trusted and followed regardless of those around you.

So much yet so little…


We seem to never have enough and we are always wanting more. Today, everything may work out in the allotted time but what of tomorrow? Time is our enemy and our friend from one day to the next depending on what is happening in our lives. How can we make friends with it so that it doesn’t go away so quickly tomorrow? Can we coax it into extending its stay this week or next, or maybe even next year?

Unfortunately, the answer to those questions is a resounding “NO!” We can’t be friends with time, we can’t extend its effects for a day or a week or a month, or even one more minute and we certainly can’t add another year to our lives. No, we don’t have that option. God does.

He knows your date and mine from the moment we are conceived until our death at some point in our future (hopefully). But, even He won’t add a day or an hour to your life unless it is His will to do so. We see so many people living their lives as if there is no tomorrow and some live as if they have an unlimited amount of days left to them. No one knows your end day except for God and He alone is in control of it, regardless of your sickness or your health it is He Who knows when your life will end.

My “expiration date” may be in the next fifteen minutes, or it may be fifteen years or more from now but only God knows for sure. Either way, my heart belongs to Him and when my last breath is breathed here, I will see Him there.

So many look at how little money or time or other “things” that we each have here, but if you have given your life to Jesus and you live for Him each day, you are wealthy. Maybe not as the world sees here but consider that you will have an eternity to live and reign with Christ and no more pain or suffering or disease or death…it sounds like a wonderful place to retire to!

The streets of Heaven are reported by John and other prophets to be paved with gold so pure it is clear enough to see through like glass! Does that sound like a place that you could live in for a very long, long time? I think so. God can make anything that He wishes to and if He wants you to have a life in Heaven, accept His grace through Jesus and give your life to Him. Your life, your REAL life, won’t ever end from that point on and you will be a servant to the Creator! What could be better than that?

There are some who say that they would rather be in hell than serve God and they will likely have that opportunity. The problem with this thinking is that you will be in torment forever in hell! Heaven is serving the Creator not because you are forced to but because you WANT to! He gave you life and all of the blessings that you enjoyed on this Earth, it seems that you could repay a little of that love and kindness! Why am I talking about what we may be doing in heaven? Because it is very likely that we will be serving God and doing His work throughout the ages to come!

We who truly belong to God and have accepted Jesus as our Savior will live with Him in comfort but we will also work with Him in all of His ways and in His Kingdom, Amen!

Time is short


We have a tendency to think that we have a long time to make decisions and to live our lives, but when you think about it…we really don’t have that much time at all. Sure, when you are a child it seems that school will never be over or this class that you hate will never come to an end but both of those circumstances do end. The older that we get we realize that time slips by much faster than we realize and after you have added a few years to your life then you realize that it does go by faster than you thought it did.

We live one sunrise at a time, one meal at a time, one child’s laugh at a time, and all of those go by too fast for us to place those memories in permanent storage sometimes. We wonder where the time went, but we lived through it and it is gone. Those moments won’t be back, the words that you said or that your mother said can’t be unsaid, the anger and frustration that prompted those words will fade but the hurt and the pain caused by words spoken in anger won’t go away and the scars will be there for a long time.

Even when you tell your Dad or your friend that you forgive them, the scar from the words is still there and may come back later in life. Words hurt far more than guns or knives because the pain is emotional and it is hidden inside. No one knows the pain that is felt nor the damage that it has done, but it is there. Why do I speak on time and reference pain and suffering? Because we all go through those things at the same time.

Life is lived one day, one hour at a time and our words and the building up that we can do or the tearing down that can be done happens right along with us. If we could control our tongue we would be better and in better shape than we realize. If the things which we write were filtered through God’s peace and His Word, then much of the hurts and pain caused in the world would cease. But, even the Bible says that no man can control the tongue. Which is true, we can’t control it unless we allow Him to have our minds and our hearts every day, not just on Sunday morning.

Even when we allow Jesus into our hearts and our minds, our tongue is not easy to control but it can be tamed to an extent. God loves us so much that our life is in His hands at all times and He can see the things ahead which will happen in your life. All that you need to do is to trust in Him and let Him be the pilot and the navigator of your life. Give Him the control over your mind and tongue so that what comes from your mouth or your hands will be words that He sees are necessary and good for the situation at hand.

Writing these words so that you might come to know Jesus, I pray that you will. In His Service!

Social problems and the world


It seems that we all have to deal with or listen to all of the problems in the world and on social media today, why does everyone seem to be so involved with it these days?

I think our involvement with social media of all kinds is due to people being lonely. We need companionship, even virtual companionship is better than being alone. Even though those of us who have a Christian background know that the Spirit of God is always present with us, it is not visual or apparent as a friend’s voice or presence. Yet, God is always present even when we can’t see Him.

When loneliness is present, even for a little while, Satan can use it to bring depression and despair into our lives as well and these can add to the burden that each of us feels. Is there anything that we can do about these problems? We can socialize more with each other…in person! Texting is great for quick notes, calling on the phone is better, but talking to each other in person is so much better.

I have seen pictures of people at a table and I have witnessed it in a restaurant too where a family is sitting down to eat and each one has a smart phone or tablet in front of them and they aren’t even looking at each other. Our society and the problems which are exploding in the world is partly caused by this kind of disconnect. Even in church I have seen people looking at their phones and texting while the sermon is going on. What has happened to us?

Technology mainly.

That which was supposed to ease our burden of work and help us to have a more productive life and make our work week so much easier is adding to the problem in ways that we never envisioned or even considered before. People have aches from looking down at their phones and tablets that they didn’t have before the invention of these electronic marvels. Our relationships have suffered in ways that can’t be ignored either as well as the impact on our society’s vocabulary.

Can we do something about this? Not really. Simply because it is so pervasive in the world today it can’t be ignored and we can’t reverse the trend now. Life has become dependent upon our ability to be connected all of the time and we are addicted to it too. Yes, Satan has made our technology into a drug which most of the world can’t live without today and we allowed it to happen because it was so easy.

Our world is the way that it is because we allowed it to become that way. It is not because of some evil politician or regime, although it is in some places around the world. Technology has created more wealth for some and drained much wealth from others, adding to the perception of have’s and have-nots’. Many of those in our society seek to gain wealth and power at the expense of others or even by taking from some and giving it to others, this also doesn’t work (in today’s culture it is called re-distribution).

Life today is not fair and it is not easy by any stretch, even in developed countries BUT with God on your side and with Jesus in your heart life can be better than it is and much better in the long run because of His influence in your life. Jesus loves you and me and He died so that we could have life, not just here but into eternity. Seek Him out, learn about Him and ask Him to come into your life and show you just how good it can be. Don’t turn away from Him.