Tag: Holy Spirit

Why is society having so many problems?


thereasonforourproblems

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.

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.

Learn about God


We, as Christians and believers, need to learn more about God and Jesus. Why do I say this? If you truly are a believer and a Christian, don’t you already know about God and Jesus? Well, yes you do, but knowing about God and Jesus doesn’t even make you a Christian. How about that? If you really consider what I just said you will know it is the truth. Knowing about something or someone doesn’t mean that you really know them!

Intellectual knowledge of God or even of the gospel story of Jesus doesn’t save you and it can’t save you. Attending church every time the doors are open doesn’t save you, it may expose you to the Truth of Jesus and His redeeming work on Earth but it won’t save you. Unless you have felt the Spirit convicting you of your life, your sins, and the fact that you can’t help God in your salvation then you won’t turn to Jesus and ask Him into your life and your heart.

If your pastor isn’t teaching your church from the Word of God, then you won’t get the gospel story, you won’t be hearing the story of Jesus and His part in saving you from your sins. Many churches today teach a message which sounds more like a “pep-talk”, a feel-good message, one which doesn’t tell you that you are living a sinful like without Jesus! So, what are you living out in this life? Are you a true Christian, one that has the power of the Holy Spirit in your heart and giving you the ability to be a Christian? Or are you just mimicking your parents and friends who go to church with you every week, going through the motions of a “christian” life!

Jesus said that He and the Father are One, He also said that He is the only way to the Father and to Heaven. The Scriptures call Him the Door, the Branch of David, Wonderful, Counselor and the Prince of Peace. He is the Creator and our Savior and He is the One Who gave the ultimate sacrifice of Himself and then was raised on the third day so that we could have the promise of eternal life.

Confusion in our time


Much has been written about creation and confusion in the time that we live in. Some of it is the truth, most of it is opinion and disinformation made to confuse those who have not read and studied God’s Word. Jesus said that there would be many who will come in my name in the latter days who will deceive many, even the elect but He admonished us to stand firm in our faith and not waver in our beliefs.

Yes, many of those who are placing their own opinion out on the web and teaching it in churches and Sunday schools are doing so with the full cooperation and endorsement of their church. The messages that they teach seems to be true and right, but when you are placing one created being in the place of another Who is more important and Who is not created, that is blasphemy! Like the one who will come and declare that he is “the Christ” one day, it is blasphemy and yet it will deceive multitudes all over the world!

Even many who are in the church today have not believed in the true Christ but of those only God knows who they are. We, as Christians, are not to judge a person’s heart because we don’t know their heart…but God does. All that we can do is preach our messages in our churches and here and then hope that those who come will seek God out and turn to Him, to Jesus and ask forgiveness for waiting so long.

There are many different denominations in the world and just as many versions of the Bible, but there is only one truth and it can be found by seeking Him out in all of Scripture and asking for God to show you what really is the TRUTH and what is a lie! Your Spirit will agree with those things in the Bible which are true and that is the Truth that you should be paying attention to. There is so much confusion in our world today over what is a right or a privilege, or which group of people wronged someone in the past and who is going to pay for it today.

If the courts spent their time doing that, no justice would ever be done for modern crimes. The past is just that..past, and there is no responsible party to file against when a case is over one hundred years old. Yes, I am sorry that our forefathers used slave labor, yes I am sorry that we displaced the American Indians in America and that many of them died for it. But, I can’t pay reparations for something done before my father’s time! Is our world today confused? Yes, it is! Terribly confused!

When the news and our leaders continue to call evil as if it was good and condemn those who are trying to live their lives according to the teachings of Jesus in the Bible, then we are in a bad situation. Times are changing in ways that were predicted in the Bible and that these days would come upon us before the time of the Antichrist. We are living in those times right now and it is only going to get worse in the near future. Seek God in His Word and learn about salvation from the gospels. Jesus is the only way to be saved from the punishment which will follow. I pray that all of you who read this will seek the Truth from God’s Word and find it for yourself.

God’s Promise to us


Gods Promise2

God made this promise and since He cannot lie, it is the truth.

So much..so little


It is a contradiction but, with God in the picture even a contradiction works. How do I know? Read the story of Jesus feeding so many with so little, like the five loaves and two fish to feed five thousand men. Some say that there were likely fifteen thousand souls there at least and yet there were twelve baskets left over from a lunch meant for one child.

God can use even a little talent in a big way, no matter how you see yourself or where you may be in the world. But, you have to give Him control of your talent and yourself before He can use it to bless others. Just as when a farmer plants a seed or a plant in the ground, it is only one at the time. But with water, air and sunlight it can become much more than one seed or one plant.

We, as Christians, are like that as well. God places His Spirit in us when we are saved and we are supposed to nurture it with care and feed it by prayer and the Word of God. By studying God’s Word, we feed the Spirit and like Jesus said “it will overflow as a river of living water” to all who are exposed to it. True, it may not be His exact words but that is what we are supposed to be, springs of living water to draw the world to Him by what they see or hear in us.

God can use each of us in ways that we can’t imagine or even believe that we could do. But, with His Spirit guiding us we can do so much more than just be ourselves. We can be His ambassadors and representatives to anyone who is searching for the Truth. It doesn’t take much. A prayer here or helping someone with their load in some way. Opening the door for someone, praying for someone who you don’t know.

These things are “works” true enough, and they don’t get you a spot inside the gates of Heaven. Giving your life and your heart to Jesus gets you into Heaven, the “works” are part of the life that you live after you accept Him. These are the results of your salvation, the fruits of your life in Christ that never would’ve grown out of your life if you had not given your heart to Jesus.

Just as James wrote in his epistle, “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” James 2:18, he wasn’t speaking of works being required by your faith but as a result of your salvation. The works that you do will prove your faith and your salvation! God loves each of us so deeply that we won’t understand it until we are in His presence, but He hates the sins that we have lived with in our life. Repent and turn to Him, give your heart and your life to Him so that you will be saved.

Life is…..


Personal and individual and collective and cultural. Do you know what I mean by this? It is very touching and personal to each of us, because each of us who wakes up every day we experience it anew again. Each day and night is special because it will never be again. This minute has already passed while I have been writing, and it will not be back.

Why is it so fleeting? Because time flows like water and one ounce of water that has passed you in a stream will never be back. It is the same with the seconds and minutes of your day, the one that is passing right now will never be back again. Your life started with your first heartbeat in the womb, and it will continue until that last heartbeat.

For some, this line of thinking is circular because it is just double-talk to some of you, but the comments that I made in the first two paragraphs is true. This minute right now will never come back, yesterday is gone and the future is still a minute ahead of us at all times. Your life is and always has been lived in the moment, right now. You can plan for tomorrow or next week if you wish but you are not guaranteed that time until it gets here.

God loves you and He prepared to give you an eternity of time with Him through Jesus and His atoning sacrifice on the cross. It is your choice to believe in Him and the grace that is extended to you through Jesus, because it is the only way for you to have an eternity in Heaven. No amount of work or money or attendance will open the door for your salvation, only the redeeming power of belief in Jesus will do that.

Yes, it is simple. Some claim that it is too simple, because there must be more that I can do or you can do to be saved. Unless you confess your sinfulness and ask Jesus to forgive you for waiting so long and ask Him to come into your heart and change you from the person that you were to the person that He needs you to be…your life means nothing and it will end with your last breath.

By giving your heart to Him so that you can be cleansed and changed by Him, you become like Christ. Little by little, day by day, in reading and prayer through the Holy Spirit and His Word you will become more like Jesus and less like your old self. You won’t be perfect and sinless, but you will be forgiven! Your name will be in the book of Life and your life will be eternally with Jesus and all of the other Christians.

Life is tough sometimes and it is hard some days, but mostly life is something that we each live through. What our life means in eternity, the outcome of our influence in this life, will be apparent only when we enter into Heaven. For some, you will see many people who you had influence in their lives positively, even though you may have never met them. Everything that you say or do for Jesus like saying thanks for your food in public, giving back money that you got in change that was too much, helping out someone who needs help without them knowing who did it…all of these things show that part of Jesus in you.

It gets noticed by everyone. You may not know who sees it, and it may not make much of a difference in your life here, but you will be surprised when you get to Heaven and find a person that your actions or words made an eternal difference in their life. Consider life today because the moments that it has taken to write this or read this will never come back, but what you do with the rest of your life could have eternal consequences for you and for others too!

Love wins….


Your life and mine have been influenced by love at one time or another. It could be when we were small children and we could tell that our grandma loved us by the way she spoke to us or played with us. Love is expressed in many ways and in many different cultures. Some are very affectionate, some are not. Parents are this way too. Some express their love for their children and their spouse by gifts, some by physical expressions such as a kiss or a hug. The best way to show your love toward someone is by being present. Be there with them during special occasions or just be with them period. Don’t be an absentee Dad or Mom, because that makes your children feel like you don’t care. This is especially true with your spouse. Be there when they come home, physically and mentally. It is too easy to be there in person but “zone out” into your own world when they are talking to you.

Why am I writing this on Easter Sunday? Because, we need to be present physically and spiritually in our relationships with God too! Don’t show up once a week, listen to a sermon, sing a couple of songs and then forget everything that you heard as soon as you leave! Some people even leave their Bibles at church during the week! How can you read and study God’s Word and get to know Him better if you don’t read His Word?!

I used an illustration this morning and I am not sure it sunk into everyone’s mind when I did it, and it went something like this: How would you feel if you only saw your spouse for about an hour one day per week? They never read your letters or poems which tell of all that you have done in times past or what is happening right now. Would this relationship be a good one? I don’t think that you would be in a relationship like that for very long, do you?

But, this is how many people treat God when they go to church. They visit for an hour or so, listen to the sermon and maybe read a few verses in the Bible. The sing and pray along with everyone else and then they go their separate ways until the next time. What kind of relationship is that? It really isn’t a relationship at all, but “Christians” do this to God every week. Why? Pride, selfishness, fear, apathy…these have infected the church and its people and this began a long, long, time ago. This is not something new. It isn’t something that is only happening in the 21st. century. This has been building up for a long time.

True, there are some Christians who are very dedicated to serving God and reading His Word, praying for others and for each other. These are the ones that you read about in the Scripture where it says that God has saved Himself a remnant. There are many who think that they are saved and in good standing with God but they are not. Sometimes, I wonder if I am in that group who thinks they are saved but aren’t. I think that is Satan trying to take my joy away from me, which he does easily if you listen to him much.

Some days, it is hard to only hear what God is saying but if you read His Word and learn how His voice sounds then you can discern His voice from another’s. Love shows through all of the areas in your life and mine, especially where God is involved in it. God is love and Jesus was God’s perfect expression of His Love for us, but many people don’t look at it that way. Many people today try to say that we are bigots and hateful preachers for preaching the Truth from God’s Word, instead of coating it with sugary words and making it say one thing or two that God did not say. This is happening in churches today, and many of those churches have large congregations. People like to be told that they are OK and that God loves them just as they are.

He really does love you just as you are, but He also wants your life to change when you open your heart to Him so that others can see a difference in your life and they want what you have! Telling someone their sins that they are living in are OK with God when they are not is just plain and simply a LIE FROM SATAN. Seek Him out while you can because your sin will show up very plainly when you are standing in front of God at your judgement! Without Jesus and His blood covering your sins and making you as righteous and Holy as Jesus is, you will go into hell because you turned away from Him while you had the chance or you were fooled into thinking that you were saved when you really weren’t.

Think about it while you can.

Good Friday


I used to wonder what was so good about the day that Jesus hung on the cross? I know that it was the fulfillment of prophecy and it was necessary for our salvation, but for Jesus and those two thieves, that particular day was not a good one at all!

Jesus willingly went to the cross, even though His human mind and body didn’t want to do it, He knew that it was necessary in God’s plans for all of mankind. It hurt, and He endured it for three hours or more if you count the scourging and carrying His cross up the hill. The pain that He had to endure from the point that God had to turn away from Him was even more excruciating than the physical pain that He experienced from the nails and the whips. Why do I say this? Because, in all of existence back to the very beginning of everything, He and His Father had never been separated, EVER!

That was the hell that every person in hell goes through forever. Not just the pain from the heat and the fire, but the total separation from God and everything good in the universe is a pain that I can’t describe because I don’t know what that feels like. Jesus suffered through that separation until He realized that His job, His mission was finished and then He gave His Spirit up to God. He was in control, not the Romans nor the Jewish leaders that is why Pilate was surprised when he heard that Jesus was dead already.

He could’ve called many angels to take Him from the cross, but He didn’t because He loves each of us more than He did His own life. Which is why He gave His life as a ransom for each of us, every person on Earth! Isn’t that amazing? Our God loved us enough that He would go to such lengths to redeem us to Himself which is why few people believe it. Why do you think is it that few people believe that each of us don’t have to do anything in order to gain entrance to Heaven?

I think it is because, in our minds we just can’t fathom the kind of love and the amount of love that it would take for God to do this. Of course, if you don’t believe in God or Jesus or even any of the events which happened in the Bible, then it truly won’t make any sense at all to you. The Bible says that the “wisdom of God is foolishness to those in the world”, and it is true. Before I believed or was convicted to believe, much of the Bible didn’t make any sense at all to me. I heard it in Sunday school and in church, but that didn’t mean anything because to me those were just stories. Like “David and Goliath”, that to me was a children’s story and nothing more. Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt, I saw Charlton Heston play that role, that was from Hollywood.

The thing that you have to learn by reading the Bible is that these things are and were given to prophets and priests to write down by the Spirit of God and He can’t lie! These stories are true because every part of the Bible is true! Why do I believe this? Because if any part of it isn’t true, then none of it is true, so my faith and my spirit agree that it must be and that is that. If you are curious about Jesus this season, read Matthew 26 and 27. Both of these chapters describe the Passover (Last Supper), the betrayal of Jesus and the mock trials leading up to His crucifixion. The best part of the narrative is that on the third day…Jesus arose from the tomb.

empty_tomb11Our future, our hope lies in the resurrection of Jesus because He said that He would come again and take us to be with Him in Heaven! That is a Christian’s home, not this place. Since He lives, we will also! Amen!

What is your question in this life?


Do you go around asking or just wondering about life and all of its do’s and don’ts? Have you seen all that there is to see, for you at least or do you still seek out the next curve or over the next hill? Do you still question why the wind blows or where does the sun go at night? How does the grass know when it is time to come back in spring? How do the flowers and trees know when to begin to bloom again?

These questions have been answered by science, to an extent at least. The sun doesn’t go under the Earth and come out of a cave in the East during the night and even today few people can tell you where the wind actually comes from or blows to. Yes, we have weather vanes which can point out the directions for me for the wind blowing. But, how do the trees and the grass know when to wake from their slumber during the winter? I know, it is the ground temperature and the angle of the sun or at least that is what botanists tell us.

Questions allow us to learn things and grow our minds. They help us to see the world around us, not as a static place but as a place that is alive and growing. Science can explain many things but emotional attachment cannot be quantified nor explained. Love can’t be bottled or analyzed, but it can be felt and in a relationship it grows deeper and sweeter with age.

God created our world and everything in it and He gave us the capacity to love and to be loved. Why? Because He loves each of us! He created us unique and one of a kind. There isn’t another person on Earth who is like you or me. Some of us may resemble each other so closely that it may be hard to tell us apart, but our personalities are different, our likes and dis-likes are different. Why are we made this way? Because God wanted it that way. Of the millions of birds and fish species that are in the world, very few of them are “clones” of each other as well. Some are colored the same, but each bird has a different personality too.

Why did God make all of this diversity in the world? What is the purpose of it? Mainly it was to make us ask questions about Him and His creation! Scientists like to analyze things to the point of not having anything left to analyze, but unless you are looking to the Creator for your answers, you will never find them. God is the answer to all of your questions and mine. Jesus is the Savior Who can open the door to Heaven for you, all you have to do is believe in Him and give your life to Him. There are no amounts of money that you can give or even telling others about Him that will get you into Heaven, unless you have given your heart to Him first!

He LOVED us enough to give His life and shed His blood for our sins so that we wouldn’t have to do anything to earn eternity. There is nothing that we can do on our own to earn our way into Heaven. Believe in Jesus and His sacrifice for you, ask Him to forgive you and to change you forever and He will! That is all that is required of you…nothing else.