Tag: Jesu

Do you really know God?


Why is our world so confused about God? Is it because He is not something or someone who can be seen or touched? I don’t believe so, since the founders of other religions are dead and cannot be contacted or touched either. The difference is that our God can be contacted and He will answer those prayers! Whether the answer will come on your schedule or not is irrelevant because God answers on His time and not yours.

God loves all of humanity, that is why He sent His Son to be the sacrifice that took the sins of all of us, past, present and future, and paid the price for them all. Our only response, the only one that is required of us, is to acknowledge that we need Him and accept that He paid that price for each of us. Then ask Him to come into our lives and make us more like Him. Once that is done, and we have taken the steps in our life to turn away from our sinful ways, we must let others know about Him!

I know that many people don’t want to testify that they have changed, that their lives have been changed by Jesus but if the change has happened people will see it in your life whether you tell them or not. The misconception that many people have is that they cannot know God.

The Bible is a collection of writings that were inspired by the Holy Spirit and in some cases, such as the books of Moses, were given directly by God Himself to the writer. All of these books are God’s way of advising us on living our lives through Hiim and for Him. God also expresses His love for us through these books and the wisdom contained within them, all we have to do is read and study them and ask Him to help us to understand. There is a passage in the Bible that says something like this, “if you feel that you lack wisdom, ask it of Him and He will give it freely”. Now that is  paraphrase, but you get the idea.

God is not someone who is billions of miles away, He is here. He occupies the entire universe and He can live in your heart if you ask Him to. You are never very far from Him and when you feel alone remember the only one who may have moved is you! God has always been close by although He will not barge into your life. He waits patiently for you to ask Him to come in.

God is the Creator and the One who sustains the universe and all that is in it. Jesus is the living Word that came to earth and became a man to take our sins and the punishment for them to the cross. He is the reason that many have trouble with accepting Christianity. They don’t want to accept Him because many do not believe that the Son of God would do what He did.

The love that God has for us is one that we cannot comprehend because it is far above what we are capable of. Yet it is because of that love for us that He came to suffer through life as we do, to be as we are in every circumstance and yet follow the will of His Father even unto the cross to pay for our sins.

Can we know God? Can we get to know Him like the prophets knew Him? Yes, we can! He wants to get to know us and He wants that relationship with us. All that we have to do is ask Him into our lives and study His Word prayerfully so that we will gain an understanding of just Who He is and what we should be doing.

We are sometimes to proud to admit that we need Him until some problem happens in our lives that punctuates the fact that we cannot handle life by ourselves. At those times, even those who claim that they don’t believe in God will seek Him! Whether they make a life-changing decision to allow Him into their lives is another topic altogether, but they will look for Him until something or someone directs them elsewhere.

Satan is very good at directing us to look to ourselves or to something in the world besides God. It is what he has been doing since the beginning and his ability to deceive us is a finely honed skill that he is very proud of. Satan is capable of twisting scripture to a point that you will think that you have found “religion”, and you have but you haven’t found Jesus!

Religion, in all of its forms in the world, cannot save you from your sins. Only believing in Jesus and asking Him to come into your life and your heart can do that. The choice must be a sincere and honest one, not lip service. Saying some words and getting emotional about it doesn’t change your heart. If the repentance of your heart is not genuine, God will know. Read and learn from the Bible. Go to a real church that preaches from God’s Word. Give your heart to Christ and ask Him to cleanse you from your sins. Once you have done this, your life and your character will change and you are a new creation. Your family will see it, as will your friends. Everything will change because you belong to Him and He will live in and through you! That is my prayer and hope for all who read this.

Looking for the good life this year?


In our quest to discover the good life this year, we must be careful that we do not drift into an aimless life. The worst thing that could happen to us this coming year is that we just let the year happen to us rather than charting a course and getting into God‘s appointed harbor and His will for us.

More than likely, you won’t drift. It may just happen. You’ll be coasting along at a good clip, and then before you know it you’re drifting away. . . that is, unless you have an anchor. That anchor is Jesus and faith in Him.

Reflect on this past year. What were some things you did right… what were some things you would do differently this new year? We have today to work for the Lord and there is no guarantee of tomorrow so live and give your faith away today. If tomorrow comes, then begin it with the power of God in your life and give away your faith and your hope to someone. Keep doing this until the year is over or until you go to be with Jesus, then you will have done your part and fought the good fight.

Consider this quote:
“No man ever believes that the Bible means what it says: He is always convinced that it says what he means.”
–George Bernard Shaw

Your life and mine are worth more to God than they are to the world because this world and the ruler of it care nothing for us. Satan has exactly zero tolerance for you or me, especially if we truly belong to Christ. He absolutely loves it if you decide that God doesn’t exist or that you will turn your back on Jesus, because if he can cause more trouble and heartache for you then he will do it, and keeping you from being effective for Jesus or keeping you away from Jesus is his goal!

It is true that Satan took the Earth from Adam in the garden and it won’t be taken back until Jesus comes again, even though the battle is already won! When you are part of the world and have not given your life to Jesus, you are part of Satan’s kingdom. But, when you make the decision that you want a future and a real life, then give your heart to Christ and follow Him. From that point on, even Satan will hate it when you speak to others about Jesus and he will hate it when you get up every day and pray for a great day.

Update: The good life is something that we all strive for, but what defines the so-called “good life”? That depends on you, really. The good life for some is being out of debt, for others it may be having fame and fortune from being a movie star or Broadway actor or actress. Some people may get their satisfaction by serving people as a police-person or firefighter or maybe as a paramedic or ambulance driver.

The point of your life is yours and yours alone, good or not. Jesus did not tell His followers that they had to give up any pretense of wealth or prosperity, even though when He spoke to the “rich young ruler” He did ask him to sell his belongings and follow Him. The reason for this was not to make him poor or to get rid of his “stuff”, it was to show that his priorities were in the wrong place. The “rich, young ruler” placed more faith in his wealth than he did in religious areas of his life. We don’t have to give up our wealth or fame or power, as long as we keep the priority of our Christian life centered on Jesus.

For many people, especially those who are wealthy or those who have all that they need, dependence on Jesus and following Him is not really a priority. That is why there is a huge gap in church attendance in places where people have money enough to take care of their wants and needs as opposed to areas where lack of money is more rampant. God loves each and every person on this world, but there are some who place their faith in “stuff” more than they do anything else.

Just as someone who may have cancer but doesn’t know it yet, people who depend upon their money and position in society tend toward being “self-reliant” until something takes their cushion away. When the person with cancer goes to the doctor for something minor and then finds out about the real problem, then they will usually go to almost any length necessary to get better. It is the same with someone who has never realized that they need Jesus, when they do come to that point they will find out all that they can from many sources if necessary in order to make faith in Him possible for them. “Seek and ye shall find, knock and it will be opened to you”, that is what is needed today more than ever!

Old questions, new ways of looking at the answers


We have always asked the questions and usually get the same or slightly different answers to them. For example: Can God make a rock big enough that He can’t lift? That is like asking someone if He (God) could make a square circle? It is contradictory in nature and any physics or geometry student knows that you can’t make a square circle. Regardless of the age of the student, they would know that it can’t be done. The same logic goes with the first question. God, being the Creator of the entire universe, can make a rock as big as He wishes to make it but He would still be bigger and would be able to move it.

Besides, what would be the point?

God’s Home is outside of our universe and yet He stretched out the heavens and placed the stars in their places. He is as big as He is and yet He cares for sparrows as well as each of us. It is a hard concept to think on or imagine because our minds just can’t fathom Someone having all of that power and glory and majesty, yet care for animals and people on this speck of dust! In all of the cosmos, our planet is the one that God is interested in. It is hard to believe, but it is true.

The moon is our unique satellite because He wanted it that way. It has nothing to do with “planetary evolution’ or a rogue planetoid that slammed into a primordial Earth and created the Moon from the debris blasted from it. Those are the theories of some astronomers, but I believe the creation events found in Genesis unless and until Jesus or God tells me different (and I don’t think that He would contradict something written in His Word).

We can imagine many things, many possibilities for how things work and why but our imagination is tiny and finite compared to His thoughts and His purposes. I know that many people will not accept any of these words, but the fact is that my words come from His inspiration. I can’t possibly think up all of this nearly every day by myself! He uses me as a pastor at my church and on this site and my other site too, in order to tell people about Him. This is not about me at all!! I don’t care one bit about fame or anything that goes with it. All that I was called to do was to preach the gospel, the news about Jesus and salvation through Him!

I do try to do that, and sometimes I get up on a soap-box about some issues, but the main point of my message is salvation through Jesus so that you can take Him out to wherever you may go and then tell someone else. I pray that you will tell someone about this site or maybe re-blog it so that it might be seen by more people. Thank you!

Rev. Gordon T. Eldridge

Do you serve or do you want to be served?


In the society that we live in, we expect to be served regardless of where we go. In the mall or a store, at a restaurant or a fast food place we all have a microwave mentality today which means that we expect everything to be given to us NOW!

It is something which has been brewing in our culture ever since the first fast food joint showed up, but I am not blaming it on them. It is just a fact that since food became easy and cheap to get, the ability to cook at home has been mostly lost. Look around in a supermarket today and you will see many boxes of quick meals which can be made in less than thirty minutes.

Of course, you could just buy a packaged dinner, zap it in the microwave oven and in less than ten minutes be eating a “meal”. Except that it has been so processed and packaged it very likely has little, if any, real nutritional value,  but it is quick and it tastes good.

We tend to go about our religious experience the same way. We want instant satisfaction from the preacher who can’t say anything bad so he won’t hurt our feelings to our religious experience with our Saviour. So, what can we do to change these things? Since it has been ingrained in our culture for so long, we may not be able to clear out the things which have been learned soon enough.

Some people may wonder what I mean by “soon enough”, well it means that we need to repent of our disregard for God and His laws. It also means that we need to sit down long enough to read some passages from the Scriptures and to pray over them so that He can show us what is meant by them. Don’t close your mind to the possibility that He exists, because if you are being closed to the option that He is real then you are missing the point.

What point is that? The very reason and purpose for life itself, to give glory to God for being here! I know that there are many people who don’t or won’t believe in Him, but think of it this way: what if you are wrong about His existence? What if there really is a place of punishment after you die?

Not believing in things during this life won’t cause them to not be there when you die and find out that there really is life after death. At which point it will be too late to change your mind, it will be what it is and you can only take what you have ordained for yourself.

Your life and mine are important to God or He wouldn’t have wasted nearly four thousand years trying to get people to listen. Since the time of Moses, there have been many prophets that were sent into the nation of Israel trying to bring them back to God. Many were killed, most were just ignored or stoned until they left but the point of this is that God is interested in us! He would not have done the things which He has done if He was not. He doesn’t sit up in Heaven waiting for things to get better, He knows the end from the beginning because of where He is and Who He is.

We are all privileged because, not only does He care for each person but He has cared from the beginning. It doesn’t matter if you are from Israel or Turkey or China, God knows you and He knows when you will accept Him as Savior or if you won’t. Like looking down on a parade from the top of a building, He can see your life and mine from the first breath that we take until the last. Whether we choose to allow Him into that life is our choice, no other religion or faith allows you this.

Many people are going to disagree with me on this, at least on principle, but the point is that we have a choice…life or death. Which will it be? Many people, and don’t comment saying how I know it is “many”, there are thousands or millions who don’t agree with anything a Christian says just because they are Christians!

Many don’t agree because they don’t want to be responsible for their lives. They don’t want to be held accountable for their actions and if you have children you have seen this from an early age. Even before you think that a child can lie, they will do it in order to get out of trouble or to stay out of trouble. It is ingrained in our DNA, we are sinners from birth. One lie is still a lie, even if the one who is lying is only two or three years old.

I began this with references to food because of the way that our culture has become so dependent on things like food being available as soon as possible. We have also transferred that dependence over to almost everything in our lives, from our jobs to our religion and everything in between. Instant gratification, instant answers like we get from the Internet, we want everything now and we are not content with waiting.

God has waited and is waiting for you to make your decision, either for Him or against Him so which will it be? If you are joining God’s family, then welcome home! If you have decided to wait, then I want to ask you a question: When are you going to die? It is a simple question but it is not one that we can answer. You may die tonight or tomorrow or this afternoon, I may not be alive tomorrow either so when will you make that decision? When you are standing in front of God and He shows you the things that you have done and said in your life, how many times have you heard the good news of Jesus and the facts of salvation and either ignored them or just blew it off? What will you tell Him? At this point, it will be too late. You have already made your choice.

The UN-pardonable sin is not some heinous crime, it is turning away from God’s gift of grace and not accepting it as it is. That is the only sin which will get you thrown into hell, the others which you have committed convict you of a life without Jesus. Think about it.

What shall we do then?


Should we believe the testimony of man as many seem to do in the world today or should we cling to our salvation through Jesus?

There are many today that are leading people in the wrong direction, some of them supposedly doing this from their pulpit in the church. What will become of them and their followers? If they will pray and humble their hearts toward the God that is spoken of in the bible, then they can and will be saved from their transgressions. Yet, many people today place their faith in the messenger rather than the message. This was a fine thing to do when Jesus was the messenger before He ascended back into Heaven, but today the messengers are just as flawed and sinful and the one bringing the message (yes, I am including myself in this ).

We are all flawed, sinful human beings and none of us who stand on this earth are any better than anyone else, but there are some who think that they are and they are the ones who are leading others astray. They are subtle, like the one that they are serving and not the One that they think they are serving. Many deceivers are present in this world today, but they have learned well. The message that they bring is wrapped in words that are beguiling, some of them from centuries past, some of them from recent times but their meaning is that we can do it ourselves and we don’t need God’s help.

We cannot do it without Him! Can you command a storm or rain on parched ground? Can you tell the sun to come up an hour later today? We are the created and not the Creator, only He can do those things if it pleases Him to do so! It would bring glory to Him and would make us see that He is in control and not us, but there are many today who would scoff at signs like these.

Our God, the only God, is in control even when things seem to be going wrong. We only have to place our faith and our trust in Him because He will bring about good things from what we see as bad. Our times and our time-table don’t line up with His unless we are surrendered to Him and know Him by His Word. When we walk with Him daily, then our wants and our desires will be the same as His, although we will still be attacked by Satan and his demons in very subtle ways.

Some of those will be our own feelings like depression or feelings of not being in control, which we are not, or even emotions which overwhelm us to the point of hopelessness. All of these come from the one being who is trying to derail your faith and your belief in God and His Son. This has always been the goal ever since Eve decided to follow her own desires rather than listening to Adam and God.

Before anyone gets upset or thinks that I am blaming Eve for our problems, I want to make it clear that she had encountered a master of lies, Satan himself. Adam couldn’t have withstood him either and he didn’t so it wasn’t the woman’s fault! They both knew what God had commanded, yet they chose to follow their own desires. God knew that this was coming before they did so it wasn’t a surprise but it still hurt His feelings just the same.

If we really knew Him and the awesome power that is being held back because of His love for us and the grace that has been given to us through Jesus, we would be humbled beyond measure. Considering His power to create or destroy with a word, how could you tell Him that you don’t believe in Him? What pitiful arrogance we have to confront the Creator of everything and then tell Him that we don’t think that He is real so we won’t believe in Him!!

These words and deeds are being done all over the world today. In different ways and different words but the message toward God is the same. We should be on our knees begging Him to forgive us and to take us as His sons, pitiful though we are, and make us as His servants just so we can have a place at His table if nothing else!

The time is coming when mankind will bow to Him. When that time is, no one knows but it is coming and soon. The prophecies of His Word are clear enough for all to understand and we are in what is called the “birth pangs” prior to that time. We will know when that time has come, but for many it will be too late. Read God’s Word, study it carefully, pray over it so that you will understand what you read and then get your heart ready for Him, ask Him into your life because He is the only cure for what is ailing our world and each of our lives.

Are you worthy of Him?


What makes me worthy? I have been a drunkard, maybe not an alcoholic, but I drank nearly every Friday night and some days even while I was at school. I tried drugs in my youth for more than a few times and I did inhale, it wasn’t fun at first, but after a while I enjoyed the feeling.

I enjoyed the high feeling that they gave me but I did not enjoy the depression that came afterward. I have used prescription pain medication to make me “feel good”, though thankfully I didn’t become addicted to it. I have looked at pornography and fantasized about things that I wouldn’t admit to today, but I do admit that I did it.

You may be wondering why I am telling you, my friends, about this, why would I show my failures and my warts to those that I am supposed to be bringing the gospel to? The reason that I am doing this is simple…it is to show that no matter how low you have been, how much you have done, how sinful you may think that you are, God loves you anyway!

God can use you and your story, warts and all, as a way to bring someone to Christ and if your story or mine can bring at least one person into a relationship with Christ, then it is worth it to tell your story. Because it also shows the grace that God extends to each of us, regardless of how we were before we came to know Christ.

Of course, it is not a story that I would like to go into the gory details over but
suffice it to say that nobody wants to know those details. Regardless of that, my question for you is: “What do you think you have you done in your life that is keeping you from asking Jesus into your life?” God knows the depravity of
humanity, He knows what evil or good we are capable of and yet, He loves us
anyway. Is it any wonder that Christ can use each of us?

Can you understand that God can use each of us with our problems, our past
failures, our humanity showing in places that we don’t want it to? Is it possible
that with our failures, small or great though they may be, Jesus can still use us
for His purposes? He used Peter even though Peter failed Him on the very night that He was arrested and taken to be tried! Jesus used Saul, who became the apostle Paul, even after he had murdered Steven and likely others before Jesus confronted him on the road to Damascus.

God loves each of us enough that He sent His Son to die for our sins, to pay the
penalty for our sins. That may not sound like much, but if you consider that
Christ took the sins of all of humanity, not just the ones living when He was
here but those that came before and those of us born since He went to His
throne in Heaven! He also died for those that have not yet been born.

So, are you worthy? Do you think that you deserve to receive God’s grace and
His love? If you have accepted Jesus as your savior and into your heart, then you do; but, if you have heard the message in church for many years, if you have read your Bible and even taught Sunday school but are unsure of your relationship to Him then you need to get on your knees and pray. Ask Him to show you what you need, ask Him to forgive you and to come into your heart and to give you the peace which comes with His presence.

Here are some scriptures which enforce the idea of whether we are in need of
being worthy or not:
1 Corinthians 6:11:  And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are
sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Romans 5:8:  But God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Philippians 4:8- Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things [are] honest, whatsoever things [are] just, whatsoever things [are] pure,
whatsoever things [are] lovely, whatsoever things [are] of good report; if [there
be] any virtue, and if [there be] any praise, think on these things.

Matthew 10:37- He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of
me: and he that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

1 Timothy 6:3-5- If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome
words, [even] the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is
according to godliness;

Galatians 2:20- I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

We have been given the most gracious and wonderful gift…the gift of salvation
through Jesus Christ! All that we have to do is believe in Him and ask Him into our hearts, repenting of our sinful ways and turning from our prior life to follow Him in obedience and humility until He returns. Some may say that is fine for you, preacher, you are supposed to follow Him but I can only ask Him into my heart. I can’t be expected to follow Him daily!

Why not? His disciples did and countless others have over the past two thousand years. Many have given their lives because they would not renounce Jesus, they would not reject Him and follow the rest of the “church” of the day.

A belief that can cause so many to give their lives in order to spread the news to others is one that cannot be stopped. Even some of the Pharisees said that if it was of men, it would die with them, but if it was of God then there would be no stopping the message. Our Lord’s message has been through many terrible times during the past two thousand years. People have been burned at the stake, forced to freeze to death, seen their families killed in many gruesome ways and yet the message and their belief never faltered.

Our God is an awesome, powerful Creator who can take jars of clay like us, break us and then mold us into exactly what He wishes for us to become. Then He will give us the words…the message that others need to hear, no matter where they may be, so that someone will find out about Jesus and come to a saving knowledge of Him. It is not an easy message, it is not one that is to be taken lightly but it is a message that can save your immortal soul from hell.

If you have never given your life to Jesus and earnestly followed Him, praying all the while to be given a chance to tell someone, even just one person, about what Jesus has released you from, then I urge you to do that now! Jesus stands at the door of your heart, waiting to be asked to come in. He will not push His way in nor will be force anything upon you, but He will change you if you ask Him to and that change will glow and be visible to all around you because it will no longer be just you, but Christ living in you that they will see.

The Love Revolution – Sermon of the Week


I am a pastor of a small church and I really liked this post. So much so that I re-blogged it here. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did. 🙂

The Lord is my Strength!


In Psalm 28:7 David writes: “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices; and with my song I will praise him.” This verse was George Beverly Shea‘s “life verse” and it should be ours too!

The Lord does give us strength and He keeps us daily in His sight and in His grace. How else could we possibly be the people that God intends for us to be without Him? We cannot do it on our own, we must have the Lord with us every day, throughout the day. Our Lord and our God is the One Who is able to sustain us through all of our trials of life, regardless of what they may be.

In your walk through life, have you considered God? Have you trusted in Him and His grace? He is the only One that can save you from an eternity of torment which was not meant for you in the first place! God loves you and gave His only Son for your life and mine and the only way to come to the Father is through knowing and coming to know the Son, Jesus Christ!

The Father, our Creator, knew each of us before the foundation of the world and He wants us to know Him. Yet, we are just as stubborn and hard-headed as He said the children of Israel were in the wilderness. We turn our eyes toward things which don’t matter especially when we haven’t turned to Him. While we are still dead in our sins, we turn to money, power, greed, fame, or even to things which we own like cars or homes to bring us happiness. Sometimes people still do this even when they believe that they belong to Christ, but if your heart is not full of Him it will turn to stuff which doesn’t matter.

It is time for us to put our lives on the right path and follow the One that came to give us an example to strive for. We may not be able to attain it while we are yet on earth, but the striving for it will make an impression on those who are looking at us and living around us. Your life has meaning and it has so much more meaning when Christ is a part of it because when you are following Him, people can tell whether you say so or not. Your life and your imitation of Christ which reflects Him, shines through the darkest of days and everyone can see it, especially those that need to see Him.

I am trying to emulate Paul the apostle so that I strive to finish the race. I am stretching toward the prize and that prize is eternal life with Jesus. I pray that I will see many of you there too. Please give Jesus a chance in your life.

 

How awesome is God?


Regardless of whether you believe in Him or not, each night when you look at the night sky you can see His handiwork. Scientists say that our universe was caused by a huge explosion and not by a Creator, but who caused all of that stuff to congregate in the places that it did. I know the arguments for gravity and dark matter and all of the radiation from stars and exploding stars. But, there have been some studies that have shown that if the mass of protons and neutrons would’ve been different by only .01 percent or so, the universe wouldn’t be here and we wouldn’t either.

The mind of God created all of this and whether you believe it or not doesn’t change that. He created all of this with His words, “Let there be light”. If you want an explanation for the big bang, that is it! God placed and named all of the stars in our galaxy and in all of the others too. We can see these things every night, they are evidence of something more than chance because coincidence can’t create, accidents can’t create, random collisions of atomic nuclei don’t create. God does!

I know that many scientists will not agree with this, but I doubt that many of them read my posts anyway. God had us in mind when He created all of this so that we could see the grand scale of all of it and wonder how it came to be. The answer lies in God Himself, there are many mathematical constants and other calculations which prove this and were discovered by Isaac Newton. He proved in one of his books that the math contained in the God’s Word was linked to prophecy and history. For instance, the year that the state of Israel became a nation again, 1948, is exactly the number of statute miles that it is from the center stone in London to the corner stone of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. The name of the book is “The Temple at the Center of Time“, if you want to check my facts.

There are many others contained in its pages, the math is proven and so are God’s prophecies as well as Who He is. God is awesome, and yet after He made the entire universe He decided to populate the earth with life and to “make man in Our image”. He considers us special enough that He personally created the first man, He did not use an ape as a template nor did He use any other life-form on earth. We are made in the image of God!

Our Lord and God loves us enough that the earth is at just the right distance from the sun to have a temperate climate that is friendly to life. This did not happen because of chance. It did not happen because anything “slammed into the primordial earth”, God placed the earth where He wanted it and then placed the moon and our star as well. I know the cosmologists say that the earth was not created first, but that is the order of creation in the Bible. If you don’t believe it, read it for yourself or ask Him when you come before Him, if you get the chance. Go to http://www.biblegateway.com and you can read the passage yourself. The sun and the moon were created on the fourth day.

Give your life to Jesus and let Him show you how to live and Who to live for because your life and mine can be so much more when we are living and working for Him and Him through us.

Your life, my life, any difference?


This is not a post to brag or one to belittle anyone. It is more of a confession of circumstances, things which have happened to me and the choices that were made because of them. Some of those choices were good and some were not so good and eventually the results turned out pretty good, but not because of anything that I did on my own.

As I stated in another article (Memories) I have had some interesting jobs in the past and I have seen many things that most people never think about unless they have been in a war zone. Before I worked at those jobs, I was a “normal” teenager. At least as normal as possible in the late ’70’s.

I was the product of a divorce that happened when I was five, so of course I never did understand why my parents split up. For most of my young life, I was angry. I was angry at my parents, and my grandparents for not stopping them from breaking up. I thought that everything could be fixed if they would just get back together somehow.

As I got older, my anger and frustration got turned inside. I was angry with myself. Why? I have no idea. I was just angry, so I started smoking pot then I started drinking alcohol. I didn’t start off with beer though, there was a man in town who would sell it to anyone as long as they had the money, so I started off with whiskey.

I am not going to go through my entire life story here because my life is not interesting enough for that. The only things in my life that were interesting might be the ways that God kept me from killing myself. I don’t know how He did it, but I know that my grandmother was praying for me while I was growing up so that is the reason why I survived I suppose.

To get past my teen years, there are many other things which have happened during the eighties that were the kind of things that most people like to forget, so I will not bring them up here. My life, the one that I have been happy with began in ’91 when I met my wife and my Lord (not in that order, Jesus came first 🙂 ).

When He came into my life I realized that I had been trying to get away from Him during the eighties. I had known about Him while I was growing up but knowing about Jesus and knowing Him are entirely different relationships. Yes, it is relationship that God has wanted all along!

Remember, if you have read the Bible at all, in the beginning after God had created Adam He would come down to the garden and walk with him and talk with him. That is the kind of relationship that God desires from us and for each of us today! The Creator of everything wants to know you as a friend, not as a creature or a pet but as a friend! Isn’t that awesome?

I know that our lives may be different culturally and all, but the Creator, God Himself wants to know you and me personally! I don’t know about you but that is just too awesome not to tell someone! God loves you, all of you, every one of you personally and deeply because He had a part in creating you. He knew us individually before we were born, because He exists outside of time’s constraints. He can see the future and the beginning. He knows when you were born and when you will die.

God is real and He is there because He is. We are here because He wanted us to be. There is no chance or accidental way to explain this universe nor is there a way to explain each of us. We are here, our planet is where it is because He placed it in its place. Exactly at the right distance. There are too many cosmological and mathematically precise formulas in our universe to explain it away by “it just happened”!

Creation doesn’t “just happen”! Complexity doesn’t just happen. Can you take a bunch of sticks or lumber and toss them together and form a house? Even the scientists which discovered our building blocks couldn’t take a replica of what they thought would be the “ooze that existed on the early earth” and zap it with electricity and come up with proteins, let alone a single-celled organism!

Natural processes don’t go from simple to complex, naturally, there has to be an intelligence or a Creator behind it. You can go from complex to simple because eventually everything returns to the elements that it is made from, but nature doesn’t move in the opposite direction.

I have gotten completely off into another topic entirely, but the point is that God is our Creator and He wants to know each of us. All that we have to do is accept His friendship and ask Him to help us to be His friend. We cannot do it on our own, but if we ask Him to come into our lives, He will. Then all of the junk that was in your life and the anger and frustration that was there, it won’t go away but it will be easier to bear simply because you won’t be alone!

He wanted me to come to know Him and He brought me to a place where we could meet and get to know one another. There is no hidden agenda with God, He loves you and the grace that He gives each of us daily should be enough to make you want to love Him too! It is usually our own pride that won’t allow us to admit that we need Him and yet we will allow that to come between us and the most glorious friendship that we could ever have.

Don’t put off something like this because we are only here for a short while and we are not guaranteed tomorrow, none of us are! I may not wake up in the morning in my mortal body, but if I don’t I will wake up…with my Savior forever!