Tag: Jesus loves you

What is your view?


The world and the media cloud our ideas and our view of the world around us with their own version, their own spin on what is happening and what has happened in the past. So how are we to discern the truth of what is and what will be if we don’t read the Bible? It is God’s inspired Word to mankind and since He cannot lie, it is the whole truth. Regardless of the watered down messages that some teach or try to “interpret” in a way which has nothing to do with its message at all.

God’s predictions for our world’s future, such as the saying of Jesus that “the kingdom of God will come before this generation is done”, did not mean that those living at the time would see His second coming. It did refer to the Jewish people who would still be the state of Israel at the time of His second coming. I am sure that many in that day hoped that Jesus would destroy Rome and its hold of persecution and oppression over the Jewish people but that wasn’t His job at that time.

Jesus came to end the oppression of Satan over the whole world so that people could gain their freedom from the world and its sins and the consequences in their lives. That was His message and His mission the first time. When He comes the second time, it will be as Conquerer and King and He will do it because not one comma or period will pass away before all are fulfilled.

Our world, not just America, is beginning a new year and all of us need to be seeking Jesus as our True Savior. He is the only Way to Heaven and our debts for our sins have been paid, all we have to do is believe in Him and follow Him daily, seeking to be more like Him until that day when He calls us all home. I pray that more people will learn of Him and seek Him as their Savior this year because He is coming soon.

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God never forgets us


As much as the world would like us to believe that God doesn’t care about us, the fact is that He does care and He never leaves us alone in our suffering. He restored the world from sin’s embrace when He called on Noah to build an ark for the animals and his family. So if God will do that, He will also be near us in our suffering and our pain in this life as well.

Your family may be going through some sickness or other painful tribulation these days but God doesn’t stray from your side. He is nearby even if you haven’t given your heart to Him yet. Although many in our world see all of the suffering and pain in the world and they think that He doesn’t care for us at all!

Not a Sparrow Falls Verse_thumb[1]That is not true in the least! Jesus told His disciples that, “Even a sparrow doesn’t fall to the ground without my Father’s notice of it“. I paraphrased that Scripture but you get my meaning. Since God notices when a small bird falls to the ground how much more does He take notice of you who are made in His image? We are all made in the image of God so He is always watching over us, whether we belong to Him or not. The prayers of an unredeemed person are not heard until the Spirit moves their heart to yearn for Jesus. Then their prayer for salvation is heard and they are changed when that repentance is real and genuine.

Yet, many people claim to pray to Him daily and sometimes their prayers are answered, whether they are Christians or not. How can this be? Satan can answer your requests as well, up to a point, and he will make you think or believe that God answered your prayer when it was him all along. Why would he do this? Because of his deceptive nature. He wants to steer as many people away from belief in God and His Son, Jesus, as he possibly can. So if he can make you believe that God answered your prayer when you don’t belong to Jesus in the first place, then he will do it!

Remember, he can appear as an angel of light because he was one before he was kicked out of Heaven. Some people believe that Satan can only do things which God allows him to do. But that is against a person who already belongs to God. If you are not a redeemed Christian then you are already in Satan’s camp whether you know it or not. Until you are convicted of your need for Christ by the Holy Spirit, you are “at war with God”.

Life on Earth has been in a state of spiritual war ever since the Garden of Eden and it will be that way until Jesus comes back and sets up His Kingdom on Earth. Make sure of your place in His Kingdom before He calls the believers home one day.

Occasional belief and attendance


Do you realize that while you come to church for certain “occasions”, you are hurting your relationship with Jesus? When Jesus called His disciples, and He did so individually, He didn’t ask them to follow Him on certain days or only on the Sabbath, He just said; “Follow Me”. When we choose to “follow Jesus” only at certain times or for certain reasons we are turning Him into our version of a genie.

We are, in essence, telling God and Jesus that we don’t want You in our life on a daily basis, we just want you on those days when we need you or when we feel the need for you to be in our life. That’s pretty insulting, isn’t it? How would you feel if you or a member of your family told you that? The family wouldn’t remain a family for very long, would it?

Yet, the church is expected to remain a church even when many of its members consider coming to church is something only real, committed Christians do. Who do you think the church is made up of then? Just “sometimes Christians”? Jesus didn’t call sometimes Christians or followers, He called you to follow Him. That doesn’t give you an out on Wednesday or Thursday or Saturday, He meant every day!

Do you think the church would’ve gotten started if His disciples only followed Him when they felt like it or on certain days? NO! The church would’ve died within a couple of centuries or less if that had happened.

God sent Jesus to Judea to bring the good news of salvation to them but also to enable the gospel of salvation to be taken out to the rest of the whole world. Because, Jesus died and rose again to pay for the sins of the world (past, present, and future) not just a few people in Judea. Our idea of Jesus as our Savior is not just an idea because an idea cannot bring you salvation, but a belief in Jesus can and will bring you salvation. Your life and mine are incredibly short spans of time, even in relation to a millennium but a millennium is just a tick on the face of a clock compared to eternity. Don’t throw away eternity with God because of your life here which is but a moment in time compared to eternity!

Each of us is special to God because we are part of His Creation and He cares for each of us. When you give your heart to Jesus and believe in Him for your salvation, you become a born-again child of God and you are part of His family. He loves you at that moment and from that moment on just as He does Jesus or any other Christian!

You are special to God because HE has given you talents and abilities which He wants you to use for His Kingdom and He knows what you can do with those abilities! You can do more with them and for Him than you can do without Him or without Jesus. Simple, childlike faith in God is all that your salvation requires.

Giving your heart to Yeshua (Jesus) is a simple decision and you need to realize that His name means God saves.

The Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament was the manifestation of Jesus which appeared to the Israelites in the wilderness. He was also the Rock from which the water came to keep His people alive. He was also the cloud which protected them in the wilderness, the Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire at night. Yes, He was with the Jewish people during the Old Testament days and He fulfilled the prophecies about Himself when He did come in the flesh.

The church in our time


We are closer to the end times than you think. If you have ever read the book of Revelation you will know which church is reflected by the church today. The Laodicean church.

In Rev. 3:15-18: 15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Many churches today have a service which resembles a performance more than a sermon. Some of the smaller, less liberal churches have regular sermons but the time is spent more with praise music than with preaching from God’s Word. There are other things which are going on in the church today which I don’t have statistics to show you but if you look up the status of the Christian church you can find the same statistics which I did.

Why am I bringing this up today? Because our world is walking and sometimes running away from Biblical preaching as fast as they can go and it is leaving those congregations with a very light dusting of God’s Word rather than a full meal from the Word. Paul wrote to some of the churches that they were still babes in Christ and they hadn’t matured enough to savor the “meat of God’s Word“. In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul tells his listeners this: 1 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—as infants in Christ. 2, I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready, 3for you are still worldly.

God loves us but we cannot remain as “babes in Christ” for our whole lives! At some point, we need to study to show ourselves approved to be His disciples and His workers in Jesus Christ. The church today is lacking in its study of God’s Word and in the building up of the body of Christ, the believers who actually make up the church. Regardless of your denomination, each of us who claims to be a Christian who knows the Lord of Glory, all of us should be able to answer a simple Bible quiz and yet many cannot!

We have fallen behind in our studies of the Word of God because we are not passionate about our love for Jesus and our Life in Him! What happened? Has your heart grown cold against your Savior? He gave His life for each of us so why can’t we live our lives as a true living sacrifice to Him for the rest of our lives until we are called home? It is the least that we could do considering what He did for each of us.

I would rather hear Him say to me, “Welcome home” rather than “What happened after you accepted Me?” If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, do you read and study God’s Word at least once or twice every week or do you just pick it up when you attend church services? What would you do if you had to give the reason for your hope in Christ? Would you be able to quote Scripture for it or do you know enough verses that you could?

Are you or your church only lukewarm in your service to Him? If you are then you need to dedicate your life to becoming more passionate about Jesus and what He has done for you.

Is there something missing…


Many times when I was much younger, I felt as if something was missing in my life. Since my parents were divorced I always thought it had to do with my Dad not being in my life much. Which was likely since I didn’t see him much except during summer visits and two weeks doesn’t help much when your Dad is working and out of the house even when you are there. Still…I felt that my relationship with him wasn’t really what was missing but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

After high school, I found that the missing part of my life didn’t mean much, at least not yet. So I partied and played around with weed and sex and I still felt empty and confused because nothing that I tried was fulfilling at all and mostly left me feeling empty inside. Even though I thought I had found and accepted Jesus, and I may have invited Him into my heart, I don’t think that I had fully committed my life and my heart to Him at this point.

I didn’t have anyone to teach me how to become closer to God and to come to know Him in a deeper way, so I still felt like I was stuck in a rut and I didn’t know how to get on the right pathway. I don’t know if I am expressing this the best way but that is how I felt at the time.

Why am I opening my story up to you? Because our testimony is the story about how each of us came to know Jesus as our Lord and Savior and it is a story that each of us can express in our own words because it is personal. Each of us knows our own short-comings and our failures which brought us to the point of knowing that we need Jesus, because until we came to that point…we didn’t want to know Him.

My actual walk with Jesus began after my son was born. I had been given this gift from God to love and cherish and to be an example to, and I knew that if I wasn’t following Jesus from that point on then he wouldn’t learn about Him either. So, I began by reading the Bible at night while I was working in the lab at the hospital. I would read in between running samples or on my lunch (early breakfast) break.

Little by little, God’s Word began to make sense to me. I still didn’t understand it and even today after reading through the Bible many times I don’t claim to understand it yet, but I am walking with Him on a daily path. Do I stumble? Yes! Do I wander off the path or fall? Yes! But…He is there to help me get back up, ask for His forgiveness when I have failed Him in one way or another and then we carry on toward the goal.

What is the goal? The prize of being in His Presence! That is the ultimate goal of life. The life which each of us lives through and complains about here is just temporary but the Life in Him and in eternity is…well eternal! There won’t be anything missing when we are in His Kingdom and His Presence! The only “missing” things will be the problems which we have here, the time which we never seem to have enough of, our aches and pains and our glasses (if you wear them) or contacts. All of these man-made bits of help and diseases will be left on Earth when we leave this place, praise God!

If you need prayer for any reason or just an unspoken request, please leave it in the comments. I will pray for you in my prayers because I pray that this site and these messages have an impact in the world every day. Thank you for reading.

Amen.

What are your convictions?


Most of us really don’t think about this word or what it means, at least not on a daily basis. Your convictions come into play when you vote or in how you handle adversity. Sometimes, your convictions have an effect on the way you live your life from the beginning of adulthood throughout your life. One definition of a conviction has to do with being convicted of a crime in a court of law. The definition that I am writing about here is expressed best by part of a sermon which Dr. Charles Stanley taught recently so here is that definition:

A conviction is a solid, immovable belief based on confidence in God’s Word, being so thoroughly convinced of its absolute truth that we are willing to take a stand regardless of the consequences. Convictions shape not only what we believe but also how we live and even how we die. They define who we are and provide direction with solid straight lines that don’t veer off track to accommodate circumstances or temptations.

Many of the disciples and early church members were martyred for their convictions about their faith in Jesus Christ, so that should prove to many people that those beliefs and their faith and their conviction about Him were so strong that they were willing to die for them. You wouldn’t die for some made up fairy tale or a lie. Jesus is coming back as He said He would and I urge you if you don’t believe in Him as your Savior, to give your life to Him today.

None of us are guaranteed tomorrow so as the Bible says, “Today is the day of salvation“. If you truly want an eternity which is not eternal punishment, and honestly who would want that for eternity, then give your heart to Jesus. Seek Him out in any way that you can because He is coming soon and you don’t want to be left behind to live through the seven years which will follow His removal of the church from the Earth. There will be a lot of destruction and death on that day because of the people who were taken to heaven with Him, but the aftermath of that will be easy compared to what comes later.

God does love and care for all of us but He doesn’t like our sins and the lives which we live apart from Him. Lifestyles which go against His laws and His precepts in His Word are not the lifestyles which He approves of. Living outside of His law just because you don’t like what the Bible says is not the Christian way of life. Consider the places that you go on a Friday night or over the weekend. Would you feel comfortable taking Jesus to those places, really? If you attend church but haven’t accepted Jesus as your Savior, would you feel comfortable telling your pastor about where you went the night before church on Sunday morning?

If you can’t answer those questions truthfully and without hesitation then your life needs Jesus in it now.

God is in control


31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. 33 And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison and to death. 34 And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me. Luke 22:31-34

Job 1:8-12 

8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that [there is] none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? 9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for naught? 10 Hast, not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. 11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. 12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath [is] in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

Job 2:1-6

1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. 2 And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. 3 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause. 4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. 5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. 6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand, but save his life.

I have placed these scriptures here because many people, it seems, do not believe that God is in control of our world today. It seems that there are quite a number of people who believe that if God created the Earth, He has left us alone in it and He has nothing to do with our lives today. The passages above prove that is NOT true. Satan wants to hurt and even destroy anyone who is a follower of God or a servant of Him, but God is in control of him even though Satan rebelled against God.

In these instances in the above paragraphs, Satan had to ask permission to afflict any sort of hurt or trouble on Peter and on Job. Jesus prayed for Peter to be able to withstand the temptation but He added; “when you are converted (restored, changed) strengthen thy brethren”. Jesus knew that Peter would deny Him and that it would break his heart. But, He also knew that after His resurrection Peter would be stronger in his faith than ever before!

Christians are watched over by God and Jesus even closer than any other people on Earth because of the temptations which Satan and his demons and principalities can inflict on us, especially young (new) Christians. Their faith in their conversion and in their Lord is not very strong because they haven’t studied His Word enough and learned how to stand in their faith on a daily basis!

Why do I mention that we have to stand in our faith on a daily basis? Because your faith grows and you become stronger in it as you learn more about God and His love for you. I will continue this post in a separate entry under the same name but continued.

Child-like faith


Jesus said to “suffer the little children to come unto Me for of such as these are those who will enter the Kingdom of Heaven“. I know that I didn’t write His words verbatim, but you get the idea. We are to have the same trusting faith in Him that children have in their parents who love them. Child-like faith is the type of faith which hasn’t been dulled by the cares of life and even though adults usually do have many “cares” to handle we should still trust in our Lord and Savior like a child.

God loves us more deeply than we can ever imagine although there are many who will not give their lives to Him out of stubborn pride or anger for some wrong which they lay at God’s hands. It is not God Who brings challenges into our lives, whatever they may be. It is usually our own stubborn pride or Satan’s demons who are allowed to bring suffering into our lives. Many times this suffering is brought to our doorstep not because God is angry with us but because it may be the only way to get our attention!

We are the ones who turn away from Him. God is always near and available to us in prayer and in our troubles yet many people will not bow their head or bend their knees to ask Him for healing or help in situations where it is sorely needed. A child trusts their parents and grandparents because they know that no harm will come to them as long as they are loved. There are exceptions to this because some children live in a home where they are not wanted or they are seen as a burden more than a blessing from God.

Jesus_Loves_UThese exceptions should not exist but they do in our fallen world. The entirety of Creation groans in anticipation of the return of Jesus and the restoration of order to its fallen state just as we do. He will return and restore our world and its order when His Kingdom reigns on this Earth one day, so keep your faith in Him until that event comes to fruition!

It is our faith in Him which Jesus was speaking of when He said that we must come in child-like faith to Him. Trusting in Him completely and knowing that He has always got our life in His hands and we are under His protection. Never doubt that He is completely in charge and in control of every good thing which happens in our lives. Seek Him like a child and in that complete faith, give your heart to Him because He gave His life for yours.

Jesus loves us because He gave His life for ours. All that we owe Him is that we should give our lives to Him in return and serve Him in all areas of our life until we go to Him one day.

Consider the mustard seed


Consider the mustard seed. It is the smallest seed of the garden vegetables and yet it will grow into a small tree if left to grow.

Jesus (Yeshua) said this to his listeners: 30 And he said, “What shall resemble the Kingdom of God and with what shall a parable compare it?” 31″It is like a grain of mustard seed, which when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the herb seeds on the earth.” 32″And when it is sown it comes up and becomes greater than all the small herbs and produces great branches so that the birds will be able to perch in its shade.” Mark 4: 30-32

Small towns and communities and even small churches are not considered failures but to some people they are. Especially in small churches. In truth, it doesn’t matter about the size of the church or the number in the congregation as long as they are attending and worshiping God. Yes, it would be nice if the church would grow in size but sometimes growth doesn’t continue on a monthly or weekly basis. Sometimes it is just a fluke for a little while and then the numbers go back to where they were.

In the world that we live in this is a sad thing because people need to learn more about God and their place in His Kingdom. Today, many people don’t even recognize His Kingdom or the people who attend church services as being any different from the rest of the world. This is a very sad thing indeed considering that we are living at the end of the church age, the age of God’s grace toward mankind.

That doesn’t mean that Jesus is coming back tomorrow, although He could, it does mean that we should be watching for Him and studying His Word prayerfully. Seeking His wisdom from the Bible so that we are prepared for His return and ready to meet Him in the air. God will not abandon His church nor will He abandon His people, the Hebrews of Israel. Even though the world doesn’t recognize Him as sovereign over the universe and all of its processes, that doesn’t mean that He isn’t.

The Earth is His creation along with all of its creatures including us. The universe is also His creation and the entirety of creation is waiting for Him to restore everything to the state that existed before mankind fell in the garden. We should be telling as many people about Jesus as possible, if they will listen, because it is our calling and our duty as Christians and disciples.

God is not slack in His judgment of sin and the world around us is full of sin and its consequences. The people who have not learned to follow Jesus will be judged one day and it will happen during the Tribulation which is coming to the Earth. I plead with you to seek Him while there is yet time to do so safely because during the Tribulation it will be very dangerous to be a follower of Jesus. You will be hunted and killed because of your faith in Him, but take heart even if you are killed, you will live with Him in Heaven.

 

Dear America,


Have you considered that we have never looked at our condition religiously? Our country and its people have never actually thought of Christianity as our religion. Specifically, since our government doesn’t endorse or choose any particular religion for our nation. Our people have many denominations and religions in our country and today we also have many who don’t claim any belief in God or religion.

So have you thought about any of this? Is it possible that we truly need religion? There are so many who commit suicide on a daily basis and we have so many who are struggling with drugs and alcohol on a daily basis too. So…what is the fix or the cure for this emptiness which we seem to be dealing with?

themissingpieceWhether our country as a whole wants to believe it or not, the answer actually is a relationship with Jesus. The empty place in all of our lives which we try to fill with all sorts of things from sex or money or careers and even family is only filled by one Person. Jesus Christ. That is the missing piece of the puzzle which we have been searching for all of our lives!

It isn’t a hard thing to do but in a society which prides itself on its independence, individually and collectively, we don’t want to depend upon any one person whether it is a Savior or even a spouse or a friend. Except when you look at the feeling of hope which He brings into our collective conscience. So why don’t we look to Him for our hope? Why can’t we do this so our country can have more hope?

Hope hasn’t died but to look at the news, you would think it has. Hope is in the Person of Jesus, Love is Jesus and He is Love for all of us because He did love us enough to give His life on the cross to pay the debt which we owed because of our sins. Even those of us where weren’t born when He did this still owe the debt if we haven’t given our hearts to Him.

I pray that those of you reading this will give Jesus a chance in your life. If for no other reason than to fill that empty place and give you hope for eternity and a heart full of gratitude for a Creator Who loves you more than you can imagine. Please, seek Jesus out for your soul and for your eternal hope because it is needed in our country today.