Tag: Jesus loves you

What will you do?


In the world today, there are many who wonder about a savior. One who will save them from themselves or from an eternity of punishment. Even though there are many religions in our world and some of them claim to have a person capable of this feat, the only One Who is capable of it is Jesus the Christ!

Why do I bring this up in this way? Because there are many who don’t believe what the Bible says or believe in Jesus and His life, let alone His death and resurrection which gives us our hope of eternity in Heaven. Why do many people not believe in God or His Word? Mostly because of the work done in the world by Satan and his followers. I know, there are also many people who don’t believe that he exists either but since he tempted Jesus in the wilderness then he does exist.

He, Satan, attends church services more than most church members do, which is why we have so many churches which are split up and pulled apart due to disagreements. Getting back to my initial question, what will you do with the knowledge of Jesus and your need of being saved? Do you need Jesus in your life? If you feel that you can get to Heaven all by your own works, think again because it is not possible!

The Law of Moses which was given on Mt. Sinai, doesn’t save you. It only shows you that you can’t keep the law PERFECTLY. Humanity can’t keep the law without breaking at least one or more of the laws, we just are not capable of it! The only Person able to do so was Jesus! Even in His human body, He still had the nature of God which means that He could keep ALL of the laws without sin…without breaking even ONE! Why do I say this? Because, if He wasn’t perfect enough to do this, He couldn’t be the Son of God nor could He atone for all of our sins!

Even in the Law, the sacrifice was to be a lamb without blemish, spotless and without defect of any kind. Could you find such a person to fill that requirement today? Absolutely not! There is no perfect specimen, male or female, which has no defect and is spotless in every way without sin…this has only happened ONCE in all of history!

Even as a child, we lie to our parents even when we don’t know what a lie is! We steal pencils, erasers, notebooks, and any number of things in our lifetime. At some point in your life and mine, we have coveted something which someone else has. We all have lusted after a beautiful woman or a handsome man. Many of us may have even thought that we would like to see someone die, even if we didn’t act upon that thought. If you think about your life with an honest open mind, you know as well as I that each of us has done these things at some point.

Jesus came here in order to give His life for each of us. He gave up His power and place in Heaven to be clothed in flesh so that He could pay the price for all of our souls. But, while He was here teaching His gospel to those who would listen, He still had the power over demons, disease, death, and nature itself because He didn’t doubt that God would do for Him what was necessary to bring His disciples to true belief in Him, saving faith in the only begotten Son of God.

Please, seek Him out for the answer to your life’s problems and emptiness so that you can have His peace and assurance for eternity.

A dangerous cancerous growth


Unfortunately, humanity is born with this condition and has been for many thousands of years. This cancerous growth is our sin nature. We are prone to it and will fulfill it even at the young age of two. Tell any child of toddler age that they can’t have something, but they know they can reach it. One day, they will do exactly that and if you ask them if they did, they will lie to you. Even with the crumbs from the cookies in their lap, they will lie about eating them.

They haven’t been taught to lie nor are they cunning little thieves but our nature is bent toward sinful behavior whether we have seen it or heard it or not. This growth, this nature is something that we can’t cure by any means of our own. We have not the idea of formulating a cure and we don’t have the ability to do so with our own resources.

Kidney cancer cells, SEMThis sin nature is like a cancer for which there is no cure and no treatment. Radiation will not affect it, chemicals of any kind will only make it worse but they will not kill it. It is, pure and simple, a death sentence to every human born since the time of Adam and Eve. Yet, God did provide a way for us to clear it from our system, from our hearts altogether. Through the work of the Holy Spirit and the grace given to us as a gift by God and the atonement bought with the blood of Christ. It is a very expensive treatment and a cure, but it is freely given to us by God…if we will, by faith, believe in the work of Jesus!

God had this idea or plan in place even before the Earth was formed or Adam was created. Because, He knew that it would be needed and necessary for all of mankind. It was not something which was an afterthought, nor was it something that caught God by surprise! It was necessary, which was all of the reason that God needed to put His plan in motion. You might wonder, why would God choose to allow part of Himself, part of the Trinity, to take on the form of a human and live among them, teach those who would listen and hear the words and working of God and His grace and then die a death on a cross in order to redeem mankind?

The answer is very simple but it is also hard for us to understand, which is why so many people have trouble with this word and the actions and results which come from it. The answer is: LOVE.

God loves His creation, not just the planets and stars and galaxies, but He loves each of us because He knows each of us. How is this possible? Because God is outside of our time. He can look at any point in time that He chooses, from the beginning to the end and HE can see each of us at any point in our life. He knows what you said yesterday and what you will do tomorrow. You are known in a way that you can’t understand or comprehend, but it is because of this knowing that He loves us. It is also for this reason that He did send Jesus to atone for all of mankind’s sins, even though much of mankind will not accept it nor believe it.

As the Scripture says: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son. That whosoever would believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

God didn’t do this because He had to, but because He wanted to. He wanted to have the same relationship that He enjoyed with humanity in the Garden. If this was the only way to do this, then that is exactly what He would do. He knew that Israel, as a nation, would reject Jesus. Which is why Paul was blinded on the road to persecute more of the young church. God wanted him to be the apostle to the Gentiles (those outside of Israel), which is exactly what he did. God uses the weak things or people to prove His power and glory and to bring to redemption those who might not hear of His grace and mercy through any other means.

If you have felt the call of the Holy Spirit, the feeling which tells you that something inside needs to change, then seek Him out at a church which teaches from His Word. Read His Word and pray that He will show you what you should do. Give your heart to Him by asking Him to come into your life and save you from this “cancer”, so that you can be made new and whole, into a new creation. One which will be used in His Kingdom to bring others to Him as well. Each of us has a purpose that nobody else can accomplish. This is why those of us who are called to Him are called in the first place, because we can have an effect on someone’s life that is very important to God. That person may be the next Paul or Peter or John, but if we aren’t available then they may never come to know Jesus at all.

Read and study the Bible


Here are eleven excellent reasons you should read the word of God everyday:

  1. It tells you how to be genuinely saved and how to grow in your faith. John 3:16, Psalm 119:105, Romans 12:1, 2, and Phil. 4:6; 7

  2. It gives you clear guidance and direction for your life. Psalm 119:105

  3. It empowers your prayer life. Phil. 4:61 7

  4. It sharpens your ability to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit more and more clearly. I Corinthians 1:5

  5. It ministers to your mind, body, and spirit. Proverbs 4:20 – 22

  6. It helps you to maintain your mental health, (according to Dr. Paul Meier) Prov. 4.

  7. It increases the anointing on every area of your life. I Corinthians 1:5

  8. It increases your wisdom in every area of your life. Proverbs 1 – 4

  9. It enhances your intellect and your personality. (It can literally increase your I.Q.) I Corinthians 1:5

  10. It pours grace, joy, and peace into your spirit, your mind and your life. II Cor. 1:2, I Timothy 1:2, and II Timothy 1:2, and Galatians 5: direction 22

  11. In direct statement or in principle, it gives you guidance and/or direction about every issue or topic in life. Psalm 119:105

What then is the best translation of the Bible? I agree with Dr. Kroll. The best translation of the Bible is the accurate translation of the Word of God that you will read and obey.

Reading and studying the Bible does you no good at all IF you don’t obey God’s Word in the things which it tells you to do. Some people think that the Bible is a book of “do’s and don’ts” but it isn’t. Yes, there are the Ten Commandments and they tell you the things which you are supposed to do and some tell you not to do others. The point is this: when your heart belongs to Jesus and the Spirit lives inside you…you won’t WANT to do those things which are the “not do’s”!

God loves each of us more deeply than we can understand, even when we are in His presence we will be overwhelmed by His Love and the depth of it!

Don’t turn away from a love that is so awesome and joyful until it feels like a warm blanket that never gets cold and you just want to snuggle in it forever! That is the best description that I can give you of the love that I have felt here. I can’t even imagine what it will be like to sit with the Father and feel the waves of joy and love flowing from Him!

Seek Him out and we can experience it together in eternity!

Drifting…


Many people seem to be drifting away from the church and it is not a good thing. Why is it so? Because, at this time in our history, we are coming very close to the end of the age spoken of in the Bible. I am not talking about giving you a date and the hour because neither I nor anyone else knows God’s timing in this. But, the prophetic clues are all around us and if you have never read the Bible, then today would be a good day to begin.

Many of the signs are happening every day on the news and many more of them are coming. The world says that evil and sinful living is correct and a good thing and being a follower of Christ is considered to be hateful toward those who don’t believe. Sermons are being watched by law enforcement and scrutinized during hiring for jobs, if a pastor is a bi-vocational leader. If the sermons have anything deemed as “hate speech” in them, the job offer is taken back or the person is fired if they have been hired.

Even social media posts with a religious bent to them are being criticized and taken down in some cases as well as being scrutinized for job interviews. All of these are the beginning of persecution toward believers which Jesus spoke of and it will get worse before it gets better.

Why am I writing this and also talking about people leaving the church? It seems that leaving the church would be a good thing if you want to get ahead in life, right? Not really. If you are living according to the dictates of the world around you, instead of living like a follower of Christ, then you are bending toward the world and getting off of the path set before you by Jesus.

Christians are supposed to be reflections of Jesus, not clay which bends and twists every which way the political correctness police want you to bend! God is our Shield and our Protector and we are to be following Jesus in all that we do and say! If you claim to be a Christian and you aren’t doing this, you may want to check your heart and your spirit and make sure of what or who it is that you are listening to. Are you sure that you belong to Jesus or some lying spirit from Satan who tricked you into thinking that you are saved?

Satan and his demons or spirits can do this and have done it for thousands of years. They attend church more often than many people do, so they know very well how to fool you. Remember, they were around when all of Scripture was being written and played out, so they know it better than anyone with letters behind their name in the pulpit. They can quote it word for word but often will twist the meaning so that it sounds they way they want it to sound.

Some of the horror movies like “The Exorcist”, “The Omen”, and others show this because the demons know things about the person confronting them that they couldn’t know without being supernatural beings. Don’t discount this because even Jesus had to silence those which He cast out so they wouldn’t scream His name and Who He was to every person around. It wasn’t His time to be known that way yet. Even Paul had to cast a demon out because the girl who was possessed kept telling everyone that they were representatives of the Most High God.

Even though it sounds like a good thing, if a demon is announcing that you are the Son of God or a prophet of God, then it seems like you have the OK from Satan to do what you are doing. That is why Jesus and His disciples cast them out because they wanted their message to be validated by the Spirit of God and not a demon from darkness!

Seek out His Word in the Bible. Study it and learn from it, think on it when you have the time and ponder its meaning (meditate), because God will give you the meaning if you are truly seeking it for the Truth that it contains. Seek His will which is contained in the Bible so that you know Who and what you believe, in order to back up your faith and be able to give it away.

What will you do?


john317Jesus did not ask this question exactly, but He did ask His disciples “Who do you say that I am?”. The answer that Peter gave was one which wasn’t available in the Scriptures of the day, but it was given to him by the Holy Spirit. So…what will you do with your knowledge of Jesus and Who He is to you?

He is our Savior and our Creator and our Lord, but He doesn’t cram Himself into your life. It is your decision to accept Him as your Savior when you feel the Spirit touch your heart about your need of Him. We do need Jesus, each and every one of us. So…what will you do?

God loves all of humanity but we don’t return that love and that is a sad situation which most of the world is living in right now. God made a way for us to be sanctified and cleansed by His Son’s sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection. The only thing that we can do for our salvation is to accept it by faith.

There is nothing which we can add to our salvation because it was taken care of by Jesus. Your money won’t get you a better home in Heaven, your works here on Earth won’t get you any closer to righteousness here on Earth. The only place where your salvation could have any impact is right here where you are and that by telling others about your life and the new life that Jesus gave you!

No evangelist or preacher can earn a better place in eternity and no amount of charity will do it either. We are ALL equal in God’s sight when we accept Jesus as our Savior, no matter our position or place in our country or a business. The pastor’s saying is true: “The playing field is level at the cross”. The rich man has no advantage over the poor and a salesman or janitor has the same opportunities as a President or a Prime minister when coming to salvation and their place in God’s Kingdom. Slaves and statesmen are equal and no one stands any taller than a person on their knees asking for God’s forgiveness.

God loves the saint and the sinner alike, but God doesn’t love the sinful lives which we all have led at one point or another. So….what will you do? What is your decision? Consider that Jesus said for us not to worry about tomorrow because it has enough trouble of its own and we are not guaranteed even our next breath. So…what decision will you make about making Him your Savior and Lord?

The One Who can Help…


Lord, I know that you know all things. Please, touch those who read this and let them know that you love tthemissingpiecehem no matter what.

Life is easiest when you have all of the pieces in their correct places, and Jesus belongs in your heart! You have felt that emptiness for a long time, just as I did, and you know that nothing fills it which we try to put in it.

Jesus is the ONLY Person Who fits in that spot, so if you feel that empty feeling and you know the One Who fits, then ask Him to fill you and He will!

An ending and a new beginning


We come to the end of another year. One that has been fraught with so much pain and suffering on the part of police and race relations. Also, many have died for useless reasons which did not have to happen. I pray that the next year will be a bit more tolerable in relations with others, with our police and with other nations.

God knows what is happening and He is in charge, yet the forces of Satan are influencing much of what we see and hear on our planet that is so frustrating because of its cruelty. Yes, it is being done by humans, but those are being influenced by anti-Christian forces such as Satanic spiritual forces. These forces, spiritual in nature, are around us whether you believe in them or not. Frankly, I am glad that I can’t see them because the violence and hatred which they encourage in us toward other people is unpleasant enough.

Yes, we are coming to the end of one more year and the start of a “new” year, but the problems which we all face everyday don’t change. The problems which we had last week or yesterday will still be here after midnight tonight. They don’t magically go away just because the date changes.

That is why we need to rely on God and His strength to get us through the most challenging times. We can push through on our own, but things work out so much better when He is guiding your steps and giving you the wisdom to get through life’s challenges. God loves us and He does want the best for us, no matter what, if we will follow Him and seek out His way of cultivating a relationship.

The reason I put “His way” in that last sentence is because we tend to place our ideas of God in the way of our relationship with Him. We tend to see Him in our “mind’s eye” as being like us with our faults and problems and yet we imagine that vision or idea as God. What is wrong with that? Everything! Because God is SO MUCH MORE!

He is more compassionate and understanding than we can be. He is our Creator and, if you are a Christian He is our Savior! His ways are not our ways because He doesn’t have the prejudices which we have, nor does He bring baggage into the relationship with us. Why is this true? Because, He lives outside of our time and He put us together in the womb. He knows us better than we will ever know ourselves and He knows how we think and how we can be an asset in His Kingdom.

Give your heart and life to God and let Him show you how great your next year can be!

The nearness and presence of God


It is something which many Christians and non-Christians have considered and thought about over the years. How near to us is God really? Consider that He is everywhere, as David wrote in his Psalms, “if I make my bed in the depths of Sheol, you are there“, so in defense of Jonah “where could you go?”. When we seek God, He is near us, it is the act and action of seeking Him that brings us together.

God has always sought out a relationship with us, from the Garden all the way to the 21st century, and He is still seeking to have a relationship with each one of us. Although, many today don’t seem to be seeking Him as they did in years past, He is still near to you whether you know it or not. God’s Presence, His Spirit, is always near us and it is the one concept that many Christians can’t understand. It is the aspect of God which I never understood until recently.

Why should this be so hard to grasp?

Because, God is the Creator. He is the One Who stretched out the Heavens like sailcloth when He placed the galaxies and stars in their places! It was He Who hung the Sun in its place as well and all of the planets too, so why can’t an Omniscient and Omnipresent Creator be everywhere at all times? He is everywhere at all times and He is near to each of us, at all times.

When we feel that He isn’t near us, it is because that we aren’t near to Him in our spirit and in our own relationship with Him. God has not moved away from you, He is still right next to your heart. Waiting for your embrace so He can embrace you in return!

A relationship with your Creator is not a hard thing, but cultivating an intimate relationship with Him takes effort on your part. Many people want this kind of relationship with God, but few are willing to put the effort needed into truly cultivating it.

Are you under His influence?


We talk about being in love with someone when we are in a relationship with them and for most of us that is how it goes. But, have you ever considered that your life should be under His influence ALL of the time?

When we consider people who are “under the influence”, we usually think of someone who is drunk from alcohol of one type or another. Being under the influence of God and His Spirit is something totally outside the ideas and experience of many people because they just don’t know how to handle it or even if they can!

My inspiration was a comedy routine by a Christian comedian and it fits perfectly. When you give your heart and your life to Him, you are supposed to be under His influence spiritually from that point on. We are supposed to die to our own lusts and ways each day and walk with Him so that we are walking as He did! Doing the things that He did for those that He helped during His ministry!

That is the very definition of a Christian, to live and be more like Jesus the Christ! So, are you under the influence of His Spirit? If you are not, then you aren’t living your Christian life to the fullest that it can be! It can be so much more rewarding in many ways, for you and for others that you will touch with your witness for Christ!

His influence in your life will cause you to be more like Jesus in everything that you do. Whether it is being a father or a grandfather or a husband, His influence in your life changes a lot of things. Things which people see in your life can change their lives and the lives of many people around you, so give His influence more influence in your life with Him!

Consumption


This word is what our entire economy is based upon these days. We do not produce anything which is exported to other countries, except for printing money. So, what is our country good for? Even the value of our money is suspect and dropping in the eyes of the world, so why do we live this way?

Mostly because of the culture that we live in today, but it started about fifty years ago and it has only gotten worse. When fast food became popular in the fifties, actually that was the start of “instant gratification”, so my estimate is off by about ten or more years. My point is this…when we got to the point of getting something fast or for free, things really started going downhill from there.

Our world was not designed by God to be based on consumption in this manner. We are supposed to produce our food, eat it and work to produce more. In today’s society, this has been replaced with our governments providing for us without even the need to work at all! The Bible says that “if you don’t work, you shouldn’t eat”, but we ignore that and go right along with all of the consumer driven economies and businesses that are available. The chart below shows that the number of structures (buildings) in each area have crossed over, so that now we have more retail structures than production facilities.

My ideas don’t really go along with our economy because we have more electronic consumer abilities today than we have ever had before. I use them as well, so I am not trying to get rid of it entirely. But, when I was growing up, my grandparents grew their own vegetables and we had a herd of cattle which we could choose to have at least one butchered each year for our own use. So our trips to the grocery store usually had to do with getting things which we did not grow or produce like coffee, flour, corn meal, cooking oil, and bacon (although we did have a few hogs which we could use at times too).

Our country and the people in it would be more healthy in every way if we went back to at least a partial agrarian economy where there were more local farmers who produced wholesome, organic foods. The problem is that we don’t have anyone to teach us how to do this anymore! Big farms and the regulations from the FDA have pushed small farms like this out of business.

We were meant to live this way, but we have allowed so much regulation and rules to interfere with our daily lives until the freedoms which our grandfathers and great grandfathers fought for don’t really exist like they once did. It is nobody’s fault but our own, so we can’t blame anyone but ourselves.

God’s Word says that we should live on and work the land that we have and eat the produce of it. Are we doing this? No, we are not and have not been for quite a while. We need to learn God’s way of living and working so that we can be more productive for Him and for us. His advice for this is in His Word, all we need to do and should do is to read it and learn from it.