Tag: Jesus loves you

Separate but equal in His eyes


In the centuries since Jesus, our Savior, ascended to His Father, YHWH, and He sent the Holy Spirit to be with the early church so that they could get started. Why? Because there were many thousands of people in Jerusalem that day when Peter spoke and the only way that many would understand him was through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God Himself. Many people think that Peter was speaking in many languages that day and he may have been, but it wasn’t coming directly from his mouth that way. This is just my belief and you are welcome to disagree with me, but the Spirit was giving them utterances to be heard by all of the people and it was Spiritually done.

What I mean by that is that even if Peter was speaking in Aramaic, the Spirit was working through him so that all of those who did not speak Aramaic heard his words in their native tongue. So to be understood, to be heard by many people who needed salvation and so that they would believe in the power of God through the Holy Spirit. Do we, as Christians, still have that spirit with us today? In a sense, yes we do. Wherever it is needed and necessary, the Holy Spirit will make it evident to those around that God is alive and well and working through us to bring the knowledge of Jesus to them.

Are these spiritual gifts necessary for salvation? No, they are not. They are manifestations, proof of salvation and validation of ministry if and when it is necessary to spread the gospel to others. There is an article which shows some of the differences between churches and I am giving the link to it here, and although I believe that we are all serving the same God our ideas about Him are very different which is what has separated us all along.

There are many names given to God by mankind over the years and many of them can be found in this article which is a good reference for exactly Who He is because these names are all in God’s Word so there is no dissension. God loves each of us, not just a few and not just those whom He calls to Himself, but many people in the world today don’t look at Him that way or think of Him that way.

Some people treat God like a genie or a grandfather. He is our CREATOR! He is GOD! There are and always have been three persons in the Trinity of God. There is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and it is the spirit which we have when we open our hearts to become Christians. No amount of speaking in tongues which can’t be understood will make your salvation more real. God still heals people today, maybe not in the most dramatic way but He does it just the same. Is there prophecy today? Yes, in the Word of God and in those who are preachers of that Word and no other!

How can we turn away from God and His nature of being a Triune Godhead? At Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove and lighted on Him, God spoke saying “This is my Son, in whom I am well pleased”. You have the Trinity in that one place at the same time. David said that he needed the Spirit of God to give him strength, the Angel of the Lord has been identified as the pre-incarnate Christ and God the Father, our Creator, was present with Israel in numerous ways throughout their history and He is with us today!

The church shouldn’t be splintered and fractured, but it has been for hundreds of years and in the last one hundred years it has fractured even worse. Why? Because of the influence of Satan, in my opinion. He has infiltrated the church in the congregation and in the pulpit. Inserting his ideas and lies so that men will consider them to be their ideas and they sound just close enough to the truth until it becomes doctrine, yet it is not from God’s Word exactly…it just sounds like it. I pray that we will wake up and open our eyes spiritually before our Lord appears and many are left wondering what happened.

Moses’ staff


In Exodus, Moses saw a burning bush and decided to move up on the mountain to see this marvelous thing, “a bush burning, but not consumed”. When he drew near to it, God spoke to him and said, “God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.””. Exodus 3:5  

What made the side of the mountain holy?

The presence of almighty God! When you read the account of their conversation, you realize that God had watched Moses for many years. He had been responsible for tempering and molding him through his life, not because of his education in Egypt, not because of his murder of an Egyptian taskmaster, and not because of Moses being a shepherd for forty years. God had a task for him and through all of that, God had made Moses into the leader and the humble man who would lead Israel out of Egypt.

Moses’ Staff

1 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee. 2 And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. 3 And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it. 4 And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand: 5 That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee. Exodus 4:1-5

God asked a question during their “interview” that seems silly to me. He asked Moses, “What is that in your hand?”. God knew what it was! It was his staff, it was just a dry stick that many shepherds used in their work with the sheep. He wanted Moses to see it as God saw it, an instrument of God’s power and might to be used to get Pharaoh’s attention.

It was also a representation of God and His Spirit, because God could use it to do great things. It was not to be worshiped, it was not to be put in a place of honor, it was to be used in God’s service.

A stick. What could God use a stick for? Well, during their time in the desert, a stick was used to purify water for them to drink at the spring at Marah.

The Waters of Marah: Exodus 15:22-26

22 So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. 23 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. 24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? 25 And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, 26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.

Now, Moses didn’t cast the tree into the waters but he used a limb from it most likely, a stick. But, when used by God even a stick can be a force for good and a force to change lives. It allowed them to drink, so it saved their lives.

Why did God use sticks? Because, without Him and His Spirit those dry sticks could do nothing but in the hand of a servant of God who is obeying God’s word, a stick can do wonders. God made the stick turn into a cobra, at one point the staff of Aaron budded and bloomed, a stick was used to purify the water at Marah. The stick didn’t do any of those things! God did!

Our God is the same God that Moses served in the wilderness. He is the same One who stood in the furnace with the Israelites when the king threw them in there for not worshiping him. He is the Creator of all things, you and me included, and He can use us even if our faith is as dry as a stick…if we will let Him!

The staff which I have in my hand has been dead for a long time, but if you can see it as a vine, like the True Vine of Jesus, you can hold it and keep it in the center of your life. It is a representation of God and His power, something to hold you up, to keep you steady in your walk with Him. It is a stick, but it can be a symbol for Jesus because it is something that we can hold and touch. Shepherds used a staff to keep the sheep in line, to help them to walk during the long days, to fend off predators, to lean on when they were tired.

All of these things, we can do with Jesus as well if we will place Him in that place where we can lean on Him. He is always near to us, we just have to acknowledge that we need Him and surrender our lives to Him. Something that our church, the church, needs to do today.

Won’t you decide to place Him at the center of your life today? Let Him assist you in your life’s struggles, no matter what they may be. He will give you the strength, the words, the wisdom and the way to get through your struggles. But, you must learn to lean on Him like a stick or a staff.

Problems in our lives


How many problems do we all have today? That question alone could fill up many pages of text. Suffice to say, all of us have problems of one kind or another. Some of them are of our own making, some are caused by the economic conditions in the world today.

So, what can we do about our problems? Not much really. Individually, we have to notice what is going on before it becomes a problem. The same is true for states and nations, but that doesn’t always work. In our lives, as short as they are, problems are going to be a part of them and there is no reason to think otherwise.

Sounds pessimistic doesn’t it? Jesus told His disciples that we would always have trouble (tribulation) in this world but to be of good cheer because He had overcome the world. Will that help in today’s climate with wars happening all over, earthquakes and hurricanes happening in places where they haven’t in a while if ever? For some people, no it won’t because they don’t want to give their hearts to Jesus. They don’t want the peace which comes with knowing Him.

Why don’t they want this? I haven’t got the slightest idea. Jesus and the Holy Spirit give me the strength to get by and get through the problems which come up in my life and they can do this for you too. I don’t have the problems that many people have with their health, but I can’t work because of my disability (at least not at an 8 hour a day job). I preach on Sunday and I give these sermons here when the words come to me, but that is about all that I can accomplish.

It saddens me that I am like this, but I like to think it was because I was making a difference in some people’s lives and Satan tried to stop it. It didn’t work. I am not letting this get me down and you shouldn’t either! I have days where I am depressed, but I do my best to read in the Psalms and give it to God and let Him take care of it. I can’t get rid of the depression on my own, but He can.

Your problems may have to do with money or lack of a job or an illness, but God can take care of them all if you will let Him. God doesn’t move at our pace, He works in His time which is why we sometimes try to help Him get things done. That is the wrong thing to do because it just postpones His answer! He will let you give it a try, and He will give the problem back to you if you think you can do better, then He will sit back and watch. When you figure it out, then He will ask you in a small voice (if you are listening), “Are you ready for my solution yet?”.

God loves each of us more than we can imagine and since He lives outside of time, He can see down the road, so to speak, what is coming and what is best for us. He wants us to wait for His best! We just get impatient. It is important to add here something that I learned a LONG time ago: DON’T ASK GOD TO TEACH YOU PATIENCE! You won’t like His class on that at all!! Learn it at your own pace, teach yourself patience through the reading of His Word and then listen to Him and wait.

I promise, it will be worth it.

More like Christ


This is the example that we have, the very one that we are supposed to try to live up to in our walk with Jesus. It is not enough that we try in our own strength, because we will fail!

Encouraging words, huh? We will fail to be like Christ if we do it in our own strength, yet that is exactly what Jesus taught with the sermon on the mount. Teachers and preachers have, for the most part, taught His Wisdom as it was pointing to those in attendance when it really means that we are all to live this way.

How can you and I be more like Christ? By giving away our old natural self! Sacrifice it, our old way of living, just as Abraham was going to do to his son when God asked him to sacrifice Isaac. We have to give up our life, our way of doing things, and start living the way that Jesus taught His disciples to live. As a servant of God to others in love and His Truth! If you wake up on Monday morning and thank God for getting you up, that’s a start.

What else are we supposed to do after giving thanks for our health and our life to serve Him one more day? We have to ask Him to give us the words and the opportunity today to show someone a reason why God loves them. It may not be a big thing, it could be only a few words, but if it is given to and shown to them in the love of Christ…it will accomplish what it was meant to accomplish. Get up with a gladness in your heart, a thankful spirit that God gives you, so that others will see it and wonder what you have that they don’t? Then, they may ask you and you can tell them.

God gives us such grace every morning by giving us the air that we breathe and our ability to get up from the bed and walk! We can look outside and see the birds and the sun and the clouds and all of it was provided by God for our benefit. Why do I say it that way? Because even David said so in the Psalms, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.”.

God uses the Sun, the moon and the stars to show His works in the Heavens, but they also declare His goodness and His greatness! Seeing all of these things, we have to wonder about the Creator, if you believe in Him, who put it all there. Why would He care about us? Because He loved us enough to send His Son to die, to be sacrificed for all of our sins, so that we might have the opportunity to become sons and daughters of God! Yes, we float in space on a tiny speck compared to the majesty of the cosmos, but God has a plan and a purpose for each of us.

All that we need to do is sacrifice our life, our sinful life, and give it to Him so that He can take what is left and make it into a mighty, servant of the Most High God! Don’t get all hyped up about being somebody in His Kingdom, because without the Holy Spirit nothing that you write, say, or do will amount to anything! Follow Him every day, read His Word every day, pray a few  prayers thanking Him for His goodness and mercy every day because without Him, you and I are nothing.

Sonrise!


Are you a follower of God’s Son? If you are, then you know why I titled this post the way I did. We, His church, are waiting for Him to rise in the skies to claim His bride! Will we see Him that day? Yes, we will! Will the rest of the world see Him? Not likely. Why? Good question.

The reason is because when He comes for the church, there will be a trumpet sound and the church will disappear, those who have fallen asleep prior to His summons will be first and the ones who are alive will be next! The change will be such an instantaneous event that if you happen to be talking to someone who is a Christian, it will happen in the blink of your eyes. If you are not a Christian, their clothes, shoes, watch, any jewelry that they have on will be in a pile in front of you.

That day will be a terrifying day for most of the world, at least the ones who haven’t given their hearts to Jesus. Those of us who have will be in His Presence in Heaven and will be there for eternity. There will be a drastic change in the world and it will not be pretty nor will it be enjoyable. I can’t tell you when this will happen. Some say it will happen prior to the arrival of the anti-Christ and the peace treaty in the Middle East. Then there are some who say that we won’t be taken up until about halfway through those seven years. Which one is right? I don’t know.

The only person who does know is God and it is up to Him when this happens.

Your trip to Heaven could be any day, just like mine though. We are not guaranteed tomorrow. If our soul is required tonight, then one or both of us will be in front of God tonight. This time is foretold in Matthew 24 and in Revelation so it is not as if we don’t have written warning, because we have had that for right at 2,000 years.

The time has come for us to make up our minds individually if we will follow Jesus or just keep doing our own thing. Some people are wondering why is it taking so long? God is trying to give as many people as possible the opportunity to come to know Him and give their hearts to Jesus. He is patient, but according to the prophecies it seems that time is running down. In my opinion, this is the last generation before His return. That could be next year or another ten, maybe even twenty years but I don’t think it will be that long.

Please, seek Jesus while you have the chance in this life.

“Take the gospel to all people..”


This is part of the command which was given to the disciples by Jesus before His ascension to the Father. We, as Christians today, are also recipients of this command by extension because we are supposed to be His disciples today! Have we taken His gospel to all people? Not our version of it, but His gospel! That is another of my problems with some churches, in the past and in modern times. It seems that many of our “denominations” have taken their creed, their ideas, their doctrines too far and they give equal weight to their man-made rules and the Bible.

How can we, as created beings, give our laws and doctrines the same weight in spiritual places as God’s Word? Did any of you bring about a world today? Can you stop time and make the sun do your bidding? We are not gods! So why would laws made in a church conference meeting have the same weight in worship services as God’s Word? Mankind’s words should never be taken in any context as being equal to the Word of God! Yet, there are some congregations which do this on a regular basis.

I believe that we are going down a very dangerous path if we are doing this. The church today, regardless of the name or denomination, should be based upon the whole Word of God and nothing more. If you must have rules in your church that are different from the words found in the Bible, then they should be just rules for your church and nothing more.

God doesn’t share His throne with us, nor does He share it with a specific denomination which follows their man-made rules more than His commandments!

When men and women in a church think that their words are equal to the Word of God, there is a real problem. The church today HAS a real problem. We need to get back into God’s Word and stand on His Word because if we represent Him it is His Word that we are supposed to be holding up for the world to see, not our ideas and our “rules”. His Word has proven true time and time again in prophecy and in its wisdom and content. How many of our representatives in Washington or anywhere else can you say that about?

God’s Word is the Word of Truth and if we are not going to believe it and at least TRY to live by His Word, then we should stop claiming to be Christians or believers!

John 3:16,17 says:

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

If we are not teaching and preaching these verses from God’s Word and the other truths contained within it, then we shouldn’t be teachers nor preachers at all! When you hear a “sermon” which sounds like it came out of a “self-help” book rather than the Bible, you should RUN out of the building and leave that place! Even though much of the wisdom written in self-help books does sound like it has some basis in God’s Word, the sermon in a church should be from God’s Word, not from a man’s own wisdom.

What is important to you?


There seems to be many people who are running around searching for something which makes them feel good. The travel to places which are beautiful, they go to sports arenas and watch football games and baseball games, some go to race tracks and watch professional drivers run around in circles. Many go on trips called vacations to places that they do not live, to see things for a few days and live there for those few days, sometimes in the lap of luxury. Then what?

You come home. The excitement and the newness of living has worn off. You are sitting in a house, a home, with the same people who went on the vacation but..something is missing. You feel restless, unsatisfied, nervous, anxious, what do you do? Many who can afford to will be off on another trip, somewhere. Anywhere but at home, in a place that is boring and uninteresting.

Contentment is hard to find, unless you have allowed it to find you first. Contentment is a state of mind where you know where you belong and to whom you belong. You don’t have to be married to be content, but it doesn’t hurt! Paul wrote “I have learned to be content in whatever state I find myself in” Philippians 4:11 , wouldn’t it be great if we could all find that place?

Contentment, what is important to you, these two are not exclusive, they are the same. Have you found your place, your “happy place”, the place where you are content and fulfilled with where you are and who you are? Sadly, some people never find that place. Many search for it their entire lives and don’t realize it until they are on their death-bed. By then, it’s too late to enjoy it. I see it in many of my friend’s lives and some of my classmate’s lives as well. Over the years I have watched many of them chase after something which is elusive like a puff of smoke.

A few have found it, but some are still looking even after their children are grown and they are retired from their jobs. Why? Your job doesn’t usually give you contentment and sometimes neither does your family. It seems that many people are content until one or the other is gone, the job or the family and children. Then what do you do?

We identify with our jobs or our family during the productive years of our lives and then when we get to a point, whether young or middle-aged or past 65, where we have the option or maybe we have been forced to “retire” from work, we find that our identity was our contentment. Now that we are past the point of being productive in work or raising a family, life is a big question mark now. Who am I? What do I do now?

Seek out your Savior! If you have not done this during your so-called “productive years”, then truly you need to make it a point to do it today! Why? Because, that place where you have placed your contented feelings during your career or while raising a family is now empty. It was supposed to contain the Holy Spirit all along! Ask Jesus to come in and clean out the space which has been occupied by life and all of its busyness and place His Spirit in there!

That is where Paul got his contentment from. He was a murdering, hunter of the followers of “the Way”, until Jesus stopped him and got in his face. If you have felt the call of Jesus, but you have pushed Him aside, it isn’t too late. Seek Him out in scripture and in a real Bible teaching church, then ask Him to come into your life and clean out the cobwebs and the left over stuff from your life. When He does, you should begin to study and read His Word!

It doesn’t matter if you haven’t understood it before, with His Spirit helping you, the meanings will be clearer. If you can’t grasp something that the Bible says, ask Jesus to make it plain to you so you can.

Then, the things which are important will rearrange themselves and begin to line up from His perspective and your perspective will be lined up with His. That is contentment and being in that place is more rewarding than any “vacation” or any amount of fun that you could have before. I don’t mean that you have to stop doing those things, just keep your eyes focused on Jesus first. Take Him with you, learn to love things from His point of view. He is the Creator, so enjoy His creation, and when you do it in that order…contentment will come to live with you.

Prayer..is it necessary?


Some religions require you to pray a certain number of times each day, but is that enough? Are we praying for the right things or are we just reciting prayers that we learned as children? Prayer is a two-way communication not just a request line! Saying the same prayer over and over again doesn’t work, because you aren’t speaking to God if you are just repeating words which have no substance or meaning.

God is our Creator and He is interested in your life every day, not just when you are in trouble or you feel the need to get in touch with Him. Prayer is like talking to your Dad or your Mom, except that God can actually do something about a problem no matter what it may be!

The reason that I am writing about this is that it seems that many people use prayer as an emergency line. When something happens that they can’t handle, they cry out to God for His Presence right then! God hears these prayers, and He will answer them in His time not yours. He is God, not a bell boy or a genie and He doesn’t do your bidding regardless of how much money you gave to the church last year!

God loves each of us and He hears our prayers, what we don’t understand is that He wants a relationship with us. One that is in communication on a regular basis, not just when something in your life is going wrong! As it says in Numbers and Exodus, when you teach your children His statutes at rising, when you are walking along and before bed. God desires to hear a word or prayer from you when you get up, thank Him for your rest and for allowing you to get up, as your day progresses thank Him for your success during the day and when the day is through thank Him for strength to get through another day.

These prayers don’t take long to say and they don’t have to be complicated, they can even be as simple as “Thank you, Lord, for today” or “Thank you for waking me this morning, Lord.” It sounds like a trite, simple prayer but isn’t that the kind of prayer that you hear your children saying when they are young? God likes those prayers too, even if they are coming from you and me.

So much strife


Today it seems that is all that is on the news, whether it is a cable channel or a national network. Everyone seems to be having truly hard times in the world that we live in. From wars and persecution in the Middle East and Asia to natural disasters like the flooding in South Mississippi and Louisiana. Is there anything or anyone who can help or even cares enough to help?

It seems that the government has taken a holiday since the beginning of the flood in the South and nobody seems to care one bit about the people caught up in it. Is there anyone who will help? Yes, local people and police and fire departments are helping. Some churches and other organizations are helping as much as they can. The national guard has been called up in most of the areas, where the flooding is the worst, to help with rescues and to keep the looting down.

Why do these problems and disasters bring out some of the good and some of the really bad in people? It seems that the bad is more pronounced because of these situations rather than bringing out the better side of people. So what happened?

I am not sure exactly. Many of the people who are looting and doing other crimes are young people who should know better! Why aren’t they being taught right from wrong and how to be productive citizens rather than being people who demand everything be given to them for free? I am sure that our schools had nothing to do with this, because they don’t teach morals in schools anymore because the teachers aren’t allowed to.

What happened? Well, about fifty-three years ago prayer was taken out of schools as well as teaching from the Bible and lately our pledge of allegiance has suffered the same fate because of being politically correct and not being offensive. All of these things have taken pride in your country and the sense of right and wrong out of education. Life isn’t fair to everyone and our progressive government from back then and today has made it harder for those on the lower socioeconomic scale to get out of their situations and make life better.

Jesus came to do the same thing. He did not intend for everyone to share equally in all things, like socialist countries do, but Heaven is meant for those who belong to Him. In Heaven we will all be equal because we will be serving Him in His Kingdom! We will have different jobs to do and abilities to use to do so, but in God’s eyes we are equal but different. Not due to the color of our skin, but because He gave each of us a talent and a purpose before we were even born and we will fulfill our purpose in His Kingdom!

Have you asked Jesus to come into your life and to forgive you of your sins? If you haven’t, what are you waiting for? None of us are guaranteed to see another sunrise, but we have today, right now. If you have felt the Spirit calling you to repent and come to Jesus, don’t put it off. Come to Him, ask Him to forgive you for waiting so long and then make sure that you find a Bible teaching church or at least someone who knows Him and can lead you in studying the Bible.

Worry, why?


I know we have much to be anxious about. The economy, jobs, wars, the election, shootings, all of these things are a part of our news broadcasts every day. There is no reason for us to worry about them, even if they concern you a lot, worry about these things only if they are directly involving you or your children. Even if that is the reason that you worry, it is something which Christians are supposed to give to God and forget about it. If you take it back and worry about it, then you are saying that God can’t handle your problems and you need to help Him.

Why am I posting this? Because my sermon this morning was about this very topic and the fact that Jesus told His disciples not to worry. Yet, there are times when I worry too. Life and all of its troubles and trials brings worry to each of us, whether we want it or not. But, God’s Word says that we shouldn’t worry or take into our soul what tomorrow will bring because we aren’t given tomorrow until it arrives (paraphrase by me, so don’t look up the exact phrase.).

The point is that birds and animals don’t worry and don’t fret about their food or drink, they wake and go about their lives as if it is supposed to be this way and it is. We should do the same except that we have bills to pay which requires money which usually requires a job of some kind. Today, those are not easy to come by especially if you are beyond a certain age or have talents which are not really in demand where you live. The best advice which anyone can get about this subject is simply pray about it and let God have it.

I know, that is hard to do because God works in the background and we can’t see what He is doing, whether it is good or bad for us or even if it will be on time before our car or house is repossessed. Place your faith in Him and His promises because they never fail. They, meaning God’s working, don’t necessarily come swiftly to your rescue in our view of time but mostly those blessings do come. Even if the amount is exactly what you need and not a penny more!

God blesses us with abundant blessings including life and a family and a home. He also blesses us with the ability to do things which can have a drastic effect on our income, which is sometimes a real blessing and sometimes it isn’t. Then again there are times when we hit a snag or a pot hole in our journey and get taken out of  the ride. Give your worries and cares over to Jesus and He will give you peace and strength to get through those times.