What do you do?

In the New Testament book of Colossians in chapter three and verse seventeen it says: “And whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus and in (dependence upon) His person, giving praise to God the Father through Him.” AMP

In this verse of scripture, Paul is writing to those who have come to faith in Christ who are trying to reconcile their vocations with their new beliefs. He is telling them that regardless of your vocation, do it as if you are doing it for the Lord. If you dig a ditch, do it as if Jesus asked you to do so. If you are a doctor, treat your vocation as if you worked for the Supreme Physician.

All of us cannot be missionaries or preachers or evangelists, but we can do what we do as if we are doing it for Jesus. If you are a professional football player or golfer, play like you are playing for Jesus and the same goes for any other sport. Regardless of the work that you do, do it as if you are working for Jesus because you really are.

He gave you the talent and the ability to do what you do and the job or the business that you have so that you can be and do your work for Him. I know that many people don’t treat their job as a gift from God or a blessing from Him but it is. God gives to each of us a measure of faith as well as skill in an area that nobody else can match and we have that skill regardless of our education, it was given to us from birth. We may not find out about it until later, maybe after we have attended school or finished school, but it has been there nonetheless. I never thought that I could write much, until years after I graduated from college. I finally found my voice through finding my Savior and He gives me the words to write or say, I am just the messenger.

Your vocation, whatever it may be, is a doorway to other people’s lives. If you work in a hospital, you see people who are hurting in many ways almost every day. I used to work in the laboratory of a hospital and the specimens which we processed were from many people every day who were dealing with cancers of all kinds, HIV, viruses, you name it they were suffering from it. Nurses, Doctors, and all who work in hospitals should be on their knees every day praying for those who they have to care for, regardless of whether they might know any of them or not.

We should be praying for our country and those in Washington who are in charge of the laws of this land. We need to be praying for our military men and women who are serving and putting their lives on the line every day. Prayer should be in our minds and on our hearts for the whole world to come to know Christ, because Satan is busy changing the minds and hearts of as many as he can to turn against Christians and Jews. We are in his sights as a nation founded upon those principles, even though our country is trying to abandon them as fast as it can it seems.

Even though it has been two thousand years since the crucifixion of Jesus, He is coming back! We need to be prepared for His return by doing as much for His Kingdom as we can, whether it is just by praying or if we can preach or teach others to know Him. Teach your children about Him and your grandchildren because they need to know as well. Your family and your friends are the hardest to tell about Jesus if they don’t already know, so in many instances you may just have to pray and invite them to a Bible study at your home. Prayer can cover many things, especially in the lives of those who haven’t come to know Jesus.

Give your heart to Him, tell others about Him, live your life and your vocation as you would with Him by your side. This is the way to eternal life, follow it…follow Jesus and He will guide you.

Cults, idols, and people

What can you say to people who won’t listen? Nothing and even if you do say or discuss your belief with them, it is like talking to a dog or a cat. They hear what you say, but it means nothing to them because they choose not to really listen. It is the same with cults and their beliefs. They think that they are right and everyone else is wrong. No matter the proof that you give them, until God changes them and opens their eyes spiritually nothing that you say or show to them will make any difference.

I have been burdened by the Spirit to attempt to bring the Truth of God’s Word and His Son, Jesus, to those who are caught up in a belief which isn’t much over a century old. Yet, the followers of this “religion” claim to be the only inhabitants who will be in Paradise. They also refuse to look at or believe any other book (Bible) other than their own. I am talking about the Witnesses or Jehovah’s Witnesses. Now, I don’t claim to have the knowledge of God, just the facts as stated in their history so here is a sample of it:

The Jehovah’s Witnesses was begun by Charles Taze Russell in 1872. He was born on February 16, 1852, the son of Joseph L. and Anna Eliza Russell. He had great difficulty in dealing with the doctrine of eternal hell fire, and in his studies came to deny not only eternal punishment but also the Trinity, the deity of Christ, and the Holy Spirit. When Russell was 18, he organized a Bible class in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1879 he sought to popularize his aberrant ideas on doctrine. He co-published The Herald of the Morning magazine with its founder, N. H. Barbour; and by 1884 Russell controlled the publication and renamed it The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom and founded Zion’s Watch Tower Tract Society (now known as the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society). The first edition of The Watchtower magazine was only 6,000 copies each month. Today the Witnesses’ publishing complex in Brooklyn, New York, churns out 100,000 books and 800,000 copies of its two magazines–daily!

Russell claimed that the Bible could be only understood according to his interpretations–a dangerous arrangement since he controlled what was written in the Watchtower magazine. This kind of assertion is typical among leaders of cult religions.

I have had many friends over the years who are Witnesses, but we never tried to convert each other. Now that I am a pastor, I need to get the word out to those who may be caught up in this deceitful practice. I know that there are many who are genuinely righteous about their religions and many of them are good people, but we can all be deceived at some point, especially when the deception is convincing.

The times ahead of us will see many who will be led astray, even as the Word says “to fool even the elect of God” but we must adhere to the Truth of the Word and not someone’s opinion of it. The NWT was born out of a man’s mind and because that man and religion didn’t want to accept the punishment outlined in the scriptures as well as the God-head including the Holy Spirit, the Son and God Himself.

I am not going to expound upon the evil of man or the cult behaviour of certain religions in our world, but the point is that Christ is the only way to salvation! Works look good, but the entirety of the Old Testament was God’s way of proving to the nation of Israel that man’s works and mankind’s religious expression was useless without faith in God and also in Jesus. Disbelieving Jesus’ deity and putting Him in the same category as an angel will get you nowhere near Heaven’s gates except in judgement.

How you believe is important but the most important part of that belief is Who you place your faith in and it must be Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He is the only way to eternal life, He is the Door and the Good Shepherd and He should be the One leading you daily. Not your meeting place, not your church leaders or your work for the church! Nothing that we do here will last except that which we do for Him and through Him for the Kingdom of God and not the kingdom hall.

A Christian is not somebody who simply believes that Christ died for his sins. The devil believes that. A Christian has repented of his sins and has invited Christ into his heart to be his Savior and Lord. You can intellectually believe that an air-plane can fly, but in order for you to fly you must try out its wings by getting on the plane. In the same way, when you give your heart to Jesus Christ, He takes control of your life and begins to make you into the person He wants you to be, yet you also have to give Him that control every day. That is what Jesus meant when He said “take up your cross daily and follow me”. Your life doesn’t have to be absolutely perfect for you to go to heaven but you do have to be “under the blood” of Jesus and be clothed in His righteousness.

At the moment you trust Christ as your personal Savior, you are eternally saved, eternally secure, and God begins to work on you and in your life daily giving you the words needed and the ability to get through that day’s temptations and be an example to others as they see your life and His through your actions. Ask God to show you these truths and pray about the salvation that only comes through Jesus.

The differences between traditional Protestant Christianity and Jehovah’s Witnesses are trivial. Yes, there are doctrinal differences but there are those between Baptist and Methodist and Episcopalian churches, so what is our problem with the Witnesses? Their dedication to God? Their willingness to go out to tell others? Jealousy? Because of their faith in God, in YHWH? I think that that is the very thing that most people have against them, many Christians don’t have the faith and the confidence in their faith to go out to people’s houses and try to talk to them about the Bible and what it says! If the church, all denominations, would go out and do this just half of the year the whole of the nation would be experiencing a revival that would rival that which happened in the past two hundred years!!

All denominations are similar and they all have differences, but as long as we are following Jesus and giving our life and our heart to Him it doesn’t matter which name is on our church. Even Jesus told His disciple’s that those who were teaching about Jesus who were not of their group that “as long as they are with us, they are not against us” regardless of their position.

Think about it carefully because we are all going to be in Paradise one day.

Can your life mean something?

Many people seem to be looking for something to do these days. Someplace to be or go or do because it seems that so many people are bored. Why? Is it because there is no fulfillment in your job or in your life? Do you feel that you have a purpose and a meaning in your life, but you don’t know what it is or how to claim it?

These are questions that many people besides Christians would like to have the answers for, but they don’t know where to find them. Can I give you the secret to life’s most frustrating questions? No, I can’t but God can! The answers are all found in the Bible! The meaning to life, for each one of us, is found there. Advice for life, living and for business questions as well are all contained within its pages. God is our Creator but He is also the giver of life, purpose, meaning, hope and continuity in our daily lives. He will do this for you each and every day, if you will determine to get up each morning and begin your day with Him. Listening to His prompting and His advice because if you can listen closely to Him daily, then your life will be more fulfilling and more abundant.

The purpose which we all seem to be chasing is in our grasp, if we own a Bible and will sit down and read it. Not just read it as a book, but ask Him to show you what He wants you to get from its pages. If you just read it as a book then that is all that you will get from it, which is what many people who don’t believe the words contained in it do! But, if you wake in the morning with an urgent need to find your purpose and meaning, then open it and ask God to show you what you need to know for just that day. Tomorrow, do the same thing and the next day and the next. When you have completed a week of reading and learning from it, then you are well on the way to finding your purpose and meaning for this life and the next!

In the world that we live in today, people are so concerned about offending others until we don’t even preach from the pulpit the way that God would have us to. Yes, it is true that He loves you just as a parent would a child but also like a parent, God doesn’t like the things that we are doing in our lives when those things are wrong! If you would not take your mother to the places that you go, then why go there? Would you introduce your grandmother or grandfather to your “friends”? Would you invite Jesus along with you to go to the mall or other places that you go, especially if you don’t tell your family about it? If you have accepted Jesus as your Saviour for real and not just saying some words, then you are taking Him along with you wherever you go no matter where it may be. He sees and knows where you are anyway, and He knows what you said and did while you were there. God sees all of these things, whether you have taken Him into your life or not, and like a parent He loves you even though He doesn’t like the things that He knows you are doing.

Consider giving your life and your heart to Jesus and making a change in your life so that you would be willing to follow Him wherever He leads you to go!

Salvation, what is it?

“Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” 1 John 5:1

What is salvation? I will tell you that it is not a creed. You might say, “Well, I believe in the plan of salvation.” You can believe the plan of salvation and go straight to hell. You’re not saved by the plan of salvation, you’re saved by the man of salvation, the person Who purchased your salvation with His blood.

Salvation is not a creed. It’s not a code. You say, “Well, I believe if you live right you’ll go to heaven.” If you could be saved by living right, then Calvary was a blunder and a colossal mistake! It’s not a cause or your church. You say, “I’m a member of a good, fundamental, Bible believing church.” It’s not any of these things. It’s Christ Jesus, the Holy One of God, our Savior and Redeemer, our Creator and Shepherd, our Protector and our Lord and King! Belief in Him, and giving your heart and life, including your money, your family, your job and your home to Him is the only way to Heaven.

I don’t mean , like the rich young ruler, that you have to sell everything to be saved, but you do have to at least acknowledge that your blessings came from Him and that you thank Him for them. Jesus did not mean that he would be saved because he sold all that he had, but that he had to turn his heart toward the Savior and turn his back on the things of this world. But, he couldn’t let go of his “stuff”, so he walked away sadly because the things of this world had such a hold on him that even when the Messiah asked him to give them up, he couldn’t.

Salvation is not believing in something, it is receiving Someone. The true gospel is one that centers in Jesus Christ. If you won’t put Christ at the center of your life and put everything and everyone in your life and family under Him, then what good are you to Jesus? We have been bought with the precious blood of Christ, our salvation was purchased by Him through suffering on the cross and giving His life as a ransom for all!

What have you given up for Jesus today? Did you decide not to eat that candy bar or maybe put down those cigarettes because your body, is the Temple of the Holy Spirit if you have accepted Jesus, and should be treated as a Holy Temple. It shouldn’t smell like the joint down the road, nor should it have garbage in it because that is what you want to eat! Change your ways, your eating habits so that it will be good for your body, your health so that you can be more useful to Jesus!
God loves us, and He created us to be the Temple not made with hands for the

Spirit to dwell in. What right do you have to mess up the living area of the Spirit of God? Would you smoke and leave garbage inside your church along with magazines and other things which you wouldn’t want anyone to know about, especially Jesus? He already knows what you are doing anyway, so why not admit it and allow Him to change you! Then, treat your body the same way. If Jesus is the Lord of your life and you worship Him with your body, mind, soul and your strength then show it…act like it!

The love of God is expressed through Jesus and the Holy Spirit and it is the true manifestation of God and we, as Christians, need to learn to notice it and accept it. Allow God to come into your heart and your life in a way that you have never experienced before. Many Christians have not even allowed Him to come deeply into their lives, every part of their lives, and that is what He wants of us. Because if He isn’t part of your life at home, at school, at work and at church then you may believe in Jesus but you may not have asked Him to come to live in your heart!

There are many people who can do a great job of acting like a Christian all the way to the pulpit even, but acting like one and being one is totally different. We can go through the motions and say all of the right things, but when it comes down to what or rather Who is in your heart, it is still you and not Jesus. Many people have died in this condition thinking that they were saved, when they had just been playing the role of “looking like a Christian”! Examine your own heart, ask God to examine it and convict you of anything that you may not be doing or of the fact that you have left Him out. Because, when your life is over there are no second chances to make it right.

Think about it.

Can racism be fixed?

It is a topic on many people’s mind for some reason, especially in America, but why is it so important? What is bad about racism? Why do we still have it, even after more than forty years of “the dream”!? What can we do about getting rid of racism?

For starters, we could just program our children to not notice the color of people’s skin. It is done in schools all of the time, the “programming” of our kids. But what about the adults, the ones that have lived through the sixties and seventies ad nauseam, where will it end? Those of us who saw the riots in Los Angeles, the shootings in Chicago, etc. cannot just forget. Then there are the family stories of lynchings and the slavery that was endured by great-great grandparents. Yes, all of this must be taken into account but what can be done about the racism of today?

Can we fix it? It cannot be apologized away. There isn’t enough gold or silver or any amount of groveling which will pay the price to a people who were taken from their home land, sold into slavery by their own people or who were conquered and then sold. Nothing that can be said or done in reparation for over four hundred years of slavery and bigotry and hatred!

I am a Caucasian male, born in the same year as our President. Yes, I have seen the terror in people’s eyes, the fear and anger during the late sixties when I was just starting school at about the same time that Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered and a few months later Bobby Kennedy was shot while campaigning! The thing is that none of my family, as far back as I can trace, has ever owned a slave. Yet, “crackers”, white people like me, are blamed for every slight, every injustice that has ever happened in the past one hundred years or more.

Why? Because of racism. Not our racism, but the racism that exists in our culture. I don’t blame African-Americans for this, it is not their fault. It is not my fault that racism exists in the South or in America as a whole. I believe that Satan himself has used racism to great effect in America and has used it to stir up so much hatred and enmity between people who don’t know each other, they just know that skin color and culture are different between us. God created mankind, He did not create certain races of people to do certain things and others to do other things in this world. God created one race that had many different shades of skin color because of the climate that they settled in, not because one is better or worse than any other!

God is the only person Who can bring about the end of racism and bigotry and when Jesus comes back and rules the world as King, it will happen! This is not an “if” or a “possible” outcome, it will happen because Jesus said so! At the end of the Tribulation, when the one-thousand year reign of Christ begins, there will be no more bigotry and racism and those who try to keep it going will answer to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! God removed His people from slavery after four hundred and thirty years, He did not endorse it. Those who were in slavery in Israel were to be released on the seventh anniversary of their slavery, it was not to be a life-long servitude unless the slave loved the family enough to become a bond-servant and it was the slave’s choice not the masters.

We cannot do away with racism by our own choices. Humanity doesn’t have the moral and ethical capacity to get rid of it or any other bigoted ways of treating people, not on our own strength at least. The love of God through Jesus can open our eyes and our hearts so that we no longer act on our cultural and familial learned behavior toward others, but if it has been taught from an early age it is still there. Only the change wrought by Jesus in your life and mine can cause it to be any different, so the choice is clear…choose Christ as your Savior and follow Him. Serve Him as your Master and Lord because He is the only Master to whom service is due!

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!

Time enough to grieve

When the holidays are over we tend to be saddened by the passing of the feelings of togetherness and love that we experience during the holiday. The gifts, the joy that getting a present brings, the look on children’s faces as they open their gifts, these are all precious and will never be repeated exactly the same way again. For those who may have lost a loved one during this time of year, it is especially hard because the joy of the season is tamped down by the grief and sadness.

Unfortunately, those feelings don’t really go away with time like everyone says, they become a little less bothersome but that is all. The good news is that God knows exactly how you feel and is there with you to carry you through it, no matter how deep the sadness goes or how long it lasts. He never leaves you and He won’t forsake the friendship that you have.

If you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then the sadness will be terrible and deep and you may feel that you can’t bear it. For some, this is a reason to “get off the wagon” and get back into a bottle or go back to their habit of taking drugs to ease the pain. This is a really bad idea! Jesus can strengthen you and help you through this, if you will let Him!

He told us in His Word that we would never be alone, if we have accepted Him into our lives. He loves us much more than we can ever imagine or believe and if we will just trust in Him, we can gain the strength that we need to make it through the days and weeks ahead. The death of a marriage or a family member is a hard lesson in life and it is one that many of us have gone through, especially me, but Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor, the Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace and He will be with you through this if you will ask Him into your heart and life.

Grief is a natural part of life and death and there are many stages to it, but the most devastating is the depression and anger. We feel anger because we weren’t ready for our loved one to leave or for the marriage to end or whatever it may have been. We are depressed because of the loss of our loved one by whatever means that has taken them away and we know that we may never see them again. Cheer up, if you have Christ in your life and they did too then it is only a temporary separation. They are in a more wonderful place than you can imagine and they are with Jesus!

Their salvation could lead you in that direction if you will allow it to. Grief and loss for a Christian are not permanent but temporary because Jesus conquered death and the grave! You will see them again if you decide to give your heart to Jesus and ask Him to come into your life. Once you have done this, your life and that of those around you will never be the same because of the change in you that they can see.

Are you a loving person?

We are told to give away our faith in Jesus so that others might have hope in Him too. Do we do this? If you don’t, then why? We can all be the types of people which do this. We can give money or time to causes that we believe in and yet not have any love or compassion for those who are receiving our gifts but you know, but spiritually we are not getting it! Giving without love is easy but you can’t love without giving because it is impossible!

If you truly love Jesus, you can’t keep it to yourself…you have to tell others, you have to give away the thing that you could not afford to attain that which you cannot lose! Not one of us who claim Jesus as our Lord and Savior could’ve paid the price that was paid for our Salvation, but once you get it you can’t lose it. Some people walk away from it and from Him which ruins their witness to others, but your eternal salvation (if you were sincere in your belief in the first place) is secure.

There are people who have thought, in their own minds, that they were saved at a particular time and yet when things get tight or tough in their lives they turn away from the only One that can help! You have known people like this, when they are making enough money and everything is going fairly well in their lives (on the outside) and they seem to be strong in their faith, they may be coming to church regularly. But, when they are at home or at work or out with their friends then they allow a part of themselves to show that doesn’t show at church. Usually, they are quite the opposite. So, what happened? Are they true Christians or were they deceived into thinking that they were?

A loving, kind person can be as sweet to you as your grandmother but they may not be genuine about having faith at all and could not care less about you or your situation. Love and kindness can be faked, affection can be faked but a person who truly has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior cannot fake it! If there has been a real change in their life and in their heart, and the Love of Christ is dwelling inside them, they can’t keep it in, they have to let it out. In whatever ways that God leads them to, it will come out. It will come out when they are at work or at a restaurant or a store, it is impossible for them to hold it inside! The genuineness of that love is so real that anyone that it touches will know it for sure!

I know that there are people who will disagree with this, but when you are the recipient of the greatest love that the universe has ever known, you cannot keep it to yourself! If it has truly changed your life and your heart then there is no way that you can keep it to yourself because it has to show in your life and your work and it will show through your character! The love of Christ is too contagious so it has to get out so that someone can see it, it has to be shown and felt and known by all of those around you!

Here is a link to a wonderful site which shows and explains the reasons for becoming a Christian

If you have never known Jesus or a genuine Christian, then I encourage you to seek Him out. Through prayer, reading the Word, regardless of the translation and asking Him if He is real. He will show you for sure and He will be with you no matter the situation. The problems and the stuff that is happening all over the world have been caused by us or by Satan and his fallen angels. God is allowing it to happen, but He has a plan and is still in control, whether you believe it or not.

Have you walked away?

I have worked with and talked to many people who have told me that they walked away from a church because of something. Many people won’t tell what the “something” was that cause the problem, but I doubt that it was God Himself. After my divorce years ago, I heard a sermon that was essentially attacking people who were in my place and it hurt. I thought that in church and by those who attend church, we were supposed to be supported and prayed for when we experienced pain like that which comes in a divorce. I was proven wrong, so I did not go back for a long time.

This is how churches and congregations as well as individuals become broken and torn or pulled apart. There are hurt feelings and anger and later frustration, then the anger becomes deep and turns into something which won’t go away easily and it hinders our relationship with God.

Many people think that they will be able to worship Him just fine from home or at work or wherever they may be on Sunday morning and it is true that you can do this but what usually happens? We get started cooking breakfast and watching the morning show on Sunday morning, then the phone rings and we go to the mall. What happened? Life, family, television, shopping, fishing, hunting, kids can all get in the way of learning about your Savior.

There are many excuses that get used when people don’t want to come to church or maybe get back into church. If there ever was a part of your life that was involved in church then you have heard the message of Christ‘s sacrifice for your salvation. Have you accepted it into your life and your heart?

If you did accept Him as your Savior and then something or someone at your home church caused you to leave then there needs to be some forgiveness. It is something that we, as humans have a hard time doing but with Jesus in your life it is possible. Following His example we are supposed to be forgiving to those who have wronged us, no matter what the slight is or was.

We can’t do it with our own strength, but through Him we can. Just as Jesus told Peter, we are supposed to forgive seven times seventy or four hundred and ninety times. It is what our Lord commanded us to do, and yet we are not able to do it on our own.

We have to decide to revive our relationship with Jesus, regardless of the hurt we received from a church-member or a pastor in time past. Even if the one who may have hurt your feelings is a family member, your relationship with Jesus is more important than this. If you have left the church or your relationship with Jesus by not attending church you are only hurting yourself.

When we are in a right relationship with Jesus and following Him daily, we should celebrate and worship with other saints at a church. Regardless of the denomination, worship is the key because of the sacrifice of our Lord and because He is worthy of our praise!

The Living Word, our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ and the Messiah came to be the way that we have to get into heaven, all that we need to do is to ask Him into our hearts or re-establish the relationship that has been on hold. If you have put Jesus on hold, He is still waiting. He never hung up, He has never nor will He leave you.

The one who sees me

This is a great post and couldn’t have been said any better. Just as in the days of Hagar, the Lord sees all of us and cares for all of us. He is with us through all of the times of our lives, good or bad, thick or thin whether that is regarding health, money, relationships or whatever. God never leaves us nor forsakes us. Great message!

It's a God thing...

“The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.
Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”
The angel of the Lord also said to her:
“You are now pregnant
and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
for the Lord has heard of your misery.
He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward all his brothers.”
She…

View original post 295 more words