Tag: Salvation

Days, hours and minutes


I know, there are more divisions of time than just those but those three are the ones which we use every day. Why am I talking about ways to count down a day or a week or even a year? Because time is important to all of us at this point. When will we NOT need to worry or even think about hours and days or even years? In Heaven, in our eternity, that is when. Time is measured from the point of conception until our death because this body, this tabernacle that we live in only lasts a certain amount of time and God knows exactly how many years and seconds that each of us has.

We can’t imagine eternity because there is no time there, so when you cross over into it a minute could be a day or a few hours on Earth. So…what are we going to do with an eternity? I can’t say for sure but God has a plan and part of it will be during the one thousand years of Jesus’ reign after the Tribulation. That will be a time in which many advances in science and all sorts of things will likely happen. But, to those who have been given a glorified body even one thousand years won’t be a long time.

Our time is measured by the rotation of the Earth and its rotation around the Sun, it was set up to reflect perfect harmony and it is. Although, creation has been going down hill since Adam ate the fruit in Eden. When all is restored to perfection one day, we will know how the universe was supposed to be.Your fruit trees will produce fruit which tastes so much better than what we have now. The vegetables will be more flavorful. Even the air that we breathe will be cleaner and more invigorating.

Life won’t be the same anymore it will be more than we could imagine. This is even before most of us get into eternity. Time will be different, our lives will be different, the universe itself will be different but if you have given your heart and your life to Jesus…life will go on without end!

Time as we measure it now will be a thing of the past. Your life before eternity, before Heaven, before all of the wonders that we will share forever. Will it be hard to live this way? NO, because God will provide everything that you need! We won’t be thinking about bills or groceries because at this time, those are not necessary at all. The only people who won’t be enjoying eternity will be those who have doubted God’s grace and have not accepted Jesus as their Savior.

They will live in eternity but it will be one without God, without all of the nice parts of Heaven. No water, no food, no bearable temperatures but since you have an eternal body you won’t die either. It is YOUR choice which will send you to that place, not God. You will be there because you refused to give Jesus a place in your life and you wanted your “stuff” in this life. Think about it.

We are blessed


lamb-of-god-passoverAlthough many don’t seem to notice it. Why? Because we have so much, we just don’t recognize our blessings. This may be why those in other countries have so much enmity for America. We don’t seem to acknowledge the fact that even the poorest of us, in terms of money, are truly blessed. Some beyond belief to those who are starving in other countries!

We are blessed because of where we live and because God has blessed this land due to our past relationship with the land of Israel. We do not have that same relationship with Israel today and I believe that we are going to suffer for it in the near future. God loves all of us, He just doesn’t approve of the lifestyles that many of us cling to today. Some of us live as if there is no end to our blessings and also like there is no tomorrow.

Then there are some who don’t believe that God exists at all and they live moral upstanding lives. Some, who claim to be Christians, live more like the rest of the world who do not believe in Jesus. They live lives of greed and consumption, taking as much as they can and not giving thanks for any of it. They may have “grown up” in the church and learned the ways to appear to be Christian, but inside they don’t have Jesus living in their hearts.

I am not saying this to be judgmental, but if you are truly a Christian with Jesus in your heart then you will live this out and it will be evident to all around you. The words that you speak, the actions that others see that you don’t think about, they will reflect Jesus and His message. There will be a visible difference between you and the world around you!

God gives us each day to show someone the character of Jesus in our life so that they will want Him too. It is not just another day to make money or to get ahead of your co-workers for the best position in a firm or wherever you work. None of the things that we have here on Earth will follow us into eternity except what we accomplished for God’s Kingdom. Your wealth, your position, your house or car, even your family won’t matter in eternity unless you have lived for Jesus in all of it!

We are finite beings and our accomplishments won’t mean a thing unless they were done for the Kingdom of God through Jesus’ saving power in our lives! Do you really want to try to attempt to gain entry into Heaven on your own merit? Are you so righteous that you think you can get in without Jesus in your heart, living by His strength every day? No person on Earth is that good!!

Moses, John the Baptist, Peter, James, or even Abraham could accomplish that feat without their faith in God and their belief in the Seed which came as Jesus our Savior! God had promised Him and they believed even without seeing Him. John the Baptist, Peter and James saw Him and walked with Him and even witnessed the miracles but without their faith in Him and their belief in Him and Who He was, they wouldn’t get into Heaven either!

Seeking Jesus?


Why did I place that as a question? Because, many people don’t realize that they are actually seeking Jesus. We look for all sorts of things and people and even careers or  money to fulfill our lives and make us feel complete and yet none of those can do it. Sometimes each one can fill in for a little while…but not for long.

We tend to look for things which will make our lives feel better in some way and most of us don’t realize that the part of our heart or our being which needs filling only needs Jesus. He is the only Person..the only real person who can fill that area in our life! We feel an emptiness at some point in our life and yet we don’t know what or who should be there…until we find out about Jesus.

Some of us find that we truly need Him early in our life, and some of us don’t realize that we need Him until many years later. Sometimes it may be at a time when we are in need of Him in more ways than for salvation. We need a healing or we may be nearing death from cancer or if we are on death row in prison, we may seek Him because we are afraid of going to Hell.

There are many reasons why people seek Jesus, but the one which brings you to Him is your realization that you are a sinner and that you need Him. Not only that but we are not guaranteed tomorrow morning or even tonight, so what would you say to God if you were to meet Him this afternoon? In reality, you couldn’t say much because He will show you when and how many times you have heard the gospel preached and you didn’t respond. All of your life will testify against you, every word and deed and action that you ever did will be brought forth, and there will be no excuse because you won’t have one.

Standing before God the Creator of all things, you will not be able to mount a defense of your life because He already knows you and all that you did or said during all the days of your life. You cannot hide from Him and you cannot reason with Him because your performance in this life gets you nothing! Only the acceptance of Jesus as your Savior will bring you into the gates of Heaven.

Before your life ends, please ask yourself this question: “Where do I want to spend eternity?” No matter how long your life is here, eternity is a lot longer so make sure before your last breath.

Almost home


Have you ever wished that you were home? I don’t mean your Earthly home exactly, although that is a wonderful place to be most of the time. I mean your Heavenly home, the one that Jesus went to prepare for each person who claims Him as their Lord and Savior!

The longer that each of us live here on Earth, if we are Christians, the closer we are to getting there. Your journey of this life begins the day that you were conceived and ends on the day you die. God knows both dates and He will bring you into His home, your eternal home right after your soul exits from your body.

Now, I know there are some who don’t believe this and they will disagree with me. That’s OK, because one day they will meet Him too. Whether they know Him as Savior or not, they will meet Him although they may not enjoy the meeting if they didn’t accept Him as their Savior.

Almost home

Through the brambles and the weeds, the long road winds. Twisting, turning, and ever climbing yet upward and forward it goes. Life it is that we live here, sweet and sour though it may be. Sweeter still when ever we find the end of the path and cross over to be…with our Creator and our Lord into Eternity.

pathtoCFSometimes it seems that we take our life for granted, where it starts and where it ends and all of the stuff that happens between those points are just part of it. But, do you ever consider the path that leads to Eternity? If you are a Christian or have any idea about an afterlife, then the thought has likely crossed your mind a few times. Seek our Jesus and a Bible teaching church or study group, learn about Him and His ways because He is the only way into Eternity and He does have a place for you there. He said so.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe in Me as well. 2 In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so,would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am.”  John 14:2,3

Faith of a child


Children are special not only to their parents but to God as well. Why is that? Because their faith is unwavering and true and hasn’t been corrupted by adult ideas and teachings from school and living life itself. They look at life around them in absolutes, black and white, there is no gray area when a child sees the world! Children don’t bring their own baggage into their beliefs because they haven’t lived long enough to have “baggage”.

A child can be told that a prayer can heal someone of a sickness or disease and if they are young enough, they will pray with more faith than the most aged saint can muster.Why is that? Because they believe with their whole hearts and minds, and they don’t doubt the Word of God.

So, why do we doubt God’s Word? He cannot lie and His Word is True, so what’s the problem? Mostly it is our own individual ideas about Who He is and what He will or can do in our mind. We limit Him and put limits upon Him with our own ideas about Who He is.  In fact we are creating a “god” which fits our definition and we aren’t truly believing His Word about Himself!

Children don’t have that hangup until they are taught how to do it by us. Whether it is something they hear in school or Bible school or at home, we are the ones responsible for killing that young, powerful faith in their Creator.

I would love to tell you how to get that kind of faith back, but it is hard for me to dredge up the kind of faith that a child can have with no worries at all. Growing up and learning about the world and going through our “education system” seems to put a blanket over that faith which eventually smothers it or at least dims the light of it so that it is almost useless until we are tested and made to exercise it.

Seek Him out in His Word and ask Him to show you how to exercise your faith so that it can be stronger and useful to you and to Him. God loves us and all that we have to do is seek Him out and learn to love Him in return.

Umber


The color of umber is brown. Not a dark brown but not exactly “paper sack tan” either. Truthfully it is like a lightly roasted coffee in color. Why am I bringing this up on this blog? Because there are discussions and arguments arising about the way that Jesus is portrayed in paintings and in our culture.

Some say that He should be portrayed as white, others say that He is black, actually He is neither one. Jesus was born Hebrew as a Jewish Israelite. If you have ever met someone from Israel you notice that they have skin tones which have an olive complexion. What does that mean? It means that their skin will tan easily in the sun.

Our Savior did a lot of walking throughout Judea in His lifetime, therefore He most likely was very dark-skinned where the sun struck Him. His face, arms, feet, and lower legs were likely very dark. The depiction of Him being white by artists who painted Him or otherwise portrayed Him is a nod to the culture of their day, racist though that may have been.

Our ancestors, the ones who began all of this in Eden, were very olive-skinned so that when their offspring came about a myriad of skin colors and complexions would be genetically possible. God knew then and He knows now exactly what He is doing genetically in this world. He is also giving us the ability to choose our spiritual pathway in our lives and He has been doing this from the start.

God doesn’t care if your skin color is dark or light, olive or even very darkly pigmented, He cares about your soul…your inner man. That is the part of you that lives on into eternity and your culture, your “skin tone” will likely be in eternity as well so we will all be able to see who we really are or were in our previous life on Earth. No one will lose their identity after death. Jesus spoke of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob being alive in eternity and our names and all that we have done in the service of God will follow us into eternity too.

Living here in this life is far different from what we will see or know in Heaven and for those who won’t give their hearts to Jesus, their eternity will be a true living hell. The descriptions of hell are varied but the regrets and the separation from God’s love and all that we have known in this life will be with us through eternity. The color of your skin, your culture, your lifestyle or how much money you had on Earth will mean NOTHING!

I was given a very tiny glimpse into heaven once and the gold streets are pure enough to shine like the Sun and the gold is like glass. Some of the buildings are made of a substance like opals only more pure and clear with walls a cubit or more thick. They reflect God’s glory with all of the colors imaginable but a description would not do them justice at all.

The descriptions found in the Bible are man’s attempt at describing things which our minds can’t comprehend fully, so I can’t either. Race doesn’t mean anything in the end. We are all God’s children and all of us are descended from Adam and Eve, since God cannot lie I don’t understand why we deny that we are all related.

Times and miracles


Many days we see things or hear about something which happens that could be described as a miracle. Some people may not recognize them as a miracle but in many ways, they are. Why do I say this? Because of the living God Who is Creator, He is the One Who accomplishes these things.

For instance, scientists are still discovering “new” species unknown to science a few years ago. Healing of tumors and cancers which are inoperable happens in many cases where the patient is being prayed for by their family and these are not given the proper respect because the doctor doesn’t know how it happened. But, the family of the person that is healed knows where the healing came from, it came from the Lord!

Sometimes, the healing needs to come to the church itself. The members of some churches are so stone-faced and inexpressive during church until it looks like we are attending a funeral rather than a church service. We are supposed to be living in the Joy of the Lord, not grumbling through a service and sitting like a bunch of old turtles on a log!

Also in the Bible, it says that there will be a falling away by the church and it seems that it is beginning right now. Yes, there are still mega-churches with thousands of members but are those members Christians? Or are they just sitting in a pew when services start and not living a joy-filled life with Jesus? Many small churches and large ones too have the same problem…people who have been raised in the church who believe they are Christians because they have attended church most of their lives.

The Bible says that in the latter days, which we are living in now, young men will see visions and dream dreams. This has been foretold because God is an awesome God! The dreams and visions that young people are seeing are leading them to become Christians even in places where there are no missionaries! People are seeking God in any way that they can and coming to Him by the thousands.

I have read of accounts of young men who were against Christianity and they have learned of it and have come to know their Savior, Jesus! The times in which we are living are hard in ways but also joyous in others. Life can and does find a way to break free from bondage and chains when there is an alternative presented. Christianity does not force anyone to believe because you can’t force belief on anyone. Just as love cannot be forced on anyone.

Our world is coming to an end. It may be in the next year or in a few months or it may be in the next decade but it is winding down like an old-fashioned clock, except God didn’t forget to wind it. He knows exactly the day and the hour that the end will come.

Ooops!


Do we have times or places or even events in our lives where “Ooops!” would be appropriate? All of us have these at one point or another. The only person that hasn’t had a day or even a minute where this would be part of the vocabulary would’ve been Jesus.

I know, many of you would say “What about the scourging or the cross?”; those were already planned and part of His life before they came to be. Those of us who watched cartoons in the seventies and eighties learned from the master of “Ooops”, Wile E. Coyote. He always got the bad end of gravity or a falling rock or even an explosion which didn’t go off at the point where he wanted it to.

What do you do when this happens in your life? I know that most of us don’t have problems with gravity or with bombs going off unexpectedly, but just walk with me down this memory lane a bit. Do you fret over it or worry about it? Sometimes it is too late when you realize it, so what can you do about it? Most of the time, you can’t really do much about it. If the “ooops” has already happened, then you will just have to deal with it in one way or another.

Sometimes it is caused by something that we say, in my case it is most often done this way. My mouth gets in a gear that is running faster than my common sense and I say something that I should’ve thought about a bit before it came tumbling out in the open! Does it cause pain or anguish, sometimes it does, at other times it just causes someone to giggle or laugh, depending upon what my mouth blurted out at the time.

A moment of “ooops” can cost a lot in the long run, down the road of life but at times it can also put you in a place where things can change. Sometimes…even you change. Sometimes…I change. So many times an “ooops” moment can even make a difference in the long run, if you use it in the right way.

But, you have to follow-up and work with the feeling that this moment caused in you. Don’t think about it and then let it get away and forget about it, use it to spur you on to fix the problem whatever it might be. God uses moments like these to show us what to do or what we should do, it is up to us to realize that He is part of the equation and the answer to it as well.

Why do I bring this up? Because He is always the One in control of the outcome, whether we believe it or not. If you believe in God and have learned that you need Him in your life, then follow through and make sure that He is your answer to your life’s problems. He wants to be that answer and the One that you call on in all things, not just when there is an “ooops” in your life.

He is our Savior!


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God has done all that is needed through Jesus, our Savior, to save each and every one of us. All that is required of us is to believe like a child that He did it and ask Him to come into your life, into your heart and soul and you will be a new creation in His Image!

It doesn’t take your works or your money or strength to be saved and righteous enough to be allowed into Heaven because nothing that you or I can do in our strength is good enough to bring you into His Presence! He provided all that you need to be saved, all that you have to do is believe it and ask for it.

Unfortunately, many people look at this as being too simple, too easy. They want to help in some way. The problem with us helping is that we get in the way.

So, what will it take for you to believe in Him? People have been teaching that God punishes us so that we will learn certain things when the fact is that Satan is doing that. Of course, he won’t do that unless you are a Christian or you are thinking about becoming one because in the spiritual realm if you don’t belong to God then you are part of Satan’s group. I don’t mean that you worship him, but if you aren’t or you haven’t given your life to Jesus then as far as Satan is concerned you are not dangerous to his cause.

God loves you because He created you for a reason. What that reason is and when you might get busy with it is only known to Him until you are drawn to Him and make your decision to follow Him. The reason that I don’t make a distinction between God and Jesus is that they are part of the Trinity, which includes the Holy Spirit. All of them are part of One Creator. Like it or not they all show up in Scripture.

God has made a way for you to be saved from sin and the consequences of it, all you have to do is claim it. Will you?

Read the scriptures in Romans and John, not just one or two passages but all of them. Pray that God will show you why you need Him and how to come to Him. He loves you and He wants a relationship with you. It is up to you to seek Him, because He doesn’t force faith on you nor does He chase you down.

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You are with me


youarestillwithmeIn the 23rd Psalm it goes like this:

Psalm 23 King James Version

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

This Psalm of David is an ever-present help, just as the Lord is, it is also a poem of comfort and of thanksgiving. In our world today, we need this because of all the things which are happening around the world. Why? Because of all the strife and the anger and frustration that flows from the news every single day. It seems that we can’t get away from it, even if we turn the TV off and don’t watch it. If we log on to our Facebook account, the news is there; if we log onto Google and look at the news, all of it is there in front of our eyes. We can’t escape it even if we are in the car and turn the radio on…the news, no matter how bad it is, is there too. We need God’s comforting presence in our lives today!

Why do I say this? Because we are not “supermen” and we never will be. It doesn’t matter if you made it through boot camp or SEAL training or any other type of military training, you are not bullet-proof regardless of what they tried to tell you over and over again!

We are normal people with problems, hang-ups and hang-overs. We have all of the problems that they try to recommend medication for on TV, yet most of us don’t want the side-effects of that medication. Most of us don’t want to be told that we are sinners or back-sliders or adulterers or in some cases, perverts. Nobody wants to hear about our personal dirty laundry, but we love to hear about and read about celebrities and sports figures who have problems!

Every church is filled with people who are exactly like those in the paragraph above, no church is immune because we are all sinners! The only difference between those who claim to belong to Jesus is that we….they are forgiven! We claim our forgiveness from Christ when we admit that we need it, just as a person addicted to alcohol or drugs had to admit it before being able to fight it! The big difference is that Jesus already conquered our sin nature, all we have to do is believe in Him and ask for it to be applied to us!

There isn’t anything really special about Christians except for the faith in Jesus that most of us have. The reason I said “most” is that some think because they have been raised in church from their childhood, that makes them a Christian. Many have this belief that because they go to church occasionally like on Easter and Christmas, that this makes them a Christian. Not any more than sitting in a garage will make you into a car!

God created each of us to be in a relationship with Him and the only way we can do that is through His Son, Jesus. There is no other door, and no other “prophet” who can get you into Heaven. No amount of work you can do will help you. No amount of money given to the poor will buy you a brick to build a heavenly mansion. Nothing that WE can do will have any bearing on our eternity EXCEPT belief in and submission to Jesus in faith believing that He did everything necessary for your salvation!

Trust in Him, learn about Him, and come to Him with a heart that knows that He is your Savior and at that point ALL of Heaven will celebrate a new saint that will be coming home!