Tag: Satan

Have you ever hit rock bottom?


Who do you turn to when you are down? What happened to bring you to this place? Is it your fault or someone else’s fault that you are down and out or depressed?

These are legitimate questions about depression and feeling as if you are in a deep well with nowhere to go but up. So, how would you answer them? Many are the answers that go with the last two of the questions and they are as different as we are from each other. The first question, however, is the one that I will concentrate on here because the One that you turn to is the most important decision that you may make in your life.

That includes the decision which you make concerning your spouse or the house that you choose to buy. How can the person that you choose to turn to in an emotional crisis have more to do with your life than your spouse or your home? Because He is your Savior and if the One that you turn to is not Jesus, then you need to examine your life and your heart because if He is not your Savior then you truly do need Him.

In our world today, there are many cares and worries that take up our time and our brain power each and every day and into the night. We are constantly bombarded with advertisements and ads on the Internet as well as from the radio and on television. I don’t know the exact number of advertisements that we see or hear each day, but I am sure it must be in the hundreds.

All of that information, welcome or not, is not good for you and the stress that it causes is even worse. Then, when you get past the stress, there are the bills and the other troubles of daily living. I don’t have to go into the details here but we are all exposed to far more information than we were designed to handle on a day to day basis. It was predicted in the book of Revelation that knowledge would increase at this point in time but the overload is staggering and the more age your mind has on it just makes it worse.

The problems that we have in this life, the ones that affect us individually as well as culturally, are the same ones that have been prophesied and yet many people do not believe this. We will see, in a very short while, that God is always right and that His prophecies are true. Believe in Him and His Son, Jesus. Believe in the saving grace that has been given to each of us without cost.

We don’t have to pay anything for this, Jesus paid the price for us, all that we have to do is accept it and believe. Because, your life doesn’t end here, we all have a soul which will live on with an immortal body. We will live somewhere, whether it is in Paradise with God or in torment with Satan, and we will be there for eternity. Billions of years from now, what decision will you be glad that you made here and now? The only decision which will matter at that time will be whether you decide to give your heart and life to Jesus and believe that He did all that was required for you to be saved….or to decide that you don’t need Him, which will condemn you to hell. Which will it be?

Patience and time


What do we need to do each day that requires all of our time? Very little actually. Nothing in your life should take up that much time during your day. So, what should we do about our time and cultivating patience?

practicethepause Prayer does wonders for your life, your doubt, your anger and hurt feelings, and your life. Prayer relieves stress and anxiety and the time that you take to pause during the day can yield time to think in a world that is so full of information.

Can you do this during your day? Of course you can, taking a few minutes to speak with God about what you need is no more intrusive than Tweeting or posting on Facebook and the results of your prayers are much more rewarding. Pausing occasionally can yield an awful lot of time, even when those pauses are only for a minute or two at a time. A pause during your day, during your drive to work or back home is more than enough for you to speak to God. The time that you have is given to you by God, the job that you have was given to you by God, your family that you love is a gift from God so when you do pray, thank Him for everything that you have.

The timing of God is perfect because He knows when you were born, who you would marry and He knew when and how many children that He would give you, and He also knows when  your last breath will be drawn. Your life is in His hand and where you will spend eternity is decided so all that you have to do is to make up your mind to follow Him and believe that He did come and die for you and your sins just as He died for my and your sins.

The only thing that you have to do is to believe that the work that Jesus did was enough. There is nothing that you can add to His death and resurrection that will help get you a better spot in eternity. The only thing that we have to do to receive our salvation is to believe Jesus’ sacrifice was enough and that He did it because He loves you. Believing “in” Jesus or God is not what is required because Satan believes “in” them because he knows Who they are, but he doesn’t have the ability to humble himself to them in submission to serve them. We can and should because it is necessary if you want to have a joyful eternity.

Your life doesn’t stop when you stop breathing as some people suppose. Your next breath will be taken in Heaven but before that you will stand for your life to be judged by God. If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, then your life and your judgement is covered by the blood of Jesus and His righteousness. If you did not accept Him, then your eternity will not be enjoyable. The choice is yours now, so choose how you want to spend it.

Where is God?


“Can you show me ONE place where you know for sure that God is?”, this was a question asked of a small boy years ago, and supposedly the man asking it told the boy that he should think about it during the day and when he came back, the man told him that he would give him a dime. At the time when this was supposed to have happened, a dime was a good deal of money. Because fifty years ago, a dime would buy a lot more than it does today.

Later, that day the boy was walking by the place where he had met the man earlier and the man was still there. The boy stopped and told him that he had been thinking about that question and it occurred to him to ask a question of him: “You wanted to know of a place where God is present, mister, I would give you a dollar if you can show me a place where God is NOT!?”

This verbal exchange was and is being sent through the e-mail channels because the first time I saw it was a few years ago and it got my attention. It got me to wondering about God’s presence in our world and in our lives. Do we acknowledge Him every day? Do we seek Him every day?

Those of us who are or claim to be Christians are supposed to, but do you? Some people, many of them church-going Christians, claim to be following Jesus but do you really seek Him as He said for us to do? What does it mean to “seek Him”?

Seeking Jesus and the will of God is a practice and a discipline that we should attempt every day. The act and the process of it is not as hard or complicated as it seems. The will of God and seeking His wisdom can be accomplished by the same way…by actually reading and studying the Bible.

I know that many people say that understanding the Bible is not an easy thing to do, but if you pray for God to reveal His wisdom to you as you read it, and He will. God’s Word is a living document because it was sent from God through His prophets to give a specific message to Israel, but the message contained in it as it is revealed by the Spirit, is different for each of us. Which is why it is revealed and interpreted to each of us by the Holy Spirit in different ways for each one of us. What one person gets out of the 23rd Psalm will not be the same as what you may get, but the message will be what you need at the time.

The most wonderful part of this is that you will gain new insight each time you read it, regardless of whether you read the entire Bible or just one book from the sixty-six contained in it. As long as you read it while asking Him to reveal His wisdom for you as you read through it, then it will not remain a mystery. The wisdom contained within it comes to each of us by the will of God and the context of each passage needs to be taken with the rest of the chapter that it is contained within so that each passage won’t be taken out of context.

Taking a passage by itself, without the context of the chapter it is contained within, is dangerous. Satan did this by misquoting scripture and quoting it out of context, as have other people in history. Scripture can be twisted to mean almost anything if you do this and that is not what the Scripture was written for. Give it some thought and see if you can find where God lives at all times.

God is closer to you than your sister or your spouse or even your parents and yet many people think that He is somewhere out in space in a place called Heaven where we can’t even talk to Him. This is not the truth because His place is as near as your heart. He is as near to you as your skin is. God is with you in whatever circumstance that you may be in, good or bad. He doesn’t leave you and has never left you at all. If you feel that He has, the only person that has moved is you!

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!

What is your salvation worth?


Have you accepted Jesus as your Savior? Life has a way of bringing us to a point where we need Jesus, and I mean to a place where we feel that we can’t make it without Him. Many people think that they can use some other way to cope with depression or loss and many do.

They place their life and their future in things that mankind has made, why? We depend upon chemicals, legal or illegal, to make life more bearable. I know that there are people who do not look to chemical fixes to their problems, but the news seems to glorify people who do! Man-made fixes for problems may work for a time, especially if the problem is made by man, but even then the real fix, the one that will lastingly fix the problem will ultimately come from God.

Regarding your salvation, many people seem to think that they can somehow have an impact on whether they get to Heaven or not. How can anyone think this way? We are not supernatural beings, we cannot have an influence over anything which might happen after our physical body dies! For many in the world today, when their life is over their religion teaches that they will come back as something or someone else or not and that is the extent of their “afterlife”. Some believe that when you die, that’s it. There is nothing, you will feel nothing nor see anything once this life is over. Death is the ultimate end to everything.

With that kind of world view, what would drive me or you to be or to do anything good in this life? What would you do if there wasn’t a hope of something better and more substantial after this life? To me, it would be a wasted, useless life if there was not hope for an “after” life. I mean, what’s the point? What really would be the point other than having stuff in this life and enjoying what you have access to now?

The point is that God created this world and everyone in it. He had a part in every person’s life from the beginning, but He also gave us a choice of whether to learn about His love and whether we will follow Him or not. We also have the ability to be adopted as sons through our belief and acceptance of Jesus as our Savior. Once we do that, our eternal life begins. That doesn’t mean that we will never die, but that we will live on after this body dies.

Doesn’t that sound preferable to being put in the ground or cremated and there being nothing after this life? The Truth is that Satan knows that there is an afterlife and if you don’t accept Jesus as your Savior, your next destination will be in hell with him and the demons with him. Hell was not made for us at all, it was created for those Angels that rebelled with Satan. But…when you reject God’s love for you and His grace through Jesus, you end up on the same side as the demons are.

Your life is worth far more to God than you can know or realize without Him in your life and until you do, your life will feel empty and without…something. That something is not drugs or anything man-made, but it is Jesus! He is what your soul is looking for! That is what the empty part of you is searching for and until you allow Jesus to come in, it will always feel empty. Until you fill your “God-shaped hole” with the One that is supposed to be there, it will always feel empty, so fill it with Jesus.

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.

Temporary living arrangement


Have you noticed that there are many people here who are living in a temporary arrangement? They stay in one place for a while then stay in another for a while, they never settle down and live anywhere. In a way, that is exactly the way that our life is supposed to be lived, temporary residence in a permanent place.

Jesus said that He was going to prepare a place for us to be with Him, forever. So, in light of that, the life that we live here is considered temporary. It doesn’t matter how many months or years that we have been living in the home that we have while here because it is not our permanent home. Only a home built by His hands will last forever, not these homes of clay, brick, and wooden sticks. Not even the ones that are built of concrete will last forever, although without being subjected to an earthquake they would come close.

What will you do in eternity,  if you haven’t asked Jesus into your life? Well, Jesus said that people who reject His grace and His sacrifice for their sakes will be cast into the lake of fire with Satan and his angels. I know that seems to be a harsh punishment for not giving your life to Christ, but it is the destination that you choose by not accepting Him. God did not create hell for us, it was made to punish Satan and the angels which rebelled with him. The reason that some of us will end up there is because of our rejection of God‘s gift of salvation through Jesus. When you do that, you have chosen to put yourself on the side with Satan, whether you know it or not.

There is not middle ground, no grey area where we can live and have a little bit of our way and a little bit of Christ. It is all or nothing, you are either a follower of Christ and have asked Him into your heart or you are not. There are many people who don’t believe in God or anything that is in God’s Word, the Bible and that is their priority. Sometimes, there is no way to convince people of the love of God or His grace, but I pray that many will come to know Jesus before your time on Earth is over.

I have been accused of using fear tactics to scare people to come to faith in Christ, well if it works, so what? I want you to be afraid of going to hell! Do you really want to spend eternity in punishment, in a place that was not made for you? If you are not a disciple and follower of Jesus, then you will be in that place. Think about it.

Are you satisfied?


In our world of instant potatoes, microwave popcorn, throw-away phones, etc. is it any wonder that we aren’t satisfied with life? Everything is easy, quick, “cheap”. Nothing lasts as long as we would like or feels as good as we had hoped. We are depressed, disillusioned and most of all angry at everyone and everything because nothing, nothing ever satisfies our hunger or our thirst for whatever it is we are searching for, no matter what it may be!

Boy, am I glad I got all of that off my chest!!

Your life doesn’t have to be that way. You don’t have to have everything instantly. Things that last are much more precious and harder to come by than the advertisements lead you to believe. Although the most precious and lasting relationship can last forever, most never realize it until it is too late. They find they have picked the wrong one and by that time there is no turning back. Or possibly, you might not wake up at all tomorrow. What then?

Will you find yourself facing God and not having an answer to His question, “What did you do with my Son?” Do you know who His Son is? Have you met Him? It really is easy you know? If you have been searching for something, but you are not sure what, it may be that you are truly being drawn to Him. Listen to that voice inside which is pulling at your heart. God is the creator and He loves His creation, you! Let Him into your life!  He can clean out the dirt, the cobwebs, and everything else that you think would make you unworthy and make you whole and new again!

Call on Him!  Ask Jesus into your heart, simply, like a child. He will hear you and come into your life and make you and your life whole again, if you will let Him. That is all that He asks of you. Just give your life to Him. He doesn’t need your money, just your service to Him and His Kingdom.

I know, there are many who say that they don’t want to serve Him. I understand and He does too. If you want to be selfish and just take care of yourself and the things and people that you can see around you, that’s fine. Many of our problems in this life, especially Christians, are caused by the enemy of God, Satan. Because He tries everyday to make life hard for us, just because we belong to God. If you don’t follow Jesus, then you are already on Satan’s side so he doesn’t want to cause you any trouble.

The troubles that we have in this world, for Christians and non-Christians alike, are usually caused by Satan and his demons. Many people don’t think that he exists, that these are just our imagination, but they are real. That is and always has been his greatest achievement, making people believe that he isn’t real.

We live in a fallen world and it will remain so until Jesus returns, which many people don’t think is happening. But, what if the Bible and the prophecies contained in it is really true? When it becomes crystal clear that these prophecies are coming true, what then?

I can do ALL things through Christ!


 

Do you realize that God wants you to accomplish a lot in your life? I am not talking about your own things like all of the everyday stuff that weigh us down, I am talking about the ministry that God has given you! Did you know that you have a ministry? If you are a child of God, then you do!

I am not saying that all of us are supposed to have an international ministry, but we are supposed to take our beliefs with us wherever we go. To work, to school, at home, to the grocery store, to the bank, yes we are supposed to walk with Christ and let Him walk with us wherever we go! If you would be ashamed to have Him with you then don’t go there! As a child of God, He is with you all of the time, no matter what you happen to be doing or where you happen to be!

Why can’t I be alone sometime?

You can’t leave God out of your life once you have taken Him into it! You may walk away from Him, but He is always there with you. He doesn’t get in the way, or tell you what to do or not to do but if you have given your heart to Jesus, then He is present in every situation and circumstance that you are, day in and day out.

As Jesus said, “I will be with you always, even unto the end of the age”; there is no greater comfort than this because we are never alone, in our most desperate times or our most joyous days!

Even those of you who may not have given your heart to Jesus or asked Him into your life, He is still watching over you. God knows how many hairs are on your head and He knows when even a sparrow falls to the ground, so of course He knows what you are doing and where you are! You are not alone whether you have accepted Jesus into your life or not.

Then why do I feel alone sometimes?

We feel this way not only because we are social people and when we are alone we feel it. But sometimes we feel alone even when we aren’t alone which truly troubles some people. Do you have friends nearby? Are you able to meet with them? Do they have the time to meet with you? These are the questions that come into your mind when you are feeling depressed and lonely.

God understands because He knows how it feels to be lonely, because He experienced it through Jesus’ life and He will be with you through your time of lonely feelings and other problems which come in our lives. God loves each of us and will help us in all areas of our lives.

If I am not alone, why do I feel so depressed at times?

God is there with you at all times because He is in all places and present in every situation. If you have given your heart to Him, then you will feel Him near you in times of joy, pain, heartache, fear, doubt and yes even when you are depressed. These feelings are not placed on you by God … we are hit with these every day by Satan because he hates God and those who belong to Him. Just as Job was beset by some really bad circumstances in his day, we are too. We may not lose everything, but the spirits of doubt and fear and depression can make us feel as if we have lost it all or may be about to.

God loves each of us and we have an Advocate who defends us before God when Satan accuses us before Him. He is there no matter what the circumstance and He will be there when we arrive at the gates of Heaven. Nothing is impossible with God and there is nothing that He cannot accomplish for you or through you. Give your life and your heart to Him, it is the best decision that you will ever make in your life.

What good are the Ten Commandments?


Today, do we still need the Ten Commandments? Are they relevant to our time and our lives today? Many people don’t think so today. According to most of those who don’t want to know about God and don’t want to believe anything that is contained within the Bible, these laws are null and void. According to them, God’s Word was made up by men so it has no authority. They even postulate that it had no authority at the time it was written and it specifically hasn’t any today!

Why is that? Our laws are based upon the laws given by Moses! We have laws against adultery, murder, perjury (lying under oath), stealing, neglecting your parents in their old age (honor your father and mother). Granted, you won’t go to jail for cheating on your wife or your husband, but if you are found out the divorce will cost you something! Dependent on how forgiving your spouse is, it may or may not cost you your life!

The Ten Commandments were given to begin to show people that they need a Savior, because there is no way that we can keep them perfectly. It just can’t be done, because by breaking even one of them, you have become guilty of all of them. If you have ever stolen anything, no matter how small or inconsequential it might have been, you are a thief. If you lied to your Mom or Dad about it, now you are a liar and a thief. Any one of these sins will keep you from having a relationship with God, but the most important decision of your life has nothing to do with these!

The most important time of your life is to realize that you are a sinner, separated from God and then to realize that you need Jesus in your life! That is the purpose of these Commandments! To make you realize your sin, regardless of your faith! If you have heard them or read them, then your heart will let you know when you break them. That is their purpose, to bring you to the point where you know that you need Jesus.

Your decision, the one which will determine your eternity, is whether you will accept God’s grace to you through Jesus or not. That is what decides your final destination, not a loving God. He didn’t create hell for any of us, it was created to punish the angels and Satan who rebelled against God. We have always had a reservation, an invitation to Heaven, all we have to do is accept Jesus as our personal Savior and when we follow Him, we will be where He is, where our reward is, in Heaven. It is your decision and yours alone that determines your eternity, this is why we were given a choice because God wants us to choose to serve Him!

Even the angels have a choice, they are not required by instinct or design to serve God. We are created with a spirit of choice as well. We can choose to live by the rules of the world and do what we want to do, trying to do it all on our own,to see if we can be good enough, righteous enough to earn our way into heaven. Except, we are flawed because of our sinful nature and we can’t be perfect enough, righteous enough to earn our way. Jesus is the only way into Heaven because He paid the price of a perfect sacrifice for all of mankind and all that we have to do is accept it and believe that He did it for us.

Don’t believe the lie that time is on your side, because that is a deception from Satan himself. He is using that to make you believe that you have plenty of time to make your decision. The problem with that is that none of us are guaranteed tomorrow, we don’t know if we will wake up when the alarm goes off tomorrow or if we will open our eyes to gaze at the judgment seat of God!

Truthfully, I am not trying to frighten you, I am not saying that your life might end tonight. But, kids who were just 19 years old have died in their sleep, people get killed in accidents every day, none of them saw this coming, none of them knew that it was about to happen, but it did. What if, for the sake of your eternal soul, I am right. What will happen to you if you have not asked Jesus into your heart? It will not be God’s fault that you will end up in hell, it will be yours! Because you have heard the message and the way out of hell is faith and acceptance of Jesus as your Savior. There is no other way. Religion won’t save you, your own version of righteousness won’t pay your way into Heaven, none of your wealth on Earth will go with you and it won’t help.

The only way into Heaven is by faith in Jesus.