Tag: Satan

An urgent word from God


“In Satan, the individual follows their own destiny and choices. Satan only asks that the individual uses intelligent action based upon reason, but never faith, and thus the individual will prosper in this life and the next.” —-satanicviews

This was a comment that I got on a post which I had put up about Jesus coming to us and for us. It seems that this is a feeling or sentiment which many people have. It is one which we, as Christians, cannot understand or even comprehend. Satan is not a benevolent being as some seem to think that he is. He and his demons and powers and principalities HATE us with a hatred which even goes beyond any Nazi or communist or even Islamic hatred!

There is no love for us because, to Satan, we represent the image of God which we were created in. Another assumption that people like this make is that the next life, especially if they have rejected Jesus, is going to be an eternal party, when the sad fact is that it will be torment and punishment. Satan may help you in some ways to prosper in this life in order to draw you away from and keep you away from any faith or belief in God or Jesus. As long as you are not interested in becoming a Christian, then Satan has no problem with you because you essentially belong to him by default, whether you worship him or not.

In many ways, we are very much like Adam in the book of Genesis. We go about our lives doing this and that, thinking that everything is fine until one day something goes wrong. It may be a disease or a diagnosis or a wreck. Then what do we do? Many people blame God or fate for what has happened to them. If it is bad enough, they may even curse God and yell at Someone they may not believe in thinking that will make them feel better. But, it doesn’t.

Your lot in life, just like mine, is to sit here and take whatever life throws at you right? NO! It really depends upon your beliefs or your un-belief, whichever it may be. Consider the person or power that you believe in. Which one actually cares about you and your condition? Satan HATES all of humanity, because they are created in God’s image. It doesn’t matter if you are the high priest of a satanic coven or not, he will happily watch you float around in the lake of fire just as he will anyone else. Satan will allow you to claim all of the worldly success that you can stand and then some, as long as you are not trying to find God. So, in a sense, he will “provide” you with all that the world cares about including money, cars, a nice home, a four-wheeler and horses, land, all the guns that you want. Then what?

One the other side of the spiritual coin, there is God. He DOES CARE about all of His creation. Plants, animals and especially humanity since we are created for a purpose and in His image. God has given us life to live abundantly for Him and He gave each of us a talent in some area whether it is training horses, being a teacher or preacher, a policeman or woman, a mayor or any other type of politician, a truck driver or a farmer. He gives talents to all of us freely, whether we use them to gather wealth to ourselves or not is our choice. So, what is our purpose within this life that we are freely given?

To choose.

Choose Whom You Will Serve
14 “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:14-15

We have the right and privilege to choose. Not by flipping a “spiritual coin”, but by making an intelligent choice. One that makes sense spiritually and eternally, not one from a point of reason. Why do I put it like that? Because from a reasoning point of view…a scientific point of view, God and belief in Him doesn’t make sense. You can’t touch or taste Him, you can’t put your finger in the wounds of Jesus like Thomas did. Belief and faith go together like PB&J, and you can’t really have one without the other.

It doesn’t matter what the color of your skin or the shape of your eyes or even the type of hair that you have, if you truly believe the Word of God is True and did come from Him then our ancestors were created in Eden by God Himself. We are all children of Eden, of Adam and Eve. We are all of one race, the human race. Culturally we are different, as different as six thousand years give or take will make us, but God can trace all of us back to Noah who is a grandson of Adam. I say is because his faith in God’s promise and his belief that God would save humanity placed him in God’s hands.

Understand that you and I are God’s children and His creation, but you have to choose whether you will serve Him in this life, in order to have true Life in eternity to come. This is not all that there is, working, living, loving your family, smoking, drinking…these are all enjoyable to us now, some more than others. What will you do if you died tonight, if you knew that you would not see tomorrow morning? Would you ask Jesus into your heart?

Would you decide that you would rather take your chances? On what? Have you fed thousands or healed the sick? Can you walk on water? None of us can do those things! We are not righteous in God’s eyes! The only way that you get into Heaven is by accepting Jesus as your Savior, repent of your life’s sinful ways meaning that you will turn from them! Could you do all of this if you were to have a heart attack right now or even on the way home? The time to decide about your eternity is now, not tomorrow, not next week. Make sure that you truly know where your eternity is because this life doesn’t last very long and it seems that the years go by faster every year. Don’t turn Jesus away when you know that you need Him in your life. Another chance may not present itself. Think about it.

We are in between….


What do I mean by that? Simply put, just what I said. We are in between the time of Jesus’ resurrection and His ascension around Pentecost forty days later. Yes, I do realize that we live in the 21st century and it has been about two millennia since He was around, but what other person in history has had such an impact on the world?

The Bible itself has had a tremendous impact because many laws that are in many different countries are actually based upon principles taken from Scripture. Then, Jesus came and changed many things so much that the priests of the day wanted to get rid of Him. Mainly because He was cutting into their profits and His teachings gave power to the people and took it away from them. That kind of change was just blasphemous!

Even today, many who don’t want to change rebel against any sort of teaching that comes from a church. It seems that many people think that they can do it themselves. They think that they are responsible enough to handle all of life’s problems and they don’t need Jesus or God, so they choose not to believe in them and choose science and reason instead.

That is fine for now, but what will you think when you come face to face with Him and instead of welcoming you into eternity, He is your judge showing you why you don’t get to spend it in Heaven. At this point, there will be nothing for you to do except bow and say that you were wrong. Many people even think that they will argue with Him, but you won’t because it was and it is your choice in this life and it is this choice which will condemn you to hell, not God.

So, believing in Him is something that many already do especially the demons and Satan himself. Whether you choose to or not is your choice but don’t blame God for your eternity, because He gave you a choice of believing in Jesus for your salvation. The work of your salvation didn’t and does not depend upon anything that you do except that you must come to Jesus in faith. If you hear the truth of His grace to you and you may have read the words in the Gospels, then the choice is yours.

No one forces you to become a Christian. There may be a feeling in your heart that you need Jesus, but if you interpret it as something else then you might miss it. Seek Him out while you can. There are Bible’s available, there are resources in your library although I am not sure that is the place to look for a Bible.

Read the New Testament, in particular Acts and Romans, because these two books chronicle the beginning of the church itself. Pray about what you read so that God can reveal Himself to you in His Word. Time is growing short, be watchful and pray.

What’s up?


This is a very popular way of greeting today, but have you ever thought about what you would answer with? Many of us don’t really think about it. In a way, we treat it like we do when someone asks us, “How are you doing?”. We usually answer with “Fine” or “OK”, even when we really don’t feel that way at all!

So, what’s up with our world today? Everything seems to be upside down in a bad way. Tiger Woods is hitting the golf balls all over the place, while Jack Nicholas is still hitting a hole in one! The news that we hear is depressing, and yet almost every newscaster is smiling. It is almost like they know something that we don’t but they aren’t going to tell us the joke until it is too late. So, what is the one thing that is actually happening in the world around us? Is it something which people are really paying attention to or is everyone ignoring it?

In fact, it seems that most are doing exactly that…ignoring what is going on. They are living their lives, going about everyday business and busyness and just not paying much attention to the world in general. That is not helping you nor is it giving anyone hope for tomorrow either. Is it possible to live your life from day-to-day and then just die? Yes, people do it every day! But, what did they accomplish in the time that they had? It depends upon their view of the world, their culture and their beliefs but not necessarily in that order.

Your beliefs actually shape your view of the world and the beliefs of your family shapes your culture, so in this area of life it is your beliefs which are actually more important, not only to you and your family but to the world at large. In fact, there are many more people who believe in different ways than you do especially if you are a Christian. Oops, I let it out. The one word that will either scare people away or get them so angry they will stop reading right here.

I never have been able to understand why being a Christian, one that believes in the Bible and its message as well as the Savior as He is presented in its pages, is so repulsive to so many people. Is it because the Word of God is spoken of as the Truth and nobody wants to hear it or believe it? On the news, everyone that is against Christianity says it’s because of the exclusivity and intolerant views which Christians have.

Okay, so let’s try something different. That is what most people seem to want these days. If every person on the planet were to do exactly what they want to do, regardless of the consequences, what would the world be like?

It would not be a world that many people would like to live in. Anarchy would be rampant and the law enforcement would be so busy until they would likely feel like just throwing up their hands and walking away. Then what would we do? Some would be crying out to God for help and relief in this terrible situation. Some would be looking for a man who might have all of the answers to these problems, but there is no such person in power…yet. This man, which all of us crazy Christians call the Antichrist, is likely alive today but it isn’t time for him yet.

God is in control of this world whether you believe in Him or not. He is also watching out for Israel and keeping Satan from running amok in our time, at least until it is the right time. Yes, God is in control so, like it or not, that is how our world runs…on God’s time and because of Him. We are here to be caretakers and messengers, we are not here to be rulers. During your lifetime and mine we live our lives as examples to our children and grandchildren and they really do watch you and listen to you, whether they act like it or not.

If you don’t believe me, say something wrong in front of a little child one day. Sooner or later they will repeat it word for word in front of you or someone you know. We have to be better than that, especially if we are Christians. Not because we are trying to brag about it, but because if we don’t tell people about Jesus then we aren’t being true to our calling and our claim of our faith.

Live your life …


image

An image of your DNA from the end. As intricate and complex as it is, God created each of us with His image as the template and your purpose as the outcome. But, I have seen some people speaking about the life of Jesus or rather that His life never was. Your belief or lack thereof is your own and I respect that, but it is my right to believe what I believe.

I am not sure if any of you have read Foxes Book of Martyrs but if you get the chance to do so, you will see through the descriptions from history how Christians have suffered for their beliefs. Truly, these people wouldn’t have suffered through this torture and persecution if their faith was in a lie. True, their faith may have been misplaced if He didn’t live BUT the Word of God is the absolute Truth so He did live and He still does.

The intricate and complex composition of our DNA is not something which came about by accident as some believe. God is the Architect of the Universe as well as our Creator. He is the Artist which placed the stars in their places and He put the nucleotides together which make up each one of us. He knows you and me much better than we know ourselves and better than our parents too.

God knew you and me before He set the foundation of our world and what our life would be too. Since He lives in an area which is outside of Time itself, He can see the beginning and the end of Time at the same instant and He knows what is happening and why. Regardless of your belief in Him or not, He is God just as gravity or light exist without your input or belief so does He.

The part that I think which gives people a hard time is belief in something or someone who they cannot see or touch. The problem that I have with that is that Satan, Buddha and Muhammad are all dead (with the exception of Satan) and you can’t see or touch any of them, yet people believe in their religions and never get offended by them it seems. But, when you mention that you are a Christian and believe in Jesus and His resurrection and forgiveness for all it seems that everyone gets offended before you say anything else!

God gives each of us a choice, just as He did for the angels in Heaven. They are created beings just as we are and they have a choice to serve Him or not. Thousands of years ago, some of them chose not to and were kicked out of Heaven during the rebellion of Satan against God.

It is our choice of whether we will be servants of Christ or choose to serve our own selfish wants and needs which condemns us to separation from God. It doesn’t matter what sins that you have done in your lifetime, how many people who you have hurt or killed or any other sin which comes to mind, the act of turning away from the gift of grace through Jesus and choosing not to accept Him as your Savior is the ONE sin which places you in the company of demons.

Good Friday, what is good about it?


At some point, I am sure that some have asked that very question. What is good about this day? What makes it “Good Friday”? First, it is the belief that Jesus was crucified on this day, although how you fit three days between today and Sunday for His resurrection I am not sure. Why would the crucifixion of our Savior make a day good? Another point to answer that would be that without His crucifixion, there could be no forgiveness of sins extended and offered to the whole world because of His death.

Why was His death necessary? Because He had to be resurrected from death in order to conquer death and the grave. I mean, you can’t come out of a grave unless you have been put into it, right?

All of this came to be, not because of a rebellion that Jesus started, not because He was inciting people to revolt against Roman rule although many wanted Him to do just that, it didn’t even happen because priests were afraid of Him and His power although that did have a part in it. The whole plan had been put into place at the point where Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden. When God told them that “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” Genesis 3:15
Jesus’ life and death was foretold that far back in order to take care of the sin that had come into the world and many other prophecies between that time and Good Friday happened as well. The “woman” in that first prophecy was a symbol of many things. Not only was it a symbol of a mother, but she was a symbol or type of Israel and the Jewish people too. She also symbolized humanity, because God was not speaking of a serpent as a snake, He was speaking to Satan who had inhabited the snake to entice her and tempt her. Satan hates humanity simply because God loves us, that is where the enmity comes from.

Anything which he can do to destroy or hurt us, as humans, he will do. Whether it is by violence, war, diseases, famines, murder or any of a number of ways that he and his cohorts can bring to bear on us in order to hurt that which God loves, he will do it. Especially if he can keep us from accepting Jesus as our Savior, ultimately that is his number one goal!

Christ conquered death, hell and the grave as well as paid the price for all of man’s sins with His death and resurrection. God offers us the grace through Jesus to accept Him as our Savior to become joint heirs with Him in God’s Kingdom. It is a gift offered from God, all we have to do is ask for it and accept it in order to have it! What makes that so difficult? If someone offered to pay off all of your debts and give you ten million dollars also, would you refuse it just because you didn’t have to work for it? Of course not, so why do we refuse to accept the gift of eternal life with Him when we are given the option?

We don’t have to do anything to get it. Though, in return we do work for Him after we truly accept who we are in Christ. Nobody forces you to do anything, but it is not cool if you have accepted Jesus at one point in your life and then turn back to your sinful ways of living. Yes, you can do this but it is wrong. Why? Because you are witnessing to people with your life and telling them that you can get a free ride into Heaven. Just accept Jesus and then go on with your life as if you had not accepted Him. Wrong!!

If your heart is changed by Him, really changed, then you won’t go back to your old way of living as a sinner. you will be grateful for the pardon that you received from God and then tell as many people as you can about Him! Pray about this, read God’s Word and ask Him to show you what to do and then DO IT!!!

God’s name is in Israel


I have a picture which was taken by a pilot in Israel and the hills close to Jerusalem spell God’s name in Hebrew. This is easy to see, yet I doubt that many people will take this as the warning that it could be. God has claimed this land thousands of years ago fGods name in Israelor the Jewish people and He signed it with His name. This alone should make the world afraid and wondering about the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But, of course, many will dismiss this as just a coincidence although I don’t believe that a formation on the hills which forms the name of God is a coincidence!

The land was given by God to Abraham and his descendants as their possession forever, by a covenant which God proclaimed Himself! You know, since the Creator is the One Who gave the land of Israel to the Jews, how can we argue about the ownership of it? How can we possibly act as if we can split the land up and give it to others?

God is God, the Creator of everything and whether we believe it or not. Whether the world will acknowledge Him or not, it is the Truth. He is real just as Satan and his demons are real. Heaven and hell are real and they are places where people will go because of their choices in life, not because of their evil or their sins but because of their choices!

Most will not believe this, but it is only your choices which will condemn you to hell and it is specifically your choice of whether you will follow and believe in Jesus and His atonement for you or if you will follow something or someone else in life. It doesn’t even have to be someone who you worship in a church or mosque or synagogue, you can just choose to not believe or even to place yourself in the position of a god.

How you could do that, I am not sure. The thing is that, when you put anyone or anything in place of Jesus then you are worshipping yourself or whatever may be taking the place of the Messiah! Everyone seems to deny that there is idolatry today, yet it is rampant. Not only in America but all over the world. I will get many reactions from this point of view, but my point is this: we are not gods and cannot be gods! It doesn’t matter how highly you think of yourself or how impressive your body is, if you are a body-builder, you are not a god and never will be! So much hate and cruelty is in our world today because of views on race and violence toward someone who doesn’t believe as you do. Why is that?

We are all part of the HUMAN RACE! Yes, there are different colors of skin, but just because a horse is black and one is brown or black and white, you don’t look at them as a different “race” of horse! Violence toward someone of a different belief system is another stupid way of persecution toward others too. I don’t care who or what you pray to, as long as you don’t push your beliefs on me especially with violence and killings because I choose to worship differently from you! It is true, that I believe that Christianity is true to the Word of God and is the religion which will lead you to Heaven because that is what God’s Word says. But, I am not going to threaten you with a sword or a gun because you want to believe something different!

That is why God gave us all a choice to believe in Him and His Son or not. People always choose what is most comfortable to them. What they have grown up with to one extent or another. Yet, God has a way of getting His Spirit to intervene in your life at times when you least expect it to happen, even if you haven’t been to a church, Christian or otherwise. If God has a plan for your life, then eventually your life and His plan will run into each other especially if it has to do with your being a part of His Kingdom and maybe having an influence on others too!

Consider that the world right now is on the edge of all of the prophecies which point to the “end of the age”. It is getting close, though I don’t know and no one else does either. Seek Him out in God’s Word, learn about the God Who Lives, the Creator, the King of Kings, the Prince of Peace. It is He Who will bring peace to this world after all and to all of those that choose to follow Him.

We NEED a True Revival in the Church!


RevivalcrossI am not talking of a specific church, I am talking here about the whole Church! The entirety of believers all over the world, regardless of denomination! Why am I saying it so emphatically? Because the church has become lax and lazy in its gospel message and because, even in the church itself, there is too much division and quarrelling about things which are not part of the message that we are supposed to be telling people about!

We are called to be the Church and Christians for the simple reason that we are supposed to be the image and reflection of Christ, as well as His hands and feet in a world which is in desperate need of His message. Why have we become so apathetic in our delivery of the gospel? Unless it is because of Satan infiltrating our churches and the people in them, I am not sure. Can he do such a thing? Yes, he is perfectly able to do it and if we allow it by something which we do or say, there isn’t much we can do against him until we realize that he is influencing our lives.

I know that much of the world really doesn’t want to hear our message, especially since it refers to Jesus as the Christ and the One that we should be following, but that was and is His command for us to do! Why exactly is the world so enamored with other religions or even with themselves?

It is because of the influence of Satan in the world and all of his demons and powers and principalities. They have had plenty of time to influence the world and become so good at it that they are seen as the gods that are worshipped. Even in some “churches”, their influence is so complete that people reading and preaching from their bibles which have been re-written think that they are worshipping God.

They are worshipping a version of God, but not the God, the Creator, the Triune God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit! People all over the world have been misled by spirits, demons, and Satan himself, since he and all of his fallen angels can pose as “ministers of light”, they can appear from the outside to be an angel of God.

We are on the edge of a trying period in time, one that is not going to be easy to live with or through. Christians need to revive their faith and come near to God, humble yourselves and pray, read and get to know Jesus in a more deep and intimate way through His Word. We must do this before it is too late. Seek Him, trust in Him, get to know Him and that Him is Jesus!

We are in dire need


StrengthI placed this picture here because we all need to pray this prayer every day! Yes, we are in dire need of prayers and the strength that comes from Him every day! Why do I say this? Because it is the truth. We, as humans, are weak. We cannot be strong enough to get through the struggle which comes our way every day. Not the little things like getting up and going to work or to get groceries or even just washing the dishes or the clothes. I am talking of the temptations which Satan throws into our minds and our way each and every day. You experience these every day, we all do, even Jesus was tempted but He didn’t give in to it so it didn’t become a sin in His life.

God gives us the strength, IF we ask for it and then depend upon Him for that strength to get through a tempting time or just one temptation today or tomorrow. Depending upon God and His Word and His Wisdom is the smartest thing that you can do. Reading His Word every morning, or every day gives you the strength and wisdom to make it through all of your problems.

I have heard that many people consider going to church on Sunday to be their time with God. That is just the beginning! How would you feel if your family only visited you once every week for about an hour? Not much like a family huh? Pray to God every morning and evening, read His Word morning and evening in order to get to know Him. How can you expect a Father to know you very well if He never sees or hears from you? God knows you better than you or your parents do, but He still wants a relationship with you every day.

God’s love has been flowing to us, all of us, since the beginning of Creation. He knew each of us then, even before He created Adam. We are special and we are loved infinitely more than we can imagine on our own. So, how can we get to know our Creator? By reading His Word and learning of His ways and His love and patience for us. He will give you the strength and the ability to make it past all of the temptations that Satan will toss your way.

We really are in a spiritual war between Satan and God. Satan hates God’s creation with a hatred that we can’t understand and will do anything that it takes to destroy your life or your ministry or both if he has to. Get closer to God through His Word and prayer. Seek Him every day in Scripture and don’t forget to ask for His protection for you and your family because Satan will get to you through them if he can’t get to you.

Addendum: I have received a comment that this post is too short and doesn’t include enough information for a “novice” Christian to follow, I respectfully disagree. While it is true that this is one of my shorter posts, the information about seeking God is the same as it is for everyone. It is true that my particular instructions are brief and low on specifics, but the Bible is not.

Learning about your role in spiritual warfare and how to combat it starts in the book of Romans and then continues through much of the rest of the New Testament. There is also a book or two in the Old Testament that is useful, such as Joshua and Daniel. Though, the entire Bible is best for learning about your responsibilities in Christ and as a Christian.

A daunting task if you are a new Christian, and one which I had some trouble sticking to when I first came into faith in Christ. Today, you have an app for that in the Bible app for your phone or tablet. With it, you can fine a reading plan which will help keep you on track to read the Bible all the way through in a year which will give you plenty of information, if you will pray through it as you go. The best advice I can give after that is….do it again. Each time, praying that God would show you something different and He will. I have read it through about six or seven times, I think, and each time I found something that had more meaning or wisdom than I noticed the time before.

I hope this helps somewhat. It is still a bit early here, so please forgive any terseness that may have crept into my writing.

Themes in the Bible


What is the theme which is carried all through the Bible? One of them is the blood. From the time that God had to shed the blood of two animals in order to create garments for Adam and Eve, through Abraham’s time where God provided a ram as a substitute for Isaac, blood was always being shed in some form or another. Later, in Egypt, a lamb was sacrificed in order to anoint the door posts with its blood so that the angel of death would pass over the house of each Israelite. The covenant of circumcision also required the shedding of blood and then later, when Jesus was convicted of doing nothing more than telling the people how they could know God and come into His Presence, His blood was shed during the scourging and then on the cross itself.

In many ways, people in the world today reject our beliefs because they call it “a bloody religion”. What about all the children and parents and grandparents that have been killed by the “religion of peace” in our time? What about the blood that they have spilled? I would call that a bloody religion too, wouldn’t you? It is true that blood has been shed all through the Bible, but what about other themes and requirements?

The most prevalent one that comes to mind that I have seen from the beginning to the end of God’s Word is obedience. All that God ever asked and required of those that He called His was obedience, to His laws and to Him. Starting in the Garden and in every book from that point on, He asked certain people to do as He asked them to. Sometimes, they obeyed but many times they did not. Even before the Israelites had a king over them, as soon as they were delivered from bondage or trouble they would revert back to worshiping other gods and refusing to obey their God.

Even Moses, during the exodus from Egypt, disobeyed God by striking the rock when God had told him to speak to it for water. True, the first time God had said to strike the rock and Moses did, but the second time he was supposed to speak to it and his anger caused him to strike the rock instead. Then, when Israel asked for a king, God gave them one but the first one didn’t obey God like he should have so his kingdom was taken from him. David did as God told him to do, but even he disobeyed God in some things but at least he repented of his sins and asked for forgiveness.

After David’s reign, Solomon did follow God and did as God instructed him for a while, but his wives led him astray to worship other gods in his old age. After his reign, very few of the kings which followed would worship God or do as the prophets told them to do. Many of them desecrated the Temple with strange gods and killed the prophets. Why would God be merciful to a people, even those of us over the whole Earth, when most of us have refused to obey Him and His laws or even to follow His Son?
The next theme which flows all the way through the Bible, from the beginning to the end, is His love for us. He, the Creator of all things, LOVES us! Even when we don’t like or even believe in Him!!

God loves us today, each one of us, enough that He sent Jesus to die so that we could have a relationship with Him. He wants that. He doesn’t need it. God has never needed us, nor does He need the angels in heaven, but He wants a relationship with His Creation, all of Creation. That is why Lucifer rebelled against Him, because he didn’t want the relationship from that point, he wanted to be on the receiving end of the adoration and the love but he didn’t want to give it to Creation or the Creator.

In many ways, we are rebelling today because we want to get the love but we don’t want to be required to give it. You know what? You aren’t required to love God at all!! But, when you realize what He really did for you so that you have the choice and the ability to love and be loved by the Creator, then you actually do want to! If you can’t make that leap into God’s lap as you would into your dad’s or your mom’s lap, then you will miss out on it. You will miss out on the true, loving, whole relationship with God, the Trinity of God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is a feeling which cannot be described to anyone who hasn’t felt it.

The closest way to describe it from me to you would be how a mother or a father feels when they hold their first child for the very first time. If you can imagine being the recipient of that love and then multiply it thousands of times to the point of it overwhelming you….that is what it has felt like to me at times. It is a feeling which can’t be described because the actual feeling is beyond description. Similar to the problem of telling someone what the color blue is or maybe the color purple. If they have never seen it, you just can’t tell them about it at all.

Until you can get into the Word of God and come close enough to Him that you can feel His Presence, then I can’t describe it at all. Then, consider that the river of Life runs through Heaven and it is like liquid joy!

You know, I started this sermon off talking about the blood, then I spoke about obedience, then lastly there is Love, and just as first Corinthians says that “the greatest of these is LOVE”. It really is True! Love is the reason for all of this, your life and mine as well as for Jesus coming and dying on the cross and being resurrected. God’s Love for us! The least that we could do would be to give back some of that Love to Him in the form of our life and our love because He loved us first, isn’t that a wonderful way to look at Easter?

Bad things happening to good people


I always wondered why this happened. I thought that God always brought good from bad things for those who love Him? Yet, bad things still happen. Why is that?

In many ways, the world itself is the cause of the “bad things”, and they are allowed to happen so that others can see how a Christian reacts to those things which happen so that God can get the glory! I know, it sounds crazy but those bad things are usually caused by Satan or his demons because of something that a Christian is doing in their life. They may be making a difference in the world. Maybe not in the world at large, but just in the world immediately around them.

They might be having an influence on some of their family members or some of the people in their community. This is what is getting Satan and his demons upset, so they cause bad things like cancer, wrecks, infections, broken bones from a fall or an accident. It is not your fault or your Christian family member’s fault, it is what they are doing that is causing the demons to cause these things to happen in their lives.

If you are truly working to tell people about Jesus and to bring others into the Kingdom of God, then Satan will attempt to stop it one way or the other and it doesn’t matter if he has to kill you or your friends to accomplish this. If a death, regardless of whose death it is, will stop you from spreading the Gospel then he will do it!

The apostle Paul said it clearly in Ephesians 6:12, we are at war in heavenly places, with powers and principalities that we can’t see but they can influence our lives and the lives of those around us. Whether you believe in him or not, Satan and his demons and powers have you in their sights. Especially if you are actively working for Jesus and His Kingdom.

Pray for God’s angels to watch over your church and your family because prayer is our most powerful tool in this war. Praying scripturally and reading the Bible gives you more power too. Seek His wisdom and knowledge in all of your readings in the Bible. Pray and thank God for all of your business and life successes and ask that He would show you how to give Him the glory in your daily walk with Him.

Satan knows that his time is short and will be heating the world up with persecutions and other ways of destroying the church and God’s people. Pray for strength and wisdom through Him. Watch and pray.