Tag: Seek Him first

Freedom from depravity


The Christian faith gives believers the grace they don’t deserve but so desperately need. The depravity of humankind is obvious, especially today. Our faith grants us , as believer’s, a direct relationship with God, whom we can approach with freedom. Once you understand the value of your salvation you understand how tightly the relationship needs to be held onto. Many people today think that Christianity deprives you of fun and having a life but that is not true.

God’s rules, the Ten Commandments, are guidelines for us to live by and after you have given your heart to Jesus and have begun following Him in your life they are easy to follow. Why? Because your relationship with Jesus is more important to you than your old life and your old ways. This is why believers need to treat their salvation as their most valuable asset.

I know the word “depravity” sounds offensive but think about all of the sex trafficking and child slaves that are kidnapped for perverts around the world. If that isn’t depravity I don’t know what is! Our world is under the control and rule of Satan and his agents so much of our world is part of his world. Granted, God allows him to do this and He is in control by limiting what he can do and how far he can go but it is still our adversary that is in charge on Earth.

God has always been in control of him and has placed limits on what he can do and what is not allowed by God. We see some of these things as either God is not in control or He is a mean and hateful God. He is nothing like that at all! If God were not in control I imagine that Satan and his cohorts would’ve made sure that mankind would likely wipe himself from the Earth long before now.

We should seek out God and learn about Him and His love for us, because there is no other way you can learn of Him if you don’t seek Him for yourself. God provided a way for your sins to be wiped clean so that you could interact with Him and be in Heaven one day as a redeemed child of God.

Remember, God has always had a plan for each of us and yet we try to live as if He doesn’t exist at all. He hung the stars in space and placed all of them in their places so that their light shines on us and we behold His glory by His creation. I ask that you give your life to Him while there is still time to do so. Seek Him out for your salvation, learn about Him by studying His Word and listening to Bible teaching and preaching. Because there is no better way to know someone than to read their letters.

Changing times


We are living during a time which is changing at a rapid pace. Almost on a daily basis something or someone does something which is totally out of the ordinary. A bridge collapses or some bombs are set off in a city which hasn’t had any terror attacks and its on American soil too! Of course, the media isn’t calling the bombings “terror” attacks, just random acts of violent behavior which are unrelated.

Maybe, but I’ve never heard of anyone doing this in the last thirty years or so just as a “random” act and not just one but three! Yes, life is changing here and it isn’t exactly better than it was before. We do have a President who is trying to help our country instead of running it into the toilet, but it seems that there are so many people in America who would rather rip it apart at the seams…at least there are more of them than we used to hear about!

Why is all of this happening? I believe that it is because of how close the world is to the time foretold in the book of Revelation in the Bible. Of course, there are some people who don’t believe that the Bible is God’s Word. Most of them don’t think it is true either. So, what is the church, the people who DO believe in God and His Son, supposed to do while the world ignores God?

We are supposed to be the bringers of the word, the Truth of God’s Word to all of the people who haven’t heard it or those who didn’t believe it in the first place. Tell the people about your Savior and what He has done and what He will do for them too! Because of God’s love for them,  and for the entire world! He is our Creator and we are His creation! It doesn’t matter where you live or what you do with your life if you know Jesus as your Savior then you are a messenger and you need to take it seriously!

Believers are supposed to be messengers for Jesus in our world today, just like His apostles were at the beginning of the church age. Will there be some who refuse to hear or maybe get angry with you for telling them about Jesus? Yes, most likely. But, if you can get them to listen to your story, what Jesus saved you from becoming, then even they might listen..even if only for a few minutes. God’s Holy Spirit will do the rest. If their heart is touched by something that you said or maybe what you were saved from, then He can get them to think about it. “If God cares for the little guy, the one that wasn’t popular in school or the most handsome, then maybe He could care about me too!”.

God has used many unlikely ways of getting people’s attention in the past and He will continue to do so until the very last person is saved. It isn’t a hard thing to believe but if your heart has been hardened by school or science then that may make it difficult, but anything is possible with God. I mean, look around you at the universe! God did all of that with His Words, and it was made from nothing more than the thoughts of God! Just think what He could do with you or me?

 

Job’s trials


Jobs trialsThis book has always fascinated me because according to some scholars it is the oldest book in the Bible. It is an account of a man who worships God and acts as a priest for his family, offering sacrifices for their transgressions regardless of whether they have asked him to do so or not. In the beginning of the book, God is meeting with “the sons of God”, those angels who are tasked with watching over humanity at the time, I suppose. Then Satan shows up at the meeting and God brags about how righteous His servant, Job, is.

Job’s trials did not come upon him as punishment for something done wrong, but because of his exemplary life! His trials came to him because God wanted to prove a point to Satan about his servant Job. To make a long story short, everything was taken from Job, even including his health, but he never cursed God even though his wife told him to. He never truly blamed God for his situation either. At the end of the book, God speaks to Job and his “friends” who have not really helped the situation, and He straightens their conception of Him out in a hurry.

Why is this story so important to us today? Because, it is indicative of our lives in some ways. Every person on the planet can identify with Job in one way or another. From being stricken with disease like cancer to losing much or all of your belongings, there is a bit of Job in all of our lives at some point in time. The best part of the story is this: God loves you regardless. Particularly if you don’t give up your faith in Him! He is faithful to bring about all your blessings and to protect you from Satan and his demons.

So….why do people look for another god or religion to make them feel complete or whole? Mostly, it’s because of Satan and his influence on the minds of people who haven’t given their heart to Jesus. He can manipulate and coerce people into believing in doctrines and practices which have nothing to do with God, but he can make them sound as if they did. That is the reason why people have broken the church into so many pieces and invented their own religions and their own idea of who god is and what he asks of us.

The biggest problem with this god which they follow is that he lives in their mind only and he isn’t real. They believe that he is, sometimes with their whole heart, but they have been deceived by demons, giving them the idea for this to replace the real God and Savior, Jesus our Savior. Some of these people even preach this kind of “religion” from a pulpit and make it seem to be the real Truth! They pick and choose scriptures which support their beliefs and they don’t dig deep into what the context of the Scripture actually says.

God loves each of us and He wants us to come to Him to be saved through belief in Jesus who paid our price on the cross. If we can and will read His Word and pray about finding His Truth in it, then we can see the difference between man-made religions and God’s Son and the church which began almost 2000 years ago. Learn more about Him through reading His Word, pray about what He says in His Word, and ask Him to reveal the Truth which is there for all to find if we will look for it diligently!!

Life is too short to waste it looking for meaning in a life which hasn’t found the path to walk on which leads to Life eternal! There is only one Savior and He isn’t in the Koran or in any other book except God’s Word. His name is Jesus the Son of God, any other name or person is not a savior nor are they able to save your soul to get into eternity! Please, read God’s Word with a prayerful heart and ask Him to show you the Truth which is in it because at the end of your life, you will have to give an account for the reason why you didn’t follow Jesus. Especially if you have ever heard the gospel preached or read the Bible!

Does God care about us?


With all of the things that occur on a daily or weekly basis, some of them being horrific and some not so bad, things could be better. I am sure that I am not the only person, Christian or not, who has wondered if God really cares about us! Jesus said that “not even a sparrow falls without God’s knowledge“, so we shouldn’t look at the bad things which seem to happen, in light of His love for us, so many times these things do happen for a reason. But what sort of reason is it?

Sometimes it is to bring God into the situation, many times it is to focus our thoughts on Him but often it is to bring Him glory and praise for His mercy. You might say that the death of so many couldn’t possibly bring God glory and honor and praise! What about the people who we don’t hear about who might have pushed someone else out of harm’s way? Some caregiver who didn’t think of their safety in order to save someone else.

Most news stories don’t focus on anyone who may have done any of these things. They may only be known to the person that didn’t die and they could be in the hospital but still live because of something that someone else did. By the time they remember it, the story is cold and nobody wants to hear about it or they may not even remember much about what happened. God is present in all things, good and bad, and He causes them to work for the good of His Kingdom and those of us who serve Him. We may never find out what has been done behind the scenes until we get to Heaven, but God knows.

It’s possible that something that we say or do, that is seen by someone else, may have a positive effect in someone’s life, yet we may not find out about it until we meet them in Heaven. Yes, God does care about each of us. Not just those of us who are Christians, but every person in the world. Even those who choose not to give their lives to Jesus. That doesn’t change how God feels about them though. He love for us is not dependent upon our response to Him.

Remember, John 3:16, 17: 16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His [a]only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

God’s grace is given to us as a gift, just as our salvation is, but we have to accept it. If we feel His Spirit touching our hearts to do so and we refuse, then it is our own fault if we don’t get into Heaven. God doesn’t send you to hell or condemn you for your sins on any other basis EXCEPT our acceptance of His gift to us through Jesus and His atonement for us! It is all up to you! “Choose this day whom you will serve“, just as Joshua did!

Living the life of a believer and a servant of Jesus is not always easy and it doesn’t pay much but remember this, the benefits of eternity outweigh any hardship that you might have now!

Why don’t relationships work?


Truly the reason that this happens is because of the foundation. Many marriages begin on the wrong foot and certainly on sand or loose gravel for a foundation. Why do we pursue a relationship that ultimately will fail?

IAM-JesusWe do this because we haven’t found the Relationship which can’t fail. We are born searching for something or Someone but for years we search and look for things and people to fill that void, that empty place which always feels as if it needs…to be filled. It is a scientific principle which states quite accurately that “nature abhors a vacuum”. At some point, something will fill that space whether it is good or bad, God or Satan, it doesn’t matter which, but it will be filled.

If we try to fill it with a career or a family, that can work for a while but it isn’t permanent. If we try to fill it with drugs or alcohol, our life and our relationships are doomed to fail because those things are designed to destroy whatever they come in contact with! But…if we will seek out our Savior, Jesus the Christ, and repent of the attempts which we have tried before, and ask Him to come in and clean our heart up, then our life will be placed on the right path.

Following Him, learning about Him by reading and studying the Bible, praying about your family and your problems, all of these will begin to fix your pathway and your life in such a way that your foundation will become complete and solid. When this happens, your relationship with your spouse and your family will begin to level out and become less bumpy and more smooth. This is the foundation which should guide our lives today but we tend to follow along with the rest of the crowd at school or church, if we go at all.

If everyone at school or at church is just going along to get along for the sake of being thought of as a “pillar of the community”, that is the wrong reason. Trying to earn a place in the eyes of people and “fair weather friends”, no matter how you earn it, doesn’t help you in the long run. Why? Because it isn’t built on God’s foundation which is Jesus.

You can decide to ignore this advice if you wish or just don’t read this at all, it doesn’t hurt my feelings one way or the other. But…what if I am right. When your life is going to hell on a slippery slope, which of your friends could possibly pull you out of it? A rich kid that you went to school with? No, they are likely off enjoying life just as they think they should. What about your dear friend from work? Not likely, they come home feeling even more tired than they did last year.

The only One Who can get your life back on the right path and give you strength enough to make it through all of your trouble is Jesus. No other religion or “holy man” or prophet can do that because all of them are dead! He is alive at the Father’s right hand and He is able to help you in your time of need. Seek Him out and make sure that He is your foundation and your Solid Rock, your Savior. Because without Him, we can do nothing.

Get your relationship with God and His Son, Jesus, right and the rest of your life will be so much better than it has ever been before.

Short days and short times


It has been almost two millennia since the time of Jesus and His disciples and His prophecy concerning the end of the age , yet people don’t seem to be concerned. Even with many of the signs already shown and seen in years past, as well as the signs which are in front of us every day. When I say that the days are short I am not speaking of days like in the winter when the Sun seems to go down not long after it comes up. I am speaking prophetically of the time in which we are living.

It is true that many don’t believe that we live in these particular times, but in fact we do. There are many signs in the heavens which God has used recently which point toward this time, as our generation is called the “terminal generation”. Yet, most of the people in the world today don’t want to acknowledge the truth of what is going on around them. Even if they recognize that these signs are true and occurring almost on a daily basis!

I don’t bring this up to attempt to scare people into church or make you fearful enough to seek out the truth in the Bible, although you should be doing this anyway. What I am saying about this period of time is that we don’t know how long we have. It could be a couple of months or a few years yet, but just as the virgins in the parable, we need to be ready when the Bridegroom comes. Not sitting around twiddling our thumbs but watching for Him in Scripture and in our everyday lives.

Praying every day, seeking His wisdom concerning these times and those around us who are in need of His love and compassion. Telling those who are in need of salvation about Jesus is the mission which we have in these times. If they don’t want to receive Jesus, then tell someone else and move on. It is imperative that we keep telling as many as will listen because very soon, they will be on their own in a world which will not tell them of Jesus and will kill anyone who does profess faith in Him!

God loves humanity, but His patience is drawing to a close. The Spirit will strive with man for a while longer and yes there will be a few who accept Jesus during the Tribulation, but they will be in the minority when they do. I pray that most of you who read this will accept Him before this time has come. If you have not, then I will be praying for you from the balcony of Heaven. I hope that God might allow me to come to Earth during this time and help guide those who have given their lives to Jesus, because they will need the help.

I am not special. I am a sinner just as you were or maybe still are, but I am forgiven and that makes the difference. Please, if you are seeking your Savior, read the Bible and pray about giving your life to Him, asking Him to come in and change your life from the inside out.